<p>Yeah, I mean his and Einstein's old classrooms. Einstein died decades ago.</p>
<p>beautiful post, chris</p>
<p>wow. two in one night. thanks, christopher.</p>
<p>sniff sniff... that was beautiful.... im gonna bawl right now.... and im not even joking. </p>
<p>j. han <><</p>
<p>That was really excellent, Christopher. My reasons for choosing Princeton ED were basically the same you listed.</p>
<p>Those are my reasons for choosing Princeton too and why I didn't have Harvard on my list of colleges.</p>
<p>I'm an int'l living in Viet Nam so I never have a chance to visit both unis. But I do lots of research and finally, I choose Princeton 'cause it has the strongest undergraduate and from what I heard, students just love being at Pton. Another reason is the Pton application. It's so great.</p>
<p>Mmkay gotcha. I got really confused and or excited for a minute. And I totally didn't know Einstein used to teach there - I assumed you were referring to like, his grandson or something. Shows how much I know! ;)</p>
<p>The toughest schools to get into in order are:</p>
<ol>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Cal Tech</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
</ol>
<p>Oh, no. This will start another argument. =/
I'm beginning to hate rankings.</p>
<p>Always did. Rankings are evil. Though that last ranking makes me question the age old Harvard assertion that Yale is their safety school...</p>
<p>Darn you christopher for making me yearn for Princeton all over again. Here I am, having accepted my deferral with grace and calmness (i was never really sad, angry, or bitter anyways, cause so many more qualified applicants didn't get in either), even thinking that maybe Penn is what is right for me, and then you come along and write so convincingly that I want that acceptance letter in April from New Jersey so bad!</p>
<p>Does anyone know the statistical basis for PR's "selectivity rankings?"</p>
<p>Their 2005 book, "The Best 357 Colleges" has scores of lists - most based on non-scientific surveys where students rate their own school, with out reference to other schools.</p>
<p>The "Toughest to get into" list, exerpted above, seems to be based at least in part on these surveys, and in part (what part is not revealed) on "statistical data reported by the colleges." What data we are talking about is not clear. </p>
<p>What I don't quite grasp is this: is MIT, then, the "most selective" largely because more MIT students than, say, Princeton students, think their own school is "Tough to Get Into"? This seems an odd way to compile rankings.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Darn you christopher for making me yearn for Princeton all over again.
[/quote]
Oh, Silmon, that is exactly what I was thinking after reading Christopher's post. Maybe if we make up a mantra that we repeat (perhaps at a time that corresponds with P-ton's zip code) each day, we can will ourselves into admittance. Ship a package of good karma over to the admissions office, too Ill put some in for you when I send mine. :p</p>
<p>I had to email each of my colleges about something, and I thought, "Hmmmm. Maybe it would be a sign if Princeton responded first....."
Then I thought, "Yeah right! Who am I kidding? Actually, I'll take it as a sign if they respond before Decision Day."</p>
<p>I love that [obsolete] school.</p>
<p>Byerly, Princeton Review uses surveys to rate many characteristics, such as quality of life at a school. They determine selectivity, though, based on the school's Common Data Set, a document that every school releases annually which provides information about what % of students were admitted, avg. SAT scores, % in top 10% of HS class, etc. Princeton Review compares admission rates to the quality of the applicant pool in order to determine the selectivity of a school. For instance, if school A admits 40% of applicants and school B admits 41%, and school A's average applicant's SAT is 1140, while school B's is 1400, school B will be ranked as more selective. By taking the quality of the applicant pool into consideration, you eliminate the factor of one school having lots of underperforming students applying. So, applying this to Princeton v Harvard, you'll see that Princeton is more selective than harvard when comparing the chances of similarly qualified students being admitted.</p>
<p>byerly is probly looking up an article to refute you at this very monent, christopher</p>
<p><em>Sigh</em> Why did the fight have to move to this board......</p>
<p>Hate to say it, christopher, but I think yoiu're making that up. The "formula" is nowhere explained in any PR publication.</p>
<p>Very simply, they could not use such a formula because a majority of schools (including Harvard and Yale, among others), do NOT submit CDS forms - which are entirely voluntary.</p>
<p>Moreover, as sensible a thing as it would be to do, you CANNOT compare the relative strength of applicant pools from one school to another with reference to median SAT scores because such information is not generally reported. You sure won't find it in many CDS forms - even for the minority of schools that submit them.</p>
<p>Can you tell me what statistical evidence demonstrates, for example, that "Princeton is more selective than Harvard when comparing the chances of similarly qualified students being admitted?" Since we DO know that Harvard ADMITS have a higher median SAT score than Princeton ADMITS, I'd be interested to see the evidence that, nevertheless, the Princeton app pool has a higher median SAT score! Is that really what you're saying?</p>
<p>I don't think you have any basis for such claim, and I doubt PR can obtain such numbers, or that it uses anything of the sort to rate applicant pools, or to determine which schools are "toughest to get into."</p>
<p>Just drop the PR stats fight. It doesnt really matter- altho i personally think that PR is not very objective. Lets get back on the subject of how much greater Princeton is than Harvard, and how you, Byerly, will continue to promote your school to the contrary. Its all good- this kind of discussion is nice.</p>
<p>and of course, lisae, ill be sure to add some karma in for all of us when i send in my additional essay. no use to have u freezing in michigan, me roasting in the desert, our indian chums stuck in the humid, polluted landscape of India, and kebree, worst of all, stuck at...harvard <em>shudder</em> :)</p>