<p>Golubb, % accepted has nothing to do with quality. There is no correlation whatsoever. If there were, universities like the University of the Ozarks, Livingstone College or Lane College would all be better than Dartmouth, Penn or Cornell. Colleges like Wilberforce University, Alcorn State University, Albany State University, Tougaloo College and Concordia University would all be considered equal to Duke, Cal-Berkeley and Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>A university's quality is only measured by its faculty, endowment, curriculum, ties to industry, connections to graduate programs and by the general quality of its student body. By general, I mean ball park, not exact. Whether the average student enrolling into a university graduated with a 3.9 GPA and 1400 on her/his SAT or a 3.8 GPA and a 1300 on her/his SAT is insignificant. Such small discrepencies do not matter in the large scheme of things.</p>
<p>This said, only 5 universities in the US enjoy an advantage over Chicago. We all know which 5 they are. After those 5, you have 10-12 universities that make the next cut, and Chicago, along with 5 of the Lower Ivies, all share that common space.</p>
<p>Schools like Chicago, Johns Hopkins and Michigan typically have acceptance rates in the 40%-55% range, but few people in the know would fail to include them in their list of the top 10 or 15 universities.</p>
<p>Admitedly, people with little education are not familiar with the University of Chicago. But in academic and professional circles, Chicago is very highly regarded.</p>