As a recent issue of Emory Report noted, the number of students accepting Emory's offer of admission to next fall's freshman class increased by 4 percent over the previous year. This increase is both rewarding and somewhat surprising for admissions officials, who noted that the quality of applicants to Emory has increased over that of previous years, suggesting that the students who chose Emory could have chosen to attend Ivy League or other highly selective colleges or universities. The fact that Emory's yield increased along with the quality of its applicant pool may indicate that Emory is moving away from being considered a "safety school" for many top applicants and into the more competitive stance of one of those universities considered most attractive by the nation's top college-bound students.
One of the reasons for the intensity of competition among highly selective universities is that the students who meet the criteria for admission to these schools comprise only about 6 percent of the college-bound student population. According to the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS: 1988), only 5.9 percent of all 1992 college-bound high school seniors met each of five admission criteria thought to be representative of those used by highly selective colleges in making admissions decisions. These criteria include a GPA of 3.5 or higher; a score of 1100 or higher on the SAT; four credits in English, three in math, three in science, three in social science, and two in foreign language; strong teacher recommendations; and participation in two or more school-related extracurricular activities.
The NELS study breaks down the 6 percent of students who meet the criteria for highly selective institutions by gender, race, class status and educational background. Findings indicate that a greater number of women (6.9 percent) than men (4.7 percent) met all five of the criteria for highly-selective colleges. More women met the grade standard; 22.5 percent of females compared to 15.3 percent of males held a GPA above 3.5. Males, on the other hand, were more likely to meet the SAT standard, as 26.7 percent of males compared to 18 percent of females scored above 1100.
NELS reports that more Asian and white college-bound students than Latino, African-American or Native American students met all five admissions criteria. Roughly one half of the Latino, African-American, white and Asian students took all of the courses specified in the highly selective criteria, compared to roughly one-fourth of all college-bound Native American students.
Seniors at high socioeconomic status levels (8.8 percent) were more likely than their contemporaries at middle socioeconomic status levels (4.1 percent) to meet any of the highly selective criteria for GPA, SAT scores or courses.
According to NELS, the percentage of college-bound seniors meeting admissions criteria for highly selective schools did not vary substantially by type of school (public, Catholic or other private) except in the area of SAT scores. Roughly one-half of the college-bound seniors enrolled in private non-Catholic schools scored 1100 or higher on the SAT (52.6 percent); roughly 20 percent of their peers at public and Catholic schools achieved this score.
At Emory, has the yield pattern changed to suggest that the University is a stronger competitor for members of this small pool of students? As Dean of Admission Dan Walls told the Emory Report last issue, there are reasons to think so. For example, increased yield usually follows increases in inquiry and applicant pools -- pools that have been up at Emory since 1990. The Chronicle of Higher Education (May 12, 1995), however, suggests an alternative explanation for Emory's increased yield: its use of an applicant's interest in the University as one of the many criteria for admission. According to the Chronicle, Emory is one of a number of universities that consider placing top applicants who skip information sessions or fail to respond to letters from the admissions office onto its waiting list rather than admitting them to the University.
It is too early to detect a new trend in yield patterns. Several years' data must provide the foundation for such a move. Meanwhile, this year's increased rate is an encouraging indication that top college-bound students perceive Emory in a new way.
Susan Frost is vice provost for Institutional Planning and Research, and Jody Cressman is a Ph.D. candidate in the English department and an editorial assistant in the office of Institutional Planning and Research.