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The short answer is that acceptance rate is only a single, relatively minor factor in the USN&WR rankings. In fact, it accounts for only 1.5% of a school’s total score. </p>
<p>The long answer is that USN&WR assigns a “Student Selectivity” rating to each school, which represents 15% of the total score. The “Student Selectivity” rating, in turn, is based on three subfactors: standardized test scores of enrolled students (50%), the percentage of enrolled students in the top 10% of their high school classes (40%), and lastly on acceptance rate (only 10%). </p>
<p>So the selectivity rating represents 15% of a school’s total score, and the acceptance rate represents 10% of the selectivity rating. It follows that acceptance rate accounts for 1.5% of the total score. </p>
<p>So in order to be a “selective” school, at least as far as USN&WR is concerned, the important thing is to enroll a highly qualified student body. From the USN&WR perspective, it isn’t very important whether a school has high or low acceptance rates – what matters more is the quality of the students who ultimately enroll (as measured by standardized tests and class rankings).</p>
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<p>It’s very hard to get reservations for certain restaurants, but they aren’t necessarily the ones with the best food or service.</p>