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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Tulane's RD applications were also down.  Maybe it has something to do with the southern school's getting a bit less popular after the covid surge.

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Lol, no. Southern schools are red hot right now and more competitive than ever. I think people just have given up on some of these Ivy+ schools RD. [/quote]

I think that's true. Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Emory all remain very desirable schools. And I don't think Georgia Tech and the SEC schools are lacking in applicants.

For the better schools, applicants shoot their shot in the ED round. And if that doesn't work out, they take a gander at the sub 5 percent admittance rate in Regular Decision, and they think why bother. And they move on to schools where the odds are better.

I don't think it's a Southern thing. Apps to Harvard are way down this year. It's a market reaction to the randomness of things over the past few years. Covid. Test Optional. DEI priorities. A general awareness of the advantages of legacy, recruited athletes, wealth, connections. And as a result, unhooked applicants don't bother lighting $95 on fire anymore in the RD round.

Why Harvard and Duke in particular are experiencing such a drop in applicants is a little mystifying. MIT and Vanderbilt don't seem to be having the same issues. But generally, students and families are being more strategic in both how and where they apply.

Harvard and Duke seem out of reach for randoms from the burbs, no matter their qualifications. Whereas maybe MIT and Vanderbilt still seem accessible for bright kids.     [/quote]

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