Our first impact on enrollment from a very selective college:
Some highlight:
13% taking a gap/ leave (15.4% for freshman & 11% for entire student body)
71% returning to campus (rest remote)
It seems the waitlist is not helping in managing enrollment and this will be more of an issue at lower ranked schools. This is why so many schools are expected to close.
Anecdotal but last week my son was talking to a kid about being roommates this fall. The next day the kid got off MIT’s waitlist and is going there. This is late July. I’m surprised. That could be normal but I don’t think it is. I can only imagine what other, lower ranked schools are going through.
I know it’s about the money but honestly, schools should’ve had a cutoff date like mid-July and gone with what they had at that moment. It would’ve hurt individual schools but it would’ve helped collectively by creating stability.
Some info on undergraduate students at Rice (from an email to faculty and staff):
Rice is doing a phenomenal job of communicating with the students and families. Typically approximately 75% of students live on campus in one of the residential colleges - they have reduced the number of available beds (primarily in dorms with shared hall bathrooms and by making one of the dorms an infirmary) but have not instituted a policy about who is allowed to live on campus (aside from ensuring any freshman who want to will have a spot).
All classes will be offered in a hybrid format (both on-line and in-person).
The late waitlist is causing all types of headaches for all schools as they wait for the top schools to close them. I wonder why Williams has had such a big hit compared to Rice? With time I think as schools report we will see the impact this pandemic Has had on enrollment across undergrad and graduate
@airway1 I was curious about that too - seeing the Williams data made me want to go back and look at the Rice info. Maybe how each school is managing things?
@DCCAWAMIIAIL when was the email sent? A lot has changed if early July… Houston is now a hotspot so fall start will give us a better picture
It was sent on July 28th after students had to respond to a binding “survey” of their plans. I think the freshman had until yesterday to respond so maybe their numbers weren’t totally finalized.
For what it’s worth, MIT said yesterday:
https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/we-will-not-be-taking-anyone-from-the-wait-list-this-year/
@everygreens article came out Yesterday. Good chance they took people off the waitlist and closed it
@DCCAWAMIIAIL doubt it will change plus Rice will use tents if I am not mistaken.
Having 13% take a gap year is hardly an issue in “managing enrollment”. In fact, it is likely helpful, since there will be many fewer student studying abroad this year, meaning that more room will be required in residence halls.
Moreover, these 70 students are so, will be added on next year, which will help manage next year’s yield.
Finally, smaller “lower ranked” schools will also have many fewer students who demand a “college experience”, and fewer will decide to take gap years because the college is online.
If you look at the data, you can very clearly see that the students who take gap years are the more affluent students. Part of what “rank” indicates is the income of the students who attend the college. A college which is dominated by lower income students would also have many fewer who will even be able to take a gap year.
@mwolf I understood 13% from the total enrollment not just freshman. I could be wrong
How do you reach this conclusion? What would the rates have been without a waitlist (and where did you get that data)?
@richinpitt ITs a guess from the fact that most waitlists are still open (Harvard included) And we are in August (not sure we have ever seen this)… Harvard MBA with the use of their waitlist has a class 25% smaller…
Vs
The above gives you some indication of how admissions offices are having problems managing enrollment this year.
Minnesota took 2000 off the waitlist (compares to 100 last year)
On the lower end Wyoming will be down by 20% as of July 13 (less 1900 undergrads)
Expecting a few announcing a small class even with the use of the waitlist as right now the waitlist is just shrinking another schools freshman class as one gets pulled from the waitlist while the pool is the same and international students are having visa issues or need to be allowed to do online by their sponsors
By saying “we will not be able to admit any students from our wait list this year,” the MIT release indicates that this applies to the entire cycle, and that no wait list applicants have been or will be admitted this year. If this is the case, reply #1 introduced a mystery.
There was a Boston Globe article two days article that had the deferral numbers for Harvard, Williams and a few others. Harvard was at a 20 percent deferral rate. Unclear how the wait list will be used to fill the gap but heard students are still being admitted off the wait list at Harvard and Stanford. If the class is filled in this manner, the overhang will penalizes new applicants for two to three years.
One other issue is how the gap year back log will impact diversity and first gen numbers in the next few years, since the students who can afford it take gap years are disproportionately not diverse.
Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Swarthmore and Williams Colleges – will not be collaborating on admissions decisions or on financial aid. They are offering joint programs on the coronavirus, explaining the faculties, undergraduate research, financial aid, campus life and applying to college during the pandemic.
Since the poster heard it from their son who heard it from his friend, there are many ways in which a misunderstanding could occur.
Very possible. I was skeptical. I assumed that MIT’s yield would be very high and not much need for a waitlist. That said, I don’t think either had any reason to lie. I believe the other student was an OOS CS student at Georgia Tech.