<p>to use this raw data is misleading in terms of arranging schools in order of popularity. Perhaps Wesleyan had more students applying than Williams, for example, because kids felt they had a greater shot with a 27% admit rate over 17%. This gets back to poster who noted the difference in sizes of these schools.</p>
<p>At this point, I think we are in data-gathering mode, that’s all. Each number may have some descriptive (but not normative) value when viewed in context with the rest. So, “3,159” by itself does not tell you much about Reed (~1,400 undergraduates). But it’s interesting to see it at the bottom of the pile, considering the fact that its SATs are about equal to Wesleyan’s (or that its student body is nearly as large as Amherst’s). It is perhaps the most academically rigorous of all these schools (in terms of graduation requirements and grading practices.)</p>
<p>What’s the percentage of Wesleyan students from Connecticut?</p>
<p>about 8% according to their ipeds questionnaire: <a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/ir/cds/cds2008-09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/ir/cds/cds2008-09.pdf</a></p>
<p>tk - Reed is much more self-selective than the other schools on the list. No Varsity sports, very liberal, very rigorous. I don’t think it attracts mainstream students. A lot of kids at my daughter’s high school applied to Wesleyan, including very smart but mainstream kids who never would have applied to Reed. No supplemental essays also makes it very easy to apply.</p>
<p>Wesleyan - 10,068
Colgate - 7,814
Amherst - 7,679
Vassar - 7,577
Bucknell - 7,572
Holy Cross - 7,227
Oberlin - 7,006 (for 2012)
Middlebury - 6,904
Pomona - 6,149
Williams - 6,017
Bowdoin - 5,940
Swat - 5,575
Colorado College 5,342 (for 2012)
Trinity (CT) 5,136
Macalester College 5,041 (for 2012)
Carleton College 4,784
Connecticut 4,733
Davidson 4,493
Wellesley - 4,125
Smith - 4,008
Grinnell - 3,807
Whitman 3,437
Reed 3,159</p>
<p>a few more…</p>
<p>Bates 4,913 <a href=“http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/Profile%202009(Class%20of%202013)-1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/Profile%202009(Class%20of%202013)-1.pdf</a>
Claremont McKenna 4,278 [Freshman</a> Class Profile, Claremont McKenna College](<a href=“http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/admission/fr-class-profile.php]Freshman”>http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/admission/fr-class-profile.php)
Colby 4,520 [Colby</a> College | Admissions & Financial Aid | Quick Facts](<a href=“http://www.colby.edu/admissions_cs/about/]Colby”>http://www.colby.edu/admissions_cs/about/)
Hamilton 4,657 [Hamilton</a> College - News - Hamilton Accepts Class of 2013](<a href=“http://www.hamilton.edu/Spectator/040209/News/Class_of_2013.html]Hamilton”>http://www.hamilton.edu/Spectator/040209/News/Class_of_2013.html)
Harvey Mudd 2,343 [Mudd</a> Student Body Profile](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/whymudd1/studentbodyprofile.html]Mudd”>http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/whymudd1/studentbodyprofile.html)
Richmond 7,880 [Student</a> Profile, Undergraduate Admission, University of Richmond](<a href=“http://admissions.richmond.edu/studentprofile/]Student”>Student Profile - Undergraduate Admission - University of Richmond)
Washington & Lee 6,222 [Class</a> of 2013 Arrives at Washington and Lee University :: Washington and Lee University](<a href=“http://www.wlu.edu/x34773.xml]Class”>http://www.wlu.edu/x34773.xml)</p>
<p>Haverford: 3311 (for 2012)
Bryn Mawr: 2276</p>
<p>if one uses the hypothesis that a larger school is more “visible” and attracts more applicants, this may account for that variable…</p>
<p>approximate # of applicants per spot in freshman class:</p>
<p>Amherst 17.5
Pomona 15
Swarthmore 14.5
Wesleyan 13.5
Bowdoin 13.5
Vassar 12
Williams 11.5
Middlebury 11.5
Haverford 11
Colgate 11</p>
<p>note these are approximations, and the ratios will fluctuate depending on the numbers used, but this shows the relative efficiency to which these schools are turning their respective sizes into applications.</p>
<p>smartalic34…good idea…here are the same guesstimates for the schools in my post above:</p>
<p>Bates 10.5
Claremont McKenna 14
Colby 10
Hamilton 10.5
Harvey Mudd 11.5
Richmond 8.5
W&L 13</p>
<p>Middlebury is actually 10, because they matriculate roughly 100 kids in February out of the same applicant pool (total of 706 matriculants, making them the same student body size -roughly 2800- as Colgate, but Midd does not count study-abroad students in there total enrollment…they have a history of non-uniformity in numbers reporting 
) …<a href=“http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/E91F22A8-6911-42BF-83EF-49E63EB2559C/0/HistoricalAdmissionsthru09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/E91F22A8-6911-42BF-83EF-49E63EB2559C/0/HistoricalAdmissionsthru09.pdf</a></p>
<p>Most schools do not count study abroad students. They are instructed not to by the Common Data Set folk, unless the students are paying tuition to the home college. It’s a realy pain the butt trying to compare enrollments across schools or, for that matter, even figure out how many undergrads there are at a school. It took me years to figure out why I kept seeing wildly different numbers for Williams (and other schools).</p>