Why does Harvard defer so many applicants?

@ibanker38 My calculation is the way Harvard and every Ivy college calculates their overall acceptance rate.

https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■/2016-ivy-league-admissions-statistics/

The real acceptance rate without counting the deferred applicants from SCEA in the RD round review is around 6.7%, not 5.6%. Therefore, every high-ranked college has an incentive to DEFER many kids in their Early Decision round to artificially lower their overall acceptance rate. If Stanford uses the same tactic of deferring 80% of their REA round applicants, their acceptance rate would be below 4%. lol