Hardest Colleges To Get Into for 2023

[deadeyededric]

No real surprises here. I thought the military schools would be ranked higher.

The hardest colleges to get into for 2023, ranked

Institutions that topped the list had the slimmest acceptance ratings in the nation.

www2.cbsnews.com

 

[CyCrazy]

I wouldnt have gotten into any of the schools.

 

[ClonerJams]

This is kind of why the AAU status on determining prestige is silly. Notre Dame is not an AAU school, yet they're on a list like this.

 

[carvers4math]

I wouldnt have gotten into any of the schools.

You never know. There’s a lot that goes into it and factors that are not obvious. Notre Dame for example does take into account legacy of relatives who attended. Harvard got tougher when they got more applicants because of a very generous financial aid deal, making it harder to get into. At least when oldest was applying, Caltech did not consider race and gender or try to balance their student body based on demographics whereas MIT did. Maybe some school would have been intrigued by your answers to an application essay question.

 

[NWICY]

a lot of those little schools I've never heard of and pretty sure I couldn't have afforded them.

 

[deadeyededric]

I wouldnt have gotten into any of the schools.

Same here. My uncle went to USC and my aunt went to Berkley. I have a first cousin on the other side that went to Georgia Tech. He ended up being FBI agent.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

This is kind of why the AAU status on determining prestige is silly. Notre Dame is not an AAU school, yet they're on a list like this.

AAU is based on grant money at the graduate level, ND does very little research, and has few masters programs. I doubt that AAU would even bother giving them a look. World class undergraduate school, with a top ranked Law and Med schools.

 

[MuskieCy]

Click bait.

Hardest diesel tech program to get in to is probably more important. The world does not need more art historians, Latin scholars or over-educated writers.

It needs more union laborers in all skilled trades, more money for front line health-care professionals and early age educators.

 

[cyclone13]

Having a child applying to colleges for next Fall, I see that the admission process to selective school is somewhat a lottery. I have heard the word “holistic” so many times in the last 15 months…..

First, you have to do the work: good GPA, test scores (although most schools make it optional, it never hurts to stand out), extracurricular, rigor of classes, etc. Now the essays are more important and this is when things get interesting as two people can have totally different opinions on your essays. This is the “lottery” factor.

You also have to compete against or sometimes benefit from citcumstances. Like my friend: her daughter goes to one of the colleges on the list because she is a good swimmer in HS - so she contacted the coach and she got a preference for admissions. I heard similar stories eg: the tuba player from the marching band graduates, and now if you play tuba, you might have a better chance for admission than someone with similar grades etc but doesn’t play tuba.

Public universities: it depends also on their funding: they might want to admit out of staters so they get more tuition. Some have different rules Like UNC (80% have to be in staters) Texas (75% have to be in staters and they have to admit the top 10% of each HS in Texas who apply IIRC).

Then you also have legacy admissions….

 

[cyclone13]

Click bait.

Hardest diesel tech program to get in to is probably more important. The world does not need more art historians, Latin scholars or over-educated writers.

It needs more union laborers in all skilled trades, more money for front line health-care professionals and early age educators.

It also needs good and kind people. Look at so many smart people but horrible human beings. I cringe whenever I see so and so graduated from top colleges and what they do is basically spreading hatred, laying off people while taking huge salaries for themselves, committing fraud etc.

 

[TrailCy]

This is kind of why the AAU status on determining prestige is silly. Notre Dame is not an AAU school, yet they're on a list like this.

I never heard of AAU until this forum.

 

[NWICY]

Having a child applying to colleges for next Fall, I see that the admission process to selective school is somewhat a lottery. I have heard the word “holistic” so many times in the last 15 months…..

First, you have to do the work: good GPA, test scores (although most schools make it optional, it never hurts to stand out), extracurricular, rigor of classes, etc. Now the essays are more important and this is when things get interesting as two people can have totally different opinions on your essays. This is the “lottery” factor.

You also have to compete against or sometimes benefit from citcumstances. Like my friend: her daughter goes to one of the colleges on the list because she is a good swimmer in HS - so she contacted the coach and she got a preference for admissions. I heard similar stories eg: the tuba player from the marching band graduates, and now if you play tuba, you might have a better chance for admission than someone with similar grades etc but doesn’t play tuba.

Public universities: it depends also on their funding: they might want to admit out of staters so they get more tuition. Some have different rules Like UNC (80% have to be in staters) Texas (75% have to be in staters and they have to admit the top 10% of each HS in Texas who apply IIRC).

Then you also have legacy admissions….

Make this simple and convince them to attend ISU. Unless they are super smart and can get into somewhere fancy like MIT, Stanford, Cornell and the like.

 

[deadeyededric]

The perk of going to a college like this is the networking and hook-ups you can use more than the actual education you get. The connections you make in the halls of these schools is what it's all about. The same could said about any college really.

 

[Gonzo]

Click bait.

Hardest diesel tech program to get in to is probably more important. The world does not need more art historians, Latin scholars or over-educated writers.

It needs more union laborers in all skilled trades, more money for front line health-care professionals and early age educators.

It still is a Cyclone State.

The long-time stigma on the trades, allied health, and other fields typically fed by community colleges and trade schools as being "inferior" to four-year liberal arts degrees is stupid and hopefully continues to be chipped away. There are good initiatives out there aimed at correcting this misperception. But that doesn't mean four-year degrees in the arts, writing, humanities, etc. aren't important, they bring a lot to the lives of a lot of people.

 

[simply1]

Ahh Georgetown

 

[cyclone1209]

Ahh Georgetown

Any Georgetown grad I’ve met, oof can I say snooty.. they’re Notre Dame arrogant

 

[Trice]

Media coverage surrounding higher ed is so weird. It's intensely focused on these relative handful of schools whose reputations are built on how hard it is to get in. Some higher ed professionals have taken to referring to them not as "highly selective" but the more derogatory "highly rejective." And for sure if you want to build a career in certain sectors of the economy - politics, parts of the federal government, tech, Wall Street - it helps to go there. But largely these places have turned themselves into playgrounds for rich kids and legacy admits.

Meanwhile, high-quality state schools and privates are educating scores more kids at a fraction of the cost*, and if you've got a decent high school resume you're almost sure to get in. No stressing about early decision or early admit, a lot less pressure, but less prestige. And yet the media is so obsessed with the rankings and elite schools that they pay no mind to where the vast majority of kids are actually going.

*not that college is "cheap" by any measure, even state schools have gone up dramatically. But it's still a pittance compared to an Ivy.

 

[Gonzo]

Media coverage surrounding higher ed is so weird. It's intensely focused on these relative handful of schools whose reputations are built on how hard it is to get in. Some higher ed professionals have taken to referring to them not as "highly selective" but the more derogatory "highly rejective." And for sure if you want to build a career in certain sectors of the economy - politics, parts of the federal government, tech, Wall Street - it helps to go there. But largely these places have turned themselves into playgrounds for rich kids and legacy admits.

Meanwhile, high-quality state schools and privates are educating scores more kids at a fraction of the cost*, and if you've got a decent high school resume you're almost sure to get in. No stressing about early decision or early admit, a lot less pressure, but less prestige. And yet the media is so obsessed with the rankings and elite schools that they pay no mind to where the vast majority of kids are actually going.

*not that college is "cheap" by any measure, even state schools have gone up dramatically. But it's still a pittance compared to an Ivy.

It still is a Cyclone State.

I agree with your overall point but I wouldn't call it a fraction of the cost when one year at Wartburg comes in at nearly $58,000, Simpson at nearly $56,000, etc.

 

[Trice]

It still is a Cyclone State.

I agree with your overall point but I wouldn't call it a fraction of the cost when one year at Wartburg comes in at nearly $58,000, Simpson at nearly $56,000, etc.

Sure, but very few students play sticker price. The discount rates among private schools is somewhere around 50%. It's a stupid pricing model.

 

[ClonerJams]

It still is a Cyclone State.

I agree with your overall point but I wouldn't call it a fraction of the cost when one year at Wartburg comes in at nearly $58,000, Simpson at nearly $56,000, etc.

Wartburg and Simpson cost that much? That's insane.