Sober Advice from a Georgia Tech Admissions Officer on Admissions This Year

[Anonymous]

Ran across this blog post by the director of undergrad admissions at Georgia Tech,

https://sites.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2021/02/25/predicting-yield-in-2021-everyone-shorts-it/

His bottom-line advice is copied below.

1- If you applied to a handful of selective colleges, don’t be surprised if you get waitlisted this year. If you are so angry that you want to write them off, don’t accept your spot on the waitlist. If you can put your ego aside and temper expectations (since hundreds, or possibly thousands of other kids are also on the waitlist), deposit elsewhere and sit tight. Don’t expect to come off the waitlist, and don’t expect much financial aid if you do. In some cases, you will be pleasantly surprised on one or both counts. But set your expectations based on fiscal reality and statistics.

2- When you get accepted (or if you already have been) ask your questions. Colleges need students, now more than ever. Yield is what it’s all about and you are precious to the places that offered you a spot. Want to know about a deposit extension? Gap year policies? Financial aid reconsideration? Fall plans for course delivery? It’s all on the table, so ASK YOUR QUESTIONS!

[Anonymous]

not interested in this school anymore!

[Anonymous]

His advice is not specific to Georgia Tech.....

[Anonymous]

All the "experts" are predicting massive use of WL (which may drag on into the summer).

Hang on for a wild ride, folks! Yield forecasting is a mess this year.

[Anonymous]

I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

[Anonymous]

Why is this? Why the big WL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

Obviously I don't know your school but these are the colleges that I am rooting for. The uber selective ones wiill always have students and most of these students would do great no matter where they attend due to family advantage. The less selective schools are more important to our society to provide post secondary education to our future workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

Obviously I don't know your school but these are the colleges that I am rooting for. The uber selective ones wiill always have students and most of these students would do great no matter where they attend due to family advantage. The less selective schools are more important to our society to provide post secondary education to our future workforce.

Not sure which one you teach at but many will fold. There are few people who have 50-80k a year to spend on a non elite university!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is this? Why the big WL?

Because schools can not depend on their historic data that guides their yield predictions- all that is out this window this year with record increases in applications. Kids, on average, applied to many more schools than ever before, but can only enroll at one. To protect their yield and make sure they do not over enroll, or offer too many spots to kids who choose to go elsewhere and damage their yield %, they will slowly admit into the class of '25 and use the WL. At least that is what all the higher ed talking heads are predicting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

Obviously I don't know your school but these are the colleges that I am rooting for. The uber selective ones wiill always have students and most of these students would do great no matter where they attend due to family advantage. The less selective schools are more important to our society to provide post secondary education to our future workforce.

Not sure which one you teach at but many will fold. There are few people who have 50-80k a year to spend on a non elite university!

this. Once you exit the elite schools and the SLACs where parents are willing to buy the experience, it starts to become more and more of a value proposition and a generic not very selective private university has to justify their price vs. a generic third tier in state university and that's a hard thing to do.

[Anonymous]

This is a tough year, if a student already has an acceptance at a nice school they will be happy at, they are in a good position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

Would you mind telling which school so some of us can apply this fall. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hasn't this ALWAYS been the case with waitlists? Thousands put on them, a few come off. The Common Data Sets show this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

Would you mind telling which school so some of us can apply this fall. Thanks

There was a thread with numbers. Most schools were down. Just the top 50 or so that everyone obsesses about here are up.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/948117.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at a not very selective private college and applications are down by a staggering number. It is alarming. I hope that we see more students when they aren't admitted where they thought they would be, but not counting on it.

Obviously I don't know your school but these are the colleges that I am rooting for. The uber selective ones wiill always have students and most of these students would do great no matter where they attend due to family advantage. The less selective schools are more important to our society to provide post secondary education to our future workforce.

Not sure which one you teach at but many will fold. There are few people who have 50-80k a year to spend on a non elite university!

You vastly overestimate the cost of college, especially for people who don’t have a ton of money. Many/most of these schools discount very heavily. My non-elite student got acceptances from schools in the 50-80 LAC range with tuition discounts dropping total cost below $30k. I get the donut hole problem but if you aren’t getting a tuition discount you aren’t applying to the right colleges.