I don’t think this is all of them who swept the Ivy League in 2015. Seems like there were one or two more. But of the five contacted for this article four of them are going to Harvard. The fifth picked MIT.
All 5 will be in Cambridge, MA in the fall. There’s a reason Bostonians have.ego problems. I was living there for.a year or two before.I realized it wasn’t hyperbole when they called their own area the “hub of the universe.”
It is not really that surprising. I would guess that a student that applies to all 8 sees prestige as a top priority, and Harvard is considered the golden ring.
So 80% picked the one with the most generous financial aid? Quelle surprise.
But it’s not necessarily - for many families, both Yale and Princeton are more generous.
To me, the failure to apply early action or early decision suggests indecisiveness, and applying to all eight says you have no idea what you are interested in. I am not sure why this is touted as an achievement?
Headline could read, “Indecisive students who have no idea what they are doing choose Harvard.”
Our local guy who got into every school he applied to including MIT, Harvard, Yale and Princeton will be attending Stanford.
No one gave him money.
@Much2learn, yep, as I stated before, the tippytop students may apply to all 4 of HYPS (and MIT if they are interested in STEM) or ED somewhere, but it’s rare for those types to apply to all 8 Ivies. That’s why the “all 8 Ivies” thing is kind of silly. The Ivy League is a sports conference. Nobody writes articles about any kids that get in to all of the top 8 privates who play DivI sports: Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Rice, Goergetown, ND, Vandy, and JHU (which is DivI in lacrosse).
@PurpleTitan I agree. I do not understand why people seem to regard this as impressive. Also, the Ivies are private and play D1 sports. MIT is also D1 in crew, I believe.
Ah, you’re right. That slipped my mind somehow. Right, throw MIT in the group of non-Ivy DivI schools.
Or even the most elite privates who play FBS football (Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Rice, ND, Vandy). Nobody writes articles about non-athletes who get in to all 6 (some football players would be recruited by all 6, or most of that group).
It’s an impressive accomplishment because aside from Cornell, these are all universities with single-digit acceptance rates - and Cornell is still very difficult to get into. You are beating very slim odds indeed when you get into all 8 of them.
Yes, it might indicate some indecisiveness and a lack of knowledge of one’s true interests. Those are also some of the foremost qualities amongst 17-18 year olds. They’re supposed to be indecisive; they’re not yet supposed to have it all figured out? Why should we expect teenagers who have not yet left home to know exactly what they want and make life decisions before they have to? A student who is more broadly interested in going to a competitive, rigorous environment (or who wants prestige, which is in and of itself not a bad thing) might be interested in all of the Ivies. And a student with broad interests really might have just as much a chance of thriving at Dartmouth as they do at Penn.
At my kids high school, the counselors will not let you apply to all eight Ivies. If you do, you need to sit down and explain to them.
@juillet, actually, Dartmouth’s acceptance rate is currently slightly above 10%, but in any case, a reason why Ivy acceptance rates are that low is because a good chunk of people do things like indiscriminately apply to all the Ivies regardless of fit or interest (and some even pick a school because that school plays in the same sports league as HYP instead of some other school that may fit them better). If Northwestern and JHU were in the Ivy League and Dartmouth and Brown were out, I guarantee you NU’s and JHU’s acceptance rates would be as low or lower than Dartmouth’s and Brown’s now while Dartmouth and Brown would have as high or higher acceptance rates than what NU and JHU have now.
It is impressive because of how incredibly unlikely it is to occur. Does anyone think that these kids are not remarkable kids to have made it through the admissions process of all eight Ivy league schools?
This isn’t the same as throwing an application to one Ivy as a flyer. They obviously have the goods.
I don’t understand the resentment? It is their life and their application fee’s, why can’t they do what ever they wish to? Perhaps some of you can provide your contact information so High School Juniors can reach out to you to have you help them craft the list of colleges they apply to. Clearly these kids who were admitted to eight Ivies could have used your help.
@GreatKid, let me put it this way:
Yes it’s (somewhat) impressive (only somewhat because ultimately, you can only attend one college and I’m of the view that what you do in college and later in life is more important than how many/what colleges you got in to).
But it’s not noteworthy because the vast majority of the very best candidates didn’t try for all 8 Ivies. They usually got in ED/EA/SCEA somewhere and didn’t apply to all 8 Ivies. So it’s incredibly unlikely mainly because the strongest applicants had a more reasoned application strategy than applying to 8 very disparate elite privates who’s sole commonalities are that they play in the same athletics conference and are in the Northeast.
Let me put it this way, if you don’t see the significance of that accomplishment there is no point in me attempting to have a logical or reasonable conversation with you.
Post #16, these posters didn’t get into all 8 Ivies or is it Ivys?
GreatKid, I think you are missing the point. Of course it’s impressive to be accepted at any one of these schools, and of course these are impressive kids. But a kid who is especially desirable at one is likely desirable at most or all of them. I am guessing a few of these kids had compelling stories (first-generation college student, etc.) that got them noticed at each of the schools.
And honestly that list makes at least as much sense than the eight Ivy list.
re #5, they could have applied to some EA, or one SCEA and still waited till spring to compare offers.