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<p>You are assuming the “stats” make much difference. I don’t think they do in the pool of white female Swarthmore applicants because essentially all of them pass a threshold of good enough stats. The numbers are so small that it all the other factors that make the difference. They are trying to build a class so of all academically qualified white female applicants, they are trying to fill the slots: muscians, athletes, community service, science research, somebody to run Olde Club, somebody from Alabama, and so forth. To just say, “this girl had great stats and got waitlisted” ignores a whole range of issues that the admissions office can see and we can’t.</p>
<p>My daughter’s stats weren’t as good as some of these so-called Tufts Syndrome kids. She was probably an Academic 2 – probably about average for Swarthmore. She got in because she “stuff” she had done that would make a Swarthmore admissions officer take notice. I’m sure there were plenty of applicants her year with better “stats”. </p>
<p>Swarthmore’s very high stats actually argue against Tufts syndrome. Obviously, they are accepting plenty of high-stat kids.</p>
<p>The only “stat” that “Tufts Syndrome” even impacts is yield and that’s not even counted in any guidebook ranking. If Swarthmore felt the need to bump their yield, they would do it the old-fashioned way (accept more Early Decision).</p>