“People usually go to really good schools from Nobles. So when it’s different, and people don’t go to what people think is a top school, people judge it,” Izzy Kittredge (Class II) said. This social pressure can lead to a particularly narrow perception of what defines “a top school”: one with a low acceptance rate. Students rely on this seemingly clear quantitative metric because it is easily accessible and comparable across schools. However, acceptance rates convey much less about how a student will feel in a school’s environment than other criteria, and colleges can manipulate them, leading to debate over how much students should rely on these rates.
The college counseling office thinks deeply about how acceptance rates factor into students’ decisions, since they know the numbers play a significant role in where students choose to apply. Associate Director of College Counseling Meghan Hamilton said, “I think Nobles kids put a lot of pressure on themselves to go to whatever the best and most prestigious place is … I am not naive to the sense that selectivity is often one of [the deciding] factors for many of our families. But we don’t want it to be the only factor. We want to think about it in conjunction with other criteria.” The college counselors help students think about these “best-fit” criteria, such as size, location, culture, and financial aid, to help students see a more nuanced, personal understanding of the school. “People get into a school, and people automatically go to check the acceptance rate,” Kittredge said. “That doesn’t always tell the full story. It only tells part of it. Choosing a school should really be about what fits each person best. As students, I think we need to stop focusing on acceptance rates.”
However, students looking to attend a college with high perceived prestige have a difficult time ignoring this convenient and easily comprehensible metric. “Acceptance rates definitely played a role [in my application decision] because you want to shoot for the best college you realistically have a chance at getting into,” Justin Lee (Class I) said.
In fact, several students used this metric to help organize their process and prioritize where to apply. Jonathan Tillen (N ’25) said, “I grouped schools, and based where I applied, on acceptance rates, which also went hand in hand with prestige. For example, the reach schools with lower acceptance rates tended to be more prestigious schools, and vice versa.”
Being accepted into a “reach” school with a lower acceptance rate can often feel like a more significant achievement, and thus, is something that students consider when applying. Tillen said, “You naturally feel better about [getting into a school that has a lower acceptance rate]. You will think, ‘I was selected in this small percentage.’”
Moreover, students imagine specific benefits of gaining admission to a more prestigious college. Lee said, “The prestige will probably affect the rest of my life, because it’ll get me into better graduate schools in the future and help my career.” Lee describes how students are often inspired to strive for schools they believe will appear more prestigious to future employers.
Lee said, “I think most people know about the students who are going to an Ivy League school next year. Beyond that, even though students are going to other great schools, there seems to be less talk about them.” The perceived prestige of the eight Ivy League schools leads many students to assume they are the best to aim for, though their acceptance rates are often higher (i.e. less selective) than those of other institutions, such as the California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since colleges are aware that these simple acceptance rates signal prestige, there’s evidence that some try to manipulate the rates to appear more selective to applicants by waiving application fees or eliminating supplemental essays. This encourages more students to apply, lowering the school’s acceptance rate, which subsequently attracts more applicants looking to attend a more prestigious school. Hamilton said, “It’s a way for them to appear more selective, so maybe more people will want to apply… they are misleading.”
Ultimately, while most acknowledge the biased, narrow perspective that acceptance rates offer, students still view this sign of a college’s selectivity as being closely correlated with a school’s prestige. As a result, acceptance rates play an important role in their decisions, as they aspire to make the most out of their rigorous high school education and are similarly motivated by their peers and mentors to reach their full potential.
