I actually thought about that and wondered what impact that would have on yield. I continue to believe that a good majority of ED spots go to athletes. Anyway, I asked Gemini to sort the NESCAC by % of total student body who are varsity athletes:
Based on enrollment and athletic participation data for the 2024–2025 academic year, the following rank order lists the 11 NESCAC schools from the lowest to the highest percentage of undergraduate students who are varsity athletes.
Generally, schools with larger student populations, such as Tufts and Wesleyan, have a lower density of athletes, while smaller campuses like Bowdoin and Williams reach higher percentages due to having many varsity teams relative to their smaller student bodies.
Seems like the % of athletes as a proxy for students who commit ED would very much affect yield. Though I’m sure there is other nuance to it that is not immediately observable from a big data scoop, it’s a decent rough cut and I know of no other hooked group that uses up ED spots like athletics. Whatever the case, many NESCACs are overperforming in yield relative to their ED% (again, using the total athlete population % as a proxy for ED %) while others are underperforming or maintaining par.