Inside Higher Education ( Scott Jaschik) summarizes a study to be released today by the National Association of College Admission Counselors researching:
Factors of ‘Considerable Importance’ in Transfer Admissions Decisions
The first percentage is Public Universities, the second Private:
GPA at postsecondary institutions 95.2% \ 90.8%
Grade-point average in high school 3.7%  \14.5%
Grades in transferable courses 72.5% \ 53.8%
Scores on standardized tests 3.8% \ 8.5%
Quality of high school 0.0% \ 3.8%
Quality post-secondary institution 7.4  \13.2
Articulation with prior institution 19.5% \ 9.9%
Essay or writing sample 6.1%  \ 25.5%
Recommendations 0.0% \ 24.6%
Ability to pay 0.0% \  3.4%
Race/ethnicity 2.4% \  2.6%
Interview 0.0% \ 11.1%
I read this data to confirm that public institutions look at the transfer applicant’s grades in post-secondary institution and whether he/she has taken appropriate classes (articulation). For public universities high school is a thing of the past as are SAT scores.
HOWEVER, private schools treat the transfer application almost identically to that of freshmen applications. GPA post-secondary and high school is important as are essays, recommendations and INTERVIEWS. Notice also that private schools are not as worried about the specific classes an applicant took in post-secondary school.
This may seem inconsistent but in truth I believe it gives different students with different profiles each a place to apply and be accepted.

It’s “simple”: More students are applying to Ivy League schools who have not added capacity so the percentage of those accepted is dropping.
But looking beyond the “simple” is the fact that Ivy League schools and other tier one schools with financial aid policies that promise to pay 100% of need are ALL attracting more applications. The current recession has made financial aid a key factor in selecting schools for parents at all economic levels. And if one is fortunate enough to not have to worry about financial aid, then be aware that more generous financial aid policies will make a college/university more competitive than a comparable college/university with less generous financial aid policy.
ACCEPTANCE RATES AT SOME TOP U.S. COLLEGES
Acceptance rates at some top U.S. colleges for the class of 2014:
School Applied Accepted Rate
Harvard 30,489 2,110 6.9%
Stanford 32,022 2,300 7.2%
Yale 25,869 1,940 7.5%
Princeton 26,247 2,148 8.2%
Columbia 26,178 2,397 9.2%
Brown 30,136 2,804 9.3%
MIT 16,632 1,611 9.7%
Dartmouth 18,778 2,165 11.5%
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research