Haverford vs. Barnard vs Smith

calmom
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 00:36:35 +0000

Did these schools get twice as good in the intervening years, or did their students get twice as competitive?

I’d argue that the diminishing acceptance rates are actually an indication of decreased quality of student body, at least potentially, because it forces the ad coms to make more superficial decisions and also to makes it more difficult for them to shape their incoming class, often forcing them to focus more on yield-prediction than on the quality the particular applicant. The same types of students are applying, but also an entire array of additional students, many of whom are not likely to attend who are accepted. So somewhere along the line very well qualified students who are great fits for the school and would love to attend are being waitlisted or rejected because their apps have been overshadowed by apps from students who have no intention of attending.

ED can mitigate against that somewhat -the ED pool is smaller and by definition consists of students who will attend if admitted; but of course ED excludes a whole class of capable students who need to factor financial aid into their college decisions.

I think University of Chicago provides an excellent example. The year my daughter was accepted, there was a 33% admit rate, down from 40% the previous year. Now it’s in the single digits – has Chicago gotten better? Or has the increase in popularity instead diminished some of the unique factors that made Chicago stand out? I don’t know, but I my guess is that some of what made Chicago stand out academically from its competitors may have dissipated along with the school’s increased popularity.