What I've learned on this board... and college advice

[warblersrule]

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@mini

Remember: "we" think of it as a lottery. We are looking at individual kids. From the school's point of view, it is not a lottery AT ALL - they are admitting a "class", not a bunch of individuals. They have this down to a science. The admissions officers take classes in yield management, statistical theory, , etc., and combined have decades of experiences ensuring that what they are doing is not a lottery at all.</p>

<p>The admissions officers know they have to please certain GCs at their historical feeder schools. They know that they will not (cannot!) have more than 45% of the class receiving financial aid. They know that they have to fill a certain number of spots on the football team, or the alumni will be unhappy. (They know they need fencers and track stars and etc. as well.) They know they need an English horn player, and two trombones. They better have some folks interested in Near Eastern archaeology, or the department will be p-i-s-s-e-d. They need to accept those developmental admits, and the daughters of Connecticut state senators. I haven't even gotten to the legacies. Finally, it is important to have some darker faces on campuses, even (as a current student reported on this board), almost all of them come from fancy private schools.</p>

<p>There is nothing the least bit lotteryish about it. But they don't mind us thinking of it as a lottery, for if we do, they don't have to explain themselves.

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