<p>I was just wondering, as the title suggests, if anyone knows of any schools that are notorious for being number-oriented (i.e. with grades, test scores, etc.)</p>
<p>I found out recently that Yale fits that description, along with Northwestern and its Harvard-caliber SAT midrange.</p>
<p>Of course I know all the top schools are "number-oriented" to a certain degree, but I'm talking about exceptional cases.</p>
<p>Tulane takes SAT into large consideration, a lot more than GPA</p>
<p>I have never heard that any of the Ivies, including Yale, are notoriously number-oriented. They are flooded with high stat applicants, and can afford to pick and choose from that pool to create classes that are diverse in all meanings of the word. Still, many high stat students will be turned down for lack of space.</p>
<p>Top schools that are the most number-oriented are public universities, which to show their taxpayers that admission is fair -- tend to value the numbers and state residency above all other factors -- unless one is a star athlete.</p>
<p>I disagree with the OP about the two schools named in his post, but I do believe that most large state university honors programs/colleges are focused on numbers.</p>
<p>What you say makes no sense. Yale's numbers are right in there with other top schools'. Can you back this up?</p>
<p>CALTECH (lol) :/</p>
<p>I always heard Duke was "numbers-oriented."</p>
<p>I don't know whether that claim is true or false, I've just heard that.</p>
<p>Wustl.....</p>
<p>By notorious, are you figuring that a college is looking to have good numbers for rankings like USN&WR?</p>
<p>Grades are not an easily compared number. USN&WR uses percent of students in Top 10% of class, for example, and weights this heavily than SAT's.</p>
<p>Undergraduate</a> Ranking Criteria and Weights - US News and World Report.</p>
<p>The University of California is numbers orientated, but favors its proprietary version of the GPA over SAT.</p>
<p>Most colleges that are competitively numbers orientated do this by focusing on the SAT over GPA. This is often said to be true for USC, for example.</p>
<p>So, what are the numbers you are looking for?</p>
<p>hmom5: I think that you & I interpret the OP's question differently. If I understand your position, then the answer would just be the top schools in order of average SAT scores (and, of course, GPA which tend to be inflated by many high schools), but my understanding of the OP's question is what schools focus almost solely on numbers in the sense that if you don't meet the high thresholds, then you won't be admitted regardless of the non-numerical aspects of your application & qualifications. Yale, for example, considers factors such as ECs, race, socio-economic status, special talents & abilities, etc. which are non-numbers oriented. Yale's numbers are high because of the sheer quantity of high achievers that apply, not because Yale does not consider non-numbers oriented factors.
I agree with post #9 and think that it applies to all selective state flagship universities.</p>
<p>Most engineering programs are more numbers oriented--I guess it depends on the school and whether you must apply directly with the dept for engineering.</p>
<p>Caltech...definitely...</p>
<p>Yale is NOT notoriously numbers-oriented. Check out the SCEA results thread in the Yale forum.</p>
<p>Yeah, Caltech is probably the most notorious that I've heard of; compared to Harvard, MIT, Princeton, etc. they accept a LOT more of the perfect SAT scorers that come their way.</p>
<p>That's probably why they never compete for the national championship in football. Well, that & the fact that they don't have a football team.</p>
<p>Interestingly, our HS has had some Cal Tech admits recently who were NOT tops in GPA, NOT tops in rank, and NOT tops in SATs, but who had a demonstrated passion for research.</p>
<p>^ Not surprisingly.</p>
<p>I'd assume any state schools would be really numbers based. To echo others, I have heard that Caltech is also "notoriously" numbers based.</p>
<p>Caltech doesn't just want people to become successful. They're looking to recruit students who will become future nobel laureates! I agree, their SAT ranges are higher than others and they don't always look at rank or GPA, mainly because to become successful at the professional level and to conduct world-class research, one needs to have an extreme passion for science or math, not a A in Spanish level 2. a B in world history during your sophomore year shouldn't matter either.</p>
<p>Coldwind, you're right, I'm not sure what the OP meant. My initial reaction is that it was another one of those "tell me which ivy my stats won't matter at" post.</p>
<p>Certainly some of the state schools are the most numbers oriented of all schools.</p>
<p>At all ivies you need to reach a numbers threshold before the holistic review kicks in. For an unhooked candidate that, in general, requires high numbers.</p>
<p>I also want to address the "look at the low numbers from ED" post. Looking at ED results one needs to realize it is the round where most of the 40% of every ivy class that is hooked is admitted in. The hooks may not be apparent to the naked eye.</p>
<p>Cal Tech... Northwestern... MIT.</p>