<p>does anyone have the old acceptance rates for colleges?</p>
<p>For example, in the 70s, was it just as hard to get into the Ivy Leagues, etc?</p>
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<p>Haha omg...don't look at them, you'll probally cry like I did.</p>
<p>Here's some examples:</p>
<p>1970: University of Pennsylvania: 70% Acceptance Rate
~1995: University of Chicago: 68% Acceptance Rate
~1998: George Washington University: 80% Acceptance Rate</p>
<p>Don't look too far, you'll just cry and wish you were born in 1940. Al Gore was in the bottom 50% of his class, got around a 1300/1600 on his SAT's, and was so confident about admissions that he ONLY APPLIED TO HARVARD - and obviously, he got in. It was probally his safety too, considering how easy college admissions were back then...but then again there were other factors in play too such as HYP being only for men, only for the rich, and not as many people going or caring about college, and financial aid stuff.</p>
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<p>There are a few factors. One is that back then, there were fewer people going to college and people didn't apply to anywhere near as many schools. As a result, there were no where near as many applications.
Also, since then, the SATs have been scaled differently. I don't think scores from then are quite comparable to scores from now for various reasons.</p>
<p>Here are some stats for Yale: <a href="http://www.yale.edu/oir/book_numbers_updated/D7_Summary_YC_Admissions_1979_2001.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.yale.edu/oir/book_numbers_updated/D7_Summary_YC_Admissions_1979_2001.pdf</a></p>
<p>In 1976, for the class of 1980, Yale accepted 26.4% of their applicants, out of a pool of 9,387. </p>
<p>Princeton had 10,305 applicants that year for an entering class of 1,116. [url=<a href="http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/admission.html%5DAdmission%5B/url">http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/admission.html]Admission[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Most people applied to a much smaller number of schools in those days, which resulted in more predictability for applicants.</p>
<p>In addition to that to hebrewhammer's comment, society today is advertising the importance and benefits of going to college so more high school graduates are taking the initiative to apply these days.</p>
<p>
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Don't look too far, you'll just cry and wish you were born in 1940.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No you don't, because you would be in retirement. Do you really want that? :)</p>
<p>From my dog-eared 1997 edition of USN&WR. SAT scores were the recentered (current) scale.</p>
<p>Yale 20% Admission Rate 1350-1550 25th-75th percentile SAT range
Columbia 24% Admitted 1341-1438 Range
Penn 33% Admitted 1370-1440 Range
WashU 56% Admitted 1180-1380 Range
USC 70% Admitted 1070-1310 Range
Chicago 71% Admitted 1270-1470 Range</p>
<p>I picked a few of the ones that most caught my eye.</p>
<p>You were a likely admit with a 1500 at Yale, 1400 at Columbia and Penn, and 1300 at WashU, USC and Chicago.</p>
<p>Looking at the SAT ranges, I think Columbia and Penn reported individual students' total scores, resulting in a constricted range compared to the way the 25th and 75th percentiles are reported today.
The equivalent today might be something like 1310-1470 for Columbia and 1240-1470 for Penn.</p>
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<p>Oops, the USN&WR range for Penn was 1270-1440. It's possible only Columbia reported the "restricted" range.</p>
<p>Back then college was considered an option after high school. You could have found a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. These days, however, going to college isn't even an option, it's almost required if you want to get a decent job. (there are exceptions I know)</p>
<p>That's from 1997 though, anything from much earlier?</p>
<p>The 1997 issue was, I think, the 1995 admissions year- near the bottom of the "baby bust".
A year or so ago someone posted info on years back to the 1960s. What I remember most was that there was a time when the NY SUNYs had stronger students than Cal, Michigan, etc. That ended in the mid 1970s. Also, some of the "Seven Sisters" had as strong or stronger students as the Ivy schools. That ended with co-education.</p>
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<p>I'd be interested to see if anybody has more detailed Ivy/MIT admissions rate stats for the 50s, 60s, 70s, or even earlier! They're pretty tough to find.</p>
<p>
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No you don't, because you would be in retirement. Do you really want that?
[/quote]
YES!!! that's exactly what i want. Work is so dreadfully boring...</p>
<p>Sigh I'm sure it was a lot easier back then...
My aunt applied in 1996 to Columbia with a 1380 and got in easily.
She was also accepted by Stanford, Princeton, and Yale.</p>
<p>bump 10 char</p>