Okay, so it was interesting to see that the most selective colleges don’t have a monopoly on students with strong test scores, right? But there are many other factors that influence a student’s college experience, and we have data on some of them, too. Let’s look at how colleges of different levels of selectivity differ on some of the criteria used by US News and Princeton Review to rate them.

I’ve selected ten of the most selective universities–all of which admitted fewer than 10% of applicants–and labelled them Group 1. Ten schools slightly less selective–all admitted between 10 and 29% of applicants–that are often thought of as “safe schools” by the strongest students constitute Group 2. And ten colleges that almost all applicants to the most selective schools would consider sure bets–all admitted between 30 and 49%–are in Group 3.

Using numbers from the 2019-2020 Common Data Sets (see footnotes) and from Princeton Review’s 2021 ‘Best Colleges’ book for each school, we’re going to compare these three groups on some of the measures US News and Princeton Review use to create their rankings/ratings. We’ll see that the actual differences between colleges in these three groups are not nearly as great as people often assume based on the distances between the numerical rankings of the schools on those lists. And hopefully, seeing how small the real distance is between colleges, you’ll begin to conclude that those differences certainly aren’t great enough to be worth risking your children’s (and your) physical and emotional well-being.

First up, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, used by US News as part of their ranking formula. This is a pretty good measure of how much students like a school, and it will also impact your experience on campus. It’s preferable to be in a college where you have a larger percentage of your classmates coming back, right?

Return Sophomore Year

Group 1                                                   98%

Group 2                                                   96%

Group 3                                                   92%

It looks like there is a small difference between the three groups on this measure, but—in my opinion anyway—not enough of one to be worth considering strongly when choosing a college. All but two of these 30 colleges have over 90% coming back for sophomore year.

Smaller class sizes are also desirable, and US News uses this as one of its measures, too. They report the percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students, and it looks like again the higher ranked colleges offer a slightly better experience. Assuming the student takes a total of 40 courses to earn their degree, Group 1 would have 28 classes with 20 or fewer students, Group 2 would have 26, and Group 3 would have 23. That handful of classes with lower numbers is not likely to make much of a difference in a student’s experience.

Classes under 20

Group 1                                                             71%

Group 2                                                             65%

Group 3                                                             59%

Importantly, if you expand it to look at the percentage of classes under 30, the difference almost disappears. Thus, most of the difference in the numbers above would probably be made up for with class sizes just a few students higher.

Classes Under 30

Group 1                                                   83%

Group 2                                                   85%

Group 3                                                   83%

At the other end of the spectrum, US News reports the percentage of classes with 50 students or more. Interestingly, here the advantage goes to the less selective schools, which makes one wonder if some colleges are paying for more classes on the smaller end with more classes on the larger end.

Classes 50+

Group 1                                                   8%

Group 2                                                   5%

Group 3                                                   3%

US News also gives weight to the percentage of professors who hold the highest degree in their field. I’ve never considered this the best measure of how good a teacher someone will be, but it does indicate a strong interest in and knowledge of a specific discipline. I’ve included it here so we can compare it to Princeton Review’s survey of students’ opinions of their professors’ ability to teach.

Professors with Highest Degree

Group 1                                                   90%

Group 2                                                   86%

Group 3                                                   78%

As you can see, the differences between groups are noticeable.

But are they significant? Not in formal research’s sense of significance, but rather in terms of the impact on a student’s education. Yes, those with the highest degrees are usually going to be among those with the highest intellect and broadest knowledge base in their field. But isn’t the more important question which are best at sharing that knowledge with others? Aren’t the students’ opinions of those professors just as important as which advanced degree they have? Doesn’t this matter at least as much when considering the quality of education at any given institution? Isn’t the inspiration students feel to delve deeper into an area of study important to an education? Even if you only view college as a means to a career, isn’t a person’s enthusiasm for their work critical to their success in that field?

In addition to providing the basics about each school, Princeton Review’s annual Best Colleges books are an excellent source of students’ opinions of colleges with regard to numerous factors, including the quality of their professors. Over 100,000 students fill out their questionnaires each year, which include both ratings scales and areas for written reviews. The result is an in-depth look at what the consumer thinks of the product, a critical component of ratings that many others don’t take into consideration.

And student opinions, it turns out, support my suspicion that higher academic achievement doesn’t necessarily make one better at imparting what one knows to others.

Professors Good at Teaching?

Group 1                                                   90

Group 2                                                   92

Group 3                                                   90

Data Source: Princeton Review Best 386 Colleges (2021)

On a scale of 60-99 used by Princeton Review, students at Groups 2 and 3 rate their professors essentially just as interesting as students in Group 1 do.

Okay, for the final comparison of our three groups of schools, I looked at ratings of overall quality of life in Princeton Review’s Best Colleges book. This measure, again on a scale of 60-99, is a combination of students’ opinions of their school’s administration, campus, dorms and food quality, among other factors.

Quality of Life

Group 1                                                   90

Group 2                                                   89

Group 3                                                   89

Data Source: Princeton Review Best 386 Colleges (2021)

As you can see, once again the three groups are essentially the same.

Let’s go back and take a look at the composition of these 3 groups again, just so you can have it clearly in your minds at which schools there’s really not that much of a difference on so many factors.

Given all of the above, is it really worth the risk of all the negatives that can come with chronic stress in order to maybe gain a slight advantage in earning admission to a college that’s a bit higher ranked? Sure, Group 1 is filled with phenomenal places for exceptionally bright, ambitious, hard-working, talented students to get an education. If they meet your criteria for what you’re looking for in a college, then apply. If you’re admitted, that’s wonderful–celebrate!

But Groups 2 and 3 (and other schools similar to them) are amazing places for our most capable students, too.

1) This, in my opinion, is where the real value is in college rankings, not the placement of one school in the #1 spot, another at #2, etc. Having all of this data in one place allows you to compare schools on criteria that may matter to you in making a decision without having to visit each separate Common Data Set or school website to get the numbers. It’s all laid out for you in one place, and will likely expand your list to schools you wouldn’t have thought of on your own.

2) Due to the pandemic’s effects on some of the numbers in more recent Common Data Sets, the 2019-20 data is a more accurate reflection of what students can expect. I will update this page when things get back to ‘normal’.