[Farm93]

I am sure we could build a list of people (athletes and non-athletes) that have elected to go to all kinds of places even though they were admitted to Stanford.  Stanford's admit rate is closing in on 6%, but the yield rate is "only" around 70%.  That means that 3 in 10 that get accepted elect to go somewhere else.  Harvard's rate is in the high 70s, so still 2 in 10 go somewhere else.

I am sure many of the Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale types get admitted to multiple schools in that top tier, and that accounts for most of the yield (for non-athletes).  Still, there are probably a bunch of people that just elect other options, for all kinds of reasons.  For athletes the list of reasons would expand to include coaches, team playing style, sport popularity on campus, training resources, etc.

So many of the U  C  system's advantages in the 70s and 80s are not really applicable at this point, but I am sure there are some that prefer that grungy, overcrowded, semi-urban feel of Berkeley and C.a..l.

[Farm93]

I am sure we could build a list of people (athletes and non-athletes) that have elected to go to all kinds of places even though they were admitted to Stanford.  Stanford's admit rate is closing in on 6%, but the yield rate is "only" around 70%.  That means that 3 in 10 that get accepted elect to go somewhere else.  Harvard's rate is in the high 70s, so still 2 in 10 go somewhere else.

I am sure many of the Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale types get admitted to multiple schools in that top tier, and that accounts for most of the yield (for non-athletes).  Still, there are probably a bunch of people that just elect other options, for all kinds of reasons.  For athletes the list of reasons would expand to include coaches, team playing style, sport popularity on campus, training resources, etc.

So many of the U  C  system's advantages in the 70s and 80s are not really applicable at this point, but I am sure there are some that prefer that grungy, overcrowded, semi-urban feel of Berkeley and C.a..l.