Which is harder to be admitted into?
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Anonymous
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A LAC ranked 10-20 on US News or a university ranked 25-40 on US News?
To give some examples of institutions: 10-20 LAC: Hamilton, Colby, Haverford, Vassar, Washington and Lee, Wesleyan 25-40 University: William and Mary, UVA, Boston College, NYU, Case Western, Tufts I know it depends on the specific institution, but on a broader scale, which is more difficult to be admitted into? |
Anonymous
The former bit why don't you just look up their admit rates? |
Anonymous
Bingo. This is the right answer. 
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Anonymous
| DCs counselor suggested that in cases where your DC is a match Early Action/Early decision may increase your odds for these sorts of schools too. |
Anonymous
| Admit rates aren't really that indicative. No one thinks Pitzer College (13% acceptance rate) is easier to get into than Williams College (17% acceptance rate). Best to look at all the pieces- test scores, class ranks. |
Anonymous
Admission rate is one of the easiest statistics to manipulate. By itself it is nearly meaningless. Alice Lloyd College in KY has the lowest admission rate in the country. It is probably not the hardest to get into. Look up average SAT score (or middle 50%). This can also be manipulated, but is harder. By this measure- W&M-1370 UVA 1355 BC 1365 Tufts 1440 CWU 1370 Hamilton1390 Colby 1330 Haverford 1410 Vassar 1405 Wesleyan- 1385 W&L- 1390 Pretty similar |
Anonymous
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^ But on top of that, all of the LACs generally have lower acceptance rates. Wesleyan/Colby was 15% while the other LACs were around ~20%, and UVA/W&M/BC/NYU have acceptance rates around ~30%. Tufts is the outlier but they've had an acceptance rate/SAT comparable to some of the #15-20 range universities (Rice, WashU, Notre Dame, etc.)
I'd say that on the whole, 10-20 LACs are harder to get into than 25-40 universities. |
Anonymous
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This is why I like the Forbes ranking. National universities and LACs are ranked on the same scale, so it's easier to compare. For example William and Mary is ranked #58; Hamilton college is ranked #65.
This still doesn't tell you which is harder to get into, but at least it gives a clear way of comparing the perceived quality of two institutions. |
Anonymous
+1 Acceptance rates don't tell you much by themselves. It's maddening that so many people actually take them seriously. You really have to look at the freshmen profile stats for SAT scores and GPA. |