<p>Everyone knows Princeton practiced “selective admission” in the past, but that is no longer the case. This is the reason Princeton’s yield has fell from 74% to 68%. Princeton directly competes with Harvard and Yale (attracting almost the same number of cross-admits with Yale). Caltech barely has cross-admits and doesn’t belong in this category. MIT oses to Princeton. Stanford has caught up and equalized with Princeton (Princeton has a higher percent lost, however a lower actual number). It really doesnt matter to me that Stanford is ahead of Princeton in the “preference” rankings. Stanford is a very selective school. The issue is, when in current admissions, Princeton no longer practices “selective admissions” as most people now know, you continually bring it up. Its complete turn around in the admissions process has temporarily brought down its yield (now its directly against harvard, yale, and stanford, MIT isnt even a very big competitor). For this reason, it has kept ED and probably will have to for a few more years. Stanford has only recently become a big competitor in the college game (mainly because of its weather advantage over HYP). </p>
<p>And with Alexandre’s always wise posts, he makes a good point that none of us can determine selectivity or which school is “better” when really, these schools are all equivalent. What do you know about Princeton’s “selective admissions” besides what you have read many years ago? HYPSM, who cares which is more selective, are equal in the minds of those who matter. As I have learned from being a spectator on this thread, people enjoy tearing apart each others schools without fully understanding them. We are talking about the top 10 schools in the nation. There are thousands of them. Preference? Who Cares. You will be making the decision, you alone.</p>