My son is applying to a few privates. We havent told them, but if merit aid isn't forthcoming, he isn't going. I think they all face this problem.

Regular decision is also very affected by FA. Kids who don't have to consider FA packages can apply Early Decision to schools. Kids who need to consider FA must apply regular decision. Many students may be finding these schools just too expensive to enroll at after getting the FA packages.

Anonymous wrote:What's with the LAC yields being so low? I thought Williams/Amherst/Swarthmore were Ivy-equivalent? The whole analogy that they're competing with each other and thus bring down each other's yield doesn't make a whole lot of sense when four of the Ivies make the top 4 on this list despite having a lot of cross-applicant similarity.

Are LACs losing their reputation among the best and brightest?

Remember that these are Regular Decision yields. Alot of top LACs (and Ivys other than HYPS) admit a significant % of their class in Early Decision. So overall yields are significantly higher. That said, they probably lose kids to Ivys in regular decision certainly more than the other way around.

Anonymous wrote:What's with the LAC yields being so low? I thought Williams/Amherst/Swarthmore were Ivy-equivalent? The whole analogy that they're competing with each other and thus bring down each other's yield doesn't make a whole lot of sense when four of the Ivies make the top 4 on this list despite having a lot of cross-applicant similarity.

Are LACs losing their reputation among the best and brightest?

Each kid that applies to college only needs to go to 1 school. Kids are applying to upwards of 10 schools or more. These lists may include schools that end up being unaffordable, Ivies just to see, and safety and match schools to make sure they have somewhere to go. I've told my kid, applying to schools and then choosing the one you attend are two totally different phases and there is a lot to consider when making the choice.

I think Williams/Amherst/Swarthmore are Ivy-equivalent in terms of the education that they offer, but when you get down to choosing where you want to be for 4 years of your life, each of those schools like each of the Ivies are very, very different in terms of location, style, size and financial aid offerings. In terms of style, ideally a kid who applies to Brown should not be applying to Columbia for example, but they do all the time.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it but perhaps these yield rates are more a reflection of the fact that no one is really focuses on fit but just getting into the best school possible.

Anonymous wrote:What's with the LAC yields being so low? I thought Williams/Amherst/Swarthmore were Ivy-equivalent? The whole analogy that they're competing with each other and thus bring down each other's yield doesn't make a whole lot of sense when four of the Ivies make the top 4 on this list despite having a lot of cross-applicant similarity.

Are LACs losing their reputation among the best and brightest?

Most parents are increasingly not willing or cannot afford to pay for LACs at $70K a year, plain and simple. None of my 3 DCs attended the top 10 ones they were accepted by once more affordable options were available, such as less prestigious LAC with significant merit $ or state flagship.

I do know that Emorys incoming freshman class for 2017 was big this year.

For regular decision, Emory is a Safety.

What's with the LAC yields being so low? I thought Williams/Amherst/Swarthmore were Ivy-equivalent? The whole analogy that they're competing with each other and thus bring down each other's yield doesn't make a whole lot of sense when four of the Ivies make the top 4 on this list despite having a lot of cross-applicant similarity.

Are LACs losing their reputation among the best and brightest?

Anonymous wrote:Applicants to Emory University can apply as freshman to either, or both, Emory College of Arts and Sciences on the main campus, and Oxford College, on a campus 30 miles outside of Atlanta. The yield for Oxford College is always low. It looks like Emory University admitted some 4,000 students for less than 500 seats this year at Oxford, and that is part of the reason why Emory's overall yield is low.

http://news.emory.edu/stories/2017/03/er_undergraduate_admission_applications_record_high/campus.html

FWIW, I visited both campuses last year with DC and loved the Oxford campus but DC was less impressed.

Oxford College data isn't in the 15% yield- it reflects just Emory U. The data is here and represents Fall 2016 enrolled students: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/emory-university (click the "Applying" button)

Here was their data from July 2016 based on their website: http://apply.emory.edu/discover/fastfacts.php Note that you can distinguish between Emory U and Oxford C. I'm guessing they had to admit a few more students and ended up losing others after July (to waitlists, late gap years) to get their final class and to submit the data they did to Collegeboard shown above. If you try including the early admits at Oxford, there isn't enough room to account for everyone (this link shows 174 Oxford ED admits and 664 Emory ED admits, whereas Collegeboard shows 707 ED admits).

Anonymous wrote:Applicants to Emory University can apply as freshman to either, or both, Emory College of Arts and Sciences on the main campus, and Oxford College, on a campus 30 miles outside of Atlanta. The yield for Oxford College is always low. It looks like Emory University admitted some 4,000 students for less than 500 seats this year at Oxford, and that is part of the reason why Emory's overall yield is low.

http://news.emory.edu/stories/2017/03/er_undergraduate_admission_applications_record_high/campus.html

FWIW, I visited both campuses last year with DC and loved the Oxford campus but DC was less impressed.

I excluded Oxford College of Emory University.

Applicants to Emory University can apply as freshman to either, or both, Emory College of Arts and Sciences on the main campus, and Oxford College, on a campus 30 miles outside of Atlanta. The yield for Oxford College is always low. It looks like Emory University admitted some 4,000 students for less than 500 seats this year at Oxford, and that is part of the reason why Emory's overall yield is low.

http://news.emory.edu/stories/2017/03/er_undergraduate_admission_applications_record_high/campus.html

FWIW, I visited both campuses last year with DC and loved the Oxford campus but DC was less impressed.

Interesting data.....I'd imagine these yields are all dropping due to the increased number of applications kids are submitting nowadays.

Fading in popularity I guess.

Probably they visit Atlanta and realize it's awful?

I took the time to analyze the yield of students admitted via regular decision across a number of highly ranked private schools, as the overall yield is prone to manipulation by admitting a large number of students early. I was surprised to see that among the 40 schools I studied, Emory has the worst regular decision yield, with just 15% of those who were admitted in regular decision choosing to enroll. This is shocking for a top 20 ranked university. Is there a reason for this?