With nearly 3 000 students and an academic staff of 163, the university describes itself as 'a small but highly selective institution'.

This is particularly useful for students seeking admission to the most selective institutions, because they may apply to a dozen or more.

The colleges that made the changes said they were trying to reduce pressure surrounding admissions to the most selective institutions.

Hospitals in this country have become cruelly selective institutions of higher healing.

Many graduates attend some of the most selective and prestigious institutions in the nation.

This has not been a problem for the most selective institutions with the largest endowments.

In fact, most highly selective educational institutions rely on similar admissions criteria.

The proposal is most likely to be taken up by highly selective institutions, which turn away thousands of qualified candidates a year.

A highly selective institution, it has an average of 14 applicants for each undergraduate place.

The theory went that at less selective institutions there would be far less pressure.