“SMU’s acceptance rate is 50%. In a country where top schools accept less than 10%, SMU is not nearly as selective and academic strength of average student is significantly lower than top schools.”
@Data10 posted good information.
It is something I personally try to pass on in different threads regarding using acceptance rates without regard to the quality of the pools and the ultimate admits. Some schools get a lot more candidates outside of the realistically considered set.
Here’s his/her post.
“Acceptance rate is only loosely correlated with selectivity or academic strength of the average student because you are not considering differences in applicant pool. For example, freshman SMU and Tulane have similar GPA/score stats, even though SMU has a >50% acceptance rate and Tulane had a 13% acceptance rate this year. At both schools, the median scores were in the test scores means are in the low 90s percentile, and mean GPA is in the A- range, yet the acceptance rates are completely different. Clearly neither school is as selective HYPSM…, but that was not the claim. The comment that triggered this tangent was, “SMU isn’t really an attractive school for high achievers, neither rank nor rigor of the school is at their desired level and no free full rides either. It’s more for rich or poor average students.” The SMU students as a whole are not “average,” and SMU does offer merit scholarships for high achievers. The best SMU merit scholarships include full ride + money to study abroad + honors classes.”