Is this "Apply-To" List Balanced?

Hapworth
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 21:56:47 +0000

Techno13:

Haha! If Whitman were in Boston or even Seattle the acceptance rate would drop to 10% instantly.

I believe that this is what the book CTCL says, though not in those words, of course. It’s been a few years since I read the book, but I seem to remember the editor (no longer Loren Pope) saying something like Whitman is a bit more selective than most of the schools featured in CTCL, but because there’s this sense that few people know about Whitman (even those who are aware of LACs), it’s included in the book anyway.

I slightly disagree that Whitman’s acceptance rate would drop significantly if it were in Seattle. Honestly, take a look at the yield rates for the PNW LACs. People love the idea of the PNW, but students from New England, the mid-Atlantic, and even the Midwest typically only head west if the destination is CA. The result is that Willamette, Lewis & Clark, U of Puget Sound, and Whitman (and even Reed to a certain extent) have yield rates that are sort of shockingly low. As an example, Cornell College in IA appears to have a higher yield rate (20%) than Whitman (16%).

True, yield only matters to admissions offices (students and families rarely know or care about this, nor should they), and in other years, I believe, Whitman’s yield has been higher (I also Googled the information, so perhaps the info is inaccurate?). But the point remains: Whitman should be a top destination but is seriously overlooked.