<p>Pizzagirl: Depends on the individual. I didn’t say <em>only</em> apply to 8 elites, BTW. As I said, your psyche has to be strong enough and you have to have safeties that you’re happy with for that strategy to make sense. In a sense, it’s all psychological framing. If you prepare yourself to attend a safety, then any acceptance to a school above that is a bonus.</p>
<p>@Xiggi: Yep. There is definitely that going on. Joining a particular athletic conference back in the day definitely has given a boost to the perceived prestige of the non-HYP Ivies. If they weren’t in that certain athletic conference, Columbia’s acceptance rate would be the same as Chicago’s, UPenn’s acceptance rate would be the same as Northwestern’s, and Brown’s and Dartmouth’s acceptance rates would be the same as Duke’s or maybe Rochester’s/Colgate’s.</p>