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I often tell parents to not focus so much on acceptance rates because they do not separate out the admit rates for more selective majors. However, in a world where colleges are receiving so many applications, its yield, and how it's evolved the past few cycles, that truly explains why to look past those acceptance rate numbers.

From Jeff Selingo, Author of Dream School:

Families often obsess over acceptance rates when judging a college’s popularity or quality.

But inside admissions offices, another number matters even more: yield, or the share of admitted students who actually enroll.

Yield rates have steadily declined at most colleges over the past two decades as students apply to more schools.

That creates a ripple effect. When yield drops, colleges have to admit more students the following year to fill the same class. That means acceptance rates rise.

But here’s where families get tripped up: If we treat selectivity as a proxy for quality, we assume a higher acceptance rate means a school is getting worse. In reality, it often just means students have more choices.

The result is a widening divide in admissions: a small group of colleges with rising yield rates that can count on most admitted students showing up, and everyone else trying to predict a much more uncertain market.

Bottom line: Acceptance rates don’t tell you nearly as much about a college as you think they do.