College Admissions Process

Some students change their mind over their choice of college over the summer months after high school (photo credit: Brocken Inaglory).

There is an insightful article in “Inside Higher Ed” that discusses what is known as “summer melt” at colleges. In the college admissions process, summer melt occurs when students commit to attend a particular college but then, over the course of the summer, decide against attending that college in favor of attending another university. Often times, students do what is known as “double depositing” or “multiple depositing,” an unethical practice that has negative consequences on other college applicants (notably students on the waitlist who want desperately to attend a college but can’t get off the waitlist because some students committed to attending a college that they have no intention of attending).

In the college admissions process, the practice of double or multiple depositing also has a notable impact on the school’s yield (the percentage of accepted applicants who actually enroll), which contributes to a college’s “US News & World Report” rankings. But the “Inside Higher Ed” article also discusses a different key reason why summer melt may occur…students can’t come up with the money to pay for the college they committed to attending.

Read more about “summer melt” in the college admissions process in an “Inside Higher Ed” article here. And read our related blogs on Double Depositing and Prolonging the Agony and  Yale University’s efforts to increase their yield.