Stanford vs Yale

bluebayou
Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:42:02 +0000

Yes, it is hard for me to believe that rates are that high perhaps just bcos I’m a cynic when it comes to non-supportable “facts”.

As you readily note, “Unfortunately (so far as I know) they don’t publicly report these numbers…”

If they were accurate, I would submit that they WOULD be publicly reported.

For example, Brown posts on their website an 80% acceptance rate to med school. (Of course, we have no way of knowing if they are including Caribbean schools in this total.) But beyond that, Brown claims that ~180 students apply each year. AMCAS reports 260 students applying with a Brown pedigree. Perhaps those the difference is all alums; perhaps not. Perhaps those ~80 were counseled against applying (as a senior) by The Committee. Perhaps some of those 260 were undergrads, but did not receive the blessing of The Committee and are excluded from the denominator. Even if the 80 are all alums, did they too have an 80% acceptance rate? If not, is the 80% posted on the website somewhat misleading? Shouldn’t it really say, we have an 80% acceptance rate of those that we bless with a full recommendation of The Committee (ala Holy Cross)? Or, for that matter, some of the 80 could have done a post-bac at another college and now be off to med school. Should those students count in Brown’s denominator?

PS: Dartmouth does not do Committee Letters. Do you believe that such is a “detriment” to its students?