<p>At least for colleges, legacies are more likely to yield. I don’t know if it holds true for prep schools. I’d assume accepted students with significant FA are more likely to yield. A certain amount of insight comes from the application, I’d think. Day students are more likely to yield, as most parents would prefer to have their kids home. If the teachers get to send their kids to the school, they’ll usually attend, unless the parents prefer the local public, or there are specific reasons to choose another school. And they know the history of applications from their feeder schools. For example, I would expect Pike students to be very likely to accept Andover’s offer. So for many students, they may have choices, but the admissions people can predict quite a lot. They may use waitlists for kids they’d love to have, but feel are unlikely to get. Colleges have been accused of using waitlists to keep admissions rates low.</p>
<p>This site isn’t a representative sample. And many posters disappear on March 10th.</p>