<p>Since the number of accepted EA students was dropped sharply from 885 to 742 (*** lol) that means that Yale is anticipating a higher than ever RD applicant pool and wants to save 100 or so more spots for the RD round, perhaps to do some damage mitigation, so instead of 18.5% and 5.7% (EA then RD), we have 13.1 and 5-7%ish RD. </p>
<p>This year, Yale was much more selective about who they deferred. They deferred LESS and they different more qualified students - meaning with an attempt to keep the RD rate the same, deferred acceptance rate is going to be HIGHER than it was last year. Because the deferred student pool is better this year, and less spots have been filled - many deferred students are ones that I am sure Yale already has spots saved for.</p>