<p>Our valedictorian (NJ) of this era turned down Princeton for $10,000 scholarship to WashU. Even in 1969 Princeton was very hard to get into at least from our school. We thought he was nuts to go half way across the country to a totally unknown school. The $10K was for 4 years btw and supposedly covered everything. </p>
<p>The "seven sisters" were very strong back then, if I recall they were as selective and prestigious as the ivies.</p>
<p>"Jackson was (and IS) part of Tufts."</p>
<p>Yep. The name is preserved in the excellent all-female Tufts a cappella group, the Jackson Jills.</p>
<p>It's very striking that Jackson made the top list, while Tufts didn't even earn a +.</p>
<p>Xiggi:</p>
<p>Those median SAT numbers probably aren't far off. Swarthmore's median SATs for the class entering in fall of 1970 were:</p>
<p>674 VERBAL
683 MATH</p>
<p>Acceptance rate was 23%.</p>
<p>I was wondering about Jackson - I remembered Pembroke being part of Brown, but not that. May have merged earlier? I thought it was interesting that Pembroke was also harder to get into than Brown.</p>
<p>Excluding engineering colleges which I didn''t track, only about 8-10 schools had SATs 1350 or above. Not sure if what was reported was mean or median.</p>
<p>What a different world that was: APs were rare; you took the SAT once with no prep; it was typical to apply to maybe 3 colleges; and most of those highly competitive schools were essentially regional institutions. Before I get too nostalgic, I recall worrying about how high my draft number was, too . . .</p>
<p>"I thought it was interesting that Pembroke was also harder to get into than Brown."</p>
<p>At Harvard -- and I bet at Brown and Tufts as well -- the female college was considerably smaller than the male college. The Harvard/Radcliffe ratio was 3/1. So although the number of interested students was more like 60/40, there were three times as many slots for males. Thus...it was a lot harder to get a spot at Radcliffe.</p>
<p>I couldn't get into my undergrad school today, with my HS stats.</p>
<p>I wouldn't even get the second look....straight into the reject pile.;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I thought it was interesting that Pembroke was also harder to get into than Brown.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Remember, most of the good northeast schools banned women. Therefore, you had very strong applicants competing for a limited number of slots at the female and co-ed colleges.</p>
<p>Also consider the lack of "need blind" admissions along with the gender issues...</p>
<p>I also think it is striking how little has changed since 1969.</p>
<p>NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES-11 schools in 1969
California Institute of Technology, Calif.
IVY Columbia College of Columbia University, N.Y.
IVY Dartmouth College, N. H.
IVY Harvard University, Mass.
John Hopkins University, Md.
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Mass.
IVY Pembroke College of Brown University, R.I.
IVY Princeton University, N.J.
Rice University, Tex.
Stanford University, Calif.
IVY Yale University, Conn.</p>
<p>6 of the 11 were Ivies (missing were U Penn and Cornell). The only 2007 Top 10 schools missing are Duke and U Chicago. In 2007, the lowest ranked of the 1969 Top 11 is Rice which now sits at #17. </p>
<p>LACs-6 schools in 1969
Amherst College, Mass.
New College, Fla.
Pomona College, Calif.
Swarthmore College, Pa.
Wesleyan University, Conn.
Williams College, Mass.</p>
<p>Out of these 6 schools, all but New College are in the 2007 Top 10 for LACs. </p>
<p>ALL GIRLS-6 schools in 1969
Bryn Mawr College, Pa.
Jackson College for Women, Mass.
Mount Holyoke College, Mass.
Radcliffe College, Mass.
Wellesley Coll., Mass.
Smith Coll., Mass.</p>
<p>Only Wellesley cracks the 2007 Top 10 for LACs. Things have definitely changed here. </p>
<p>Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, N.Y. is in its own category</p>
<p>Many changes are evident when you move down a notch or two. For example the large schools outside the Northeast (Emory, Wash U, etc. ) have gained in prestige quite a bit, and below the very top strata LACs as a group, mostly in the Northeast, have lost ground. At the same time as other Northeast schools have relatively suffered, the Ivies have if anything become even more relatively selective. As noted, the women's colleges have lost ground. The California schools have gained, as have the Catholic-affiliated schools. Schools in the big cities are faring quite a bit better now; both their cities, and in certain cases their prominent business programs, were not in high regard back then.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh, no, you did NOT just add an "h" to Worcester, which isn't even pronounced remotely like it contains that letter. ;-) [don't worry, I can't even pronounce Worcester like a true New Englander either] Here's a primer:</p>
<p>WOO-STAH This is the correct way to say it. This is the pronunciation used by most of the residents of the city and surrounding areas.
WIS-TAH This is the correct way to say it. This is the pronunciation used mostly by people north of the city.
WOO-STER This is the correct way to say it. This is the pronunciation used by people who have lived elsewhere and either now live in Worcester, or somewhere else.
WUSS-TAH This is the incorrect way to say it. is the pronunciation used by most of the residents of the city and surrounding areas when they're putting down the city.
WAR-CHEST-ER This is the incorrect way to say it. This is the pronunciation used by people from south of the Mason-Dixon line who have seen it in print. These are generally the people you hang up on when they call you, since they're telemarketers.
WAR-SES-TER This is the incorrect way to say it. This is the other popular mis-pronunciation I hear often, this one I understand a little better, it sort-of looks like it should be said this way.
WOOSTER This is the incorrect way to say it. This is how the name is spelled when someone outside of the region is trying to write down your address over the phone.
WORM-TOWN This is how you pronounce the name, if you're a brain dead Boston D.J. or visiting college student. Of course the origin is a little more interesting and flattering than it's now corrupted meaning.
GRITTY OLD MILL TOWN This is how you spell the name if you're the New York Times (as stated when discussing why Bruce Springsteen started one of his tours in the Centrum). Needless to say, we like to spell their name CRIME RIDDEN CESSPOOL.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned the Webb Institute. They are still in business on Long Island, and still incredibly selective. They are a little like Olin or Deep Springs -- too small to qualify for the "ranking services." They are a very small college of naval architecture and marine engineering. They sent recruiting literature to Jr.</p>
<p>My year (Class of '75, entering in Sep 1970) was the last year for which Jackson had separate admissions from Tufts. Even then, all dorms, classes, etc. were together. We did take a little satisfaction in knowing we were smarter than the men.</p>
<p>I mean entering in Sep 1971, it wouldn't let me edit.</p>
<p>I noticed NYU and BU did not make either list. I wonder if they have gotten that much better or just more popular because more students want urban schools. Maybe some of both.</p>
<p>When I applied to Jackson (many years ago), it was clear they were only interested in interviewng females with 1500+ SATS. Very selective</p>
<p>InterestedDad: How did you get those Swarthmore numbers? Can one find them also for other schools?</p>
<p>When I entered Northwestern in 1966 (WHEN??), I think my scores were probably 1250 or 1300 combined. Pathetic!!</p>
<p>ROFL re Worcester proununciations! Priceless.</p>