Assume it was possible to limit the number of schools incoming freshman applied to in the college admissions process. How would this change the landscape? The effect of over-applying has certainly had a negative impact on admissions, and it feeds its own frenzy. Everyone knows someone who was denied admission to their number one choice, only to see another student from their same school not accept the spot they were offered. What if each student could only apply to 5 schools? Would this shift the schools you applied to? Would it help admissions officers make better decisions? How do you think that would play out?
There would be less waitlisting, since schools would have a better handle on who was really interested, and higher yields, since students wouldn’t have so many acceptances to choose from.
The most selective schools would have fewer applicants, cause the cost of risk would be higher
I agree, the waitlists would be reduced. I am in California. What if students ranked the UC campuses and one single application went to all the UCs? Then each campus could better evaluate who to admit and reduce the crazy waitlists. It would be more like a “match method” similar to medical school grads finding residency programs.
People would definitely craft better applications and lists. If you only get five shots, then they had better be good. You will not get too many “just because” applications. Waitlisting would go down, and acceptance rates would go up due to fewer applicants. “Tufts syndrome” (if it truly exists) would be reduced.
What is Tufts syndrome?
This is an excellent idea. I bet Stanford’s acceptance rate will be around 50%, and the yield is around 90%. Good for both schools and students.
That’s the British system.