One week to US News 2006 numbers - Guess the changes for LAC!

Parents Forum
1

<p>In one week, the US News' people will again release their infamous rankings. While we know how silly the rankings truly are, we may want to guess the changes that MIGHT show up from their arcane manipulations. There is little fun to play with the Doctoral Universities; the changes are typically insignificant, except for an annual solitary "strange" displacement. Last year, there were several changes, including Middlebury falling from 7th to 11th for reasons only known to US News. For the 2006 statistics, schools moved in different directions as the number of applications dropped at several schools and selectivity eroded. For the class of 2009, most LAC's will show large increases in applications, but this is not used by US News this year. </p>

<p>Here's are a few statistics listed according to last year's ranking with the updates for the class of 2008. Numbers in red show a deterioration in the statisticz from 2007 to 2008. </p>

<p>Number of Applications<br>
Rank Schools 2007 2008
1 Williams 5331 5705
2 Amherst 5631 5489
2 Swarthm 3908 3680
4 Wellesle 3434 3912
5 Carleton 4737 4899
5 Pomona 4539 4927
7 Bowdoin 4719 4853
7 Davidson 3927 4154
9 Haverford 2973 3035
9 Wesleyan 6955 6568
11 Middlebury 5468 5121
12 Vassar 6207 6193
13 CMC 2892 3528
13 Smith 3304 2993
13 WAS/LEE 3185 3649
16 Colgate 6789 6658
16 Grinnell 3058 3552
16 Mudd 1773 1800
19 Colby 4126 4065
19 Hamilton 4405 4445</p>

<p>Change in Application Number
Rk Schools Number Percentage
1 Williams 374 7%
2 Amherst -142 -3%
2 Swarthm -228 -6%
4 Wellesle 478 14%
5 Carleton 162 3%
5 Pomona 388 9%
7 Bowdoin 134 3%
7 Davidson 227 6%
9 Haverford 62 2%
9 Wesleyan -387 -6%
11 Middlebury -347 -6%
12 Vassar -14 0%
13 CMC 636 22%
13 Smith -311 -9%
13 WAS/LEE 464 15%
16 Colgate -131 -2%
16 Grinnell 494 16%
16 Mudd 27 2%
19 Colby -61 -1%
19 Hamilton 40 1%</p>

<p>Number of Accepted Students<br>
Rk School 2007 2008
1 Williams 1123 1093
2 Amherst 1001 1136
2 Swarthm 920 933
4 Wellesle 1394 1476
5 Carleton 1414 1400
5 Pomona 957 950
7 Bowdoin 1151 1186
7 Davidson 1249 1105
9 Haverford 878 884
9 Wesleyan 1854 1843
11 Middlebury 1273 1311
12 Vassar 1806 1777
13 CMC 897 750
13 Smith 1705 1694
13 WAS/LEE 996 1077
16 Colgate 2100 2150
16 Grinnell 1482 1500
16 Mudd 709 690
19 Colby 1390 1496
19 Hamilton 1457 1527</p>

<p>Admission Rates<br>
Rk Schools 2007 2008<br>
1 Williams 21% 19% -2%
2 Amherst 18% 21% 3%
2 Swarthm 24% 25% 2%
4 Wellesle 41% 38% -3%
5 Carleton 30% 29% -1%
5 Pomona 21% 19% -2%
7 Bowdoin 24% 24% 0%
7 Davidson 32% 27% -5%
9 Haverford 30% 29% 0%
9 Wesleyan 27% 28% 1%
11 Middlebury 23% 26% 3%
12 Vassar 29% 29% 0%
13 CMC 31% 21% -10%
13 Smith 52% 57% 5%
13 WAS/LEE 31% 30% -1%
16 Colgate 31% 32% 1%
16 Grinnell 48% 42% -6%
16 Mudd 40% 38% -2%
19 Colby 34% 37% 3%
19 Hamilton 33% 34% 1%</p>

<p>Changes in Combined SAT<br>
RK Schools 2007 2008
1 Williams 2820 2840
2 Amherst 2860 2910
2 Swarthm 2870 2880
4 Wellesle 2710 2740
5 Carleton 2780 2780
5 Pomona 2910 2900
7 Bowdoin 2730 2750
7 Davidson 2710 2710
9 Haverford 2740 2740
9 Wesleyan 2750 2800
11 Middlebury 2860 2880
12 Vassar 2750 2760
13 CMC 2790 2800
13 Smith 2520 2520
13 WAS/LEE 2740 2760
16 Colgate 2700 2700
16 Grinnell 2690 2780
16 Mudd 2920 2940
19 Colby 2690 2710
19 Hamilton 2640 2680</p>

<p>Changes in Number of students in the Top 10%<br>
Rk Schools 2007 2008
1 Williams 87% 85%
2 Amherst 86% 87%
2 Swarthm 92% 89%
4 Wellesle 75% 75%
5 Carleton 71% 73%
5 Pomona 84% 86%
7 Bowdoin 72% 82%
7 Davidson 76% 71%
9 Haverford 84% 79%
9 Wesleyan 73% 66%
11 Middlebury 77% 77%
12 Vassar 69% 68%
13 CMC 83% 83%
13 Smith 59% 58%
13 WAS/LEE 78% 86%
16 Colgate 64% 73%
16 Grinnell 62% 67%
16 Mudd 89% 93%
19 Colby 62% 66%
19 Hamilton 68% 68%</p>

<p>Faites vos jeux. Rien ne va plus! In a week, we will know how much US News relied on the subjective elements of their system. :)</p>

2

<p>BUCKNELL makes it into the top 25</p>

3

<p>21 Bryn Mawr College (PA)
22 Bates College (ME)
23 Oberlin College (OH)
24 Mount Holyoke College (MA)
24 Trinity College (CT)
26 Bucknell University (PA)
26 Macalester College (MN)
26 Scripps College (CA)
29 Barnard College (NY)
29 Kenyon College (OH)
31 College of the Holy Cross (MA)
31 Lafayette College (PA)
33 Colorado College
33 Sewanee – University of the South (TN)
35 Bard College (NY)
35 Connecticut College
35 Whitman College (WA)
38 Franklin and Marshall College (PA)
39 Furman University (SC)
40 Dickinson College (PA)
40 Union College (NY)
42 Centre College (KY)
42 DePauw University (IN)
42 Occidental College (CA)
45 Gettysburg College (PA)
45 Rhodes College (TN)
45 Skidmore College (NY)
48 Sarah Lawrence College (NY)
48 Wabash College (IN)
50 Denison University (OH)</p>

4

<p>xiggi -- Did you happen to see the article the New York Times Education Life section on July 31 about the methods law schools use to manipulate their rankings?</p>

5

<p>Princeton Review should be coming out with their new ones shortly as well.</p>

6

<p>I must be stupid: what's the combined SAT? (SAT I's plus II's?---the numbers seem to low for that.)</p>

7

<p>I cannot figure out what he means by combined scores either.
PS Xiggi-do you have the data for 2009?</p>

8

<p>Prediction: Pomona goes up</p>

9

<p>Oops. I forgot that this part is confusing. I should posted a note for the SAT: it is simply the combination of the 4 scores that establish the 25%-75% ranges. </p>

<p>For instance, if the range is 600-700 for verbal and 650-750 for math, the four scores are added 1300 + 1400 = 2700. It is an alternative to derive the 50% by dividing the range by 2. To get the "usual" SAT number average, just divide the combined totals by 2. A combined range score of 2400 would yield an average of 1200, a 2920 would be 1460. I did not compile a 50% because half of the 25-75 range does not always match the mean score. </p>

<p>I do have the 2009 data, but US News does not use it for the 2006 rankings.</p>

10

<p>Can you post the data? Thanks Xiggi.</p>

11

<p>SAC, I am afraid not to have seen the article about the law schools. </p>

<p>There are a number of artciles on US News and law schools online:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/NRapoport/articles/ratings.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/NRapoport/articles/ratings.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.aals.org/validity.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.aals.org/validity.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.piercelaw.edu/tfield/usnwr.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.piercelaw.edu/tfield/usnwr.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>All of it? </p>

<p>The data for the class of 2009 will distract from the 2006 rankings, but I'll try to organize it and post the numbers a bit later.</p>

13

<p>Number of Applications</p>

<p>RK Schools 2006 2007 2008 2009</p>

<p>1 Williams. 4931 5331 5705 5822
2 Amherst. 5238 5631 5489 6274
2 Swarthm 3886 3908 3680 4085
4 Wellesley 2877 3434 3912 4463
5 Carleton 4170 4737 4899 5000**
5 Pomona.. 4230 4539 4927 5050**
7 Bowdoin 4505 4719 4853 5026
7 Davidson 3387 3927 4154 4257
9 Haverford 2598 2973 3035 3115
9 Wesleyan 6474 6955 6568 6879
11 Middlebu 5299 5468 5121 5254
12 Vassar. 5733 6207 6193 6314
13 Claremon 2918 2892 3528 3734
13 Smith …. 3047 3304 2993 3408
13 WashLee. 3188 3185 3649 3949
16 Colgate . 6268 6789 6658 8008
16 Grinnell.. 3042 3058 3552 3730
16 HarMudd 1669 1773 1800 1800**
19 Colby..… 3873 4126 4065 4000**
19 Hamilton 4565 4405 4445 4500**</p>

<p>** Estimated
RK = Rank of 2005 USNews</p>

14

<p>Number of Accepted Students</p>

<p>Rk Schools 2006 2007 2008 2009</p>

<p>1 Williams 1122 1123 1093 1095
2 Amherst 957 1001 1136 1173
2 Swarthm 933 920 933 900
4 Wellesley 1354 1394 1476 1400
5 Carleton 1455 1414 1400 1400**
5 Pomona 958 957 950 902
7 Bowdoin 1114 1151 1186 1223
7 Davidson 1167 1249 1105 1136
9 Haverford 843 878 884 820
9 Wesleyan 1818 1854 1843 1893
11 Middlebu 1440 1273 1311 1467
12 Vassar. 1780 1806 1777 1768
13 Claremo 814 897 750 750
13 Smith …. 1616 1705 1694 1600
13 WashLee 992 996 1077 1139
16 Colgate . 2109 2100 2150 2163
16 Grinnell 1405 1482 1500 1380
16 HarMudd 621 709 690 700**
19 Colby … 1282 1390 1496 1500**
19 Hamilton 1585 1457 1527 1500**</p>

<p>** Estimated</p>

15

<p>Change in Applications Number </p>

<p>RK Schools 6 to 7 7 to 8 8 to 9</p>

<p>1 Williams 8% 7% 2%
2 Amherst 8% -3% 14%
2 Swarthm 1% -6% 11%
4 Wellesley 19% 14% 14%
5 Carleton 14% 3% 2%
5 Pomona 7% 9% 2%
7 Bowdoin 5% 3% 4%
7 Davidson 16% 6% 2%
9 Haverford 14% 2% 3%
9 Wesleyan 7% -6% 5%
11 Middlebu 3% -6% 3%
12 Vassar. 8% 0% 2%
13 Claremo -1% 22% 6%
13 Smith …. 8% -9% 14%
13 WashLee 0% 15% 8%
16 Colgate . 8% -2% 20%
16 Grinnell 1% 16% 5%
16 HarMudd 6% 2% 0%
19 Colby … 7% -1% -2%
19 Hamilton -4% 1% 1%</p>

16

<p>Admission Rates </p>

<p>Rk Schools 2006 2007 2008 2009</p>

<p>1 Williams 23% 21% 19% 19%
2 Amherst 18% 18% 21% 19%
2 Swarthm 24% 24% 25% 22%
4 Wellesley 47% 41% 38% 31%
5 Carleton 35% 30% 29% 28%
5 Pomona 23% 21% 19% 18%
7 Bowdoin 25% 24% 24% 24%
7 Davidson 34% 32% 27% 27%
9 Haverford 32% 30% 29% 26%
9 Wesleyan 28% 27% 28% 28%
11 Middlebu 27% 23% 26% 28%
12 Vassar. 31% 29% 29% 28%
13 Claremo 28% 31% 21% 20%
13 Smith …. 53% 52% 57% 47%
13 WashLee 31% 31% 30% 29%
16 Colgate . 34% 31% 32% 27%
16 Grinnell 46% 48% 42% 37%
16 HarMudd 37% 40% 38% 39%
19 Colby … 33% 34% 37% 38%
19 Hamilton 35% 33% 34% 33%</p>

17

<p>Admission Rates 2009 </p>

<p>Pomona 18%
Amherst 19%
Williams 19%
Claremont McKenna 20%
Swarthmore 22%
Bowdoin 24%
Haverford 26%
Colgate . 27%
Davidson 27%
Carleton 28%
Middlebury 28%
Vassar 28%
Wesleyan 28%
WashLee 29%
Wellesley 31%
Hamilton 33%
Grinnell 37%
Colby … 38%
Harvey Mudd 39%
Smith …. 47%</p>

18

<p>It appears that the University of Richmond will appear on the rankings as a LAC this year. This comes after it ranked #1 as a Master's Univ.-South for 11 years. Expect it to be in the top 25. Maybe higher, we'll see.</p>

19

<p>The information I got from Middlebury said this year's acceptance rate was 23%. I don't think Febs are counted in the common data set numbers because they specify students entering in fall only. </p>

<p>Also, percentage in top 10% for Midd class of '09 is 84%, up from 77% last year.</p>

20

<p>This is about Occidental</p>

<p>A record-breaking number of applications for the seventh consecutive year has moved Occidental College’s admit rate to a new low and made it possible to offer admission to one of the most impressive group of students in recent memory.</p>

<p>Some 5,120 students submitted applications to Occidental, up 6 percent over last year’s record tally and 175 percent from eight years ago.</p>