A few years ago I had a student who had an overly ambitious
college list and frankly, I was not sure he was going to gain acceptance to any
of the colleges on his list. In order to avoid that outcome, I made a call to
an admissions officer at one of the schools to which he applied to see if I
could get a heads up on his upcoming admissions decision. The
admissions officer was unusually honest and frankly helpful. She warned me, "There is no way in hell George is
going to get in. We track 21
"Indications of Interest" and he hasn't done any of them." Somewhat taken aback, I meekly asked,
"Can you tell me what some of those indicators of interest are?' Graciously she began rattling off her
list:
1. Meeting with
a college rep when he or she visits a student's high school.
2. Attending a
college fair, visiting a school's table, and filling out an admissions
information card.
3. Requesting
information from the website.
4. Emailing an
admissions officer with a question about the college.
5. Visiting the
college and attending a group information session as well as a tour.
6. Sitting in
on a class.
7. Meeting with
a coach.
8. Meeting with
a professor in a subject of interest.
9. Staying
overnight.
10. Attending
an informational evening program in the student's hometown.
I can not remember the other 10 items (you get the idea),
but I do remember the final most significant and important expression of
interest: applying under a binding
Early Decision program.
Why would a college track these items and why is ED so
important? Colleges are trying to
figure out how serious students are about their institution. They are more likely to admit students
who they feel are more serious because those students are more likely to
matriculate. A key number in the
"College Admissions Game" is yield: the percentage of admitted
students who choose to attend. In
2011, Dartmouth's yield was 52%, Denison's yield was 26%, Denver's yield was 20% , and
Dayton's yield was 19%. (Harvard's yield was 77%--students who are accepted to
Harvard are often also accepted to Yale, Princeton, Stanford). A higher yield does not necessarily mean
a better education, but it does mean higher desirability. By admitting more students under a binding
ED program, the school's yield is immediately positively impacted because 100%
of those students have committed to attend.
Fortunately, George ended up gaining acceptances to two
other colleges and happily matriculated to one that was a better fit than "Interest
University." However, his case
drove home the fact that something students (and parents) may have no idea
about can play a sometimes not insignificant role in the decision.
