<p>She got into Engineering with a 26? That’s crazy. Props to her for getting in.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is the same way, yet it’s average SAT scores among the student body are higher than many private schools and higher ranked public schools (such as UVA and I even think, Chapel Hill). In fact, it is very close to ours (even though they get less apps., meaning that the apps. they do get are from very qualified students. Not only that, but said students choose to go). From what I’ve seen there, the academics are very rigorous are indeed excellent even though the class sizes/student-faculty ratio could be better. If it wasn’t for those things (which sometimes result in sketch teaching quality), I could very well see myself at Tech instead of Emory(which has hard courses w/smaller class, more personal attention, and better teachers, thus making chances of success higher. That’s why I chose it over Tech, even as a science major). Admit rate is not a good measure when you have a good applicant pool. I’m sure Ann Arbor’s situation is very similar to Tech’s, except that they clearly have solved some of the issues Tech has not, and thus are rewarded w/a higher ranking. </p>
<p>Also, as an anecdote, I have a friend from Ann Arbor, who in reality, prefers the intellectual atmosphere at Ann Arbor to Emory’s. It’s kind of interesting how top publics like Ann Arbor and Berkeley are hearts of intellectualism, while many/most top privates have been reduced to “pre-professional factories” where the goal of much/most of the student body isn’t to become great scholars/well-educated, but to merely get As rather they learn or not, just in order to get into prof. school. I would even say, by nature Tech has more intellectual energy. To do engineering courses, creativity and thought are crucial, whereas most pre-prof. geared courses simply measure an ability to take an exam, many of which don’t require more than rote memorization. In that sense, I respect places like Ann Arbor and Berkeley for the type of academic environment that they try to foster. Despite their sizes, they do an excellent job of educating “scholars” and they have rightfully gained and maintained their reputation for doing so. Many top privates are riding off of their past (in terms of reputation and perception) at this point and are nowhere near as scholarly as they used to be.</p>