How do you think about acceptance rate?

NiceUnparticularMan
Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:07:56 +0000

dad9000:

My guess would be no essay would increase applications more than the app fee would decrease

That certainly seems to be how it worked at our feederish HS. It seems like a lot of people “added” RD applications to Middlebury once they did not get into their ED1/REA/SCEA school. And part of the reasoning is it was so easy to do that.

And to my knowledge, every one of those kids got waitlisted or rejected. Waitlistings seemed particularly popular.

So I am not sure how Middlebury knows, but it does seem to know when kids from high schools like ours are doing something like that. And yet it seems happy to encourage them.

And I suppose some of those waitlistings eventually work out. Not a lot–Middlebury in the 2023-24 CDS offered 2778 waitlist spots, 2734 accepted a spot on the list, but that only turned into 36 admitted.

By the way, Carleton only offered 782 a waitlist spot, only 356 accepted, but then 35 were admitted. Very comparable outcome with a very different path.

Anyway, either way I assume these colleges all value those waitlist admits. So if their respective strategies are working for them, I am not going to question it.

But I also think in practice, you should understand your last-minute throw-in easy RD app to Middlebury may be basically applying for a spot on their waitlist.