<p>Dear Rastaman : This is an incredibly important data point and thank you for sharing with the forum. The article cites 34,051 applications last year with approximately 25,000 in this application season. Now, what conclusions can be drawn from these numbers?</p>
<p>[1] Is that decrease of 9,000 applications strictly tied to the introduction of the new essay?</p>
<p>[2] What is the estimate of how many of those 9,000 would have attended Boston College if the supplemental essay had not been required?</p>
<p>[3] Is there any concern over 9,000 x Application Fee not being part of the upcoming fiscal year budget?</p>
<p>At the end of the day, it could be said that the resulting 25,000 applications are “more interested” in actually attending Boston College. What happens to the final numbers in the acceptance pool for the Class of 2017 remains to be seen.</p>
<p>The yield percentage from this year’s acceptance pool will be a telling number on the value of the supplemental essay.</p>