On CWRU thread last night I posted that my son was deferred and several folks commented it was likely yield protection to me as well as to other “high stat” kids. I had never heard of this and spent a bit of time trying to understand more. Of note, some exceptional sounding kids were accepted, too.
We added CWRU to his list based on recommendations here when I voiced concern over the summer that his list was too reach heavy. He visited CWRU for an open house, did an interview, and listened to 4-6 virtual sessions. I think with some merit, CWRU would be a very strong contender though not enough to move to EDII as he’s yet to hear from our solid in-states (VA) as well as some reaches. If this is truly a concern about him not committing to CWRU, would it stand to reason that he’ll be rejected in RD?
Won’t go into great detail about his stats but ACT 36 (1x), GPA 4.0uw, has completed 6-8 APs (all 5s), taking 5 APs now, Eagle Scout, strong CS-focused EC’s including a few CS internships. I don’t think there was a fatal flaw with his LOR as he got into Notre Dame which felt like a tough admit.
I’m now (hopefully irrationally) concerned that his matches will have similar outcomes. Thanks in advance.
Congratulations on Notre Dame! I don’t really know anything about yield protection, but just wanted to throw another thought out there.
I recently read an article by someone who conducted admissions interviews and she wrote that it did not come off well if the student said things like, “I am interested in going to X school or an institution like X school because…” Comments like that made it sound like the student wasn’t interested in the interviewing school in particular.
I know my child has been asked in interviews what schools she is considering and answered honestly — I hope that is okay, because it seems disingenuous and unfair if kids are supposed to pretend to be interested in only one school.
But I wonder if it is possible that your son said something in his interview that suggested to them that he thought of CWRU as a back-up or safety or wasn’t interested in it in particular (apart from being one in a group of similar schools he was considering). It is always mystifying when a school does not admit a student like your son; the unpredictability increases the anxiety for everyone. Best wishes going forward and congrats on a great acceptance already.
Thank you for your thoughts. I only heard snippets of his interview as he was in his study area so you could be right. He thought it went well and felt pretty benign. He had his interview on a Monday, I believe, and was visiting CWRU later in the week so he was sure to express his excitement over seeing the campus. Good luck to your daughter as well!
I’m sure some here will disagree, but CWRU is known to practice yield protection for a while. IMO, it’s not unreasonable to suspect any school that offers multiple EA/ED/ED2 options practices some strong form of yield protection.
Did your child show genuine interest? That’s where yield protection comes in. If your child didn’t check emails, request an interview, visit, or demonstrate interest in some other way, that could be why they were deferred. Look up Tufts syndrome. That will give you a clearer picture too.
They want to give the spot to the student they feel is most likely to attend. That could be a student who, on paper, might not be as strong as your student. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
He did…he participated in at least 4 virtual sessions, took advantage of an interview, and drove 9 hours for an open house. This is more than he was able to do for most of his schools. However, I do not know the perceived quality of his interview though in general he has no problem talking with adults about his interests and aspirations.
Interesting. Was it his choice of major perhaps? Some majors are highly competitive. Or maybe his high school isn’t known to CWRU?
Both are definite possibilities as he’s interested in Computer Science. He used Naviance and felt pretty comfortable based on the scatterplot he saw. Is there a way to determine what percentage of deferred students are admitted RD?
My daughter is in a similar situation, with similar stats (with a little lower ACT). I am now concerned about another school that I felt was a match but is very similar to Case in many ways. I also wonder if it is worth perusing Case as she would need merit to attended, and wonder if being deferred indicates that there would not be much merit offered if she would get in at RD.
I wasn’t feeling stressed about this process until now!
I can’t say for sure, but very generally, I think for CWRU, maybe 20 or 30%? I’m just basing that on what I know in general about how colleges take deferred kids. I have nothing to back that up.
I am convinced that yield protection exists and is a real issue. It puts high-stats kids in a particular bind as the acceptance rate at the tippy top schools is so low, but then there is yield protection at the next level (or two) down. Even with demonstrated interest.
One solution is to apply to non-holistic schools as part of the mix. I really like McGill as one of those options. Note that their cost of attendance is posted in Canadian dollars and also they have different tuition rates for different degrees, with a BA being much less than a BS or engineering.
Is he still interested in Case? Have him reach out to his AO. Write a letter of continued interest. Explain why he likes Case.
As for worrying about his other schools…don’t. Having been through this twice the past two years there’s always one or two curveballs in the mix. On the minus and plus sides.
Was just going to post the same. However, he shouldn’t bother if he really isn’t that interested.
Assuming OP’s son is still interested, writing a LCI wouldn’t be sufficient, unfortunately. He’s likely to receive an invitation soon from CWRU to change his application to ED2. That’s how he is expected to show his interest.
True. It would help to know what % of admitted students are ED/ED2. If it’s high then probably not worth it to continue IF it’s not top choice and/or unaffordable at full pay.
If the % is lower then RD could work but then the question is would it work financially without merit?
Without merit, it wouldn’t make (financial) sense given our in-state options. He remains interested yet not enough to move to ED2. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
I’ve known multiple applicants who were accepted by schools like MIT but deferred (EA) and then rejected/waitlisted (RD) by CWRU.
There are some school that are notorious for deferring highly qualified applicants in order to protect yield. Tufts was famous for doing this back in the day when it was viewed as a safety school for Harvard applicants. Not sure it still applies to Tufts, as it is nobody’s safety school nowadays. Northeastern is well known for doing this, and I suspect it is what happened with OP’s son at CWRU.
That doesn’t mean it was intentional yield protection. Both schools admit “holistically.” Strong students get left out of schools all the time in that scenario. You can’t play the if they got into Z, they should automatically get into A-Y. There are too many variables.
There’s no counter to the fact that some very high stats do get in. If there was a blanket policy, none of them would.
I know a student who was admitted to Harvard and Yale, but rejected by Stanford. If the game was logical, he should have been admitted to all three.
I think it’s the unfortunate effect of too many highly qualified students applying to too few schools. No doubt the OP’s son will have other good options.
Oh dear, Northeastern was another “match” he applied to. This has definitely been a learning experience.