This question is most likely superfluous, but what percent of applicants make it out of sub committees? I’m just trying to analyze admissions statistics to pass the time (I find solace in numbers).
I doubt it’s published.
Only thing I know is that all legacy applications are passed out of sub committees. That is the only perk that legacy applicants get. You are not denied at the subcommittee level. Doesn’t mean you’ll be admitted though, just that you get a full read.
@Tperry1982 Cite your sources please. Also, what do you mean by “a full read”? Are you suggesting that there are applications that are rejected before a human eye has thoroughly examined them?
@bulldog2017 Mother Yale has told its alumni parents (through continual alumni communications) that our kids who apply get an additional review by one of the higher level Admissions deans if initially it appears headed for rejection. Whether this is to mollify the masses is unknown. They’re still being rejected at ~80% rate
Thank you @T26E4. What a full read means is that the application is not stopped at the regional level where a lot of applicants are denied. Human eyes see all 30,000+ of them. Legacy apps go to the full admissions committee where the vast majority of them are still rejected at a rate of almost 80%. But at least they get that far. Like T2 said, it is to mollify us alumni parents. If you are a member of the Class of 2017, one day you will be one of those parents who will expect their alma mater to at least do that much for your kid’s application.
And my source is that I have been an alumni interviewer for over 25 years and have taken training by the Admissions Office on numerous occasions. I am well versed in the process. Also, since my kid just went through this, I also know how it works.
Tperry – just to veer a bit – I do not believe all legacy apps go to full committee. Clearly there are many in that pool that don’t merit the time of the full committee. What I’ve heard is that a senior admissions official will look over early rejected legacy applicants *just in case.
@Tperry1982 What else do you know about legacy admissions? I’m curious because my dad went to Yale, and I applied.
The lore is that being a legacy can heal the sick but not raise the dead. In my opinion, it helps a modest amount. I think it probably helps a little less than legacy parents would like to think, and a little more than everybody else would like to think.
At a school where non-legacy acceptance rate is sub-8%, a 20% acceptance rate sounds pretty good. And while one might argue that the legacy applicants are very qualified, according to Harvard admissions, over 80% of their applicants are qualified, so I would assume that the same holds true for Yale.
@T26E4 that may be true. I just know that legacy get a little extra read. Trust me, we all know the reality is that they are still rejected in stellar proportions.
@alpaca97 - all I know is that over 80-85% of legacies are not admitted. That being a legacy does not in any way smooth your path into Yale and that you have to be just as on top of things as other applicants. I think students get regular legacies mixed up with legacies like George Bush. Unless you’re the legacy child of a President, I think nothing really gets you past the AdComs if you are not imminently qualified. All the legacy kids I know at Yale bust their butts to be there, just like the rest of their classmates. And once there, with the exception of being able to choose your parent’s residential college, your legacy status is a non-issue. Good luck. I know your dad is pulling for you!!
@tperry1982 The other train of thought I had is that legacies aren’t necessarily accepted at a higher rate than others because of any sort of special privilege. When parents are smart enough to get into schools like HYP, I figure that the apple can’t fall too far from the tree. The kids are probably smart too.
I agree. It is also that some of them, like my D, has been on that path since birth. Though for most of my classmates, very few had kids that were even interested in attending Yale. But you are right, Yale parents tend (and I mean, tend) to be a little better off economically so that they can position their kids to go to a top tier school.
The other piece of lore is that Yale legacies get into other top Ivies at about the same rate that they get into Yale. I think a lot of it is that legacy parents have a better than average idea of how to put together an effective application package for schools like that.