<p>I think lyndak is at one of the super-high ranked and very rigorous IB programs in the Seattle area. Those kids SHOULD be accepted with a 3.5. A 3.5 gpa from one of the regular high schools around here will not get a kid into UW.</p>
<p>It reminds me of the year that 73 of the 74 Philips Exeter seniors who applied to Harvard were accepted. That does not make Harvard less of a college.</p>
<p>It sounds like you were accepted ed2 at nyu in which case you are bound to attend. You shouldn’t even be having this discussion about uw.</p>
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<p>No surprise here. Getting high graduation rates is easier for a college to do if your incoming students are stronger. Going the other direction, having the money to offer good financial aid means that you can attract better students from all economic strata, rather than being dependent only on those from wealthier backgrounds, so you can afford to be more selective in terms of academic qualifications. I.e. while the rankings may only formally use selectivity for a small part of the rankings, they use criteria that are highly correlated with selectivity for a much larger part of the rankings.</p>