@runswimyoga - hah! I’m an alum of both Chicago and Penn, and I assure you that no significant “insider” information is shared between admissions offices and their general alumni base. I’ve called both admissions offices in the past, and attended info sessions for both schools, and only receive the company line. Some scraps of information may be shared with either students or those with higher levels of access to alumni admissions committees (of which I have none). That’s why I posted here - seeking posters who have this info.
@VeryLuckyParent makes a good point - that prestige-chasing students may turn down Penn for MIT or Chicago early (as these three schools are all at about the same level, or, in some circles, Chicago and MIT are more coveted), and THEN these students take a stab at Harvard et. al RD. The problem with this analysis, though, is that the numbers don’t back it up. Any given year, there are what, maybe 6 or 7 students TOTAL who play this game? It doesn’t seem like enough to create a policy with negative buzz.
I’m still baffled by the change, and it drops Penn’s admissions office in my eyes. I was a significant opponent to ED generally, and having RESTRICTIVE ED is just worse. Further, it just weakens the quality of the ED pool, all to chase what, a 0.3% bump in ED yield?
The cynic in me says that, yes, Penn is that prestige-conscious and that concerned about yield that they’re willing to make such a negative, restrictive move. They are so frightened of losing the 3-4 kids to MIT, and the 1-2 kids to Chicago in the ED round each year, that they’re willing to create a new policy to bump up yield, at the COST of a less talented ED applicant pool. It smacks of bad gamesmanship. To me, it makes Chicago (with EA, and ED1 and ED2) and Penn (with restrictive ED) the worst in terms of admissions practices.
This may be a by-product of both schools being arguably the most insecure when it comes to admissions at this level. As opposed to MIT (or Columbia, or Stanford), these two schools are relative newcomers to ultra-competitive admissions. Penn only became selective at the top run 10-12 years ago, and at Chicago, it’s only been at this level for 4-5 years.
On the flip side, kudos to MIT and Cal Tech for refusing to play the game!