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Stanford will no longer announce undergraduate application numbers
Dave_Berry
CC Admissions Expert Posts: 2,797 Senior Member
"Stanford’s policy shift is intended to help de-emphasize the perceived importance of low admit rates at colleges and universities. The university will continue to publicly report application data to the federal government at the end of the admission cycle." ...
https://news.stanford.edu/2018/08/30/stanford-will-no-longer-announce-undergraduate-application-numbers/
https://news.stanford.edu/2018/08/30/stanford-will-no-longer-announce-undergraduate-application-numbers/
Replies to: Stanford will no longer announce undergraduate application numbers
(I wonder something similar about UChicago RD, i.e., why bother. And Harvard? Please.)
I'll have to think some more, but I'm not sure that not reporting is really beneficial to students.
In addition, if Stanford continues to report to the government, the rate will end up in the NCES website eventually anyway - it won't go unnoticed.
If Stanford were really concerned about their admit rate being too low it would stop doing ANY marketing/outreach to any students. No emails, no glossy mailings. Full stop.
It feeds the false belief that an outstanding education is only available at the most selective universities/colleges;
Many outstanding programs are not even reviewed as they do not belong to the "top 20;"
Stanford would like applicants not seeking just prestige, but seeking a creative place to grow.
Their position makes perfect sense to me. The hype surrounding selectivity is making their job more difficult and it is damaging the entire process. I'm old enough to remember the very successful "lion-hearted" Chrysler ads from the '50's. The more horsepower, the better the vehicle? One popular metric should never define the selection process.
Thank you Stanford! You are trying to bring the discussion back on point!
The question is: why this opaqueness? My guess is to encourage even more applications. The vast majority of applications to a school like Stanford are—or should be—doomed from the start. But the retort is “you never know—why not apply?” Downplay the odds to get some additional applicants. Sort of like encouraging people to buy lottery tickets?
So, it is the talented students who don't apply. The best way to do is probably accepting the beat ones.