<p>A very interesting discussion about yield. There are so many variables that go into yield that is is nearly impossible to find “similar” schools to compare to each other. Do they have ED ? Price? How “demonstrated interest” focused is their acceptance? Lots of toehr variables also.</p>
<p>However, when you do find comparable schools with a similar applicant pool then maybe there is one big factor that highly influenced yield - Actual cost to attend.</p>
<p>Take Carnegie Mellon for example, CMU is no doubt a highly ranked school, yet a lower yield than many of the other top private schools. Maybe that has a lot to do with the fact that they do NOT guarantee to meet financial need. Are the “need blind” for admissions (I don’t know the answer) but if they are then maybe many accepted students go elsewhere because the aid at CMU falls short by comparison to other top schools’ offers.</p>
<p>I would say yield should not be much of a concern when selecting a school, but maybe in some cases it does shed some light on their process, aid, etc. However, if they have a competitive offer for YOU then why would you care if others didn’t find their offer as compelling in the final choice?</p>