<p>You're right, of course, Gabriellaah - but the most widely and consistently reported data (via the common data set) is the stats of the most recent freshman class. There is no comparable set of similarly calculated numbers for total admittees at a large number of schools. If you go by the average numbers reported for the admittees at one school and compare it to those of the enrollees at another you'd be comparing apples to oranges. As long as the data is consistent, you can use it for guidance.</p>
<p>And actually Hopkins - like all Universities - has a pretty good idea how many students in each band of admittees will enroll and how many will go elsewhere. That's how they admit (approximately) the right number of excess applicants so as to arrive at the (approximately) right number of actual matriculants. Of course, every once in a while they screw up.</p>