<p>Let’s muck this up even more… Has a comparison been done correlating marketing budget with acceptance percentages? In this day and age, perception is often equated as reality. If a school is perceived to be the best, it can be argued that it will received a higher number of well qualified applicants which should result in higher metrics over all… In this scenario, it’s the applicant pool that is driving the higher ratings among equally great schools. </p>
<p>In chatting with a board member of a fairly well know Mid Atlantic School that is well regarded for academics as well as a great soccer program. The question was posed about the lower visibility and higher acceptance rates. His response was, “did I ever consider it might be by design” which makes sense, this school as well as several other really great institutions have a fairly high percentage of Legacy students. If a school was not up to par, that would not be the case; this could be another set of metrics to look at in the rating game. </p>
<p>Matriculation to the HYPMS, how is this being view? Some of the larger “high end prep schools” tend to attract a greater number of wealthy families one could reason. A lot of scholars would desire to attend one of the Ivy’s (and might even be accepted) but simply cannot afford it. A good college consular will look at the financial viability and steer the student towards a school that would not only be a good fit but affordable. It all comes back to the common question raised in statistics classes, “where did you get the data and how was it derived”?</p>