saranac

There is no charge for submitting an online application. There are no add'l essays to the common app. Therefore you can apply, for free, at the push of a button. I know many people who apply with no intention of attending, figuring, why not. Don't know how much of an impact this has on yield but it can't help.

leeran

Ahoo2u is right, at least in my case and for those who need FA to attend a private.

ACT: 34
GPA: 3.88 UW (lots of AP, honors, 3 years part-time job)
EFC: approx 9500

Total FA from AU: $23,500 (20K scholarship)
Total FA from GW: $41,500 (26K scholarship, 9K grant, Stafford, Perkins and work-study)

Throw in better academics/ranking, "better" location, and tuition/scholarship/grant guarantees, and AU was not an option for me over GW. I love AU (visited multiple times) but it is not a reality if you aren't rich or in the extreme top of the applicant pool.

Elysium49

i found the opposite to be true of the GW AU comparison on FA....GW basically gave me nothing. They gave me no financial aid(which is a joke) and I recieved the 15,000 presidential scholarship(which left the school at an amazingly affordable 40,000 dollars). I went to talk to the admissions counselors, the honors department, and the financial aid people and was told that I recieved the largest scholarship available.

American gave me the 27,000 dollar scholarship, making it an actual option for me at around 20,000 dollars. I've found AU to be extremely helpful with Financial matters whereas GW was not at all.

For the low yield rate....its probably just because of the level of college that American is. I applied to and was accepted at numerous colleges within the same league as American. IT was a hard decision to choose american...and I had to turn down multiple other schools. I'm sure this same thing happens to american in reverse just as often.