Let's play a game: Put these in order from easiest to hardest in terms of admission

<p>Clark University
University of Rochester
Wellesley
University of Chicago
Bard
Oberlin
Northwestern University
Haverford
Vassar
Wesleyan University (CT)
Tufts
Swarthmore
Middlebury
Amherst
Brown
Yale</p>

<p>Dang, that takes research, and it's still summer....</p>

<p>But Yale is definitely the hardest to get in. They broke the single-digit barrier last year: 9.6% admission rate.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Yale</p></li>
<li><p>Amherst</p></li>
<li><p>Brown</p></li>
<li><p>Swarthmore</p></li>
<li><p>Northwestern University</p></li>
<li><p>University of Chicago</p></li>
<li><p>Haverford</p></li>
<li><p>Wellesley</p></li>
<li><p>Middlebury</p></li>
<li><p>Vassar</p></li>
<li><p>Wesleyan University (CT)</p></li>
<li><p>Tufts</p></li>
</ol>

<p>13 .Oberlin
13. University of Rochester</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Bard</p></li>
<li><p>Clark University</p></li>
</ol>

<ol>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
<li>Northwestern University</li>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Haverford</li>
<li>Wellesley</li>
<li>Wesleyan</li>
<li>Tufts</li>
<li>Vassar
13 .Oberlin</li>
<li>University of Rochester</li>
<li>Bard</li>
<li>Clark University</li>
</ol>

<p>I agree with Slippers list except that Wes should be another 5.</p>

<p>Here's my take:</p>

<p>(Stats are for Class of '08, I think)</p>

<ol>
<li>Yale (10%, 1400-1560)</li>
<li>Brown (17%, 1310-1520)</li>
<li>Amherst (21%, 1360-1550)</li>
<li>Swarthmore (25%, 1350-1530)</li>
<li>Northwestern (30%, 1320-1500)</li>
<li>U. Chicago (46%, 1330-1530)</li>
<li>Middlebury (26%, 1380-1500) SAT not required so range is artificially high</li>
<li>Tufts (27%, 1290-1470)</li>
<li>Wesleyan (28%, 1310-1490)</li>
<li>Haverford (29%, 1280-1460)</li>
<li>Vassar (29%, 1310-1460) generally easier for males to get in than females</li>
<li>Wellesley (37%, 1280-1460)</li>
<li>Oberlin (40%, 1250-1440)</li>
<li>Bard (36%, 1240-1440)</li>
<li>Rochester (48%, 1230-1410)</li>
<li>Clark (62%, 1080-1305)</li>
</ol>

<p>That would be my opinion for a general applicant but it all depends on alot of factors of course such as geography. Though ranked lower, I would expect it to be more difficult for someone from New England to get into Tufts or Wesleyan than Chicago and Northwestern and vice-versa.</p>

<p>you should not rank these schools based upon acceptance rate and test scores alone. some would argue that Chicago is actually harder to get into than Northwestern, since the applicant pool is more talented (reason: dumb kids are scared away by chicago's weird application and its reputation for being the school where "fun comes to die"). That being said, i agree with slipper's list.</p>

<p>was chicago's rate really 40%??? That's close to Cornell's EA rate!</p>

<p>That is just because U. Chicago is extremely self-selected. It does not use the common application and its essays are much more interesting and non-generic (and thus, one has to put a lot of work into that application). Also, the workload scares a lot of people away. U. Chicago wants a certain type of student...it is not as concerned with it's acceptance rate/yield as other top colleges are.</p>

<p>thank you, tiredofsleep. you cant always rely on the acceptance rate to tell you how selective a school is.</p>