Making sense of acceptance rate

CATaxPyrNoROI
Sun, 30 Mar 2025 00:50:54 +0000

the responses here, while mathematically correct, don’t really address why decision letters (non-acceptance) do give the impression of being highly selective, when in fact 50%+ of applicants are admitted. My sense is that this number doesn’t correspond with the general consensus of Virginia tech as a highly selective school, because the acceptance rates are substantially lower for the STEM majors it is so well known for. I don’t know how else to explain the conventional wisdom and overall sense of ‘difficult/selective admission’ compared to what the data is saying (moderately selective). It may also be substantially lower oos acceptance rates compared to in-state, as another poster said. By contrast, Clemson has significantly more overall applicants and lower acceptance rates, but a much larger pool of OOS applicants because of a smaller in state pool, and this country-wide draw area may enhance selectivity, even though that doesn’t quite come across in school ranking/prestige (as much as VT)