I have a hard time comprehending how such an inane subject warrants so much discussion.
Since when is trying to increase yield some sort of selfish marketing scheme to “game the rankings”? Obviously any college - whether they supposedly have the purest, most altruistic motivations or are a bunch of crooks - is going to want to accept strong applicants that are gasp actually inclined to attend their school. This is not a difficult concept to grasp.
If all these bestselling authors see Wash U as a “second-tier” or “third tier” school beneath them and somehow feel entitled to an acceptance letter, then I have nothing to say but that the admissions office is doing their job right.
I have been following this thread with interest–and remember seeing similar discussions when I was newer to CC. My son was wait listed at WUSTL. Luckily he was admitted to his other top choice–so the “sting” was not as bad.
I honestly believe the large amount of qualified applicants that are wait listed at schools like WUSTL (or Northwestern, Vandy etc), has less to do with yield padding–and more to do with ED.
The effective % admit rate during the RD round is drastically reduced if there is a high amount of ED admits. This leads to many qualified candidates being wait listed or rejected. At my own son’s school there were quite a few ED admits that had much lower stats (including activities/leadership) than many of the students that were wait listed or rejected during the RD round. (Don’t get me wrong–the ED admits were all well-deserving students, I’m just not so sure they would have survived the RD round–just by the nature of the low admittance rate.)
Do the schools look at interest and “fit”–sure. But let’s be honest, WUSTL doesn’t’ even ask for a supplemental essay, and the threads are full of kids that were WL that visited, kept in touch, have high stats, volunteer etc. I don’t necessarily think it is “yield” padding–it’s just that there are way more qualified applicants than there are spots left. There are just going to be kids that are equally deserving (and an equally good fit) that will fall on the other side of the line.
Our family could not afford to go the ED route (before someone responds-- I know you can get out of the agreement if the financial package is too burdensome–but it is just irresponsible in our case to NOT see what other colleges are offering before making a decision). However, now that I have been through the process I would advise any kids/families that have their heart set on one of these schools that they probably need to apply ED (unless they have some type of hook).
My D was waitlisted at Washington University-STL but was accepted by CWRU.
No, Wash U doesn’t reject students because they’re not well-liked as mentioned by a previous poster. That would be silly. Extremely silly to think your child was accepted because she’s more like-able than thousands of students who were rejected or waitlisted.
We love Washington University. We have ties with Wash U, but at the end, it wasn’t meant to be. I really believe my D is where God wants her to be: at CWRU, a wonderful school that fits her perfectly. CWRU spoils their students with resources. If you’re a hard working students, it’ll be impossible to fail at CWRU. Of course, the classes are very rigorous, and professors give out a lot of homework, but at the end, your student will be better for it. Your student will be well prepared. After all, this is a Research and Engineering school. Students don’t come to CWRU because they have an inferiority complex about not being “like-able”. lol.
CWRU students get along very well, and if you have a child there, you will say that the campus has an extended family atmosphere. Pretty much like Wash U-STL, from what I’ve seen and heard.
I also want to add that after 1 1/2 semester, my D has fallen in love with a new discipline and will change her major to Materials Engineering. Fortunately for her, CWRU is top in the world when it comes to Materials Engineering. What a great opportunity! This is what I meant when I said you will end up where God wants you to be. No need to trash Wash University-STL just because you weren’t admitted. Everything will be okay!
