<p>Personally, I think that D’s acceptance rates are going to be ridiculously low this year. I have a few reasons why I think this is true. I know some of these arguments have been made in separate threads, but here is a condensed version:</p>
<li><p>Acceptance rates are always getting smaller as more and more people apply to more and more schools, especially the ivy’s.</p></li>
<li><p>The high school class of 2008 is an unusually large one. It is well documented that they are expecting a huge surge in college applications.</p></li>
<li><p>Dartmouth had an unusually high yield rate last year, and they had too many students enroll. Consequently, they will most likely try and balance out these numbers by accepting a smaller class this year. They are also more likely to under accept because of the recent trend of higher yield rates.</p></li>
<li><p>Dartmouth has been having quite a bit more exposure this past year. For one, the President has received notoriety for his work with encouraging soldiers to pursue a college career. Dartmouth hosted a presidential debate (likely to increase the number of politically active students to the school). Drinkin’ time is a very popular video on youtube. Stephen Colbert makes the occasional reference to being an alumni of Dartmouth (but not really). 2 Main characters from this summer’s blockbuster Superbad talk about going to Dartmouth next year. (Please note: I already understand that individually, most of these will have little impact on admissions, but between all of these, it could have a substantial impact)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So, feel free to post your comments/predictions, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Dartmouth saw a drop in acceptance rates from 15% to 10-12%.
…Boy did I pick a bad year to be born.</p>