<p>Which colleges do you think have the highest level of self-selectivity among applicants?</p>
<p>Any school with a sub-20% acceptance rate is bound to have the highest levels of self-selectivity. There have been interviews with Admissions Directors from quite a few top schools that say about 75% of their applicants are academically qualified and would do well at the school.
So that is why the need to take essays and ECs into account.</p>
<p>Very specialized colleges such as top music schools (Berklee, URocester, UCinci, IU, UoMich, Curtis, Julilard)</p>
<p>Any competitive school is if they student did look up the admission stat before applying.
How do you measure this? By comparing the stat of applicant and admitted student?
Berkeley has average ACT 30 among applicants and average admission ACT is 32. I guess that is an indication of self-selective.</p>
<p>Arts colleges -I’m talking Julliard type schools- , conservatories, military academies, MIT, and Caltech are probably among the MOST self selecting as those schools require a certain talent or mindset that isn’t found among the general student population. But honestly any top 20 school is pretty self selecting. </p>
<p>Top women’s colleges?</p>
<p>Any school with a limited selection of majors would have a self-selecting applicant pool. The engineering-focused schools and music conservatories are obvious candidates. Other types of schools may be those like Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the various maritime academies, which offer majors relating to air and sea transportation respectively. Cooper Union offers engineering, art, and architecture, a somewhat unusual combination of majors. Babson’s offerings are heavily weighted toward business.</p>
<p>Military service academies, as mentioned above, would also have a self-selecting applicant pool.</p>
<p>Schools where the religious affiliation is a significant factor in the academic and social environment would also have a self-selecting applicant pool.</p>
<p>What do you guys think about the differences in self-selectivity among top 20 schools’ applicant pools? Personally, I would suspect that HYPS have less self-selective applicants than schools like UChicago.</p>
<p>DB, that sounds correct to me. So many want to throw their hat into the HYPS ring. Not so many for UChicago (though growing). </p>
<p>It may have a reverse effect on the very top schools though. Some students would just apply and thought it is a lottery.</p>
<p>Excellent SLACs with which the general uninformed public are unaware such as the CTCLs. </p>
<p>Schools with little or no reputation outside of their local area also have self-selected applicants in that only local applicants tend to apply.</p>
<p>Examples include many community colleges, non-flagship state universities, and some private schools with predominantly commuter students.</p>
<p>From my experience watching my classmates -and myself- go through the application process this year.
For the top 20 schools; HYPS are among the least self selecting since people view their applications to these schools as $70 lottery tickets. The other ivy league schools also work in a similar way, though less so than HYP since they are perceived as being less alluring or prestigious. The tech schools (MIT and Caltech) are really self selecting because of their reputations. However several STEM oriented high school seniors do apply to them in the same way that others apply to HYPS. The rest of the top 20 (Duke, UChicago, Hopkins, Northwestern…) are pretty self selecting since they aren’t AS well known outside of certain circles and geographic locations. </p>
<p>I think that some quirky, small, liberal arts colleges like Hampshire, Bennington, New College of Florida, Berea, Warren Wilson, et al might be the most self-selecting. They are too small and idiosyncratic for most kids, but really resonate with the right ones. I think that some other schools like Grinnell, Reed, Macalester, Carleton are a little more selective, but do not have the universal appeal of the Ivy League colleges or traditional universities with Division 1 athletics and active Greek life. I’d say that any college boasting surprisingly high stats without a discouraging acceptance rate is probably self-selecting. Oh, the Saint John’s “Great Books” colleges, in Annapolis and Santa Fe, are as self-selecting as any schools you’ll find anywhere. </p>
<p>A lot of _IT and _PI schools tend to be self selecting as a good rule of thumb.</p>
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<p>As an Embry-Riddle grad myself (Prescott campus), I’m glad you brought this up. People often wonder why ERAU’s selectivity is so high in spite of their high ranking in Aerospace Engineering. As you pointed out, it all comes down to supply and demand. </p>
<p>I forgot to mention Eugene Lang College at the New School as a very self-selective college in NYC.</p>