Why is Dartmouth losing its appeal?

<p>It seems like most of the other top schools have been recording lower acceptance rates and slightly higher yields over recent years. Why has Dartmouth's acceptance rate gotten higher, while its yield as gotten lower? Is it because of the bad publicity the school is getting? I got accepted at UofC and Brown, but waitlisted at Dartmouth, Princeton and Wharton. I already committed to UofC yesterday. I'm probably going to accept a waitlist spot just to possibly have another option, but I'll go ahead and admit that in the off-chance I get in off the Dart waitlist, I'd still probably stay at UofC. </p>

<p>“I’d still probably stay st UofC.”
Are you serious? Now you are just staying on the waitlist to see if you “can” get off the list and inform others you have gotten into another school. You should really stay on the list if it is your top choice. There are many others who dream to attend Dartmouth and you are just blocking their chance. It is your choice to stay on the list, I know that, but if you were to attend UofC regardlessly, I recommend you allow others who really desire to go to Dartmouth.
Dartmouth must distinguish people like you from the list. </p>

<p>@bradybest I have a lot of respect for U of Chicago and its students. I would lose some of that respect if you keep your waitlist spot at Dartmouth under the circumstances you have set forth in your post.</p>

<p>I think y’all are being a little bit harsh on the OP. He (forgive me if my assumption is incorrect) said he’d “probably” stick with Chicago – not definitely. If he gets offered a wait list spot and turns it down, Dartmouth can offer it to someone else. As has been noted in prior years, the college is looking for specific types of individuals when accepting off the wait list, so it’s not as though he’s taking bread from your mouth unless you think you share a high number of characteristics. And, @fenwaypark, I don;t see why your opinion of students at the University of Chicago should be affected by decisions made by someone who hasn’t even matriculated. </p>

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<p>You are right, AboutTheSame. Better way to express the thought would have been to say that once a youngster goes to college, (many of) the person’s actions reflect not only on the person and the person’s family…but also on the college. And yes, a commitment to U Chicago is not quite equal, pretty close though, to being a Maroon.</p>

<p>I have happened to see some of the poster’s other posts talking about waitlist spots also being held at Princeton and Penn. I can see committing to School #2 on a person’s list while holding a spot on the waitlist of School #1 on the list. But that is not what I am seeing here.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info. My defense of OP just got a bit more tepid. ;)</p>

<p>Hmm you posted about yield on the Duke forum and now you’re here posting about how Dartmouth has lost its luster. Do I smell a Chicago ■■■■■? </p>

<p>Well UofC and Dartmouth are very different places </p>

<p>@AboutTheSame said:

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<p>I tend to agree, but the OP’s choice of U of C is interesting. U of C’s president, Zimmer, seems to have taken up a core mission of climbing the rankings by spending money and changing school policies to game the rankings. I can’t help but think that perhaps U of C is now attracting more students who are similarly obsessed with rankings and are fine with gaming the system to get in to the highest ranked school possible. </p>