<p>JHS is correct about what influences base acceptance rate. I just want to comment that the term “selective” has been used in this thread, and if students who are less outstanding apply to Podunk Community College than to the University of Chicago, we don’t look only at base acceptance rate to decide that the University of Chicago is more “selective” than quite a few other colleges. At some colleges, the pool of applicants who come forward to apply are much more self-selected by strong academic credentials than at other colleges.</p>