New Admission Ideas?

Applying to College
1

<p>So, im wondering what your thoughts on the following ideas are. </p>

<p>More and more schools are recieving more and more applications, especially with the introduction of the Common App to some schools (most notably Penn and Northwestern, who switched to Common App and had about a 20% increase in applications)</p>

<p>How much more does demonstrated insterest count for these schools and most schools recieving a huge increase in applications?</p>

<p>Also, i was deferred ED to Penn… in order to help matriculation rates and percentages, do you think that Penn and other colleges who deferred people ED will accept more of the deferred ED applicants to help matriculation rates? Obviosuly a low matriculation rate looks awful for the school</p>

<p>and does this step up level of interest to most colleges considerably? i mean, i would think colleges would want to admit the kids who want to go there instead of the kids who dont mind spending an extra 50 bucks</p>

2

<p>

Not quite. Penn accepts a lot of students ED to lower the overall admission rate and bring up the yield rate, but the acceptance rate after a deferral is only about 10%.
I also think that the level of demonstrated interest (as long as it does not result in a sluggish application or a refusal of an interview offer) does not matter much for this schools. Do you think that someone who visits Harvard or Penn ten times has a better shot than someone who just visits once? I doubt it.</p>

3

<p>Demonstrated interest does not count at ivies. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t say keep in touch with profs in your areas of interest or coaches who may not have filled their teams ED. </p>

<p>The overall number of applicnts is up so it’s doubtful they are going to take more deferred applicants. Their numbers approach is pretty sophisticated.</p>

4

<p>As others have said, demonstrated interest in the common sense–visiting/contacting/harasssing, in some cases, the college and admissions people–does not count at all at Ivies and other highly selective schools. That is how it should be, in my opinion–if it counted, it would strongly favor students well-off enough to visit campus and attend summer programs there, and sophisticated enough to keep up with admissions people and package themselves that way. </p>

<p>However, there is another sort of demonstrated interest that <em>is</em> important and does not favor wealthy/sophisticated students: the interest that a student shows (or does not show) through their essays, short answers, application, and interviews. A student who appears to be passionate about a school in these arenas can in some ways set themselves apart from the (perhaps typical) applicant who only applied to Harvard because it is Harvard. This demonstrated interest, as well as the extra attention that a truly serious applicant will put into their application, are part of the whole package that pushes someone towards admission. When colleges say that they do not consider desire to attend, they don’t mean that an obviously uninterested applicant has nothing to worry about–you better show some spark.</p>

5

<p>i was more referring to interest showed via application, as advantageous was talking about…</p>

<p>bottom line it: are colleges, with the ^^^^ in apps going to be more likely to accept kids who they are more sure will matriculate? i.e. will a college accept more E.D. kids who got deferred becuase they will most likely matriculate?</p>

6

<p>As Suze said, no, they likely won’t take a higher percentage of ED applicants. There is a higher number applying this year period. If the interest/fit in your application bowled them over, you would have been accepted in the ED round.</p>

<p>Don’t forget that deferred legacies, development candidates and athletes have the leg up for being reconsidered in the ED round.</p>

7

<p>Well, I wouldn’t say that for sure…at some schools (I don’t know about Penn), the admit rate for deferred early applicants is higher than the general RD admittance, but that is attributed to the higher average level of applicant who applies early. In other words, the close but not quite kids who were deferred early look better when the RD group comes around. It’s not a huge advantage, though (probably a few percentage points at best), and with Penn’s huuuge increase in apps, I’m guessing that they are not going to have too many worries about yield this year. Sorry!</p>

8

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<p>Both Penn and Northwestern strongly stress looking at applicants who want to attend.</p>

<p>For Penn:
According to an interview with Lee Stetson, Penn’s Dean of Admissions, in the Atlantic Monthly in 2001: “We have had a policy in place for close to thirty years that legacy applications are given special consideration only during early decision.” The reasoning is that if a legacy candidate is not sure enough about coming to Penn to apply ED, then Penn has no real stake in offering preferential consideration later on. “Years ago many children of alums were not viewing Penn as their first choice, so they didn’t apply early,” he said. “We said we were willing to give them a measure of preference, but only if they were serious about coming.” It made sense, he added, for Penn to extend the policy to applicants in general: if they are extra serious about Penn, Penn will make an extra effort for them. “We’ve been very direct about it,” Stetson said. **“Everybody likes to be loved, and we’re no exception. Everybody likes to see a sign of commitment, and it helps in the selection process.” **</p>

<p>For Northwestern (from a Fall 2005 look at their admission process):
The first reader spends 12 to 15 minutes with an application, reviewing the file in four major categories — academics, with attention to rigor of the curriculum and test scores; initiative, with a focus not only on activities, but also leadership, engagement and recognition; communication, specifically an evaluation of the applicant’s short-answer statements, “Why NU?” response and 400- to 500-word personal statement; and motivation, with emphasis on contacts with the University, personal connections and overall enthusiasm for Northwestern.</p>

<p>“Once we determine a candidate is academically viable, then it really does become a human process,” says assistant director of admission Tom Menchhofer. “Clearly we like students who like us, and that comes across in the essays, the letters of recommendation, the student’s knowledge of and interest in the University, their activities — the passionate side of the application.”</p>

<p>As an example, in the article, this was what was said of an applicant being evaluated by an admissions officer: On the writing portion of the application, Eckels connected with Byrne on the “Why NU?” response, where Eckels discussed his meeting with Collins. “He was really enthusiastic about Northwestern,” says Byrne. “That came through.”</p>