Harvard and Stanford have 80 percent yield rates, but they don’t get the most applications. That is not because most applicants are not interested in Harvard and Stanford, but because the overwhelming majority of applicants understand that it is a waste of time for them to apply to Harvard and Stanford due to the fact that they have a zero point zero chance of getting in.
The most applications always are going to be filed at the schools that are well regarded, yet where admission is conceivable for the most applicants. Let’s use Boston University as an example. A large school in a well regarded city with lots of open seats for freshmen every single year.
For some applicants (the ones with a chance at Harvard and Stanford and the like), BU is a good safety choice just in case they don’t get into one of the super-competitive colleges. That means 10-15 thousand applications in the door, none of whom really want to go to BU.
For a larger group of applicants, BU is a match. Maybe not the first choice for all of them, but an admissions match. There’s 20 thousand more applications in the door. most of the ones where BU will get their entering class.
And for many more applicants, BU is a major reach but “why the heck not give it a try, its in Boston and its big so at least I have some chance of getting in.” There’s 25 thousand more applications, most of whom don’t have much chance of getting in.
So BU gets 55 thousand applicants. It has to accept 20 thousand of them them to fill its class, because it has a yield rate of only 20 percent. Ultimately, I don’t think the number of applicants BU gets reflects that it is the most popular private college in America.
Again, I like Wes and my older D considered it, and my other D will be applying to it. But I don’t think touting this particular statistic does much good.