There is probably a simple answer to my question, but I have been wondering why the acceptance rate is much higher in Wharton/Chicago/Kellogg vs. Columbia/MIT/Berkeley?
Acceptance rate at W/C/K ~20%
Acceptance rate at C/M/B: 18/13/13%
In fact, the acceptance rate for W/C/K is closer to Cornell and Yale. I understand that there is a selection bias when compare to second tier schools. However, C/M/B are in the same league with C/K (with Wharton slightly above all). What is the missing element when looking at these numbers?
Class size could also be a factor..
admitted / # applied:
Wharton: 835 / 4395 = 19% Chicago: 580 / 2636 = 22% Kellogg: 601 / 2862 = 21%
Sum W/C/K: 2016 / 9893 = 20.4%
Columbia: 632 / 3950 = 16% MIT: 402 / 3092 = 13% Berkeley: 246 / 2050 = 12%
Sum C/M/B: 1280 / 9092 = 14.1%
W/C/K have only a 9% larger candidate pool than C/M/B but W/C/K have 58% more spaces to fill than C/M/B.
@Sling Shot
The numbers above seem incorrect (#applied). I'm not sure about the rest, but Wharton( should be closer to 6000) and MIT (should be around 4500) are definitely off. I can't vouch completely for the data below but its probably closer to the truth.
http://poetsandquants.com/2012/01/17/the-ultimate-ranking-school-rejection-rates/2/
Your data is from 2011. Also I used # attended rather than # admitted to get a sense of a target class size (i.e. Wharton admits more students than it should because they predict that only X% of their admitted students will actually attend)
@SlingShot I think you used # matriculated / # applied, but I do agree with your general analysis that class size is a factor. I also think, as OP noted, there is selection bias, especially with Wharton. Wharton gets a ton of applicants that only apply to H/S/W, who are typically the most qualified of applicants, and thus get in. Many of that same class do not apply to your C/M/B.
Additionally, I think the fact that B/K are in the midwest is a factor. There's simply less people in the area, and less people that are interested in going to the area. Most of the applicants I know (including me) applied to only east coast schools, with the exception being Stanford. They simply didn't want to leave the east coast unless it was for GSB, and would have preferred Columbia/Sloan/Tuck to B or K. That's really just a guess though - I have no data whatsoever besides a few friends to support that.
The class size factor actually doesn't really explain this because it still means that it is "statistically" easier to get in to W/C/K.
The east coast vs. midwest claim is interesting and may indeed be a factor.
My thoughts:
1) I definitely agree with self-selection rationale, which you brought in the beginning and BGP2587 elaborated upon a bit. I actually think this is the main underlying reason (though no hard evidence, just speculation).
2) Group interviews - Wharton recently introduced group interviews into its application process (I think it's the only school to do this). This may deter some people from applying.......it's actually the same point as #1, just a little more specific.
3) Essay "Recycling" and safety schools - Essays are probably the most time intensive and laborious aspect of the application. If a certain school has similar essays to another school(s), then some people may apply to that school thinking: "What the heck, I might as well apply since I won't have to do that much more work since the essays are so similar." I'm thinking this comes into play a lot when it comes to picking which safety school(s) to apply to.
4) Location - I'm going to add a little bit to what BGP2585 said as regards to people not being ready/willing to leave an area. To elaborate, it may have to do with people will only go to school in a certain area, likely on account of personal circumstances. For instance, an applicant may only apply to NYU and Columbia because their significant other is working in the NYC area and they don't want to be separated. I'm willing to bet "urban centers" like NYC and SF Bay Area probably have more people in these types of situations than say a Philadelphia.
@23mich & @CompBanker Really good point. I agree with that one a lot. Booth has the PPT, and Kellogg has applicant initiated interview, meaning that you have to fork over the cash and the effort without knowing if the school is actually interested in you. Booth of those limit people from just throwin an app. in the mix and seeing what happens, at least to a certain extent.
HBS is the exact opposite, especially this year. I bet they have their lowest acceptance rate ever, simply because any unprepared, halfway decent applicant could recycle another school's essay and throw their name in, just to see what happens.
Columbia and Wharton are pretty comparable schools. I would guess that people that apply to Wharton often will also apply to Columbia or vice versa. Therefore, the selection bias might not be that big of a factor in this comparison. Does this suggest it is slightly easier or equally hard to get in to Wharton?
@TheTwoHacker Disagree with that analysis. There are still a ton of people that only apply to H/S/W. If those people are inclined to add a fourth school, I think a decent number would add CBS, but many would also apply to Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Haas, etc. instead. Moreover, I think there's a decent number of people that think that H/S/W are out of their league, so the top end schools they apply to are Columbia/Sloan/Kellog (or whatever).
Most applicants, whether right or wrong, consider Wharton in a diferent tier than the other schools. Therefore, there will be some natural cutoffs on both sides of that tier gap.
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