When exactly are RD decisions made?

<p>Just wondering when RD decisions are made, and when the reading began or will begin (Apparently "likely admit" letters have been to sent to some in the us?)</p>

<p>Late Feb, I think?</p>

<p>All by the end of March, with a certain percentage notified earlier via "likely letters"</p>

<p>Thanks Byerly, but i find this "likely letters" phenomenon quite weird - aren't all RD apps supposed to be evaluated together, instead of separately?</p>

<p>"Together?"</p>

<p>There are between 15-20,000 of them... they can't all be done "together."</p>

<p>Generally speaking, when they go through them the first time, a certain number stand out as "clear admits" for one reason or another (academic stars, qualified URMs, special talents, etc.). The idea behind expanded use of the likely letter is: why wait? Why not start romancing these people right away? Likely letters sent to them will, presumably, increase your yield among these desirables.</p>

<p>Then more and more people are added as the add comms "build" the class with various "diversity" goals in mind. At the end, the hardest part may be making "cuts" to get the admitted pool down to an appropriate size - given projected yield - in order to fill all vacancies but not have an excess number for whom no beds are available.</p>

<p>I read somewhere reliable that during EA, they met once before TG, then started meeting more frequently in the 3 weeks that followed after that, so I bet they meet this coming week for the first time...but I'm obviously wrong if you believe the person who claims her kid got a likely letter last week...</p>

<p>Check HERE for the admissions calendar:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.yale.edu/asc/guidelines/calendar.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/asc/guidelines/calendar.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>They've already started reading the applications, I think. When I e-mailed my admissions officer, I got this response:</p>

<p>"From January through March, I will be out of the office most days
reading applications. Though I will be checking email somewhat
routinely, I may not get back to you as swiftly as during
other times of the year."</p>

<p>warblersrule86, does your admissions officer happen to be a certain Peter Chamery by any chance?</p>

<p>I got the same email, he's a bum it seems! :)</p>

<p>No, my admissions officer is Lester Johnson.</p>

<p>do they start reading before they get your midyear reports?</p>

<p>Everyone here needs to pick up a copy of The Gatekeepers, which goes through an entire year's admissions process at Wesleyan for their class of 2004 (which have since graduated). Though the statistics and the number of applicants are going to be different from Yale's admissions process for the class of 2009, the essential timetable is just about the same and you can get a clearer idea of what happens after you send your application off to your prospective schools.</p>

<p>Thankfully,most schools - including the Ivies - are less irrational in their approach to admissions than Wesleyan. That book was a horror story, IMHO. At Wesleyan, a group of random admissions officers - apparently selected with "diversity" in mind, simply acted out their own prejudices in picking winner and losers, with precious little oversight from the top.</p>

<p>I'd rather not know than read one of those books really. I know it can be helpful but they're mostly traumatizing. I realize that adcoms don't spend a lot of time reading it (my gc tells us stories of losing apps behind the desk, they gave us a book about essays that said some recently graduated reader is reading your app at 2am after a couple of beers, which was not helpful in calming the nerves) but I hope most schools have more than one reader and they're more professional about it. >.<</p>

<p>The places to be concerned about (if you want fair consideration) are places where too much authority is reposed in a single person - whether individual admissions officers (who can often be fairly young, in a high turnover position) or even a single "czar" or control freak like Hargadon when he was at Princeton.</p>

<p>hm? you can delete posts...</p>

<p>You can delete or modify the message if you act quickly within the editing time window.</p>

<p>invincible, yeah, I got an automated mail from Mr. Chamery too ;)</p>

<p>hey i have an important question that just crossed my mind, how do you get a yale interview? do you contact them or do they contact you?</p>

<p>They contact you, and there also are not enough interviews available for each applicant to get one. Don't be too worried if you are not contacted for one.</p>