Rankings and Selectivity

College Rankings- Do you know what they mean?

As you research colleges, one of the pieces of information that most confuses students and parents is rankings. Rankings can be very misleading since not all “Best” lists are created the same. You have to ask about the methodology behind the rankings to understand if it is a good ranking for you to consider. There are many entities that rank and they are all published. Here is a great list of the rankings and how they come up with their lists: NACAC Methodology.

Let’s use Northwestern as an example. Great university probably on many lists and ranked highly. The class of 2022 had 40,420 applications to fill 1,925 seats. They admitted 8% of the applicants but half of them were Early Decision applicants. Last year’s applicants had a range of 1420-1540 SAT and a 32-34 ACT. I will assume that this year’s numbers will be similar. So over 40,400 kids with fantastic scores and grades apply and about 37,000 of them get denied. These types of applicants are more than just scores as you can see from this cool profile from Washington University in St. Louis.

I do not think that those 37,000 students will be unsuccessful in life by not going to Northwestern. In fact, college acceptances are lower across the nation due to more students applying to more colleges than ever thanks to the Common App and the Coalition App. Not every student who wants to go to a “Ranked” college will get in to that college.

Please do not get hung up on the name or the rank of a college before you research it. Success is determined by your hard work and reputation. Does that mean you should never apply to a highly ranked and competitive school? Of course not. Could attending a certain college get you a first job or interview, of course.  But remember that over 90% of applicants don’t seem to be getting into some of these colleges.  College fit is much more than a name or reputation.  Fit includes many factors like cost, population of undergrads, class size, retention and graduation rates, location, opportunity, major, career outcomes, internships, employment rates and don’t forget your gut feelings.

I like to compare colleges to pizza. Most people like pizza, but there are many different toppings, sauces and crusts to fit what you like best. College is similar. You may want to go to college but your toppings will probably be different than someone else’s.