>Posted on 13 Jul 1995 at 10:31:46 by Dick Tuthill
>
>Academic Requirements
>
>        I can see that old potentially explosive thread beginning to emerge
>once again,  so I'd like to make a suggestion.   Rather than argue about
>the relative admissions selectivity of the schools in various conferences
>with no supporting data,  why don't those of us who feel passionately
>about the subject compile some data and present it?
 
 
Although I don't feel passionately about this subject, I have compiled
some data for informational purposes.
 
My main source is the 1995 edition of Peterson's Guide to Four-Year
Colleges. This guide groups the four-year colleges in the United States
into four broad categories according to admission selectivity: Most
Difficult [to be accepted], Very Difficult, Moderately Difficult, and
Minimally Difficult. Below are the descriptions of the criteria for
each category, with examples of schools that do not play Division I
hockey (for the sake of comparison).
 
MOST DIFFICULT - More than 75% of accepted students were in the top 10% of
their high school graduating class and had SAT scores of 1250 or higher
(verbal and mathematical combined). Examples: Stanford University (CA),
University of Chicago (IL), MIT (MA), the Juilliard School (NY).
 
VERY DIFFICULT - More than 50% of accepted students were in the top 10%
of their high school class and had SAT scores of 1150 or higher (verbal
and mathematical combined). Examples: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA),
Vanderbilt University (TN), Lake Forest College (IL), Northwestern
University (IL).
 
MODERATELY DIFFICULT - More than 75% of accepted students were in the
top half of their high school class and had SAT scores of 900 or higher
(verbal and mathematical combined). Examples: Quinnipiac College (CT),
Bridgewater State College (MA), Eastern Mennonite College (VA), St.
Hyacinth College and Seminary (MA).
 
MINIMALLY DIFFICULT - Most accepted students were not in the top half of
their high school class and had SAT scores below 900. Examples: Austin
Peay State University (TN), Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science (OH),
Sinte Gleska University (SD), Chowan College (NC).
 
Here is how the ECAC and Hockey East schools were rated:
 
        ECAC
BROWN - Most Difficult
CLARKSON - Very Difficult
COLGATE - Very Difficult
CORNELL - Most Difficult
DARTMOUTH - Most Difficult
HARVARD - Most Difficult
PRINCETON - Most Difficult
RENSSELAER - Very Difficult
ST.LAWRENCE - Very Difficult
UNION - Very Difficult
VERMONT - Moderately Difficult
YALE - Most Difficult
 
        HOCKEY EAST
BOSTON COLLEGE - Very Difficult
BOSTON UNIVERSITY - Very Difficult
MAINE - Moderately Difficult
MASSACHUSETTS-AMHERST - Moderately Difficult
MASSACHUSETTS-LOWELL - Moderately Difficult
MERRIMACK - Moderately Difficult
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Moderately Difficult
NORTHEASTERN - Moderately Difficult
PROVIDENCE - Very Difficult
 
For comparison, here is are the ratings for the hockey-playing NESCAC
colleges:
AMHERST - Most Difficult
BOWDOIN - Most Difficult
COLBY - Very Difficult
CONNECTICUT COLLEGE - Very Difficult
MIDLLEBURY - Very Difficult
TRINITY - Very Difficult
WESLEYAN - Most Difficult
WILLIAMS - Most Difficult
 
By assigning a score to each school on a four-point scale, I arrived at
the following selectivity averages for each league:
ECAC - 3.42
HOCKEY EAST - 2.33
NESCAC - 3.5
 
The following schools were ranked among the top 25 in the country in the
September 26, 1994 issue of the US News and World Report. (There are
separate rankings for universities and colleges.)
 
        ECAC - 7 schools
HARVARD - 1st
PRINCETON - 2nd
YALE - 3rd
DARTMOUTH - 8th
BROWN - 11th
CORNELL - 15th
COLGATE - 18th (among colleges)
 
        HOCKEY EAST - no school ranked in the top 25
 
        NESCAC - 7 schools (ranked among the top 25 COLLEGES)
AMHERST - 1st
WILLIAMS - 2nd
BOWDOIN - 6th
WESLEYAN - 9th
MIDDLEBURY - 11th
TRINITY - 22nd
COLBY - 23rd
 
I will leave to others the interpretation of this information.
 
Luiz F. Valente