<p>So this is what i think, the schools aren’t going to take all great students with 1500s, b/c these students are applying to other schools, so just like us picking colleges, colleges also gotta pick safties for themselves, so people’ll attend their school. So they’ll probably pick a few ppl like myself with 1400 to ensure that they have students attending their school next year. So that’s y we are seeing 1500s being rejected while 1400s being accepted :)</p>
<p>i think your theory is flawed</p>
<p>The schools know some of the 1500s will go to other schools so they admit them and others like you. They go over the # spots available to make sure they get enough that choose Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Also, the essays have a large influence, so a person with a 1480 with great essays would probably be chosen over a person with, say, a 1530 and not-so-great essays.</p>
<p>Oh.My.God.</p>
<p>Newby- that is my exact theory, too. That is so weird. I totally believe it, too (I also think it applies to many other top universities/colleges). ;)</p>
<p>In the “Revealed Preference” paper, they also demonstrate how it appears to inflence admissions decisions at Princeton over a period of years.</p>
<p>The “elites” used to divide all of the top students so that each got ones they wanted and each student got into a college. the fed gov’t said that they can’t do that anymore. it violates the anti-trust laws because it takes the choice away from the student. The AdComms shy away from that kind of thinking now</p>
<p>I don’t agree,</p>
<p>This could be true if it were not for the fact that EA applications reflect similar numbers. Take a look at the EA rooster.</p>
<p>hah, rooster</p>
<p>the EA rooster is an elusive if beautiful bird.</p>
<p>you’ll hear him call, cookadoodle do
<<as he=“” spies=“” his=“” hens,=“” and=“” counts=“” blessings=“”>></as></p>
<p>I don’t think that theory explains it. </p>
<p>Instead, I think you would be surprised at how mind-numbingly boring some of the applications from high-stat kids really are. There are all sorts of things that would blow you right out of the water, no matter how high your stats are:</p>
<p>a) lukewarm recommendations</p>
<p>b) saying that you chose the college because it’s prestigious and it’ll help you make a ton of money when you graduate</p>
<p>c) nothing on the application that gives any sense of personality or any picture of how the applicant might add some zest to the campus community</p>
<p>d) an application that just screams, “I’m a self-centered jerk.” Writing your personal statement about summering at the family villa on the French Riviera is probably a good way to put yourself in this pile!</p>
<p>And so on and so forth. Some schools are stat-hogs and will take a high stat kid no matter what. But, most of the better schools run as fast as they can from certain types of applications.</p>
<p>Would some1 like to define the Tufts Syndrome for me? Thanks! lol</p>
<p>My understanding of “Tufts Syndrome” is when a good school that is not in the top 10-15 (i.e. Tufts) rejects a 4.0/1600 because they think they will be wasting an acceptance. (They think the applicant will probably also be accepted to, say, Princeton, and go there instead.) It is a way of increasing their yield.</p>
<p>^^increasing yield while decreasing acceptance rates. works both ways for the school</p>
<p>lol I like this theory - my sat =1400 :P</p>
<p>This phenomenon - the existance of which was long suspected by some applicants and guidance counselors - had the national spotlight focussed on it by a long Wall Street Journal article a few years ago.</p>
<p>(“How Colleges Reject the Top Applicants – and Boost their Status”</p>
<p>by Daniel Golden, The Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2001, p. A1.)</p>
<p>The article noted that critics of college rankings often express the concern that schools may skew their policies in response to the formulas used to rank them. Indeed, according to this article, some colleges have begun to place applicants perceived as “overqualified” on the waiting list, while offering admission to students who are objectively less qualified but considered more likely to enroll. The practice has become increasingly common among schools perceived as just below the top tier. The article says that last year Franklin and Marshall College rejected 140 of its top applicants, because they had not interviewed with the school or otherwise demonstrated interest in attending. Past admissions experience suggested that such students were not likely to enroll.</p>
<p>It may be that such schools are just being realistic. But there is a curious benefit to such policies, which have the effect of increasing acceptance rate and admissions “yield” (the percentage of those admitted who ultimately enroll). At that time, acceptance rate and yield figures counted for 1/4 of the selectivity score in the U.S. News & World Report College Rankings. The article estimates that changes in these numbers could move a school up or down several positions in the rankings.</p>
<p>The schools have additional data to back up their policies. Many now employ consulting firms to help manage the admissions process. The consultants have developed statistical models that use intended major, extracurricular activities, and other demographic variables - including that applicant’s zip code (!) to predict whether an applicant will enroll if accepted. In some of these models, when an applicant’s test scores exceed the median for the school, the predicted chance of enrolling goes down.</p>
<p>This theory is why Reed refuses to submit their data to the rankings.</p>
<p>They think rejecting top applicants to manipulate data to get a better ranking is insane. So do I.</p>
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<p>Now, this gets at the heart of the issue. It’s not a “managing yield” issue. Rather, when a student is NOT interested in the school, the application usually screams “not interested”. This is the point I was trying to make about bad, boring applications that give zero indication of a student who would add a spark to campus life. </p>
<p>There are five or six colleges that don’t care. Most colleges look for students who have researched the school, determined a good “fit”, and can communicate specific reasons for their enthusiasm. This whole issue speaks to the folly of picking colleges from the ranking lists rather than looking for individual matches. For example, Dartmouth and Columbia are ranked similarly and look superficially similar “on paper”. But, I see no way that the same student could fall in love with both. In a similar vein, loving both Stanford and Harvard defies imagination. Couldn’t be more dissimilar in terms of undergrad experience.</p>
<p>I’m not so sure all undergrad applicants look at colleges the same way you assume they ought to.</p>
<p>In recent years, Harvard has had a larger overlap pool with Stanford than with any other school.</p>
<p>Most top applicants - I think - just want to know they will be surrounded by other bright people. They care very little whether they will be surrounded by Taco Bell architecture or Georgian Revival architecture.</p>
<p>Most students can be happy anywhere. Very few admits to elites ever seek to transfer, and most become loyal alums of whatever school they end up at.</p>
<p>I think this whole “fit” thing is grossly overrated. Likewise, almost any applicant could be equally happy at Dartmouth, Princeton or Duke or Columbia. Most 18 year olds are quite adaptable…</p>
<p>I agree with you, Byerly, because I think that people make their own happiness. So yes, you can be happy with the character of most any school, provided you are at the appropriate academic level.</p>
<p>But in terms of geography, well… for some people it doesn’t mean anything. There is no way I could ever live in, say, Florida, because I am dramatically uncomfortable with extreme heat. I think there are some people who truly wouldn’t be be able to survive a New England winter, and don’t have the inclination, and they would probably be happier elsewhere.</p>
<p>But yeah over time I have come to agree with you that “fit” is something of a misnomer. It’s almost contradictory. Why should you have to prove in an application that you are a good “fit” for a school, and that you also bring diversity?</p>