pabpinor wrote:
texas101 wrote:
Looks like the Darden application is officially out. There are two categories of early action this year; binding and non binding.
What are your thoughts on this new development for Darden?
I tried to understand how the binding & non-binding options would impact the process but I did not get a clear picture of it, will share here if I find it.
Regards,
Pablo
Applying early action is a way to signal particular interest in a certain school, and is often associated with slightly higher acceptance rates. If you get your ducks in a row early, it makes sense to apply early action (especially if there is a non-binding option available).
The transition to non-binding early action is likely a response to two realities:
(1) Some students are limited financially and can’t apply with a binding process given they will need to factor in financial aid in their decision calculus. Schools know that many students can’t realistically commit to a school until they get an idea of the overall financial aid packages of all of their admitted options, so the non-binding early action acknowledges this.
(2) At the same time as they concede that a non-binding early action option should be available, schools like Darden know that some students *are* able to financially commit themselves to Darden if they are admitted. And Darden wants to make a binding option for these students because it helps their yield numbers (and thus their ranking).
Given this, I wouldn’t be surprised if the acceptance rates for the binding early action is higher than the nonbinding early action, but that non-binding early action is higher than regular rounds. The reason has to do with yield, an important metric that is used to rank universities by US News and World Report, The Economist, Financial Times, etc. Yield is the % of admitted students who matriculate. HBS’ yield is the highest of any business school (~91%). That’s not a coincidence. For schools like Darden, which are consistently ranked very highly but still sometimes don’t make top 7 or top 10 lists, yield is an important metric to try to optimize. One of the easiest ways to get yield numbers up is to admit a portion of the class in *binding* early action rounds since the school can be reasonably assured that these students will attend. Ambitious and organized students who apply early to the non-binding round are also signaling special interest in the school which indicates that they will be more likely to matriculate if admitted (versus, say, an applicant who applies R2 at the same time as he/she is applying to 5+ other schools).
Hope this is helpful. Best of luck to you on your Darden application.
Do you think there might a difference in the amount of scholarships of binding vs. non-binding applicants for Darden?
I heard in some school binding applicants might get less amount of scholarship, but I'm not sure how it's gonna be in Darden since the school says binding applicants who get accepted will know the amount of scholarships they get first before deciding whether or not to commit to Darden and withdraw applications from other schools.
22 Jul 2020, 06:30
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