<p>oh my god how is it possible that he is still debating this?? did your daughter not get into stanford? if not we’re sorry, apparently she’s still going to a damn good school.
there are sooooo very many students that got into stanford as well as harvard, yale, blah blah. how is it rational for you to suggest that stanford accepted students based on their likelihood to attend instead of accomplishments? that would imply that us “underqualified” students who did get in because we seemed likely to go there wouldnt have gotten into those other schools in such VERY large numbers. stanford’s process is more random? yes. but just because you dont understand the underlying reasons for a student’s acceptance (which is quite reasonable since you dont get to read applications, all you get to see are our stupid posts on college confidential) you assume they rejected the most qualified applicants knowing they would go to other schools (which again is kind of impossible because they didnt reject them, they accepted them as did harvard and the rest.)</p>
<p>their yield goes up? it might be due to the fact that stanford is stanford. if this has no value, then what is the value of attributing any sort of prestige or recognition to a school? again you make no sense. it is unreasonable and even stupid to suggest that a school like stanford would reject the most qualified applicants unless they explicitly demonstrated they wouldnt go there. they do things differently at the admissions commitee, but they’ve done quite well so far.</p>
<p>the main reason why your argument has no value is this: the most important factor that will determine a school’s reputation among its peers and to the world, the thing that makes harvard harvard (same goes for all elite schools), etc, is not how high their yield rate is. it is the accomplishments and contributions of a school’s students and faculty that determine how good a school really is. in fact when compared to this, yield rate seems pretty superfluous, dont you think?<br>
i think based on this it is reasonable to say that stanford worries most about accepting students that are more likely to change the world, as their students have done and continue to do, than about accepting students that will make their yield rate look good.</p>