Yale College anticipates a steady yield rate this year, with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions expecting a similar percentage of admitted students to enroll as in past cycles.

According to Mark Dunn, senior associate director for outreach and recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Yale College’s yield rate typically hovers around 70 percent from year to year and is not prone to significant fluctuations. Over the past 10 years, the yield rate has not dipped below 67.1 percent or risen above 72.2 percent.

“The yield looks very encouraging and very similar to previous years, with the caveat that we don’t really pay too much attention until we’re on the other side of the May 1 deadline,” said Dunn.

Colleges routinely admit more students than they expect to enroll, predicting that many applicants are weighing offers from multiple institutions.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions was unable to provide specific counts for this year’s yield rate, as the “numbers are moving targets,” according to Dunn.

Dunn emphasized that April is the most important time frame for Yale to make an effort to connect with admitted students.

The team at Office of Undergraduate Admissions continues to prioritize in-person visits, with the three-day Bulldog Days program remaining the most popular option, alongside Bulldog Friday, Yalie for a Day, and local receptions hosted by the admissions team. At the same time, virtual programming — such as the 30 Bulldog Days of April — has remained popular since its launch in 2020, offering a month-long series of online panels and events for admitted students.

This year, the admissions team made 2,346 total offers of admission, aiming to hit their target class size of 1,650 for next year’s first-year class — a change from their previous target of 1,550 after increasing their class size by 100 students starting with the class of 2029.

Dunn explained that higher yield rates decrease the likelihood of students being admitted off the waitlist, and in many years, the office is interested in making some additional offers to students in May.

“The attitude in the admissions office is that we are absolutely thrilled when we have a chance to admit students on the waitlist because we know that there are so many exceptionally strong students,” Dunn said.

According to a News survey of the class of 2028, of the 541 respondents, 8 percent were also admitted to Harvard.

The News spoke with students who faced, or are currently facing, the decision between peer institutions, Harvard and Yale. While some students found the decision to be simple, others struggled to choose.

After being admitted to both Harvard and Yale, Powell Munro Holzner ’27 wrote that choosing Yale was “the easiest decision in the world.”

After attending Vistas, Harvard’s two-day admitted students program on campus, and Bulldog Days, Munro Holzner quickly came to a decision.

“Yale as a place and people was so much more heartfelt, optimistic, and open than Harvard,” Munro Holzner wrote to the News. “I have friends at both places, and I hear over and over how much this tracks with student experience. All agree Harvard is more formulaic, instrumental, and internally separated.”

“Yale keeps vibrant your love for what you do; at Harvard, you may find yourself wringing it out, lifeless by the end, in service of some distant future,” Munro Holzner added.

For Dana Ko ’27, the decision between Harvard and Yale was initially less clear-cut. However, like Munro Holzner, Bulldog Days made the difference.

Ko applied for admission to Yale during the restrictive early action round and was accepted.

“I had spent months imagining myself at Yale and getting really excited to come here,” Ko wrote to the News.

In March, Ko was also accepted to Harvard, leaving her with the difficult decision of which school to choose.

She made lists of pros and cons, comparing departments and clubs and weighed the advantages of living in New Haven versus Cambridge. However, none of these lists provided the deciding factor. Instead, Bulldog Days proved to be the reason Ko chose Yale.

“It wasn’t until I got to Bulldog Days and felt an inexplicable sense of feeling at home that I was reminded of the reasons I loved Yale,” Ko wrote. “I loved the residential colleges, the debate and political spaces, and focus on the arts at Yale and knew it was the right place for me.”

Miro Raj, a newly admitted student from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, is also torn between Yale and Harvard. An accomplished violinist, Raj said that the arts culture has played a significant role in his consideration of Yale.

In contrast, he cited the name of Harvard and “better opportunities in the Boston area” as persuasive reasons for possibly choosing Harvard.

Dunn emphasized the importance of ensuring that all students, regardless of their background, have opportunities to engage with the full range of communities that make up Yale. Student groups — such as the Rural Students Alliance and many organizations affiliated with Yale’s cultural centers — play a large role in outreach by organizing events that represent their unique communities. 

“The best thing we can do is make sure all of our students have a chance to see the full diversity of communities that make up the larger Yale community,” Dunn said.

The yield rate for Yale’s class of 2028 was 69.8 percent.