<p>Well, this is purely a numbers game. Harvard accepted a little in excess of 2000 this year, and a little in excess of 1600 will go. H also has a new Harvard Financial Initiative, I think it's full ride to families that make 60000 or less. 25% of the acceptees fall into this category. Okay, why would ANY of these people turn it down, it's a full ride to the best university in the world!!?? Regardless, there will be some who turn it down, so let's do a 95% yield for this 25% of the accepted pool, and that's about 500 (remember there were MORE than 2000 accepted). So, there are 1500 acceptees left for about 1600-500=1100 spots. If we apply the average yield, at Harvard, 80%, there are actually MORE matriculating students than spots in Harvard Yard. So that's a problem H will deal with, and they won't even be thinking about the waiting list at this point. </p>
<p>I'm a waitlistee too. Do you guys have any comments on this?</p>
<p>IMO it seems like other colleges ex Yale, Williams were a little conservative on the number of kids they took this year. I think colleges tended to overenroll last year and with kids applying to so many colleges and admissions being so random they are just trying to give themselves some wiggle room in terms of enrollement. Perhaps this could be a decent year for waitlistees.</p>
<p>Plus I think all the Ivys would probabl match or come close to Harvard's aid and the yield of 80% would include the higher percentage of Financial Initiative kids who decided to come.
What do I know though?</p>
<p>try and crush my dream will you :D
As a fellow waitlistee... think there's not too much to do, obsessing over it would not be healthy... especially with the very incomplete numbers we have at our hands... hope for the best</p>
<p>one more thing to consider- I heard that the number of high school seniors applying to colleges (any colleges) is the highest this year. That means more applicants to Ivies and other competitive schools. Which means that the number of people who were accepted to other ivies and the likes is smaller than previous years, so not so many people have much choices. </p>
<p>This means that they are more likely to go to harvard if they were accepted.</p>
<p>The the OP: your logic is flawed. Here's an example that makes your mistake less subtle.</p>
<p>College C wants a freshman class of 1000 people. They admitted 2000 people. Let's say their yield is always exactly 50%. Of the 2000 admits, lets say 900 definitely are coming. So that leaves 100 spots for 1100 admits. If we apply the average yield, that means an additional 550 people would be admitted. However, we have to remember the the 50% yield figure also includes the 900 kids who are definitely coming. Once you take out those, the number will obviously go lower.</p>
<p>How can you apply a 50% yield rate to kids who are DEFINITELY coming? That doesn't make sense. Saying that they're definitely coming would imply a 100% yield rate for those students.</p>
<p>Good god, your math is mind-boggling. Instead of jostling those poor numbers about, why don't you go fall in love with the school you're going to??</p>
<p>Hear hear, Mallomar. It's what I've been doing with Duke, and it's working out quite nicely. Just get yourself wicked excited for somewhere else, and if you get off a waitlist, great, but if not, so be it.</p>
<p>Your math is flawed. Your information is also flawed.</p>
<p>First, the math. The average yield takes into account the higher yield from those with full financial aid. Once that part of the yield is taken out, the yield rate for the rest of the population is lower.</p>
<p>Second, the information. The financial aid initiative is not new this year. So previous yield rates should not have changed.</p>
<p>daulity, my apologies, you're right the yield for the other 75% should be lower than 80%. However, the "information" part is still correct...the HFI is not new, but before the cap was $40,000 and I believe this is the first year it has been raised to $60,000</p>