Author:
An Observer
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Date Posted: 10:41:44 10/27/25 Mon
Jimbo,
You are correct that US News dropped admit rate expressed as a numerator/denominator during their 2023 overhaul of the ranking methodology.
On the other hand, Columbia University has for about a decade worn its admit rate as a badge of honor because, for most of that time, the admit rate of Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (ignoring the School of General Studies and Barnard College) was lower than that at, say, Yale and Princeton. Indeed, it was the second lowest admit rate in the Ivy League, higher than only that at Harvard.
Columbia and its alumni invested a lot of emotional capital into that statistic, because it reflected pulling even with HYP.
Here's an interesting twist. In 2023, US News made the biggest change to its methodology in two decades. The idea was to de-emphasize variables which reflected prestige to focus even more on student outcomes. The idea was to shake things up and give less of an advantage to HYP, which benefit disproportionately from brand equity.
What was the outcome?
HYP are still on top. It's unclear what the effect of the changes were on Columbia because the methodology change occurred simultaneous to the scandal over gaming student statistics.
Moreover, Princeton -- which has now been ranked #1 for 15 consecutive years and 20 out of the last 22 lists -- has extended its lead over #2 university MIT. Princeton's raw score is set at 100 and, in the current ranking, MIT is at 98, Harvard at 97. Having a 2% advantage in this type of composite average is a pretty remarkable achievement.
The 2023 methodology change didn't hurt HYP. It solidified their lead.
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