<p>They said the number was the early action number this year...but I don't believe so</p>
<p>It's not even the end of Sept. If the person said that 20K applications have already been submitted to Yale's EA, then they are way off base.</p>
<p>Yale should just switch to ED. That would stop all those Princeton lovers.</p>
<p>Yeah, i sure wish yale would go ed</p>
<p>tetrisfan and bmwdan: U may be very unaware of WHY H and P went away from any EA/ED options and why Y went to EA from ED. Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if this is the last year that Y offers EA even.</p>
<p>Going to ED is a backwards step</p>
<p>Backwards? I highly doubt the assumptions Harvard and Princeton made about disadvantaged people not being able to apply early. Income and level of guidance have nothing to do with applying early. I had no idea what ED or EA were until late last year, but I have figured it all out myself, like anyone else easily could, and I'd really like a plan that let me say "Hey Yale, I love you, and you are my top choice, bar none."</p>
<p>"Income and level of guidance have nothing to do with applying early."</p>
<p>You're entitled to your opinion of course. However I think your view on things may be a little narrow. I'm pretty sure that the income situations of any given ED/EA pool are vastly above the average RD pool applicant. </p>
<p>I recruit in a large urban district where one and sometimes a second school traditionally ever send kids to top tier schools -- and this only about a dozen or so per year (this is a city of 1 million, BTW). Its graduation rate is about 50% overall.</p>
<p>The other volunteers and myself work darn hard at this district and others, too. The vast number of american high schools never send anyone to top tier schools and their counselling staff. The fact that some schools like HYP can affect EA/ED policies nationwide -- go right to the heart of their efforts to attract kids from non-traditional feeder sources. That might not serve you or any reader of CC well -- but it's what the schools want, and I fully support them in that endeavor. Does it mean less spots for CC-type applicants. Yup.</p>
<p>ED gives advantages to 1) kids w/great guidance or a "culture" of attaining towards top tier schools and 2) kids who don't need to weigh comparable FA packages.</p>
<p>I'm glad they eliminated ED years ago. I hope Y forever ends EA, too.</p>
<p>Yale is need-blind...the financial problem wouldn't really arise, would it?</p>
<p>Yes Yale is need-blind in their admissions policies. It means that the applicant is admitted/rejected regardless of FA needs. However, that doesn't automatically mean that the FA package Yale would offer can actually MEET the needs of the family of the admitted student. </p>
<p>What the school says is the acceptable FA package may deviate from the family's actual situation. That being said, I'd recommend any family to appeal any package they feel is unsatisfactory from Yale's FA office.</p>
<p>Yale is need blind, but they are also a Questbridge partner. Meaning, they are looking for SCEA candidates with lower incomes. You can be certain that stellar students coming from financial need-based situations (especially low income students and families) will get positive attention from adcom during SCEA. It is about time.</p>
<p>It occurs to me that eliminating EA might have some unintended consequences. For example, eliminating EA takes away the opportunity for certain types of "hooked" applicants to prove that Yale is their first choice--i.e., legacies. What will Yale do with all the legacies that would be in the RD pool? Conventional wisdom has been that the legacy hook disappears if you don't apply early--but without early applications, Yale will have to assume that Yale is the first choice for pretty much all the legacies who apply. In general, it seems to me that if you eliminate ED and EA, fewer applicants to top schools will be admitted to their first choice school, because they will have no (credible) way to convey that it really is their first choice. And will elimination of early admission increase the total number of URMs and needy kids that will get into top schools? Since the schools control how many URMs they take, I don't see how this would be the case. RD yield will drop, because all the schools (even HYP) will have to admit more people in RD to ensure that the class is filled. It seems to me, then, that elimination of EA and ED definitely work to the detriment of anybody who would have applied early. For somebody who would not have applied early--either because he needs to compare financial packages or because he lacks sophistication to understand early admissions--will there be a benefit? Well, I suppose there might be, if admissions are truly need-blind, and we assume that a larger proportion of early appliers had no financial need. Or maybe those former early appliers will find some other way to "show the love" to their first choice school, and will get in during RD at about the same rate as before.</p>
<p>when we visited, Yale was emphatic that they have no intention of eliminating EA. I think it's more likely Harvard will fairly quickly go back to EA, and Princeton will go to EA too, though they used to be ED, but time will tell. </p>
<p>For this year, I am guessing Yale and Stanford will see a huge jump in EA, but will only admit the same number of EAs as last year, dropping the EA admit rate dramatically. I am guessing this outcome because they can't be seen to fill their class with EA, and appear to shut out RD. And their EA yield will drop for the reasons everyone has said - they don't know whose top choice they are. Probably a bigger problem for Yale than Stanford, since it has more overlap with Harvard and Princeton. </p>
<p>And every other top Univ/college will have a lower RD yield, because all those Harvard and princeton first-choicers who didn't have a chance to be done in Dec will apply everywhere, as they have to. </p>
<p>All in all, a zoo, with no winners. As the Amherst dean said, the problem isn't early admission, it's the abuse of early admission where you admit half the class early.</p>
<p>It's a relief that they are taking the same number of EAs as last year. It would be a nightmare for all of us RDers if they filled half the class early!</p>
<p>To the point discussed earlier in the thread about early programs being a disadvantage to low income students, I must disagree once again. It does not take a great guidance department or rich parents to apply early. It just requires looking online, or going to the library, or any other simple way to get information. My school has never sent kids to the Ivies (except for two sports recruits, which are definitely not representative of the norm at our school). Yet I know to apply early. So do other kids who have not had top-notch guidance from the high school or parents. Anyone who is motivated, curious, and passionate enough about applying to top schools can go for early admission. There is nothing exclusive about them. Early admissions just make practical sense for all parties involved.</p>
<p>"Early admissions just make practical sense for all parties involved."</p>
<p>Agree. </p>
<p>One of the best things about it is that it gives the admissions officers more time to read each application and discern which applicants are truly outstanding and going to contribute the most to the tightly-knit community at Yale. </p>
<p>At the schools eliminating early admissions, it's just going to be more of a rat-race numbers game. There are only so many hours to go around, even if the admissions offices hire more staff. And if they do, it means that there is just less money left over for financial aid and recruiting from underrepresented areas. Even if some outstanding students miss the early deadlines, there are still plenty of spaces in the class for them and every application is given a close consideration. </p>
<p>The problem is more with ED schools, where an enormous percentage of the class (close to or over 50%) is filled with a tiny fraction of the total number of applicants. These schools give a clear advantage to the students who are applying ED. I won't name names but these tend to be larger universities. It's great that they can boost their yields and their USNWR standings, but it doesn't give them a better or more diverse class.</p>
<p>I believe there is an essay question that asks why you want to go to Yale. That, plus the other essays and recommendations you submit, should give the admissions officers a good idea of what you will bring to Yale if you do a good job writing them. If you don't put much thought into your essays and recommendations, and you're just applying to a hundred different top schools at random, chances are that it will show through in the application.</p>
<p>Harvard says they are going to start reading apps Dec 1, rather than in Jan, presumably to allow them more time since they have more work to do. Their requested deadline is Dec 1 this year, though they say you 'won't be penalized' if you get everything in only Jan 1.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm glad they eliminated ED years ago. I hope Y forever ends EA, too.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's an interesting point of view from a source familiar with the issues. The final decision may come after observing results from this year's admission season: what Harvard and Princeton are doing is being watched by everyone. </p>
<p>at an info session, the yale rep said they will prob be more 'conservative' in the early round...</p>
<p>which i'm guessing means more defferees?</p>
<p>I think "more conservative" will cut both ways, with few acceptances and fewer outright rejections. Yale traditionally rejected about 1/3 of the EA pool, a much higher percentage than most peer institutions. I understood the point was to give people a reality check so they'd be sure to add enough safeties in the regular round. If they weren't going to ultimately get in, better to have them get their admissions house in order than to spare their feelings with an EA deferral.</p>
<p>Last year, Yale deferred a higher portion of the EA pool than usual with fewer outright rejections. I wonder if this was a strategic change brought about by the new director of admissions, Jeff Brenzel. </p>
<p>With the craziness of this year's EA pool, I think Yale will be massively hedging its bets. I don't think it's the school's style to pull in half its class in the EA round, but they don't want to turn excellent candidates off with a deferral. It's a very delicate dance.</p>
<p>dammit i love yale but i only have 300 characters to show it...</p>
<p>how?</p>