The Cavalier Daily’s Nov. 29 lead editorial (“Slow to yield”) portrays The Common Application as a primary driver of increased applications, which results in declining yield rates among colleges and universities. Not only does this depiction oversimplify the complexity of yield rates, it also ignores the facts. Last year, the average number of Common Applications submitted by first-year applicants was 4.6, even when excluding Early Decision applicants who applied to only one institution. The numbers vary greatly by school type and geographic region, with students from mid-Atlantic independent schools claiming the highest average of 6.5, far from the “tens, even dozens” that the editorial laments. As for decreasing the number of applications to which students can apply, The Common Application Board of Directors chose last summer to maintain the current limit of 20 after extensive surveys of school counselors and members institutions yielded passionate arguments on both sides of the issue.
Scott Anderson
CLAS ‘93
Director of Outreach,
The Common Application
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