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Well, I have heard those ‘in the know’ explain it several times and have never heard the term ‘standard deviation’ used as a part of the explanation nor have I ever heard them use the term ‘lucky’. The recent addition of the waiting list has probably alleviated all their concerns at the expense of a few very late notifications. As an aside, I am sure you can agree, that the later the notification the greater the chance of a candidate having already committed to Plan ‘B’.</p>
<p>Actually, the ratio of offers to acceptances is a much better indicator of a school’s selectivity than is applications to acceptances; it is easily compared to civilian institutions; and it varies very little from year to year. Probably something they track and analyze very closely.</p>