For the top colleges, which one is relatively easier to get into?

Applying to College
1

<p>How do you think the average or overall difficulty of being accepted into the top colleges? Please exclude the special schools (such as Army, Navy, Olin etc…), the special cases (such as student A was accepted at Harvard but rejected at Tufts, etc…) and the school’s specialties (such as CS major at Carnegie). Below is my list from the hardest to relatively easier:</p>

<p>Tier 1 – Super Hard
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT</p>

<p>Tier 2 – a little bit easier than tier 1
Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, U Penn, Swarthmore, Williams</p>

<p>Tier 3 – a little bit easier than tier 2
Bowdoin, Chicago, Cornell, Georgetown, Harvey Mudd, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, Northwestern, Pomona, Rice, Washington in St Louis</p>

<p>Tier 4 – a little bit easier than tier 3
Berkeley, Claremont McKenna, Carleton, Davidson, Haverford, Notre Dame, Tufts, UCLA, UVA, Vassar, W&L, Wellesley, Wesleyan</p>

<p>Tier 5 – a little bit easier than tier 4, but still very hard
Bates, Carnegie Mellon, Colby, Colgate, Emory, Michigan, Oberlin, Smith, UNC, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest </p>

<p>I use tiers because I would think that the differences within the same tier are ignorable. For example, on average, Getting into Amherst would be as difficult as getting into Duke.</p>

2

<p>you know squat, evidently.</p>

3

<p>I think you need a few more Tiers, and a CC thread could provide the consensus of which school to which tier, in a Wiki fashion.</p>

<p>I think that USC and UCLA, for example, belong in the same tier, as they are of very similar difficulty. With more tiers, UC Berkeley would be in a harder tier than UCLA.</p>

4

<p>"Tier 2 – a little bit easier than tier 1
Amherst, Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, U Penn, Swarthmore, Williams"
uh, I doubt williams is of the same tier as brown, duke, upenn or caltech.</p>

5

<p>In the past few years, many top students from my school who got into brown, Cornell and Duke were rejected by Williams, so I would say that Williams is at least the same hard if not easier.</p>

6

<p>williams is harder than brown</p>

7

<p>What makes you think Hopkins, Northwestern, Rice, WashU are easier to get into than Duke?</p>

8

<p>I think golacs is spot on for the first 3 tiers. I think he/she underrates Vandy and Emory, and overrated Smith and Bates.</p>

9

<p>I think OP has too much time in his/her hands.</p>

10

<p>^^ so does everyone posting on CC...</p>

11

<p>I wouldn't assume Cal Tech is easier to get into than MIT.</p>

<p>If Olin's a specialty school, so are MIT and Cal Tech.</p>

12

<p>good thread, I'll post my personal tiers later</p>

13

<p>Anyone who rates publics without regard to residency is misinformed and/or spreading bad information.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
good thread, I'll post my personal tiers later

[/quote]
</p>

<p>please don't. these types of threads are retarded.</p>

15

<p>It's interesting to see someone else's perspective on certain schools. I think your first two tiers are probably pretty accurate. The other three, in my opinion, have some flaws. The way I see it, certain schools are self selecting and the admission office at schools like Vassar/Wesleyan seem to choose appropriately. Likewise, Smith and Wellesley are self selecting too! Additionally, you have a school like W&L up there on the list which is highly competetive for some kids, but not so much for legacies or "kids from good southern families." Colgate should be on par with Middlebury. Those are just my 2 cents!</p>

16

<p>this is pure troll bait.</p>

17

<p>Michigan definetly should at least be in tier 4 prolly tier 3 ucla tier 5.</p>

18

<p>where does NYU-STERN fit in?</p>

19

<p>Is Smith reallly that difficult to get into? I thought it would be below Bates definately.</p>