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You have just asked the most frequently asked question about the Barron's methodology of assessing admissions selectivity. (The second most frequently asked question poses the same issue as to the Army and Navy academies versus the Air Force academy.) I THINK, but I haven't seen the formula laid out in enough detail to know for sure, that cases like that reflect more spread in numerical credentials between the top and the bottom of the entering class at the lower-ranked college than at the higher-ranked college. That is, I think this says that it may be that many of the top Berkeley admittees outrank most UCLA admittees, but that a few Berkeley admittees, under "eligibility in the local context," might actually rank below the majority of UCLA admittees. (I've seen a similar explanation given for the Air Force academy elsewhere in cyberspace.) But I don't know. I just agnostically report what Barron's reports as I post this thread, and maybe Barron's is out to lunch. Most of the Barron's selectivity rankings are sufficiently plausible that I am curious about the odd case you mention, but don't throw out the rankings just on the basis of two or three odd cases.
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