<p>Wildcatalum and SamLee:</p>
<p>The changing view on ED has been fascinating. When the plan first kicked off in the 90s, it was highly controversial because it limited student choice quite severely. Additionally, studies indicated that ED provides an advantage, generally, to wealthy applicants who are savvy enough (and have the tools/capabilities necessary) to use this program. </p>
<p>Personally, while many folks on this board laud ED, I think it’s overly restrictive. It’s great for the universities, but not great for the applicants. Additionally, when schools take higher and higher percentages of the class ED, it squeezes out potential RD accepts who simply didn’t have the resources to make such a choice and use ED.</p>
<p>SamLee, you mentioned that UChicago’s approach (lots of mass marketing) has sometimes been viewed in a negative light. I should preface my comments by saying I’m a loyal UChicago alum, and I also think NU is a great school. Personally, it’s a little silly to determine which approach - sustained marketing or heavy use of ED - is more “respectable”. The fact of the matter is, all schools want an ultra-low accept rate and a high yield. Schools decide on varying approaches for many reasons, but I don’t think one approach is “more respectable” than another. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is, if NU could increase marketing and outreach, and also zoom up into the top 5 or 10 of the rankings, it’d do so in a heartbeat. I don’t think it’s a sense of honor or civility that’s holding it back. Rather, increased marketing and admissions expansion is very pricey. Of late, UChicago’s lavished a LOT of resources into it’s admissions department. Make no mistake, UChicago’s admissions dean, James Nondorf, is very well compensated. The admissions office is also huge. The marketing budget is massive.</p>
<p>I imagine that NU, like UChicago, is trying to make the best decisions with the resources available, but both schools have very much the same goals in mind. Admissions is a bit of a cutthroat game. Both mass marketing and ED policies are quite self-serving for an institution, but universities don’t hesitate to use these measures. I imagine, for example, that UChicago would use ED, but for the general desire now to spread the word about the school - which means, as is a classic phrase in advertising: marketing, marketing, marketing. NU would love the chance to spread the word about it’s own offerings too, if that was more of a possibility. </p>
<p>Again, the end goals are the same, and I imagine more than a few admissions officials look upon Nondorf and his office with admiration, because he’s been given a king’s ransom to make it all happen and drop the accept rate into the single digits. If other schools were in a position to do the same, they probably would.</p>