Do you think it will be easier than usual to get in REA at, let’s say, Stanford, due to the implications of COVID? The most important factor that SAT/ACT testing has been pushed back. Many of those who have not yet taken it did not get a spot in the August or September or even October dates.
Would this make the REA pool smaller, thereby increasing chances of admittance for qualified applicants?
The pool may be bigger. There could be a flight to “quality”.
Also, the size of the pool may not actually impact your likelihood of admission. Admissions doesn’t approximate a random draw for all. There is a group that has near certain admissions. Another group has zero chance at admission. Both are insensitive to changes in pool size. Unless something happens to international students, I don’t see the absolute size of the top group changing. The only people that care about the bottom group are the admission rate junkies. Will the pool size of the group that approximates a random draw increase or decrease? I have seen arguments for both.