<p>another consideration regarding “selectivity” is that not all schools are selecting for the same things; some want across the board high scores, others may take “lopsided” applicants with strong creative writing or other talents…Oberlin looks for students they think will be a good fit and so there will be instances where the same student is accepted at University of Chicago/Barnard/Vassar but not at Oberlin - or the other way around. Then there are some students who will be accepted at Brown and Oberlin but not Pomona.
(Pomona is one of the hardest admits these days.) Much of this has to do, as well, with location and size of some of the LAC’s - Haverford is smaller, for example.
These types of comparisons are of very qualified value at best. The bottom line, though, is that at any one of these schools, a student can get a first rate education and if he/she does well, have many great opportunities for the future. So it is best to have options and to select the school where the fit (social, academic, and financial) is best.</p>