<p>I know many potential applicants to Harvard (and other elites) have applied to U of Michigan, rolling admissions. It is indeed comforting to have a "bird in the hand", so to speak, and I wager that while the Wolverines yield rate may be low for these people, Michigan still winds up with some excellent students who otherwise might never have applied.</p>
<p>I once predicted that the future of college admissions was rolling admissons, with applicants pursued on the basis of their PSAT scores! Not farfetched, as some tall and talented basketball players being admitted as 8th graders these days.</p>