I think my son was waitlisted from American University because of yield protection and it’s a practice we only just became aware of, so I want to find out what other schools typically use it. We don’t want to make the same mistake with our other kids and we’d like to help friends with kids applying to college in future years. Some stats- 3.9UW, 4.8W, 2250 SAT, 3 sport varsity with captain, top debater in state, 2 jobs, founder of social justice club and we’re assuming good recs. He visited AU, so showed interest. I’ve heard that Tufts, Boston University and USC also use yield protection. What other schools? It’s disappointing because had he received some financial assistance, AU was actually one of his top choices.
Look in the school’s common data set, section C7, to see if “level of applicant’s interest” is considered or important. http://www.collegedata.com entries also show that.
The way around this is to show interest but also a reason. WHY do you want to go to that school specifically, is there a major/professor, legacy, sport team, schoolmate who is enjoying the school has recommended it to you.
A good WHY essay and interest shown will usually overcome it. Sometimes it is not about yield and they simply did not want the kid for some reason. My neighbor’s kid was above the stats for WUSTL, did ED, visited, interviewed (very personable kid) deferred and then rejected. No idea why, ended up at Cornell.
For American, if he is really serious about it, have your GC call and have your son write a LOCI. Do they meet full need? Are they need aware? if possible check how much aid he is eligible for first and see if you are happy with that. It may also mean that his stats are not high enough for merit aid or he needs too much need aid and they figure that this would be the only reason he would attend.
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=475 says that “level of applicant’s interest” is “very important” to American University. It probably does not want to be a last choice behind Georgetown and George Washington.
Here is an older discussion on how to show interest:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1626043-ways-to-show-a-high-level-of-applicants-interest-p1.html
If it truly is a top choice he could get on the waitlist and write a short letter of continued interest (with a reference to his visit, why AU is attractive to him etc.)
Many factors affect whether or not a kid gets in, including how much competition from his area/sub-area (geo diversity) and for the potential major. This is not: you have the stats, you’re in. The essay needs to make sense, along with any “Why this college” (or similar,) LoRs, etc.
“Interest” is more than a visit, contact or saying how much you love the school. (Or how much going to that college will ensure your future.)
American’s livin’ a lie, then.