the acceptance rate of virginia tech is 70%, but it is among the top 70 universities in the United States. Usually, competitive colleges have low acceptance rate.
why is the acceptance rate of virginia tech so high even though it is such a competitive university?
Top 70? Competitive?
Do you have something you are basing your terms and definitions on?
A college will be, by definition, competitive (in terms of admission) if it has a low acceptance rate. If it doesn’t, then it’s not competitive.
What constitutes a low acceptance rate is to be determined by you, but personally I wouldn’t say 70% is all that low.
@trynatown I see a link, but you aren’t saying anything about it.
look, it has a national rank of 71, and acceptance rate of 70.1%
@trynatown‌ those rankings don’t include a lot of schools (since its removing a lot of LACs that don’t have doctorate programs).
@trynatown‌
Texas A&M University’s acceptance is nearly identical to Virginia Tech’s, and its students are among the best in Texas.
Acceptance rate does not have to define prestige.
Because it’s Engineering program is what it’s nationally recognized for, and the Engineering program is quite selective. Probably just a step below UVA in selectivity. Also, Tech pumps out some serious research.
I’m sure you realize that “good” is a relative term.
Because the yield is around 40%, probably because all those NOVA kids are using it as a safety while they try to get into MIT and Cornell.
Yields of 40% are pretty respectable. Only the very tippy top (maybe 5 schools) have yields over 70%; many Ivies have yields of 60% (Dartmouth is actually closer to 50%). I see schools with 70% acceptance rates often have yields closer to 20%.
As others have said, don’t mix selectivity with quality of education or even prestige. Remember, ultra-low acceptance rates are a fairly recent phenomenon. Back in the olden days (pre-2000), many Ivies had acceptance rates closer to 40-50% (except for HYP); and, it wasn’t uncommon for state flagships to have acceptance rates in the 70s.
Competitiveness is not necessary linked to a low admission rate. Applicants can be self selective when the admission requirement is very high. So only qualified candidates will apply and the admission stat is high even with a high admission rate. UMich CoE had an admission rate of 30% in 2013 with a yield rate of 37%. While UIUC Engineering has a much higher admission rate (61% in 2013) and the yield was 33%. Both Engineering schools have about the same ranking and very similar overall admission stat (mid 50 ACT and GPA) but the latter has around 50% more students. If a school is expecting a low yield rate (for instance, because of very poor financial aid), they would have to admit more students. So one should not just look at the admission rate but also the enrollment capacity and yield rate.
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Schools like Va Tech, Texas A&M are also working to fill very large freshman classes.
@trynatown‌ I wouldn’t say Tech’s acceptance is high. It only accepts 18% students for its College of Engineering (CE). This year, there were 9,000 applicants for CE and they only had spots for 1,600 students (18%). I think the acceptance rate you see on the websites, 70%, includes % of acceptance from other departments as well.
VT is outstanding in nearly all of STEM. It is a land grant university with top notch resources, a beautiful (but remote) campus, an outstanding faculty with good town-gown relationships. Blacksburg is tiny but a great college town. UVa is the flagship but like Maryland, Virginia has many outstanding public universities. Another plus about VT is it jaw- droppingly gorgeous. Amazing castles and forts built with Hokie stone. The town is designed for people 18-22. Technological advances of the university make the town very contemporary. The setting is pretty unbelievable. My guess is that VT losses a lot of students to UVA.
Selectivity plays a very, very small role in US News’ ranking algorithm. Maybe 1.5% of the total.
@KeepCalmAndSleep If 100% of accepted students ended up going, then the acceptance rate would be 18% but certainly that’s not the case. I don’t know the yield but it is probably around 40%. 18 (100/40) = 18 * 2.5 = 45% acceptance
I think part of the reason is that most people who apply are the ones who actually want to go specifically there. Being predominantly an engineering school, it doesn’t attract too many outside people, which would lead to a lower acceptance rate.
Not sure if I explained this as coherently as it came out in my mind but that’s how I see it.