<p>I hope I'm not offending anybody with this question, but I was recently stumbling through the rankings (US News and World Report) and saw Wellesley was ranked 4th - higher than such schools including Pomona, Bowdoin, CMC, Wesleyan etc. I was simply wondering why, since numbers-wise, Wellesley does not seem nearly as strong as these colleges. </p>
<p>For instance, Wellesley's 25/75 SAT scores are 1280-1470, significantly lower than Bowdoin's 1320-1500, Pomona's 1400-1550, CMC's 1310-1510, or Wesleyan's 1290-1500.</p>
<p>Freshman in top 10% of their class compose 78% of Wellesley's class, but 82% of Bowdoin's, 92% of Pomona's and 85% of CMC's. </p>
<p>Additionally, Wellesley's acceptance rate is 35% much higher than the 19%, 16%, 16% and 22% of the schools I named earlier. </p>
<p>Bowdoin and Pomona have lower student/faculty ratios than Wellesley (which is actually tied with CMC and Wesleyan.) </p>
<p>Finally, Bowdoin, Pomona and CMC have higher freshman retention rates, and all four have better graduation rates. </p>
<p>So, with all of that information, why is Wellesley ranked as a top 5 liberal arts school? (I actually believe Davidson, Haverford, and Carleton are better colleges too but their numbers are more mixed). Is it because Wellesley is still considered the best woman's college in the country and that helps the colleges rankings a lot? </p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>