Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:28     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our counselor thought some of our
DC’s results (class of ‘29), were yield management, in particular getting wait listed by Tulane, Tufts and Carnegie Mellon while getting accepted at 2 Ivies, Williams, Amherst, Rice and others. However, it made sense to us, why wouldn’t a college prioritize students more likely to attend??
Just have a balanced list and if your student truly has an interest in one of the schools that is known for this (it’s called Tufts Syndrome for a reason) they likely need to ED


I don't know if they were yielded for Carnegie Mellon. My DC was accepted to CMU, HYP + few more ivies, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Rice, Duke and more. Good friend was also accepted to CMU + Harvard, Princeton and others


So many liars (and not good ones) on this board. Most of these are ED schools, how could you have also gained acceptance into so many other schools? I can’t imagine any good CC in this country letting a student who already got acceptance SCEA into Princeton to then also apply to Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Williams, Amherst and “a few more Ivies”. Talk about burning your relationships with college admission.


Public school counselors don’t care if you apply to additional schools in RD even after REA/SCEA acceptance. It’s not against the rules either.

REA/SCEA are restrictive in the school’s favor - Yale literally stated that its purpose is to limit students’ chances. However, these restrictions end once they give a decision.


It is crazy kids at public schools are allowed to apply widely after an SCEA acceptance. If this was done at our private, the parents would be called in for an in-person meeting immediately to shut it down, and the kid would be ostracized. I am not exaggerating.


Well it sounds like your private school is the crazy one here, not the public school..?


Private school folks like to believe that they are allocated spots on admissions lists. THe schools encourage this belief because they want people to think that their chances of admission from private school is higher than from an equally academically rigorous public school. AFAICT, it is the rigor that makes a difference, not the name on the diploma in MOST cases.

Some high schools have a special relationship with one of the selective schools but there are maybe 1 or two of these per ivy+ school. Certainly, none of the dc area privates.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 18:54     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our counselor thought some of our
DC’s results (class of ‘29), were yield management, in particular getting wait listed by Tulane, Tufts and Carnegie Mellon while getting accepted at 2 Ivies, Williams, Amherst, Rice and others. However, it made sense to us, why wouldn’t a college prioritize students more likely to attend??
Just have a balanced list and if your student truly has an interest in one of the schools that is known for this (it’s called Tufts Syndrome for a reason) they likely need to ED


I don't know if they were yielded for Carnegie Mellon. My DC was accepted to CMU, HYP + few more ivies, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Rice, Duke and more. Good friend was also accepted to CMU + Harvard, Princeton and others


So many liars (and not good ones) on this board. Most of these are ED schools, how could you have also gained acceptance into so many other schools? I can’t imagine any good CC in this country letting a student who already got acceptance SCEA into Princeton to then also apply to Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Williams, Amherst and “a few more Ivies”. Talk about burning your relationships with college admission.


Public school counselors don’t care if you apply to additional schools in RD even after REA/SCEA acceptance. It’s not against the rules either.

REA/SCEA are restrictive in the school’s favor - Yale literally stated that its purpose is to limit students’ chances. However, these restrictions end once they give a decision.


It is crazy kids at public schools are allowed to apply widely after an SCEA acceptance. If this was done at our private, the parents would be called in for an in-person meeting immediately to shut it down, and the kid would be ostracized. I am not exaggerating.


Well it sounds like your private school is the crazy one here, not the public school..?
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 17:18     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:Why would RD be worse when the high qualifications still exist? Seems like fear-mongering. Carnegie Mellon even said that their ED and RD acceptance rates are the same.


It’s often harder for oversubscribed majors. And for girls. They typically are looking for boys that are strong and in undersubscribed areas. Also full pay.

If this is news to you, you need to learn a bit more about the process. I’d suggest reading more and listening to podcasts more and then coming back in a few months and asking more questions.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 17:17     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Why would RD be worse when the high qualifications still exist? Seems like fear-mongering. Carnegie Mellon even said that their ED and RD acceptance rates are the same.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2026 16:36     Subject: Re:How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A brutally balanced realistic list is the remedy

I suspect that back when OP posted, which was the week before ED deadlines, they were thinking that maybe aiming a little lower in that early round might be the remedy.

It’s the perennial question that this system poses to high-fliers: do you lock in a target via ED, or shoot for a reach at the risk of falling to an even lower tier in RD.


Agree for sure. I had one who ED’d to a target - was this student’s top choice and is so very happy there
Another ED’d to the dream, was deferred and then accepted in RD. Such a happy and fortunate outcome.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2026 16:22     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our counselor thought some of our
DC’s results (class of ‘29), were yield management, in particular getting wait listed by Tulane, Tufts and Carnegie Mellon while getting accepted at 2 Ivies, Williams, Amherst, Rice and others. However, it made sense to us, why wouldn’t a college prioritize students more likely to attend??
Just have a balanced list and if your student truly has an interest in one of the schools that is known for this (it’s called Tufts Syndrome for a reason) they likely need to ED


I don't know if they were yielded for Carnegie Mellon. My DC was accepted to CMU, HYP + few more ivies, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Rice, Duke and more. Good friend was also accepted to CMU + Harvard, Princeton and others


So many liars (and not good ones) on this board. Most of these are ED schools, how could you have also gained acceptance into so many other schools? I can’t imagine any good CC in this country letting a student who already got acceptance SCEA into Princeton to then also apply to Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Williams, Amherst and “a few more Ivies”. Talk about burning your relationships with college admission.


Public school counselors don’t care if you apply to additional schools in RD even after REA/SCEA acceptance. It’s not against the rules either.

REA/SCEA are restrictive in the school’s favor - Yale literally stated that its purpose is to limit students’ chances. However, these restrictions end once they give a decision.


It is crazy kids at public schools are allowed to apply widely after an SCEA acceptance. If this was done at our private, the parents would be called in for an in-person meeting immediately to shut it down, and the kid would be ostracized. I am not exaggerating.


A lot of private school kids are not concerned about financial aid.

You can negotiate financial aid. I saw a situation where one school was offering lots of financial aid because a selective RD school counted an estranged noncustodial parent's income while the REA school didn't offer ANY financial aid UNTIL they were presented with the financial aid package from the other school.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2026 10:59     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our counselor thought some of our
DC’s results (class of ‘29), were yield management, in particular getting wait listed by Tulane, Tufts and Carnegie Mellon while getting accepted at 2 Ivies, Williams, Amherst, Rice and others. However, it made sense to us, why wouldn’t a college prioritize students more likely to attend??
Just have a balanced list and if your student truly has an interest in one of the schools that is known for this (it’s called Tufts Syndrome for a reason) they likely need to ED


I don't know if they were yielded for Carnegie Mellon. My DC was accepted to CMU, HYP + few more ivies, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Rice, Duke and more. Good friend was also accepted to CMU + Harvard, Princeton and others


So many liars (and not good ones) on this board. Most of these are ED schools, how could you have also gained acceptance into so many other schools? I can’t imagine any good CC in this country letting a student who already got acceptance SCEA into Princeton to then also apply to Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Williams, Amherst and “a few more Ivies”. Talk about burning your relationships with college admission.


Public school counselors don’t care if you apply to additional schools in RD even after REA/SCEA acceptance. It’s not against the rules either.

REA/SCEA are restrictive in the school’s favor - Yale literally stated that its purpose is to limit students’ chances. However, these restrictions end once they give a decision.


It is crazy kids at public schools are allowed to apply widely after an SCEA acceptance. If this was done at our private, the parents would be called in for an in-person meeting immediately to shut it down, and the kid would be ostracized. I am not exaggerating.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 20:09     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our counselor thought some of our
DC’s results (class of ‘29), were yield management, in particular getting wait listed by Tulane, Tufts and Carnegie Mellon while getting accepted at 2 Ivies, Williams, Amherst, Rice and others. However, it made sense to us, why wouldn’t a college prioritize students more likely to attend??
Just have a balanced list and if your student truly has an interest in one of the schools that is known for this (it’s called Tufts Syndrome for a reason) they likely need to ED


I don't know if they were yielded for Carnegie Mellon. My DC was accepted to CMU, HYP + few more ivies, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Rice, Duke and more. Good friend was also accepted to CMU + Harvard, Princeton and others


So many liars (and not good ones) on this board. Most of these are ED schools, how could you have also gained acceptance into so many other schools? I can’t imagine any good CC in this country letting a student who already got acceptance SCEA into Princeton to then also apply to Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Williams, Amherst and “a few more Ivies”. Talk about burning your relationships with college admission.


Public school counselors don’t care if you apply to additional schools in RD even after REA/SCEA acceptance. It’s not against the rules either.

REA/SCEA are restrictive in the school’s favor - Yale literally stated that its purpose is to limit students’ chances. However, these restrictions end once they give a decision.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 18:38     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Pretty common for the unhooked who aren't able to perfect reflective, personal essays.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 17:02     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Schools know when you added their app to common app.

If added in late December it will almost always leads to a Rejection or WL at best.


Our counselor sends materials to all “applying to” in SCOIR in October for RD…some my kid didn’t actually add to common app until late Dec. Common app shows October as date for those materials received in portal—so they know they were on the list early even if common app wasn’t started/or added until late Dec.


I’m not sure how that works with the school’s enrollment management software. If you look at the pictures on Slate, it shows the date the student added a college on common app?

Either way I hope it works out for your kid. Please keep us posted.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 16:49     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our counselor thought some of our
DC’s results (class of ‘29), were yield management, in particular getting wait listed by Tulane, Tufts and Carnegie Mellon while getting accepted at 2 Ivies, Williams, Amherst, Rice and others. However, it made sense to us, why wouldn’t a college prioritize students more likely to attend??
Just have a balanced list and if your student truly has an interest in one of the schools that is known for this (it’s called Tufts Syndrome for a reason) they likely need to ED


I don't know if they were yielded for Carnegie Mellon. My DC was accepted to CMU, HYP + few more ivies, Stanford, Williams, Amherst, Rice, Duke and more. Good friend was also accepted to CMU + Harvard, Princeton and others


So many liars (and not good ones) on this board. Most of these are ED schools, how could you have also gained acceptance into so many other schools? I can’t imagine any good CC in this country letting a student who already got acceptance SCEA into Princeton to then also apply to Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Williams, Amherst and “a few more Ivies”. Talk about burning your relationships with college admission.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 16:25     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:Schools know when you added their app to common app.

If added in late December it will almost always leads to a Rejection or WL at best.


Our counselor sends materials to all “applying to” in SCOIR in October for RD…some my kid didn’t actually add to common app until late Dec. Common app shows October as date for those materials received in portal—so they know they were on the list early even if common app wasn’t started/or added until late Dec.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 15:11     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Bro it's all yield management all the time! That's the entire gig.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 15:02     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Expect a postponement for Michigan, and really come up with someone unique and one-of-a-kind (unique to your kid and to MI) for that ECI. It's short.
Many kids do get in after being postponed. And that demonstrated interest shouldn't be short and performative.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2026 14:54     Subject: How common or rare is it for top kids to get shutout during RD due to yield management?
Anonymous wrote:I’m continuing to wonder about this re Michigan this year.

Two of DCs friends were just accepted EA OOS after being deferred ED in December. It’s amazing news for them and for the school!! They’re both great kids - smart, interesting, engaged in the school community, and well-liked by teachers. Exactly the kids we all want to see succeed in this crazy unpredictable process!!

Here’s our question, though. DC loves Michigan but it’s their second choice so they applied EA in October after applying ED to their first choice. They were deferred from the other school ED and are now waiting to hear from Michigan.

Concerned that Michigan will see the situation for what it is - not first chiice. And then what - defer? Reject?

In addition to not applying ED, DC has higher stats and rigor than their two friends who got in earlier this month. 1550+ and more APs, including Calc BC as a junior etc. Worried that Michigan will yield protect because they think DC is pushing for Ivy and using Michigan as a “back up,”, but they’re NOT. It’s just that one ED deferred school.

Any advice? Should DC send Michigan an “update” or LOCI next week, before the 1/31 decisions are made? Or just let it ride?

(I recognize this probably sounds overwrought/neurotic. Because it is. 😢 DC seems fine, but I’m struggling with the uncertainty/opacity of it all.)


Hard to say as this is the first year that Michigan offered ED, but they already were deferring/postponing many EA applicants in past years. I don’t think an update would make a difference at this point.

It seems that Michigan is rewarding ED applicants by admitting quite a few with lower stats than usual, like 3.5UW to Ross. Their commitment appears to be more important than academic excellence.

Unfortunately for Michigan, some who were willing to commit have now soured on the school, with extra stress and expenses brought on by postponing their acceptance until after winter break/RD deadlines. I have heard of some of these admits now wanting to keep their options open.