<p>thank you kkapdolee. that (the math/acceptance rate) was the point I was trying to make.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Where would you guys honestly go if you're accepted to Harvard and Columbia?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'd honestly choose Columbia, BTW.</p>
<p>Between Harvard and Columbia? I would honestly go to Columbia. </p>
<p>If offered admission to every school, I would still choose Columbia, and I know many others that feel the same way. Sorry that not everyone is a prestige whore or that not everyone bows down to the holy trinity. For some people, fit matters more than prestige. And I'd much rather be accompanied by a student population that feels the same way. Does it make you feel better to put down other schools? Good for you, that's the exact quality that I detested in HYP. </p>
<p>Deal with it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why did you quote me on acceptance rates and then talk about test scores?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>the second post was directed at NUgrad5555, i meant to copy his stuff but i guess i missed it and didnt realize it</p>
<p>
[quote]
Where would you guys honestly go if you're accepted to Columbia And all HYPSM?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>this is such an outrageous hypothetical question it doesnt even warrant response. you and i both know there arent even a handful of people who have had this happen.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Columbia And all HYPSM
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yale, but Columbia would be a close second.</p>
<p>brand you wouldn't go to princeton?</p>
<p>Princeton's beautiful and a great school, but not really my type. I'd pick:</p>
<ol>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>MIT</li>
</ol>
<p>But then again, apart from the first two, those schools aren't really what I'm looking for in undergrad and I'd never apply to them. Were Brown an option, I'd place it at the top.</p>
<p>Here are the new numbers.
[quote]
Columbia University Class of 2011</p>
<p>ED pool this year increased 6.7% due to 51% increase in engineering school. A record total of 2,429 students applied to Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science under Columbia's early decision program this year--an 8 percent increase over last year's figures. Of this year's early decision applicants, 24.4 percent were admitted, down from 26 percent in 2005.</p>
<p>In the regular round, Columbia admitted 2,210 students out of the 21,343 who applied, for an overall admission rate of 10.35%.</p>
<p>Columbia College admitted 8.9%, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences accepted 18.1%, and overall Columbia accepted 10.4%. Applications were up 6.7%.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think anyone has said that Columbia is at the level of HYPSM...but it's certainly the closest outsider.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't think anyone has said that Columbia is at the level of HYPSM...but it's certainly the closest outsider
[/quote]
</p>
<p>On the contrary, the initial post of this thread assumed that the acceptance rate of Columbia is lower than that of HYPSM. But I agree that Columbia is the closest outsider to that group, as it should be. It wasn't so long ago when it was Harvard/Yale/Columbia, and with this trend it won't be too long until Columbia is nudging out MIT.</p>
<p>I don't know, I feel MIT is pretty safe in its spot regardless of what's going on over there...it's simply THE most prestigious school of it's kind, so it's pretty unaffected by the non-techs. Caltech is it's competition, but Caltech will simply never be able to attract a broad enough group of students to steal its status.</p>
<p>If you're looking at the rate alone, I would say that Columbia's smaller size tends to drive the admit rate down somewhat, though it certainly isn't the only reason. Having several hundred fewer spots than some of its competitors leads an advantage admit rate wise.</p>
<p>It isn't as difficult to get into as HYPSM, but it's very close.</p>
<p>lvilleslacker: So close that it's really impossible to predict for individuals. Maybe on the whole, 4.0/2400 students have a slightly better chance at Columbia than Harvard, but if you're looking at an individual, the discrepancy between the selevtivity of the two schools (and any of HYPMS + Col) has become so narrow he/she's just as likely to be admitted to H but not C as he is to be admitted to C but not H.</p>
<p>Oh I think MIT is the best in its category too, but I think Columbia has every much a right to a spot in the holy alphabetism as MIT. I think MIT's rep is bound to suffer a bit (like Duke's) after the admissions director scandal and their continued move away from focusing on merit.</p>
<p>acceptance rate is such a ridiculous statistic, i really cannot believe how much attention people give it.</p>
<p>seriously, it says absolutely nothing. what about the size or quality of the applicant pool, or the number of those accepted who choose to matriculate? the devil is in the details, and acceptance rate alone is a worthless, worthless statistic.</p>
<p>if you really wanted to seriously compare selectivity (which would be quite a dubious venture in the first place) you would really need a data point for every application from the institutions you're comparing which includes standardized test scores, a gpa that is normalized across all high schools represented AND a boolean that indicates whether or not the applicant converted to a matriculation.</p>
<p>with that data set, you <em>might</em> be able to approach comparing selectivity in some reasonable way. but even then you're only looking at quantitative factors which certainly don't tell the whole story.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Where would you guys honestly go if you're accepted to Columbia And all HYPSM?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's an interesting question, theoretically. I chose Columbia ED, so I didn't even really care about having such a choice. But I could imagine students faced with this dilemma breaking down based on a series of important questions about their interests, to a much greater degree than their choices are informed by prestige. In fact, I'd imagine prestige as just one of many equally significant factors weighing on such a decision. To wit:</p>
<p>If math and science were the most important thing to the student, he/she would probably choose MIT.
If weather/location on the West Coast were important, it would be Stanford.
If being in a large city - Columbia.
If being in a pastoral location - Princeton, though this student might even lean closer to Dartmouth.
If prestige/residential college system - Harvard/Yale.</p>
<p>^Still bitter about being rejected, Columbiahopeful! ?</p>
<p>S snack, ru a little bitter that you are in SEAS (F.U. Foundation) and NOT Columbia College (the real deal over there....?_)</p>
<p>just curious, if you go to Columbia SEAS, why do you have to apply to Columbia College as an external transfer if you want to switch?</p>
<p>No, because I was never rejected by CC. You were.
Believe me, with a 2370, 4.0 GPA and EC's that would impress even an asian mother, I never applied to SEAS because "I didn't think I would get into CC."</p>
<p>You, however, were rejected by your first choice, which you never bad-mouthed until it reject you. If you ask me, it seems a bit personal.</p>
<p>Columbiahopeful...because they don't want a Penn sort of disaster, where everyone suddenly realized "*****, engineering is HARD, I'm transfering to CAS/Wharton."</p>
<p>I never put down CC. You said I was bitter. I am not bitter at all. I just don't think that Columbia is any harder to get into Penn CAS. I know a ton of kids from my area that have gotten into Columbia and not Penn. Admissions are random.</p>
<p>They are, I agree...but only to an extent.
Of course there are plenty of kids who got into Columbia and not Penn, but ON AVERAGE, Columbia is harder to get into than Penn.
They share a VERY similar applicant pool (as all Ivies do...except maybe Cornell), yet Columbia accepts roughly 10%, and Penn 15-16%. With a similar applicant pool (and I would say Columbia's is probably better...but no evidence of that, so we'll assume they're roughly the same), Columbia is certainly more selective.</p>