<p>I think a more aggressive use of ED and securing a high number of full-pay <em>high-stats</em> students in the early round might actually enable the University to admit more low-income students (who might have slightly weaker records on average) overall. One reason for this is that wealthy kids won’t take away from the FA budget and can even add to it (in the case of applicants with wealthy parents). In addition, their stats can also compensate for the weaker records of their lower-income peers. Admitting high-stats applicants in the early round can give Admissions the security it needs to take lower-stats applicants without hurting the overall stats. NU Admissions has been pretty aggressive lately in trying to recruit low-income applicants, but what would be the use of that if they can’t take them in large numbers anyway? Having a critical mass of full-pay high-stats students that you know will enroll could be one solution.</p>
<p>In addition, securing a greater percentage of the class ED could help create a stronger campus culture, increase the giving rate in the long run, and increase the selectivity (lower the overall admit rate) while increasing the yield at the same time. It’s not a secret that the more exclusive a place is, the more it can attract the best and the brightest. This is true of applicants across all socioeconomic groups, so maybe this is one way Northwestern can pull low-income students away from other elite schools in even greater numbers.</p>