<p>How competitive is admission to graduate colleges compared with admission to undergraduate colleges?</p>
<p>For the Top 10 undergrad colleges, (many of which are Ivys), admission rates seem to be around 9%-15% of applicants. What about the Top 10 graduate colleges, though? Are they more or less competitive than that?</p>
<p>I know for the top ranked undergrad colleges, a person can have nearly perfect scores, ECs, and recs, and yet it's still often a shot in the dark as far as being accepted goes. Is the same true for the top graduate colleges?</p>
<p>Now, note that the average Quanitative GRE for admitted students into these programs was over 750, and Minnesota has a top 25 Physics and a top 25 Chem PhD program. It gets more competitive as you get toward the top 10.</p>
<p>You also have to remember you don't have as many unqualified people applying. A lot of people apply to the Harvards and the Princetons for undergrad just to give it a shot. You wouldn't take all the time (and money) to take the GRE general, take the GRE subject, write a coherent future research plan, and find recommenders unless you were taking it seriously.</p>