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Michigan’s selectivity rank is 18 (USNWR) … meaning only 17 schools are more selective.</p>
<p>Acceptance rate is not a good indication for selectivity. U of Chicago’s acceptance rate was 40% and 38% as recent as a couple years ago. Is Chicago not selective?</p>
<p>I rather go to NYC then Michigan. Location is something which could be a deal braker, don’t you think?</p>
<p>Perhaps. I think UM and similar schools give more of the tytpical college experience. Many move to NY or other major cities after college when they have a job and the money it takes to enjoy the city. It takes lots of money to enjoy much of what NYC offers.</p>
<p>While the two coasts may be more desirable for more people as a place of residence (as indicated by their dense populations), I think it would be misleading to use that as a gauge to find a suitable college. Location may be important when purchasing a home, but shouldn’t be a deal-breaker when searching for a college that’s right for you (unless you think your safety/health might be seriously compromised). After all, college is only a short time and should be about learning, maturing, and growing. A good-fit college that provides plenty of cultural activities will keep you happily occupied in those four short years or so.</p>
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<p>LOL. Thanks (blushes). I went to Michigan for undergrad, of course. Then to Princeton and Yale for grad school.</p>
<p>I think it matters! You don’t want to go to a state you’ll hate! If someone wants a hot climate, I think they wouldn’t want to go to either place.</p>
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<p>But the truth is that obviously there is not a state school in NY that has a lower admit rate. SUNY blows. So clearly something else more intrinsic is implied here…</p>
<p>GoBlue81 - By DEFINITION, acceptance rate = selectivity. That is what being selective means–fewer admits than qualified applicants. You are conflating selectivity with quality and prestige, as I said.</p>
<p>I have no idea what USNWR’s “selectivity rank” measures. Care to enlighten me?</p>
<p>I think Michigan is indeed a top university, possibly top 25 in the U.S.–but I doubt that it’s among the 25 most SELECTIVE universities. Nor is UChicago.</p>
<p>2007 National U Acceptance Rates, according to USNWR</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard - 9.2</li>
<li>Princeton - 9.7</li>
<li>Yale - 9.9</li>
<li>MIT - 12.5</li>
<li>Stanford - 10.3</li>
<li>Caltech - 16.9</li>
<li>Penn - 16</li>
<li>Columbia - 10.6</li>
<li>Duke - 23</li>
<li>Chicago - 34.7</li>
<li>Dartmouth - 15.3</li>
<li>Northwestern - 26.8</li>
<li>WashU - 17.3</li>
<li>Cornell - 21.4</li>
<li>JHU - 24.3</li>
<li>Brown - 14</li>
<li>Rice - 25.1</li>
<li>Emory - 27.2</li>
<li>Notre Dame - 24.5</li>
<li>Vanderbilt - 32.8</li>
<li>Berkeley - 23.3</li>
<li>CMU - 28</li>
<li>Georgetown - 20.8</li>
<li>UVA - 35.2</li>
<li>UCLA - 23.6</li>
<li>Mich - 50.3</li>
<li>USC - 25.3</li>
<li>Tufts - 27.5</li>
<li>Wake Forest - 42.4</li>
<li>UNC - 34.8</li>
<li>Brandeis - 34.4</li>
<li>W&M - 33.7</li>
<li>NYU - 36.7</li>
<li>BC - 27.3</li>
<li>GA Tech - 63.4</li>
<li>Lehigh - 31.9 </li>
<li>UCSD - 42.5</li>
<li>URochester - 41.2</li>
<li>Wisconsin - 56.2</li>
<li>UIUC - 71
…not going to transcribe the rest.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, in 2007 there were 36 national universities more selective than Michigan. Michigan’s AR went down this year, but it’s reasonable to assume that its peer schools also experienced the same effect.</p>
<p>Can someone explain why these don’t go in numerical order based off of score? Does someone at USNWR not realize that Northwestern’s score of 26 is higher than Brown’s score of 14?</p>
<p>osucowboys, you got me curious: What do you think I was implying? (because I have no idea…)</p>
<p>Keilexandra, selectivity is not based solely(or even mostly) on acceptance rate.</p>
<p>US News has a ranking category for “student selectivity” which represent 15% of the total rating for national universities. “Student selectivity” in turn consists of 3 components: acceptance rate (10%), high school class standing top 10% (40%), and middle 50% SAT/ACT scores (40%). Thus a school’s acceptance rate accounts for 10% of 15%, or 1.5% of its total US News rating. When U.S. News uses the term “selectivity” it means not just the acceptance rate, but also the objective qualifications of the entering class.</p>
<p>And it makes some sense. Some schools attract large numbers of applicants with so-so qualifications. Others, like the University of Chicago, have traditionally scared off a lot of middle-to-weaker applicants and end up with higher acceptance rates from a smaller by extremely well-qualified applicant pool. It would make little sense to classify a school as more “selective” just because it’s drawing large numbers of weaker applicants.</p>
<p>very nice point ^</p>
<p>^^ Ah, I see. I have always interpreted “selective” to mean “low acceptance rate”–no more, no less, thus leading to the term “self-selective” to describe schools like Chicago.</p>
<p>Except for a few pockets of wealth and sophistication, relatively few citizens of the state of Michigan chase prestige via the college they choose. Therefore, even if you’re a Michigan high school valedictorian, you might be perfectly happy to go to Michigan State, Western Michigan, or Wayne State. I get the impression that just about every excellent student in California, Virginia, and North Carolina applies to his state’s top publics.</p>
<p>For most people in the state of Michigan, the sort of car one drives would be a better path to prestige than what college one went to.</p>
<p>I live in the Detroit area, and I occasionally see decals on the rear windows of cars that read, “Academy of Court Reporting.” In other words, the car decal here is used to inform people, not impress them. Yesterday I saw a frame around a license plate that had “Founded 1957” on the top, and “Oakland University” on the bottom (Oakland University is a mid-sized state school north of Detroit). Think about that for a minute. If the people in this state cared much about prestige, nobody would design, manufacture, buy, or display such a thing. In the city of Detroit, only about a quarter of people graduate from high school. Going to ANY post-secondary institution is good enough to set people apart from the pack…they don’t feel the need to be at a US News first-tier school.</p>
<p>^this is really the prevalent mentality in the midwest towards colleges and prestige. It took some getting used to coming from nyc.</p>
<p>most people from michigan don’t apply to like 10 schools, i think most instate people i met applied to less than 5 schools and many of them had incredible stats.</p>
<p>^ Some of us wanted to stay in the Midwest (more so within 100 miles of home) so the competition to apply to multiple colleges all over the map is less commonplace. </p>
<p>I would say the coasts (East, West) are more image and status-conscious. The Midwest tends to be more laid-back and humble.</p>
<p>i would assume that the higher acceptance rate is because migichan is public and in-state students are more likely to get in. i would venture to guess that the out-of-state acceptance rate is much closer the rates at more selective private schools</p>
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<p>VERY interesting post, as an Ohioan, I have observed much of what you are saying, as well. In fact, I have some friends in Michigan, and the smarter older sibling with a 3.96 GPA went to MSU while the more lackluster younger sibling with an ACT score of 25 went to U of M. Although I highly doubt that only 25% of Detroit citizens graduated HIGH SCHOOL (are you talking about citizens that hold Bachelor’s degrees, because that would be accurate), it is still true that few here put any emphasis on school name whatsoever.</p>
<p>For instance, the valedictorians from my school almost religiously go to a nearby fourth-tier state school because it offers free tuition to valedictorians/salutatorians and they can live at home, meaning that they will have to spend no money, but they will miss out on the college experience. I don’t understand this, but they seem to think it makes sense somehow, and since they have a higher GPA but lower ACT/SAT score (which is meaningless anyway, they say, as they walk away with scores of 27/1200), how can I argue? Again, we do have really good, desirable state schools out this way, unlike the SUNY’s or Rutgers of the world, so maybe that’s why. It could also be due to midwestern sensability and dislike of flambuoyantness.</p>
<p>Also, I have been by Oakland University a few times and it is quite nice. My friend I mentioned earlier was seriously considering attending there, as it was really close to his home. I love the fact that Chrysler’s headquarters is right down the street and that there is a killer BD’s Mongolian Barbecue right there at Oakland, along with the fact that Great Lakes Crossing with Bass Pro and Rain Forest Cafe is only a short drive away.</p>