College Confidential - View Single Post - Too many candidates applying or too many smart candidates applying?

gellino · 01-07-2009, 12:59 AM

I used to consider a school really selective if it had a 25% or lower acceptance rate. However, the number of such schools has more than doubled over the course of this decade.

25% or below acceptance rate at start of decade:

Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
Cal Tech
Dartmouth
Brown
Columbia
Williams
Amherst
Swarthmore
Georgetown
Rice

http://collegeadmissions.tripod.com/...-1999-2000.txt

25% or below acceptance rate for most recent class:

Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
Cal Tech
Brown
Columbia
Dartmouth
Penn
Williams
Amherst
Swarthmore
Pomona
WUSTL
Middlebury
Bowdoin
Claremont McKenna
Cornell
Georgetown
Duke
Cal/Berkeley
Colgate
Notre Dame
UCLA
Rice
Haverford
Vassar
USC

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Is it the common app, more high school seniors (although college class sizes have increased slightly too), less high schools having class rank making students think they have a better chance, these colleges becoming better marketers or something else?

01-07-2009, 12:59 AM	#1
gellino Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,985	Too many candidates applying or too many smart candidates applying? I used to consider a school really selective if it had a 25% or lower acceptance rate. However, the number of such schools has more than doubled over the course of this decade. 25% or below acceptance rate at start of decade: Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford MIT Cal Tech Dartmouth Brown Columbia Williams Amherst Swarthmore Georgetown Rice http://collegeadmissions.tripod.com/...-1999-2000.txt 25% or below acceptance rate for most recent class: Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford MIT Cal Tech Brown Columbia Dartmouth Penn Williams Amherst Swarthmore Pomona WUSTL Middlebury Bowdoin Claremont McKenna Cornell Georgetown Duke Cal/Berkeley Colgate Notre Dame UCLA Rice Haverford Vassar USC Find a College - College Search - Majors and Careers Is it the common app, more high school seniors (although college class sizes have increased slightly too), less high schools having class rank making students think they have a better chance, these colleges becoming better marketers or something else?
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