<p>I wouldn’t put any stock in Princeton review at all.</p>
<p>I realize that. I only used Collegeboard data because the other schools’ data were more elusive than Dartmouth’s, which turned up after a google search. Well, feel free to update the list. Make sure you have the ranges for enrolled students (not admitted students) and links to your sources, so the OP can try to guess which Ivy is the easiest to get into, or that they are all pretty hard to get into.</p>
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<p>Here’s a ranked list based on USNWR’s selectivity formula (admit rate, grades/GPA, scores):
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html</a></p>
<p>This ranking does not account for the significance of extracurriculars or “hooks”. A simple list like this probably overstates the difference in numbers-driven selectivity between most of the Ivies and, say, Chicago (or Berkeley) … but understates the overall difference after ECs and hooks come into play. Keep in mind, though, that all the top schools (going well down into this list) have become more selective in recent years.</p>
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<p>Not exactly. UChicago is getting very selective (The famous 42% increase in apps last year). Duke is as selective as Penn.</p>
<p>Try the University of Montana (the “Harvard of the West”) [Future</a> Students - The University Of Montana](<a href=“http://www.umt.edu/future.aspx]Future”>University of Montana | Public Flagship in Missoula)</p>
<p>Also Arizona State University [“The</a> Daily Show” aims satirical eye at Arizona State University - Collegenews.](<a href=“College News | The Go To Source for College Students”>College News | The Go To Source for College Students)</p>
<p>All of the Ivies, including Cornell have lower acceptance rate than UChicago, though admissions rate itself doesn’t mean much. However, rumor has it that UChicago cares about numbers at the expense of soft factors (which Ivies are big on).</p>
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<p>Actually, before waitlist admits, Chicago had a very slightly lower acceptance rate than Cornell (Chicago’s 18.35% to Cornell’s 18.4%). Also, Chicago has historically been known to have emphasize essays and de-emphasize test scores in the past. I’m not sure if this is true, but this is how it has been perceived.</p>
<p>Duke is less selective than every Ivy except Cornell (which might be a toss-up).</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter. They’re all below 19%. So they’re all hard to get into. /thread</p>
<p>the best method would combine acceptance rate (lower weightage), % of students in the top 10% of their HS class and SAT scores, if you did this you would get something like (with 10 being most selective):</p>
<p>9.8 Harvard Yale
9.7 Princeton
9.6 Columbia [caltech]
9.5 Upenn [MIT]
9.4 Dartmouth [Stanford] [Duke]
9.3 Brown
9.2 Cornell [Chicago]</p>
<p>to justify some of these: H & Y have lower acceptance rates than p-ton, columbia has high sats, low acceptance rate, very high % of students in top 10% of their class (97%). Upenn has nearly the same stats as Columbia with a higher acceptance rate. Dartmouth has a low % of students in the top 10% of their class. Caltech and chicago have a higher acceptance rate. Stanford has low SATs and low % of students in the top 10% of their class.</p>
<p>Basically though all these will be reaches for just about everyone (which is why they all have indices of 9+). If you’re looking for significantly easier schools to get into than the even H,Y then look elsewhere.</p>
<p>I calculated the 2014 admit rates for the Ivies a while back. I also included Caltech, Chicago, Duke, MIT, and Stanford.</p>
<p>Total
7.23% Harvard
7.31% Stanford
7.50% Yale
8.30% Columbia College
8.80% Princeton
9.17% Columbia
9.34% Brown
10.1% MIT
11.7% Dartmouth
12.6% Caltech
13.4% Columbia Fu
14.3% Penn
15.7% Duke
14.8% Duke Trinity
15.7% Cornell A&S
18.4% Cornell
18.9% Chicago
19.9% Duke Pratt
21.7% Cornell Engineering</p>
<p>Regular Decision
5.98% Yale
6.00% Stanford
6.87% MIT
7.23% Harvard
7.35% Columbia College
8.24% Brown
8.80% Princeton
10.1% Dartmouth
11.4% Caltech & Penn
12.7% Columbia Fu
13.6% Duke Trinity
14.6% Chicago & Duke
16.7% Cornell
19.0% Duke Pratt</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I don’t have the college breakdown for Penn or Cornell RD.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that the non-HYP Ivies, Duke, etc. all have binding Early Decision programs which inflate their yields. By enrolling 1/3 to 1/2 of their classes through ED, they can in turn artificially depress their acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Judging selectivity by % of students in the top 10% of their HS class is also problematic. This is because most top hs do not rank. Not to mention, this criterion does not take into account the quality of the hs in question.</p>
<p>Lastly, some schools select more for the SATs than others. This is especially true for some of the lower tier (Ivy) engineering schools.</p>
<p>“Also, Chicago has historically been known to have emphasize essays and de-emphasize test scores in the past. I’m not sure if this is true, but this is how it has been perceived.”</p>
<p>Let’s stick to the objective measures, shall we. It’s just as easy to claim that the Ivies have consistently emphasized leadership activities (and athletics) more than UChicago and de-emphasized test scores.</p>
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<p>You shouldn’t be sure if this is true because it isn’t. UChicago is not more holistic than the Ivies. Let’s be serious. If Chicago truly emphasizes essays (which demonstrate interest), then why is its yield so low?</p>
<p>To its credit, Chicago does not rely on ED. But then again, it knows that if it did go ED, the size of its applicant pool would decrease dramatically. There aren’t that many prospective students who would commit to Chicago given its weak financial aid (relative the the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc.). Even Duke offers better FA than Chicago.</p>
<p>"To its credit, Chicago does not rely on ED. But then again, it knows that if it did go ED, the size of its applicant pool would decrease dramatically. There aren’t that many prospective students who would commit to Chicago given its weak financial aid (relative the the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc.). Even Duke offers better FA than Chicago. "</p>
<p>Great point that you brought up there. Chicago is a very graduate programs oriented school, and much resources are devoted to graduate programs. Even Oberlin offers better FA than Chicago. However, Cornell (and to a lesser extent Columbia and Penn) aren’t offering great financial aid either). I don’t know how Cornell FA compare with Chicago’s though.</p>
<p>^ It’s a little difficult to compare Chicago’s FA practices in detail because, unfortunately, it is one of the few top-ranked schools that does not publish a Common Data Set. But its need-based aid does seem to be somewhat less generous than some of the Ivies (especially HYP).</p>
<p>It may be misleading to call it “a very graduate programs oriented school”. It depends on what you mean. Certainly there are more graduate students than undergraduates, though the balance has tipped a bit less strongly toward graduates in recent years. The ratio now is about 1 to 2 (ug to graduate/professional), about the same as Harvard’s and higher than Columbia’s (about 1 to 2.5). Chicago also has some of the smallest average undergraduate class sizes of any national university, an award system for undergraduate teaching quality, and a distinctive undergraduate curriculum that has been subject to many decades of faculty debate.</p>
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<p>What’s Chicago trying to hide?</p>
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<p>An inept administration that cares more about tradition and pride than quality and service.</p>
<p>Not putting out a CDS may be a self-serving marketing decision, or maybe there is some more benign explanation. I don’t know how many students and parents consult the CDS files directly, but personally I do think it’s a nearly indispensible resource for objective college comparison.</p>
<p>Other highly ranked schools that do not publish the CDS include WUSTL and Georgetown. I’d say it’s a big leap to suggest that therefore these are poorly administered schools (though Rny2 may have additional gripes) but they really ought to get with the program.</p>
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<p>Is this including acceptances off the waitlist?</p>