Acceptance Rates

Low acceptance rates are often cited as a sign of prestige. But the applicant pool also matters. Presidential elections historically have an acceptance rates of 50% (considering that a third-party candidate has never been competitive). Does that make the Oval Office less competitive than Harvard? No, because the baseline to even be considered for a presidential election is much higher than that to apply to Harvard.

This nuance to acceptance rates often creates an illusion of a lack of progress. For example, being rejected from a graduate fellowship program can feel like a letdown. But at the same time, being eligible for such a program in the first place (i.e. being enrolled in graduate school) is enough of an achievement in itself. One missed acceptance doesn’t discount all of the wins that came before it.