<p>Question: At the gym yesterday, another mother on the adjacent Stairmaster told me that her daughter is going to apply Early Decision to her first-choice college this fall, but–if she’s deferred–she’ll apply to another college (presumably her second choice) during an “ED II round.” If admitted, she won’t wait to find out if the first […]</p>
<p>[View</a> the complete Q&A at CC’s Ask The Dean…](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/what-is-early-decison-ii-is-it-ethical-how-about-wise.htm]View”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/what-is-early-decison-ii-is-it-ethical-how-about-wise.htm)</p>
<p>EDII is largely used by schools that try very hard to manage their yield numbers to position themselves better in the USNWR rankings. You rarely find it among top schools, Tufts is one notable exception that I know of. Tufts also uses another interesting tactic to manage their yield even more — before offering spots to applicants on the waitlist they apparently contact them and ask for confirmation that they will accept if offered a spot. Sure, the “confirmation” is non-binding, but I found that approach a bit on the iffy side. I did not make this up, go to the Tufts board and scroll back to the messages in the May/June time frame, you will find several posters who disclose the same pattern. Even schools that do not technically use waitlists have sneaky tactics to in effect have one — spring admission. USC is an example that this year offered spring admission to what looked like several very competitive candidates, only to move the ones who were most desirable to fall admission once the summer melt began.</p>
<p>Is it ethical? Sure, as long as they disclose the implications. Education is a business after all, despite the alleged non-profit status of most institutions. They sell, and whoever bites the sales pitch buys.</p>
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<p>Uh-oh, GroovyGeek … you’re going to ruin the day for a lot of admission folks, and probably some students and parents, too ;)</p>
<p>Even if you won’t find double-doses of ED at the Ivies,many schools that I’d call “top” do offer it. In addition to Tufts, which you’ve already mentioned, the list of ED II colleges includes Swarthmore, Middlebury, Colgate, Pomona, Emory, Smith, and Claremont McKenna. (More where those came from, but that’s a decent sampling.)</p>
<p>“before offering spots to applicants on the waitlist they apparently contact them and ask for confirmation that they will accept if offered a spot.”</p>
<p>This is not unique to Tufts either.</p>
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<p>I can get pretty cynical about the admissions process, too. (Some days are worse than others, and today doesn’t seem to be one of the bad ones. :)) </p>
<p>But, even though, those confirmation phone calls can, arguably, be called a way to help “manage yield,” they’re primarily just used for expediency for all concerned–not to tweak results that will help with rankings.</p>
<p>Once an admission office decides to use the wait-list, there’s a lot of juggling that has to go on in order to keep the desired balance (both in terms of class composition and finances). Phone calls help to move this process along more swiftly and efficiently. For instance, if admission folks determine right away, via phone calls, that three full-pay candidates are not likely to accept an offer of admission, they may move down the line to other applicants who may need more $$$. This, in turn, could affect which other wait-listed candidates will receive offers next. The same can be true in other areas as well (e.g,. gender balance). </p>
<p>Thus, telephone check-ins result in a speedier resolution than even e-mail can provide. They can also help colleges to snag students who may be wait-list elsewhere, too.</p>