And don’t forget the Tufts syndrome, which helps the yield a lot. My son got rejected by Tufts this year, though he got into a bunch of ivies and other schools ranked way higher than Tufts.
@hzhao2004 most schools with the resources to do so will utilize predictive modelling to decide who to recruit, admit, and provide merit aid to, with the goal of lowering admissions operating cost and increasing yield.
It sounds like Tufts predicted that your son would not attend if offered a spot; I don’t see a problem with this. Looks like you didn’t either:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18306150/#Comment_18306150
No one can say Tufts Syndrome exists, in general. Although Tufts, itself, is in a very difficult competitive position, with H and M next door. So many kids cannot adequately describe their interest in a school (or reflect their match.) And so many kids applying to certain schools have the same picture, may even come predominantly from the same areas. Lots of reasons kids don’t get an admit.
The adcoms I know do not use predictive modeling for admit decisions. One can’t assume all kids with top stats are all equally “qualified,” or that they do a great job communicating on the app. All the focus on stats distracts.
“They just sort of accidentally used the stats of the accepted students rather than the admitted students.” Most schools tell you they refer to stats and other details for matriculated kids.