Why is Tufts' yield so low?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
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<p>Yes, I know this will be a controversial topic, but it is not about "syndromes" so please bear with me. </p>

<p>The other day I was looking through the yield numbers for a few schools (Yield</a> List) and noticed that Tufts had an estimated yield or 31%. This seemed a bit on the low side, but not too different from similarly ranked schools, with USC at 33%, Brandeis at 28%, NYU at 36%, and BC at 30%. I explicitly excluded public schools from the list because considerations like cost can skew the decisions for a significant fraction of the applicants.</p>

<p>However, I remembered the Tufts Daily article that discussed how yield rose unexpectedly (Tufts</a> 2011 Yield) and decided to dig into the numbers a bit more. Here are some numbers from that article, together with Tufts' own numbers for the Class of 2011 from their web site[ul]
[<em>]Total applicants: 15380
[</em>]ED applicants: 1293
[<em>]RD applicants: 14087
[</em>]ED admits: 474
[<em>]RD admits: 3679
[</em>]ED enrolled: 474 (assumed)
[li]RD enrolled: 901[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>With these numbers the calculated total yield came out to 33%, slightly higher than USNWR gives. Probably some of my numbers are incorrect (and favorable to Tufts), but it is close enough. If you back out EDs from the calculation, the RD yield comes out below 24%, putting Tufts into the very bottom of the desirability list. </p>

<p>This was very surprising to me, since Tufts has so many things going for it. The only other very selective school with such a low yield was CMU. Given its great programs in science and engineering, particularly computer science, this was puzzling but besides the point. Tufts low numbers seemed to re-enforce the notion that it is a safety for a very large fraction of the desirable portion of their applicant pool. Note also that USC and BC do not have ED programs, so their yield numbers are "pure", while NYU and Brandeis would experience similar reductions in RD yield as Tufts.</p>

<p>I guess all this is a long-winded way to ask the question of current non-ED students --- for how many of you was Tufts in the top group of schools you applied to? Why did you ultimately choose Tufts? We have all heard from lolabelle, bluirinka, and gojumbos, and appreciate their passion for Tufts very much. It is their and Dan's presence on this board that makes it so informative, particularly in comparison to so many other boards on CC. Any other current students who lurk here care to share their thoughts?</p>

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<p>haha aw thanks for the thanks, but I've said before that Tufts wasn't my first choice - it was in my group of "regulars" as opposed to "reaches" and "safeties."</p>

<p>I don't think the low yield necessarily says that Tufts is people's safety. They could have declined matriculation because Tufts was a reach but another school is giving them lots of money. Or because it was on the same level as other schools they got into, but they simply liked another better - for location, for the way the campus felt, for the size, whatever. </p>

<p>It's smart for you to exclude state schools in a yield comparison (haha, you have a future in econometrics!), but it would actually be interesting just to see their numbers, in order to try and glean to what extent a Tufts or NYU applicant would opt for a less expensive college. Some of the top-ranked students in my grade went to The College of New Jersey, which is ranked the best state school in NJ and was offering them full tuition, plus some money they'd get upon graduation, and a free laptop. It's a really good deal that's hard to turn down in the face of "pay 40,000 dollars a year."</p>

<p>Another thing that just occurred to me - so we've all heard about how lots more kids are applying to college every year. And that kids are, on average, applying to greater amounts of colleges. Just by probability, it seems to me that if applicants apply to more and more schools, the proportion of them that will matriculate at Tufts will go down. I guess this has been counterbalanced by the fact that more students are applying in total.</p>

<p>Plus, another thing I'd like to take into account is that while we ARE looking at percentages, a 24% yield at NYU still amounts to, what, 5,000 people? Every year they accept as many people as their student body, like 20,000, and though it's a small percentage of 20,000, it's still a lot of people. Tufts' 31% leads to a class of 1200. So I think there's more here than just what's on the surface. Also, if you look at the list that was provided, the schools that have high yields are mostly self-selective - like, BYU has a yield of 79%, probably b/c it's the college-of-choice for Mormons. Yeshiva University likewise retains a lot of its acceptances - but if you really want to preserve your life as an orthodox Jew, that may be exactly where you want to do it. Tufts caters to a more diverse crowd of kids, kids who could probably fit in at multiple colleges and excel. While I can hear an account of a student here and say, "What a Tufts kid," it's not like these characteristics are defined by the person's religion, or race, or other characteristics like that. And - surprise! - I like that about my school.</p>

<p>Anyway, it's interesting to think about this question. But maybe it's also a blessing! Perhaps the people who chose a "name" school over Tufts are the type of prestige-whores that we wouldn't want here anyway. Perhaps 1/3 of Tufts acceptances really favor a program we have here (IR, pre-med, philosophy, whatever) that doesn't exist or is subpar at another of the schools they were accepted into.</p>

<p>Or maybe, like me...they're Ivy League Rejects. :-D</p>

<p>(oh, and just a quick point: BC doesn't have ED, but they do have EA).</p>

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<p>It doesn't really make sense to exclude early decision applicants when comparing yield, since these are the students who are most interested in coming to Tufts. Especially since we're comparing the yield to some schools where early decision applicants are included. Right?</p>

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<p>Tufts has a low yield because a lot of accepted students do not matriculate. Why don't they matriculate? It's because they prefer another school. Why do they prefer another school? Well, it's difficult to speculate because it's different for everyone (I can list a hundred reasons). </p>

<p>The bottom line is that 76% of admitted RD students choose not to matriculate at Tufts.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Tufts has a low yield because a lot of accepted students do not matriculate.

[/quote]
That's very perceptive of you.
[quote]
Why don't they matriculate? It's because they prefer another school. Why do they prefer another school? Well, it's difficult to speculate because it's different for everyone (I can list a hundred reasons).</p>

<p>The bottom line is that 76% of admitted RD students choose not to matriculate at Tufts.

[/quote]
I think that's pretty much the point of this thread, to try to understand where they're going and why.</p>

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<p>I've always heard from older friends of mine that Tufts was known as the "Ivy Reject" school, where students who got waitlisted at Harvard, Princeton and/or Yale went to Tufts instead. So my first guess would be the Ivies or other prestigious liberal arts schools? Maybe it's a financial issue, they might have gotten a good package from other schools too.</p>

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<p>I think a huge factor is financials: Tufts is an expensive school, so when you get all of your acceptance letters, you might find that another school makes more sense financially.
Tufts was one of the schools at the top of my list, and I am definitely glad I came here. It's been a fantastic fit for me, despite the freezing cold winters.</p>

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<p>With kids applying to so many schools these days, it actually surprises me that yield isn't even lower. </p>

<p>The lure of the Ivy League is certainly one factor. We've all known students who were "perfect fits" for Tufts but who couldn't resist that pull.</p>

<p>I'm not sure about the financial picture--last year there were a couple of kids I interviewed who I was sure would go elsewhere. But they got better FA packages from Tufts, and that's where they are today.</p>

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<p>I think it's because Tufts is so similar to a lot of top schools.
At Tufts, the quality of education or the diversity of the student body is not worse than at Brown (for example). Thus, my guess is that many students apply to top schools like Brown and Tufts and, if accepted to other schools, they tend to turn down Tufts because it lacks the prestige (or: they THINK it lacks the prestige.) I don't think that people who turn down Tufts consider it a bad school or are afraid that they won't fit in...they just think they can get more out of their money at other schools. Also, Tufts isn't really famous for being generous...so financial aid might be another reason.</p>

<p>I know that it will probably never happen, but I think merit-based scholarships would boost Tufts' yield tremendously. I would immediately turn down HYP for Tufts if they gave me more money - because the quality of education is indeed similar at those institutions. AND Tufts is definitely more fun ;-)</p>

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<p>It's in my group of top choices, along with some ivies. I've yet to make a decision.</p>

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<p>Well, right now I'm in at Duke and JHU and I have to hear from some Ivies and Tufts but I seriously tell you that it's going to be such a hard decision if I get into Tufts. It's one of the few schools that I could actually visit and I just loved it there!</p>