<p>Sam Lee,</p>
<p>Good points - I’m not sure how much ED impacts accept rate and yield. My suspicion is that it impacts accept rate pretty marginally (maybe a few percentage points) and it impacts yield a bit more significantly (perhaps offers, say, a 5% boost or so). In the ultra-competitive admissions game, however, a difference of a few percentage points can be meaningful. I’d be surprised if UChicago’s administrators aren’t now very happy that their accept rate is closer to Princeton or Stanford’s than it is to NU’s or Cornell’s. Similarly, I imagine the accept rate - sad as it may be - provides easy signalling to the outside world (“look at us! We only accept 8% of applicants!”). Moreover, I think NU’s administrators are quite happy that the 13.9% accept rate keeps the school in striking distance of Duke and Penn, and the office would be deflated if the rate went from, say, 14% to 18% because of a change in policy. These percentage points make a difference in this game, and schools are pretty cognizant of who they want their peers to be. </p>
<p>An additional note about ED: I imagine it significantly decreases labor and costs in an admissions office. If NU dismissed ED, it’s conceivable that it’s applications would increase by ~20%, and the yield would be more of an open question. This would force an admissions office to read more applications and focus more of their energy in wooing accepted students. That’s a costly and time-consuming game. ED is much neater: all those who are accepted attend.</p>
<p>My larger issue here, though, is to look at it from the applicant’s angle rather than the college’s angle. I still don’t think limiting choice for those (the students) who already may lack the ability to make sound decisions is a good move. I strongly prefer a no-strings attached EA policy (or, really, I wish colleges just had one, equal round of admissions - that would be the best situation for applicants). </p>
<p>Consequently, I don’t draw much difference between heavy marketing or heavy use of ED. They both serve the school’s purpose very well, but don’t do much for applicants.</p>