Anonymous wrote:Some colleges can and do manipulate yield % by relying more on binding Early Decision (where yield is essentially 100%). UPenn and UChicago both rely on Early Decision more than many to fill a greater percentage of their class. Schools like Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Princeton yield stats become more impressive once you factor in that they don't have Early Decision (rather Single Choice Early Action which is non-binding). So comparing UPenn's yield to Princeton's is comparing apples to oranges. If UPenn didn't have early decision, their yield would likely be in the 40%s. Also, UVA doesn't have early decision which makes a fair comparison with early decision schools difficult.
It would be useful if someone could post % of students accepted via Early Decision at the schools that have Early Decision.
That's true, but the thing is that even at the non-binding schools, the percent of students who applied via EA tends to be as high.
The Crimson reported that more than 50% of Harvard matriculates did REA. A little half of Harvard students got in via REA, period. Factor them out of the equation, and the yield will fall.
I wouldn't be surprised if Princeton's RD yield was in the 50% range compared to 70%+ for SCEA admits.