Anonymous wrote:The ones that are far away and don't see as many applications from D.C. And I agree that if you can pay full price that also seems to be an advantage, especially at SLACs.
As for University of Chicago -- it was the king of this category until it started taking the common application.

Ok, I have to jump on this one. The most prestigious schools have need blind admissions. The ability to pay is not a factor. Also, some of the very top schools also cap the amount of debt with which you can graduate. Since we are talking about women's colleges, I will note that Wellesley is one of the group with need blind admissions and capped debt. I think there are 6 or so other schools that do this. If I remember correctly, Williams is one of them.

Anonymous wrote:Of the above only NYU and possibly Va Tech are considered to be remotely prestigious.

VA Tech... prestigious? Seriously?

Anonymous wrote:I know, impossible to define "prestigious" and "easy" and so many variables. That said, what's your answer?

Are you using college as a general term? or using it to differentiate colleges from universities?

A well-known strategy is to attend an all-women's college (which ARE much easier to get into nowadays compared to the Ivies and little Ivies; let's be real) and then parlay that into going to a top grad/law school.

Plus you get a great education and the campuses are beautiful. I wish I had done this!

Claremont Colleges (if from the East Coast)

What about Rice? Is there an advantage for those applying from this area because it's far away?

University of Michigan

And for most universities ~ know that admissions difficulty will vary by major/or college within the university.

The ones that are far away and don't see as many applications from D.C. And I agree that if you can pay full price that also seems to be an advantage, especially at SLACs.
As for University of Chicago -- it was the king of this category until it started taking the common application.

Anonymous wrote:Any of them if you are very rich or famous. If a school is easy to get into, it is not prestigious.

chicago was REALLY easy to get into 10 years ago, was it no prestigious?

Any of them if you are very rich or famous. If a school is easy to get into, it is not prestigious.

Women's colleges tend to have higher acceptance rates for a given number of slots, because half the population can't apply.

Anonymous wrote:Of the above only NYU and possibly Va Tech are considered to be remotely prestigious.

According to you at least. Which proves how silly the word is in this context.

The women's colleges tend to be a bit self-selecting, as many girls won't bother applying, or will make it clear enough through their essays that they are being forced to apply by parents, or consider pretty much any co-ed school a better alternative.

Of the above only NYU and possibly Va Tech are considered to be remotely prestigious.

I don't like the USN&WR rankings either, but they're here. I'm still upset over PSU's admin's role in the S abuse (even if it's just a fraction true). But fact is that PSU ranks #37 of National Universities. Quibble over the definition of "prestige" (which OP didn't want to do) but there's no hanging your head in shame if your kid goes to a highly-ranked school.
If the question is: What top (50? 100?) schools are easier to get into than you might otherwise expect? Is that better?

A few examples where USN&WR ranks the following National Universities:
32 NYU;
37 PSU;
47 U Miami (FL);
51 Tulane;
62 BYU/Clemson/Syracuse/UMCP/Pitt;
75 UDel;
69 VA Tech;
91 Auburn/Florida State