<p>I don’t think Wellesley’s reputation comes necessarily from their admissions criteria. I think it’s a lot more about what the school does for the students, and where those students end up once they’re through with college. </p>
<p>Obviously an all women’s college is not going to attract as many of the “most eligible” high school seniors because 50% of the population is automatically out, and there are a lot of little girls who are opposed to going to an all girl’s school. </p>
<p>One thing I did notice while at Wellesley, is that first year, there are a lot of students that I personally should not have been there (being the snooty kid that I was). They were not nearly as academically qualified as I thought they should have been in the sciences. Fast forward 3 years, and wow, things were so different. By Junior year, not only was everyone caught up, they were thriving. It was exceedingly rare to be in a class where I would have cringed to be randomly assigned to a group for a project. It’s not like in a lot of other schools where there are a few very bright students in the class, and a bunch of mediocre ones, and a few big duds. I was so amazed at how well they leveled the playing field for students with weak backgrounds (most often because they were not as privileged growing up as I was). And I was especially amazed at how they achieved that without dumbing down the curriculum for those who excelled from the start. It really allows for students to learn what true collaboration is. </p>
<p>The alumni network is amazing, and just the pride in the school and how protective the students, faculty, and alums are of their “space” is also very distinctive at Wellesley. </p>
<p>So I guess my point really is that you really can’t judge a school by its admissions number, because that’s not what’s important… and furthermore, someone who’s that concerned about a difference of a few places in a stupid subjective ranking system is not looking at schools for the merits that really matter.</p>