<p>For example, one of the colleges i am really interested in, Smith college, has an acceptance rate or 45 %. In my opinion, this is a rather high rate for a prestigious LAC. Yet, i have also read from various other sites that it is a particularly hard school to get into. So, can you please clear this up for me, i'm really just wondering if i have a chance to get in. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>To get the best sense of if you have a chance for a particular school look up the average standardized test scores and GPA of admitted students.</p>
<p>Some colleges can be said to be “self selecting”. The applicants they attract tend to be highly qualified, but many highly qualified applicants would never even choose to apply. Women’s colleges fail to attract applications from a large class of students (men). This drives up the acceptance rates they need to fill their classes. It does not necessarily mean they enroll much less qualified students than their co-ed peers.</p>
<p>A few years ago, a CC poster attempted to compare selectivity by combining admit rates and test 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>I’m not sure if Smith isn’t on that list because he overlooked it, or because it ranked below the top 75. If the latter, it is probably close behind (or even somewhere in the lower quarter or so by now).</p>