<p>You guys should really read the introductory pages to the ranking to see how the process really works. They actually take “mitigating factors” into account and adjust for that. They adjust for regional bias, financial aid, etc. </p>
<p>Also, I have to concur with stanmaster that Princeton does indeed lose the majority of cross-admits to Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and MIT. In fact, the revealed preference ranking made a big deal about how Princeton specifically tries to admit students who fall just under the threshold for admission into HYSM. In this way, there are less cross-admit tournaments and it seems like Princeton’s yield is high. However, Princeton does not directly compete with HYSM for applicants and thus the ranking put Princeton at #6 behind Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Caltech, and MIT.</p>
<p>Now to respond to DMCs posts.</p>
<p>DMC: However, just because Notre Dame is ranked higher, that does not mean that students felt it was better than Duke/Uchic/Umich,etc! Most probably didnt even apply to Duke!</p>
<p>On the contrary, the revealed preference ranking makes sure that the schools ranked higher than the schools below directly competed with those schools for top applicants. The reason that Princeton is ranked lower than HYSMC is because Princeton did not directly compete with those schools. If you read the pdf file, it shows a chart correlating SAT scores with chances of admission. In the Princeton chart, the probability of gaining admission actually DECREASED as SAT scores rose. Only at the tail end of the chart, where the SAT scores were really really high, Princeton risked admitting the student knowing that the student may very well choose to go to HYSMC. This is because at that point, the benefits of snagging such a top student outweighs the risk of a lower yield rate. </p>
<p>Anyway, suffice it to say that the revealed preference ranking would NOT have ranked Notre Dame above Duke if Notre Dame did not win most of the common cross-admit battles with Duke. For example, say that a student was admitted to both Notre Dame and to Duke. That student is most likely going to choose Notre Dame. I dont see why that is so surprising, seeing as how the very smartest of all students do not take US News so seriously. Other than Dukes #5 ranking on US News, what makes you think its more prestigious than Notre Dame? A recent gallup poll of the most prestigious colleges came out with Harvard on top, Yale and Stanford tied for second, and Notre Dame, MIT, Princeton, and Berkeley rounding out the other colleges listed. Duke wasnt even mentioned. But hey, dont take my word for it, heres the article itself: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=9109[/url]”>http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=9109</a>
When asked to name the best college or university in the nation, one out of four Americans name Harvard as their first or second choice, more than twice as many as name any other college. Stanford and Yale are next most frequently mentioned, followed by MIT, the University of California at Berkeley, Notre Dame, and Princeton. These top-of-mind rankings from the general public contrast somewhat with those published by U.S. News and World Report over the weekend.</p>