Sometimes a college’s growing athletic prowess can catapult its popularity, enhance its academic reputation, and lead to an increase in selectivity. Such is the case with Villanova University, a private, Catholic institution located in the…

The University of Notre Dame has always been a university for high-achieving students. In 1986, the home of the Fighting Irish admitted 43% of applicants. This group, the Class of 1990, sported an average SAT…

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the University of Chicago was still a premier destination for quiet, bookish types, many of whom had their heart set on a future in research/academia. Always a haven for…

A top-40 national university and a top-10 public university, the University of Texas at Austin is the number one target institution of many Lone Star State teens as well as high-achieving students from around the…

From 1980 to 1990, Boston College accepted as few as 31% of applicants and as many as 45% of prospective Eagles. Between 1994 and 2003, the average SAT score jumped roughly 100 points with the…

Like many other elite private colleges, Johns Hopkins University has fared quite well in higher education’s selectivity arms race since the start of the present millennium. As the Baltimore Sun reported back in 1996, the…

There is so much to like about Boston University that it’s not hard to figure out why it received almost 81,000 applications for a spot in the 2023-24 freshman class. This school has experienced such…

The University of Pennsylvania was founded in the 18th Century as a member of the Ivy League; yet, it took roughly 250 years for it to become the uber-elite, highly-selective institution that it is today….