<p>This is slightly off topic, but IMHO the problem with looking at Acceptance Rate as a metric of how good a school is is that it can be so heavily driven by how widely a school is marketed, brand recognition, how difficult it is to submit a Common Ap (ie how many extra essays and questions are required specific to the school), and how large the school is.</p>
<p>For example, NU has predicted that their acceptance rate this year will fall below 20% due to a large increase in the number of applications.</p>
<p>Some schools (NOT NU) market heavily to kids and make it a FREE no-brainer to submit a Common Ap, hence artificially inflating the numbers of kids who apply. This makes their Acceptance Rate lower, but does it make them better schools?</p>