How do some undergrad business schools have such low acceptance rates, while the school overall is much higher? Am I missing something or is this really the case? See examples below.
Cornell: 2.90% and 13%
NYU: 8% and 16%
UVA: 12% and 24%
Carnegie Mellon: 12% and 22%
Yes bro it’s because B School admissions is more competitive than other majors.
Think about it for a minute and I’m sure you could figure out the answer.
It comes down to the simple fact that demand is greater than supply. Business majors are popular with many students so demand is high. However, there are a limited number of undergrad business programs (many colleges do not offer undergrad business) and the size of the business programs are often fairly small. Therefore there is a higher than typical ratio of applicants per spot available causing admissions to be competitive. The same principle holds true for other competitive majors (ex. CS, nursing etc.), combined programs such as BS/MD etc.
Got it, thank you.