@ljberkow : That makes a difference as well as what each school is known for academically and socially. They are or at least should be regarded as very different, but amazing schools. I would pray that applicants and matriculates know and reflect this.
@WWWard : That absolute number does not matter as the schools receive a different amount and Emory, like most schools is not particularly transparent in who it admits or denies at the level of detail USC provides. I am thinking Brown is one of the few privates (or any types) other than USC who does. All we know is that most of these top schools are denying a ridiculous % (versus the applicant pool) of seemingly perfect students. Also, I have no clue what a 4.0 means at some high schools. If you have read me, I am really not the type to measure the caliber and feel of a school by what I see in its admissions trends, especially if we are talking about high tier schools in the first place. It just is useless. Some schools have different curricula, undergraduate offerings, histories, and overall institutional culture that will make for big differences in which types of high caliber (numerically) students choose to attend. Numbers and their increasing trends do not tell us everything once a school has been great or elite for a while If that were the case, all of WUSTL and VU’s marketing and increased scores to levels of HYP would mean that their schools feel like HYP and deliver the same academics as HYP or the same social atmosphere as HYP. They don’t because they aren’t HYP which have distinct characters and cultures even among themselves. Many students are aware of these differences no matter how well they score or rank their chances of admission versus some “more prestigious” place. I will not be distracted by the interesting games being played by marketing and admissions at these elite schools, including Emory (though Emory clearly tries less hard than some others). Regardless of admissions trends, folks will know that Princeton is a very different atmosphere from USC, and USC Emory for that matter. Shame on them if they don’t because they only paid attention to admissions statistics and progress in visibility and “prestige”.
Now financial aid moving people around and making people consider some places over others regardless of fit can have an impact, but there are no doubt “fit effects” that result in schools having certain vibes irregardless of their statistical student body quality. Some of this has been created by the adcoms at each in their attempt to support or create a certain institutional culture (whether it is the status quo but with high stats students or a transition to a newer feel to match changing institutional priorities)