Which Colleges/LACs employ tactics aimed at artificially increasing applications & reducing admit rate vs assessing fit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why schools are incentivized to do this, it’s almost like people judge the quality of the school solely on how low their acceptance rate is.

I mean if that were true, schools would pull out all the stops to get applications no matter what.

Acceptance rate is one of the metrics that determines US News & World Report ranking. Northeastern is famous for increasing its marketing and simplifying its application to draw in more applicants. It features in Jeff Selingo’s book, Who Gets In and Why.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a bit peeved by how much Yale has sent my nmsf. He has no chance of getting in yet they've sent more than a handful of mailings including a thick book. Other Ivys sent maybe one to two max. Case Western has been relentless sending 2-8 postcards a week and always at least two on the same day. Today he got a letter from Vanderbilt (which he has no interest) asking him to apply and discussing scholarships. Colgate and Trinity University have also sent quite a bit of mail.

Georgetown doesn't seem to play the same game and is one place he is interested in applying.

My kid also an NMSF got the thick Yale book too!

[Anonymous]

I think some have built the application fee into their budget.

UCLA received 173,000 applications last year. The fee is $135. So they took in almost $24 million in applicant fees minus however many had waived fees. 24 million is a drop in the bucket at the institutional level but a very big deal at the department level for an admissions office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown fills up its class with more than 50% early decision admits, so does BC which is 65%, Boston University is 66% Barnard 60% of freshman are early decision, Middlebury 68%, Claremont McKenna 67%, Vanderbilt 50%.

Northeastern only fills up its freshman class with 43% early decision admits. Myth busted.

Perhaps because not that many people apply ED binding to Northeastern because it's ... Northeastern?

This thread isn't about how popular ED is. It's about how the college does things like: 1) have zero supplemental essays so the application is 0% effort after you've made a common app personal statement, 2) have zero additional requirements - interview or optional video, 3) offer fee waivers liberally or just waive application fee altogether, 4) offer non-headquarters campus starts (at satellite locations or abroad) so they aren't counted in the admission stats. All of these tactics either encourage non-serious candidates to apply just so they can have more applications on record, or in the case of #4 hide some admission data that doesn't help their numbers.

Northeastern does all 4. So yeah myth is NOT BUSTED AT ALL.

What drugs are you on? Northeastern's ED applications have skyrocketed in the past decade. 3,466 applied early decision in 2024. This year it's over 4,000. Not bad for a plucky former commuter school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brown fills up its class with more than 50% early decision admits, so does BC which is 65%, Boston University is 66% Barnard 60% of freshman are early decision, Middlebury 68%, Claremont McKenna 67%, Vanderbilt 50%.

Northeastern only fills up its freshman class with 43% early decision admits. Myth busted.

The estimate I saw for Northeastern in 2024-2025 is 56% admitted through ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown fills up its class with more than 50% early decision admits, so does BC which is 65%, Boston University is 66% Barnard 60% of freshman are early decision, Middlebury 68%, Claremont McKenna 67%, Vanderbilt 50%.

Northeastern only fills up its freshman class with 43% early decision admits. Myth busted.

The estimate I saw for Northeastern in 2024-2025 is 56% admitted through ED.

2024-2025 CDS. https://uds.northeastern.edu/facts/common-data-set/

1,492 admitted Early Decision
2,759 freshman enrolled
54% of the class is ED


BU
https://www.bu.edu/asir/files/2025/03/cds-2025-c.pdf
1,936 admitted Early Decision
3,268 freshmen enrolled
59.2% of the class is ED

BC
https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/bc1/offices/irp/ir/cds/Boston_College_CDS_2024-2025_Final.pdf

1,434 admtted Early Decision
2,394 freshmen enrolled
60% of the class is ED

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U Chicago has been sending mail to my son urging him to apply. He would absolutely never get in. I can only think they're doing this to boost applications so they can remain super selective.

100 percent happening to my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown fills up its class with more than 50% early decision admits, so does BC which is 65%, Boston University is 66% Barnard 60% of freshman are early decision, Middlebury 68%, Claremont McKenna 67%, Vanderbilt 50%.

Northeastern only fills up its freshman class with 43% early decision admits. Myth busted.

Perhaps because not that many people apply ED binding to Northeastern because it's ... Northeastern?

This thread isn't about how popular ED is. It's about how the college does things like: 1) have zero supplemental essays so the application is 0% effort after you've made a common app personal statement, 2) have zero additional requirements - interview or optional video, 3) offer fee waivers liberally or just waive application fee altogether, 4) offer non-headquarters campus starts (at satellite locations or abroad) so they aren't counted in the admission stats. All of these tactics either encourage non-serious candidates to apply just so they can have more applications on record, or in the case of #4 hide some admission data that doesn't help their numbers.

Northeastern does all 4. So yeah myth is NOT BUSTED AT ALL.

What drugs are you on? Northeastern's ED applications have skyrocketed in the past decade. 3,466 applied early decision in 2024. This year it's over 4,000. Not bad for a plucky former commuter school.

Heavy marketing to international applicants selling Boston location and newly lower admission rate (heavily manipulated to defer and not accept truly high stats folks who would never accept & free and easy applications for all to encourage more casual appliers). In 2024, nearly 10,000 applications from Northeastern were actually non-US internationals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown fills up its class with more than 50% early decision admits, so does BC which is 65%, Boston University is 66% Barnard 60% of freshman are early decision, Middlebury 68%, Claremont McKenna 67%, Vanderbilt 50%.

Northeastern only fills up its freshman class with 43% early decision admits. Myth busted.

Perhaps because not that many people apply ED binding to Northeastern because it's ... Northeastern?

This thread isn't about how popular ED is. It's about how the college does things like: 1) have zero supplemental essays so the application is 0% effort after you've made a common app personal statement, 2) have zero additional requirements - interview or optional video, 3) offer fee waivers liberally or just waive application fee altogether, 4) offer non-headquarters campus starts (at satellite locations or abroad) so they aren't counted in the admission stats. All of these tactics either encourage non-serious candidates to apply just so they can have more applications on record, or in the case of #4 hide some admission data that doesn't help their numbers.

Northeastern does all 4. So yeah myth is NOT BUSTED AT ALL.

What drugs are you on? Northeastern's ED applications have skyrocketed in the past decade. 3,466 applied early decision in 2024. This year it's over 4,000. Not bad for a plucky former commuter school.

Heavy marketing to international applicants selling Boston location and newly lower admission rate (heavily manipulated to defer and not accept truly high stats folks who would never accept & free and easy applications for all to encourage more casual appliers). In 2024, nearly 10,000 applications from Northeastern were actually non-US internationals.

Northeastern kept spamming my kid with an application waiver offer. Almost did induce him to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan keeps their RD application open until Feb 1 which is 2 weeks beyond any other top40 school. All the kids who are rejected or waitlisted EA from Wisconsin, UVA, UNC, Texas, Clemson, Indiana, etc can turn around and apply to Michigan. As such they get their apps up to 100K.

Kids that are rejected from Wisconsin, Clemson, Indiana are not getting into Michigan. UVA, UNC and Texas do have a lot of cross-admits, but they aren’t waiting until RD to apply. Michigan’s apps got up to 100k after they won the national football championship. Huge bump for all colleges when they win and get a lot of exposure--Notre Dame, Auburn, Georgia, etc.

I never said they were getting in but they 1000% are applying after they get rejected or waitlisted at these other schools. I know a half dozen such kids who applied to Michigan RD last year who had been rejected from other lower-ranked EA schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a bit peeved by how much Yale has sent my nmsf. He has no chance of getting in yet they've sent more than a handful of mailings including a thick book. Other Ivys sent maybe one to two max. Case Western has been relentless sending 2-8 postcards a week and always at least two on the same day. Today he got a letter from Vanderbilt (which he has no interest) asking him to apply and discussing scholarships. Colgate and Trinity University have also sent quite a bit of mail.

Georgetown doesn't seem to play the same game and is one place he is interested in applying.

My kid also an NMSF got the thick Yale book too!

I think the thick Yale book is triggered by an SAT over 1500. My kids (twins) each got one once their score exceeded this number but were sent the book about 4 months apart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a bit peeved by how much Yale has sent my nmsf. He has no chance of getting in yet they've sent more than a handful of mailings including a thick book. Other Ivys sent maybe one to two max. Case Western has been relentless sending 2-8 postcards a week and always at least two on the same day. Today he got a letter from Vanderbilt (which he has no interest) asking him to apply and discussing scholarships. Colgate and Trinity University have also sent quite a bit of mail.

Georgetown doesn't seem to play the same game and is one place he is interested in applying.

My kid also an NMSF got the thick Yale book too!

I think the thick Yale book is triggered by an SAT over 1500. My kids (twins) each got one once their score exceeded this number but were sent the book about 4 months apart.

According to the Yale podcast, a high SAT is pretty much required for admission. A 1500 really won't cut it.

[Anonymous]

Williams College must have bought some list because the emails don't stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a bit peeved by how much Yale has sent my nmsf. He has no chance of getting in yet they've sent more than a handful of mailings including a thick book. Other Ivys sent maybe one to two max. Case Western has been relentless sending 2-8 postcards a week and always at least two on the same day. Today he got a letter from Vanderbilt (which he has no interest) asking him to apply and discussing scholarships. Colgate and Trinity University have also sent quite a bit of mail.

Georgetown doesn't seem to play the same game and is one place he is interested in applying.

My kid also an NMSF got the thick Yale book too!

I think the thick Yale book is triggered by an SAT over 1500. My kids (twins) each got one once their score exceeded this number but were sent the book about 4 months apart.

According to the Yale podcast, a high SAT is pretty much required for admission. A 1500 really won't cut it.

I have listened to the Yale podcast and I think you're misremembering or maybe confusing this with a different podcast. Yale does not require the SAT at all - you can submit just ACT or just AP scores instead. It's called "test flexible." And, they also say that they glance at the scores to provide additional info, but after that your score is not going to get you in or keep you out. There is no cut off and since an SAT is not required, your bolded statement is not correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Wesleyan dropped supplemental essays 10 years ago and they have no interviews/videos and don't track demonstrated interest. They now get 15,000 applications for 3000 spots.

2. Colby dropped supplemental essays, no interview, no optional video. Calls people on WL and asks them to verbally commit 100% before giving an offer.

3. University of Denver gives out waivers for free application, no supplementals.

4. Northeastern has no supplemental essays, no interviews/videos, has application fee waivers if you visit.

Wesleyan has interviews. I do them. There are others w no supplements. I don’t think Middlebury does.