Colby is poised to have the lowest acceptance rate of any LAC this year

[Anonymous]

sorry can't see them not applying to those schools as well

[Anonymous]

A lot of these schools with ultra low acceptance rates are soliciting and getting a lot of (garbage) international applications. This is the dirty secret of admissions and few schools break it out. People would be shocked at what percentage of applications are international now at many schools (think half). A tiny pct of international applicants get in. In some cases domestic applications are not even going up now- the growth is all international. The schools rarely provide this breakdown because it exposes the shambolic nature of the super low acceptance rates. The fact that no one is talking about it shows they are doing a good job distracting us with other explanations like no supplements. INTERNATIONAL is why this is happening!

[Anonymous]

Huh. I remember getting their brochures as a high schooler and considering them…but of course, it’s in MAINE!

Similar to why I didn’t pursue Smith.

That said, schools in warm weather states also tend to have crazy conservative governments and laws, so I am not as opposed to the cold states for my own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these schools with ultra low acceptance rates are soliciting and getting a lot of (garbage) international applications. This is the dirty secret of admissions and few schools break it out. People would be shocked at what percentage of applications are international now at many schools (think half). A tiny pct of international applicants get in. In some cases domestic applications are not even going up now- the growth is all international. The schools rarely provide this breakdown because it exposes the shambolic nature of the super low acceptance rates. The fact that no one is talking about it shows they are doing a good job distracting us with other explanations like no supplements. INTERNATIONAL is why this is happening!

No. Please don't insert xenophobia into this discussion. Apart from Ivies and associated universities, the number of international applicants at US colleges is low. The reason is that none of them are well-known outside of the USA! The university with the most international applicants is NYU, because so many people have heard of NYC.

Don't use the word "garbage" and "dirty" when referring to foreigners.

- foreigner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so it’s all about no app fee? wes amd midd have no supps and don’t get these numbers. could they be fudging numbers?

Also, Hamilton, Grinnell, Colgate have no supps as well.

As far as I can tell, none of these schools do tons of marketing to prospective students, nor do they push people to apply ED or spend a lot of time talking about their acceptance rates (or at least Wesleyan and Midd don’t, the two we’ve toured).

Sounds like the application fee is just one element of Colby’s game.

Grinnell has both no supps, no fee.

I agree the Colby's game. but for last several years, Colby's yields were pretty good. Last year was around 54%.
I think the high yield means a lot. If people apply only for no fee and no supps, the yield shouldn't be this high comparing with other SLACs.

I think that when a kid applies to groups of SLACs, Colby will almost never be the first choice. I could see them being ahead of Bates or St Lawrence, but I could never see them getting a kid who also got into Williams/Mid/Bowdoin and I can't see a kid who applies to Colby applying to those schools as well.

I did not say Colby would be the first choice all the time. The yield rate is higher than other SLACs. I see many kids applying Williams/Amherst/Bowdoin are not their the first choice, either. They aims Ivys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these schools with ultra low acceptance rates are soliciting and getting a lot of (garbage) international applications. This is the dirty secret of admissions and few schools break it out. People would be shocked at what percentage of applications are international now at many schools (think half). A tiny pct of international applicants get in. In some cases domestic applications are not even going up now- the growth is all international. The schools rarely provide this breakdown because it exposes the shambolic nature of the super low acceptance rates. The fact that no one is talking about it shows they are doing a good job distracting us with other explanations like no supplements. INTERNATIONAL is why this is happening!

No. Please don't insert xenophobia into this discussion. Apart from Ivies and associated universities, the number of international applicants at US colleges is low. The reason is that none of them are well-known outside of the USA! The university with the most international applicants is NYU, because so many people have heard of NYC.

Don't use the word "garbage" and "dirty" when referring to foreigners.

- foreigner.

While OPs comment is a stretch, it is true that at many LACs, international applicants constitute a big percent of overall applicants. Most LACs don't post data about this, but one of Colby's peer LACs does- Colgate.

38% of Colgate applicants were international. Only 3% were admitted. https://www.colgate.edu/admission-aid/apply/first-year-class-profile

[Anonymous]

It's called the common application. All you have to do is hit the button.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The investment that school is making/has made in the past couple of years is unbelievable. The athletic center is like something you’d see in the Big Ten. Up and coming is the phrase that comes to mind.

Right? Toured it in summer 2021 and I still can't get the shiny gleam of it out of my mind on a hot, sunny day.

DC didn't like the school and I think that was due to the tour guide, who can be the most unpredictable variable in this process.

Will be interesting to see how things turn out in their collaboration with the adjoining town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, those saying Colby is an "over-rated school", that is BS, it is as relatively fine as any in the Nescac. It has an excellent faculty as all Nescacs do, and a top record of professional and grad school success.

Second, acceptance rate is not included in the USN rankings, so this has nothing to do with Colby "gaming" anything.

Third, and most importantly, a top college decides to make an expensive and difficult process a little cheaper and easier on you and your kids, and you are effing complaining about it.

Unbelievable. You people are unbelievable.

I have no opinion on whether Colby is “overrated” and generally think it’s a crappy way to talk about schools. But a very small school actively soliciting tons of applications then making a big deal about their low acceptance rate doesn’t feel right. Why is it great that they are making applying easier if it just means more kids get rejected? Are they using the increased application access to significantly diversify their student body or welcome more low-income students? If not, it’s hard to see how this is positive for anyone except Colby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's called the common application. All you have to do is hit the button.

This. No fee and no supplementals means zero downside to applying. We'd have to be very lucky to afford Colby and DD knows it, but she'll still click the button because there is no reason not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these schools with ultra low acceptance rates are soliciting and getting a lot of (garbage) international applications. This is the dirty secret of admissions and few schools break it out. People would be shocked at what percentage of applications are international now at many schools (think half). A tiny pct of international applicants get in. In some cases domestic applications are not even going up now- the growth is all international. The schools rarely provide this breakdown because it exposes the shambolic nature of the super low acceptance rates. The fact that no one is talking about it shows they are doing a good job distracting us with other explanations like no supplements. INTERNATIONAL is why this is happening!

No. Please don't insert xenophobia into this discussion. Apart from Ivies and associated universities, the number of international applicants at US colleges is low. The reason is that none of them are well-known outside of the USA! The university with the most international applicants is NYU, because so many people have heard of NYC.

Don't use the word "garbage" and "dirty" when referring to foreigners.

- foreigner.

While OPs comment is a stretch, it is true that at many LACs, international applicants constitute a big percent of overall applicants. Most LACs don't post data about this, but one of Colby's peer LACs does- Colgate.

38% of Colgate applicants were international. Only 3% were admitted. https://www.colgate.edu/admission-aid/apply/first-year-class-profile

It’s not a stretch at all. International apps have been growing double digits. Domestic have been flattish.

Here Amherst reveals that some 30 percent of applicants for class of 2022 were international. But that was 5 years ago! So it must be much higher now.
https://www.amherst.edu/admission/apply/international/enrollment

My comments were not meant to be xenophobic. I don’t care how many international students apply, more or less the same number will be accepted. When I said garbage I just meant they were very unlikely to be accepted - didn’t mean to be insensitive.

Anyone who has an inside look at what is going on with admissions knows international is THE story when it comes to acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, those saying Colby is an "over-rated school", that is BS, it is as relatively fine as any in the Nescac. It has an excellent faculty as all Nescacs do, and a top record of professional and grad school success.

Second, acceptance rate is not included in the USN rankings, so this has nothing to do with Colby "gaming" anything.

Third, and most importantly, a top college decides to make an expensive and difficult process a little cheaper and easier on you and your kids, and you are effing complaining about it.

Unbelievable. You people are unbelievable.

I have no opinion on whether Colby is “overrated” and generally think it’s a crappy way to talk about schools. But a very small school actively soliciting tons of applications then making a big deal about their low acceptance rate doesn’t feel right. Why is it great that they are making applying easier if it just means more kids get rejected? Are they using the increased application access to significantly diversify their student body or welcome more low-income students? If not, it’s hard to see how this is positive for anyone except Colby.

I understand that Colby had diversified greatly over the last few years, and they also made a point about changes to their financial aid.

This article was about a previous president trying to diversify the school, and those efforts have continued: https://www.highereddive.com/news/colby-college-president-oversees-application-spike-amid-focus-on-diversity/405343/

When we visited, I had the sense that administrators were trying to re-steer a ship that had been homogenous for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these schools with ultra low acceptance rates are soliciting and getting a lot of (garbage) international applications. This is the dirty secret of admissions and few schools break it out. People would be shocked at what percentage of applications are international now at many schools (think half). A tiny pct of international applicants get in. In some cases domestic applications are not even going up now- the growth is all international. The schools rarely provide this breakdown because it exposes the shambolic nature of the super low acceptance rates. The fact that no one is talking about it shows they are doing a good job distracting us with other explanations like no supplements. INTERNATIONAL is why this is happening!

No. Please don't insert xenophobia into this discussion. Apart from Ivies and associated universities, the number of international applicants at US colleges is low. The reason is that none of them are well-known outside of the USA! The university with the most international applicants is NYU, because so many people have heard of NYC.

Don't use the word "garbage" and "dirty" when referring to foreigners.

- foreigner.

While OPs comment is a stretch, it is true that at many LACs, international applicants constitute a big percent of overall applicants. Most LACs don't post data about this, but one of Colby's peer LACs does- Colgate.

38% of Colgate applicants were international. Only 3% were admitted. https://www.colgate.edu/admission-aid/apply/first-year-class-profile

Interesting. I noticed that Colby’s online info sessions were in morning and afternoon (vs evening at most places). That would help with international student recruitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, those saying Colby is an "over-rated school", that is BS, it is as relatively fine as any in the Nescac. It has an excellent faculty as all Nescacs do, and a top record of professional and grad school success.

Second, acceptance rate is not included in the USN rankings, so this has nothing to do with Colby "gaming" anything.

Third, and most importantly, a top college decides to make an expensive and difficult process a little cheaper and easier on you and your kids, and you are effing complaining about it.

Unbelievable. You people are unbelievable.

I have no opinion on whether Colby is “overrated” and generally think it’s a crappy way to talk about schools. But a very small school actively soliciting tons of applications then making a big deal about their low acceptance rate doesn’t feel right. Why is it great that they are making applying easier if it just means more kids get rejected? Are they using the increased application access to significantly diversify their student body or welcome more low-income students? If not, it’s hard to see how this is positive for anyone except Colby.

I understand that Colby had diversified greatly over the last few years, and they also made a point about changes to their financial aid.

This article was about a previous president trying to diversify the school, and those efforts have continued: https://www.highereddive.com/news/colby-college-president-oversees-application-spike-amid-focus-on-diversity/405343/

When we visited, I had the sense that administrators were trying to re-steer a ship that had been homogenous for a long time.

Low acceptance happens in almost all SLACs and top universities nowadays. It is new normal, not Colby specific.

https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/class-of-2027-admission-results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so it’s all about no app fee? wes amd midd have no supps and don’t get these numbers. could they be fudging numbers?

Also, Hamilton, Grinnell, Colgate have no supps as well.

As far as I can tell, none of these schools do tons of marketing to prospective students, nor do they push people to apply ED or spend a lot of time talking about their acceptance rates (or at least Wesleyan and Midd don’t, the two we’ve toured).

Sounds like the application fee is just one element of Colby’s game.

Grinnell has both no supps, no fee.

I agree the Colby's game. but for last several years, Colby's yields were pretty good. Last year was around 54%.
I think the high yield means a lot. If people apply only for no fee and no supps, the yield shouldn't be this high comparing with other SLACs.

I think that when a kid applies to groups of SLACs, Colby will almost never be the first choice. I could see them being ahead of Bates or St Lawrence, but I could never see them getting a kid who also got into Williams/Mid/Bowdoin and I can't see a kid who applies to Colby applying to those schools as well.

My kid applied to all of these (and I know many other kids who did as well). She got into Midd and Colby and chose Colby. We didn't necessarily agree with this choice at the time, but now we get it and think she made the right decision. We've been very impressed with the school, and she's had a great experience and is getting a top-notch education.