Why does Drew have such a high acceptance rate?

<p>I have heard good things about the school - especially the threatre program but wonder how good the school is considering it seems so easy to get in? D chose it as a safety and grades were good so she got a great scholarship.
Will she be intellectually challenged? It makes me concerned about the caliber of students that are accept.<br>
It's a pretty campus but really would like to hear more from current students/parents. </p>

<p>Was she accepted into the Baldwin Honor’s Program? After our visit today, we think she will be very challenged. I know that they are a test optional school so that may be why…or that many kids use it as a safety so they admit way more than will actually come to get the 430 freshmen they are looking for. :)</p>

<p>Starting in Fall 2014 Drew is no longer test optional, but was previously. We anticipate Fall 2014 acceptance rate to be lower than over the last few years. The academic quailfications (GPA) have also been on the rise since Fall 2012. With all of that said, Drew is committed to holistic review of applicants and providing academic rigorous programs. </p>

<p>Also if you are specifically interested in the Theater program, it has been top raked by Princeton Review for several years. </p>

<p>As an alum, I can speak very highly of the academic prestige of the school. I felt challenged for four years and surrounded myself with friends who felt similarly. It’s cool to go to the library, do an internship, and study abroad. The students are so diverse, also; it wouldn’t be surprising to see a biology major also on the swim team and in a theater production. The acceptance rate is so high most likely because the cost of tuition. </p>

<p>As an alum, I can speak very highly of the academic prestige of the school. I felt challenged for four years and surrounded myself with friends who felt similarly. It’s cool to go to the library, do an internship, and study abroad. The students are so diverse, also; it wouldn’t be surprising to see a biology major also on the swim team and in a theater production. The acceptance rate is so high most likely because the cost of tuition. </p>

<p>As an alum, I can speak very highly of the academic prestige of the school. I felt challenged for four years and surrounded myself with friends who felt similarly. It’s cool to go to the library, do an internship, and study abroad. The students are so diverse, also; it wouldn’t be surprising to see a biology major also on the swim team and in a theater production. The acceptance rate is so high most likely because the cost of tuition. </p>

<p>As an alum, I can speak very highly of the academic prestige of the school. I felt challenged for four years and surrounded myself with friends who felt similarly. It’s cool to go to the library, do an internship, and study abroad. The students are so diverse, also; it wouldn’t be surprising to see a biology major also on the swim team and in a theater production. The acceptance rate is so high most likely because the cost of tuition. </p>

<p>As an alum, I can speak very highly of the academic prestige of the school. I felt challenged for four years and surrounded myself with friends who felt similarly. It’s cool to go to the library, do an internship, and study abroad. The students are so diverse, also; it wouldn’t be surprising to see a biology major also on the swim team and in a theater production. The acceptance rate is so high most likely because the cost of tuition. </p>

It has a high acceptance rate because it is a very expensive school with a very low return on investment of tuition (Bloomberg Business Week/Payscale survey, “What’s Your College Degree Worth, 2015”). As a result, they have a very low yield (percentage of accepted students who actually attend). Since the vast majority of Drew’s operating budget comes from tuition revenue, they must accept a high percentage of their applicants to assure that they will have enough tuition paying students to pay the bills.

Acceptance rates can be very deceiving and, unfortunately, can sometimes be manipulated by colleges and universities. The academic profile of a school’s entering class (particularly unweighted H.S. GPA) is a much better indicator of the quality of a college’s student body–and Drew’s entering profile is more than respectable. Acceptance rates are a function of the number of applicants accepted relative to the number of applications a school receives. For small, expensive colleges with limited applicant pools, academically weaker potential applicants often “self-select out” since a marginal student knows that even if accepted, he or she will not qualify for merit scholarships that will help to offset “sticker price.” Even if such an applicant qualifies for need-based aid, merit aid usually is necessary to close “the gap” between need-based aid and a high total cost of attendance. Such a marginal student, therefore, might not apply. The result is a pool of applicants the majority of which qualify for admission. Conceivably, then, there are colleges and universities with much higher acceptance rates and also higher entering student academic profiles than some of their competitors.

I graduated from Drew in 2010. Drew is an interesting college. Depending on the kind of student, you may or may not feel challenged there. In my personal opinion, I was not challenged there. I felt that the coursework was much less rigorous in comparison to other courses from other schools. Just a simple comparison of the syllabi from other schools may help you in deciding upon the rigor of the college. High achieving students in high school would probably find a Drew to be a bit on the easy-side. However, depending on the student, they might feel challenged there. In order to make that decision, I would really try to obtain syllabi from all of the schools that you would like to attend and draw comparisons based on that. Take a close look at the quality of the assignments, the amount of reading each week and the weight given to exams vs. papers. Is there a research component to the particular course? Do your homework on each school to which you apply. Nonetheless, Drew might be the right school, but in my opinion, I did not find the coursework there to be challenging.