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[quote=Anonymous]Interesting article in the NY Times ("the Upshot") with a reassuring message that it's easier to get into A top school (as opposed to any one particular top school that you focus on):

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/upshot/for-accomplished-students-reaching-a-top-college-isnt-actually-that-hard.html?hpw&rref=education&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

Having read it the article, there are some truisms that I'd agree with, namely that the acceptance rate itself is not the whole story, at least in the sense that an individual's chance of acceptance to Harvard is unlikely to be 6%.  Some unqualified applicants will have 0% chance of admissions, others (even leaving out legacies and athletes, say) will have a much higher percentage -- maybe 20%, say, or 30%, if their grades/scores are in a certain range.

However, the article defines "top schools" as the 113 schools given a selectivity rating of 1 by Barron's.  While I would say this is accurate in a meta sense because you can get a great education at all of those schools, the fact remains that a typical NW DC private school parent does not see Harvey Mudd and Harvard (both of which are treated equally under the model described in the article) as equal.  Other Barron's selectivity 1 schools  include schools such as Villanova, Franklin and Marshall, Lehigh, Lafayette, University of Rochester, University of Miami, Reed, etc.

Nor does the article capture the fact that a generation ago, international applications were only a small piece of the puzzle.  Now schools such as the Ivies are 20% international, at a time when they generally have NOT expanded size by 20%, thus functionally shrinking the number of slots.

But, an interesting read.  [/quote]

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