USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008: National Universities: Top 'First-choice' Colleges

Top 'First-choice' Colleges: National Universities

So which colleges do students really want to go to? One way to find out is to look at a school’s yield, the percentage of applicants accepted by a university who end up enrolling at that institution in the fall. The figures in this table are from the fall 2006 entering class and show the admit yield and overall acceptance rate. If a school has a high yield (a large proportion of those admitted enroll), it means that the school is most likely very popular with a top reputation and that the students are highly motivated to go there. A very low yield means that the school could be a “safety” or second choice for many of those who apply. Colleges use yield as a key factor in determining how many students they need to admit each year.

U.S. News Rank	School	Acceptance Rate	Yield
2	Harvard University (MA)	9%	79%
79	Brigham Young University—Provo (UT)	70%	79%
3	Yale University (CT)	9%	70%
1	Princeton University (NJ)	10%	69%
4	Stanford University (CA)	11%	67%
52	Yeshiva University (NY)	79%	66%
5	University of Pennsylvania	18%	66%
7	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	13%	66%
91	University of Nebraska—Lincoln*	73%	66%
49	University of Florida*	48%	63%
62	Texas A&M University—College Station*	77%	59%
14	Brown University (RI)	14%	58%
9	Columbia University (NY)	12%	58%
19	University of Notre Dame (IN)	27%	58%
28	University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill*	34%	57%
44	University of Texas—Austin*	49%	56%
59	University of Georgia*	58%	55%
85	University of Kansas*	77%	53%
57	Ohio State University—Columbus*	68%	51%
23	University of Virginia*	37%	51%
91	University of Alabama*	70%	50%
11	Dartmouth College (NH)	16%	50%
38	University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign*	65%	50%
42	University of Washington*	68%	48%
85	North Carolina State University—Raleigh*	61%	48%
23	Georgetown University (DC)	22%	47%
96	University of Tennessee*	74%	47%
12	Cornell University (NY)	25%	47%
91	University of Missouri—Columbia*	78%	47%
85	Iowa State University*	90%	46%
71	Michigan State University*	73%	44%
25	University of Michigan—Ann Arbor*	47%	44%
35	Georgia Institute of Technology*	69%	44%
21	University of California—Berkeley*	24%	42%
38	University of Wisconsin—Madison*	58%	42%
96	University of Arizona*	86%	42%
8	Duke University (NC)	23%	41%
48	Pennsylvania State University—University Park*	58%	40%
25	University of California—Los Angeles*	26%	40%
67	Clemson University* (SC)	55%	40%
71	Virginia Tech*	68%	40%
75	Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)	54%	40%
19	Vanderbilt University (TN)	34%	39%
33	College of William and Mary* (VA)	32%	39%
85	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry*	58%	39%
71	University of Minnesota—Twin Cities*	57%	38%
14	Northwestern University (IL)	30%	38%
54	University of Maryland—College Park*	44%	38%
75	Indiana University—Bloomington*	80%	38%
96	Howard University (DC)	48%	37%
5	California Institute of Technology	17%	37%
34	New York University	36%	37%
30	Wake Forest University (NC)	43%	36%
79	University of Colorado—Boulder*	88%	36%
96	Auburn University* (AL)	72%	36%
64	University of Iowa*	83%	36%
64	Purdue University—West Lafayette* (IN)	85%	35%
59	University of Pittsburgh*	56%	34%
85	University of Denver	73%	34%
54	Pepperdine University (CA)	28%	34%
54	George Washington University (DC)	38%	34%
9	University of Chicago	38%	34%
17	Rice University (TX)	24%	34%
59	Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick* (NJ)	58%	33%
67	Southern Methodist University (TX)	54%	33%
27	University of Southern California	25%	32%
91	University of Tulsa (OK)	76%	32%
14	Johns Hopkins University (MD)	27%	32%
64	University of Connecticut*	51%	32%
12	Washington University in St. Louis	21%	32%
71	University of Delaware*	47%	31%
75	Baylor University (TX)	43%	31%
28	Tufts University (MA)	27%	31%
67	Miami University—Oxford* (OH)	78%	30%
50	Syracuse University (NY)	51%	30%
75	Colorado School of Mines*	84%	30%
35	Boston College	29%	30%
17	Emory University (GA)	32%	30%
31	Lehigh University (PA)	39%	29%
31	Brandeis University (MA)	36%	28%
44	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY)	67%	28%
52	University of Miami (FL)	40%	27%
96	SUNY—Stony Brook*	47%	27%
96	University of the Pacific (CA)	69%	26%
96	University of Massachusetts—Amherst*	71%	26%
82	SUNY—Binghamton*	43%	25%
42	University of California—Davis*	68%	25%
96	Northeastern University (MA)	45%	24%
62	Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)	67%	24%
82	Marquette University (WI)	70%	23%
22	Carnegie Mellon University (PA)	34%	23%
96	University of California—Riverside*	83%	22%
38	University of California—San Diego*	49%	22%
35	University of Rochester (NY)	45%	22%
57	Boston University	58%	22%
44	University of California—Irvine*	60%	21%
91	Clark University (MA)	60%	20%
67	Fordham University (NY)	47%	20%
41	Case Western Reserve University (OH)	67%	20%
82	St. Louis University	67%	19%
44	University of California—Santa Barbara*	53%	19%
96	University of Vermont*	65%	19%
96	Illinois Institute of Technology	54%	18%
85	American University (DC)	53%	17%
79	University of California—Santa Cruz*	80%	17%
50	Tulane University (LA)	38%	11%

Note: These are the Top 100 ranked schools in this category, sorted in descending order by their yield. * denotes a public school.

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USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008

Top 'First-choice' Colleges: National Universities

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