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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Bates had a huge jump in applications, I think they went up 45% and admit rate went way down as a result.[/quote]

How odd.[/quote]

Why is this odd?  Bates is an amazing school and they are investing a LOT in the campus - so many new buildings from dorms to a new science center coming up.  Bates was also the number one producer of Fulbright award recipients this past year for LACs.  The jump was largely due to the fact that they dropped their extra essay - which is something their peer schools did ages ago - so it will now be on par going forward.  Many other schools in NESCAC are test flexible or optional so that's not a big deal and Bates has been like that since the 80's.[/quote]

If Bates wants to be a top LAC, then dropping the essay is the wrong way to go. Most of the top 10 LACs require an essay.

For an example of a school which was actually hot despite not changing much, Bowdoin with its 25% app increase stands out. [/quote]

Was at Swathmore where admissions said they used to require an additional essay but dropped it when applications dropped i.e. school no longer looked exclusive. Dropped essay, applications increased, school looked difficult to get in, ranking increased! [/quote]

They still require an essay- they went from 2 essays instead of one. Unfortunately for LACs, it's a competitive market with prospective applicants unlike the Ivies/Stanford/etc. which can put 4 essays and students will still apply. If a student sees that Swarthmore has 3 essays, they'll say- why bother- and apply to Williams and Amherst instead.

A quick look at how the essays work at each top 10 LAC:

Williams- Essay optional
Amherst- Submit either a supplemental essay or a graded assignment from a class project
Swarthmore- Required 150-250 word Why Swarthmore supplement
Pomona- Required essay with no suggested word limit, but complex topics (can't see an applicant writing 250 words or fewer and tackling the question). Coalition app has substantial writing (2 essays with at least 400 words) 
Carleton- Why essay of 150 words, 3 short sentence statements
Bowdoin- Easy essay (pick a line which resonates with you from mission statement) + optional opportunity to elaborate
Middlebury- No essay
Wellesley- 2 paragraph essay on a Wellesley 100 (good way for applicants to learn about Wellesley IMO)
Davidson- Why Davidson (250-300 words), list of books read, elaborate on an EC (up to 200 words)
Washington and Lee- Same as Davidson without the book requirement

The writing considerations aren't that significant at the LACs
[/quote]

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