@londondad: Heh. It’s funny how perceptions change.
20 years ago (probably even 10 years ago), nobody would have thought that NEU was more prestigious than American (neither of them really were). At least American has its strength in politics/IR and DC location to hang its hat on.
And there’s no good reason why the 3rd best school in DC shouldn’t have a lower or same admit rate as the 6th best school in Boston.
^ Good point. I should have made a comparison with AU and BC (which has a acceptance rate of 33% this year) . By the way, when I was at Uni in DC in the late 1970’s AU was generally considered the 5th best school as back then both Catholic U and Trinity College were usually considered better schools.
You right in that DC is a great place to go to Uni and in general there is a real trend for more kids to want to attend school in cities.
@londondad: Certainly, LACs, rural schools, and Catholic schools have seen a relative decrease in popularity over the past 20-30 years while elite research U’s, urban unis, private unis have seen a big increase in popularity.
Plenty of people around who remember when NYU was the backup school for rich CUNY rejects, USC was the backup school for rich UC rejects, Cornell was harder to get in to than UPenn, Columbia almost went bankrupt, and yes, Williams had a lower admit rate than Vandy. A mere decade or so ago, UChicago had a 40% admit rate.
I think this is due to a big decrease in (urban) crime as well as more secularization in the US over that time period as well as cutbacks (at least on a relative basis) in funding of public colleges along with increasing inequality. Also, there’s more attention being paid to international /research rankings.
Columbia never was close to bankruptcy. NYC was and that was in the mid seventies :)! Boy you are old 
The big ssues is that LAC have zero name recognition outside the US. Globally reconized pedigree is key in the global economy.
After the success or failure of one’s performance at his/her first real job, “globally recognized pedigree” is moot.
The most successful people I know personally,(and they are very very successful) started out at their local colleges.
You just have to be very focused, persistent, and of course, very good at what you do.
It’s not about success or failure in the job. It’s about chances of getting you job in the first place for most people in most places. There are always exceptions.
@PurpleTitan I would say UChicago’s increasing selectivity is more a result of marketing than an improved urban environment. Murders have skyrocketed the last couple years, very close to Hyde Park. Chicago now has more murders than LA and NYC combined. In order to maintain campus safety, UChicago maintains the third largest police force in the state of Illinois. We visited last year, and while the campus itself is beautiful, we just did not want our daughter to live in a green zone for four years so she did not apply there. A few months ago their Admissions Office solicited students with a $500 offer to come up with a marketing campaign to downplay the violence, which was presumably scaring away applicants like my daughter.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/30621/
I agree with you that Columbia’s rise in rankings is linked to improved safety in NYC.
Wesleyan?
any ed results from F&M, brandeis and bucknell?
Bowdoin?
Does anybody have Lehigh University information?
The area around UChicago has improved immensely. The schools consistently rising popularity and what this year will be less than 7 percent admissions is the result of the schools renewed focus on its undergraduate education and experience and UChicago’s globally recognized leadership in numerous disciplines ranging from economics, physics, math and English to near eastern studies and everything in between as well as programs with its elite business and law schools. To claim that a USNWR ranking of top three is the result of marketing is just spurious. All the students we know there feel safe and part of a caring community. Of course, one must apply some big city common sense.
Then why are they paying students $500 to come up with a marketing strategy to downplay the fact that South Side is the murder capital of America. Look at this map (a dead-serious website, don’t be put off by the name): http://heyjackass.com
Chicago is not a better school now than ten years ago, despite the lower admit rate. Alas, the surrounding crime rate is much worse.
http://www.personalcollegeadmissions.com/getting-in/the-great-success-of-the-university-of-chicago
You apply common sense and don’t go to those south side areas. I went to columbia at a time when the school itself on all sides was a crime zone. UChicago and the immediate streets around it are perfectly fine. Obviously, with their rankings for college, graduate schools, and world university rankings, and the highest SAT/ACT average with Cal Tech – they must be doing something right.
Adding UCLA and UVA:
MIT RD 781 out of 11,853 (6.6%)
MIT EA 657 out of 8394 (7.8%) (def=69.7%, rej=22.4%)
Pomona ED/RD ~742 out of 9046 (8.2%)
Swarthmore ED/RD 960 out of 9383 (10.2%)(Yield,405=42.1%)
Johns Hopkins RD 2542 out of 24,644 (10.3%)
Georgetown EA 931 out of 7822 (11.9%)(def=88.1%)
Williams College RD 996 out of 7865 (12.7%)
Boston University ED2 ~274 out of 2039 (~13.4%)
Harvard SCEA 938 out of 6473 (14.5%)
Georgetown RD ~3,219 out of 21,459 (15%)(Yield,1600=38.6%)
Princeton SCEA 770 out of 5003 (15.4%)
Washington University in St. Louis ED/RD ~4875 out of 30,464 (16%)
Middlebury RD 1350 out of ~8082 (16.7%)(Yield,705=40.2%)
Yale SCEA 871 out of 5086 (17.1%) (def=52.7%, rej=28.6%)
Georgia Tech RD (IS/OOS) 2917 out of 15,769 (18.5%)
UCLA RD (IS/OOS) ~20,400 out of 102,000 (~20%)
Carleton College ED1/ED2/RD ~1300 out of 6500 (~20%)(Yield,520=~40%)(ED1/ED2=~208)
Rice ED 329 out of 1604 (20.5%)
UVA RD (OOS) 2342 out of 10,897 (21.5%)
Brown ED 695 out of 3170 (21.9%)(def=60%, rej=18%)
Georgia Tech EA (OOS) ~2300 out of 11,515 (~21%)
Penn ED 1354 out of 6147 (22.0%)
UVA EA (OOS) 3339 out of 14,968 (22.3%)
Vanderbilt ED1/ED2 __ out of __ (23.6%)
Carnegie Mellon ED 330 out of 1375 (24.0%)
Notre Dame REA 1470 out of 6020 (24.4%) (893 def=14.8%)
Duke ED 861 out of 3516 (24.5%)(def,671=19.1%)
UVA RD (IS/OOS) 4043 out of 16,361 (24.7%)
Boston University RD 14,013 out of 56,634 (24.7%)(Yield,3400=22.4%)
Cornell ED ~1379 out of 5384 (25.6%)(def=20.9%, rej=53.5%)
Northwestern ED ~963 out of 3736 (~25.7%)
Dartmouth ED 555 out of 1999 (27.8%)
Georgia Tech EA (IS/OOS) 4380 out of 15,715 (27.9%)
Boston University ED1/ED2 ~1190 out of 4181 (~28.5%)
UVA EA (IS/OOS) 5914 out of 20,446 (28.9%)(def,5458=26.7%; rej,9074=44.4%)
Tulane EA 6480 out of 22,256 (29.1%)
Tufts ED1/ED2 ~675 out of 2310 (~29.2%)
UVA RD (IS) 1701 out of 5664 (30.0%)
Johns Hopkins ED 591 out of 1934 (30.6%)
Emory ED 474 out of 1493 (31.7%)
Boston College RD ~6300 out of 28,500 (32.3%)
Boston College EA ~2900 out of 9000 (~33%)(def,3500=38.9%, rej,2500=27.8%)
Williams ED 257 out of 728 (35.3%)
Middlebury ED2 60 out of ~155 (38.7%)
University of Florida RD 13,214 out of ~34,000 (~38.9%)
Boston University ED1 916 out of 2142 (42.8%)
Middlebury ED1/ED2 403 out ~828 (48.7%)
UVA EA (IS) 2575 out of 5278 (48.8%)
Fordham EA 9812 out of 19,859 (49.4%)
Georgia Tech EA (IS) ~2080 out of 4200 (~49%)
Middlebury ED1 343 out of 673 (51.0%) (def,60=8.9%, rej,270=40.1%)
William & Mary ED 528 out of 1023 (51.6%)
University of Georgia EA 8059 out of 15,614 (51.6%)
Fordham ED 156 out of 293 (53.2%)
Trinity College ED 315 out of 443 (71.1%)
Rice? Emory?
Barnard:
Adding Barnard and Wake Forest:
MIT RD 781 out of 11,853 (6.6%)
MIT EA 657 out of 8394 (7.8%) (def=69.7%, rej=22.4%)
Pomona ED/RD ~742 out of 9046 (8.2%)
Swarthmore ED/RD 960 out of 9383 (10.2%)(Yield,405=42.1%)
Johns Hopkins RD 2542 out of 24,644 (10.3%)
Georgetown EA 931 out of 7822 (11.9%)(def=88.1%)
Williams College RD 996 out of 7865 (12.7%)
Boston University ED2 ~274 out of 2039 (~13.4%)
Harvard SCEA 938 out of 6473 (14.5%)
Barnard 1139 out of 7716 (14.8%)
Georgetown RD ~3,219 out of 21,459 (15%)(Yield,1600=38.6%)
Princeton SCEA 770 out of 5003 (15.4%)
Washington University in St. Louis ED/RD ~4875 out of 30,464 (16%)
Middlebury RD 1350 out of ~8082 (16.7%)(Yield,705=40.2%)
Yale SCEA 871 out of 5086 (17.1%) (def=52.7%, rej=28.6%)
Georgia Tech RD (IS/OOS) 2917 out of 15,769 (18.5%)
UCLA RD (IS/OOS) ~20,400 out of 102,000 (~20%)
Carleton College ED1/ED2/RD ~1300 out of 6500 (~20%)(Yield,520=~40%)(ED1/ED2=~208)
Rice ED 329 out of 1604 (20.5%)
UVA RD (OOS) 2342 out of 10,897 (21.5%)
Brown ED 695 out of 3170 (21.9%)(def=60%, rej=18%)
Georgia Tech EA (OOS) ~2300 out of 11,515 (~21%)
Penn ED 1354 out of 6147 (22.0%)
UVA EA (OOS) 3339 out of 14,968 (22.3%)
Vanderbilt ED1/ED2 __ out of __ (23.6%)
Carnegie Mellon ED 330 out of 1375 (24.0%)
Notre Dame REA 1470 out of 6020 (24.4%) (893 def=14.8%)
Duke ED 861 out of 3516 (24.5%)(def,671=19.1%)
UVA RD (IS/OOS) 4043 out of 16,361 (24.7%)
Boston University RD 14,013 out of 56,634 (24.7%)(Yield,3400=22.4%)
Wake Forest RD ~2750 out of 11,000 (~25%)(Yield,1350=38.6%)
Cornell ED ~1379 out of 5384 (25.6%)(def=20.9%, rej=53.5%)
Northwestern ED ~963 out of 3736 (~25.7%)
Dartmouth ED 555 out of 1999 (27.8%)
Georgia Tech EA (IS/OOS) 4380 out of 15,715 (27.9%)
Boston University ED1/ED2 ~1190 out of 4181 (~28.5%)
UVA EA (IS/OOS) 5914 out of 20,446 (28.9%)(def,5458=26.7%; rej,9074=44.4%)
Tulane EA 6480 out of 22,256 (29.1%)
Tufts ED1/ED2 ~675 out of 2310 (~29.2%)
UVA RD (IS) 1701 out of 5664 (30.0%)
Johns Hopkins ED 591 out of 1934 (30.6%)
Emory ED 474 out of 1493 (31.7%)
Boston College RD ~6300 out of 28,500 (32.3%)
Boston College EA ~2900 out of 9000 (~33%)(def,3500=38.9%, rej,2500=27.8%)
Williams ED 257 out of 728 (35.3%)
Wake Forest ED1/ED2 ~750 out of 2000 (~37.5%)
Middlebury ED2 60 out of ~155 (38.7%)
University of Florida RD 13,214 out of ~34,000 (~38.9%)
Boston University ED1 916 out of 2142 (42.8%)
Middlebury ED1/ED2 403 out ~828 (48.7%)
UVA EA (IS) 2575 out of 5278 (48.8%)
Fordham EA 9812 out of 19,859 (49.4%)
Georgia Tech EA (IS) ~2080 out of 4200 (~49%)
Middlebury ED1 343 out of 673 (51.0%) (def,60=8.9%, rej,270=40.1%)
William & Mary ED 528 out of 1023 (51.6%)
University of Georgia EA 8059 out of 15,614 (51.6%)
Fordham ED 156 out of 293 (53.2%)
Trinity College ED 315 out of 443 (71.1%)
This statement from the Wake Forest admissions blog is pretty curious.
First off, it sounds like it is written by an adolescent–LOL, we don’t know what we’re doing! Second, having ED acceptances jump from 40% to 55% in one year is nothing to be proud of and certainly not something to be touting in an admissions blog.