I had the same question as one1ofeach. DS goes to #10 on that list. We didn’t apply for FA thanks to some very generous grandparents. As far as I can tell, neither the school nor the people who compiled this lists would have any way of knowing if we were in the top 1% or bottom 60% (we’re in neither).
Re #19 and #20, people may want to read this related Times article:
The study is here: https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/coll_mrc_paper.pdf
@one1ofeach @TheBigChef I you wish to know how they got the data you can look in the “Methods” section of the article.
Every school in the top 100 may seem elitist to some and in different ways. Wealth. Socially. Greek life. Cars, clothes and tech. It’s all based on ones viewpoint on all of these matters. Mostly an illusion anyway.
Get into Princeton and compare to the other offers before worrying. It’s an exceptional school like so many others.
All the Ivies and “elite” colleges have a wide streak of elitism running through them. Otherwise special dating apps for Ivy League graduates wouldn’t be a thing.
However, that really doesn’t matter - if Princeton is a good fit otherwise, the fact that many students at Princeton are elitist should not be a deterrent. The advantage of elitism among other students who are attending a school like Princeton is that it is really easy to avoid spending time with them, and it is easy to avoid being an elitist.
At every college there are groups with crappy attitudes and unpleasant personalities. You avoid hanging out with them and you avoid behaving like them - you don’t avoid the college.