<p>Nice, relevant article</p>
<p>[Who</a> Needs Harvard? - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1226150-1,00.html]Who”>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1226150-1,00.html)</p>
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Two lines later:
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<p>And FYI, their persistence is relatively effortless. Just purchase a list of 10,000 or so names from College Board of people with somewhat decent scores, then mass mail them. </p>
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No one is refuting the statement that legacy has sway on admissions. Rather, people are just pointing out that the “recruitment” your son is receiving is just the spam mail that Harvard sends out.</p>
<p>So this kid who built a nuclear reactor in his garage wasn’t admitted into MIT.</p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: “Applying Sideways”](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_selection_process_application_reading_committee_and_decisions/applying_sideways.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/the_selection_process_application_reading_committee_and_decisions/applying_sideways.shtml)</p>
<p>LadyD, not all schools consider graduate school to be legacy for undergraduate admissions. H, if I’m correct, is one of those schools.</p>
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<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html#25]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html#25)</p>
<p>I.e., you’re only a legacy at Harvard if your mother or father graduated from the College. GSAS, law school, business school, med school, etc. doesn’t count.</p>
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<p>With 2100 SAT, even with double legacy, he would not stand a great chance 
(sorry, could not help myself 
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<p>Usually, “academic superstars” are math and science students. They tend to be kids with excellent numerical stats and have won medals on prestigious international academic competitions (iPho, IMO, ICO, IBO, IOI medalists are typical examples of academic superstars). Others won Intel/Siemens or come in top 10 and get their research published. To accomplish such feats as winning medals in such competitions, it requires pure brilliance and hard work. Those kids are the among the best students in their disciplines. IMO kids from U.S., for example, are seldom denied to top schools (please note however there are only like 6-12 kids on the team). Others from international applicant pool have high acceptance rates, depending on other factors (language proficiency, rec…)</p>
<p>A perfect 2400, a bunch of 5s on APs and a perfect GPA do not an academic superstar make and do not guarantee admission. I know because my son had all of the above. Of the 6 Ivies he applied to, he was admitted to three, rejected at one (his first choice) and waitlisted at two. He has passions and interesting extracurriculars and is an unusual and charming fellow, but a lot of the process is the luck of the draw–depending on fit, who else they are accepting (or have recruited) from your school, what mood the person was in who first picked up your essays, etc. There is absolutely no way to control for all of the variables. You’re likely to get in somewhere great, not get in someplace else. The academic shoo-ins have done something really remarkable in their field while they were still in high school.</p>
<p>wheres christian soldier even goin to school? he sounds like a myth by now that is completely blown out of the water… what are his ECs and stuff?</p>
<p>^^^^I believe Princeton.</p>
<p>Yes, he is at Princeton. Here are his stats from the Princeton results thread:</p>
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<p>The valedictorian at my school who was a Siemens finalist, USAJMO qualifier, and Intel semifinalist got rejected to Yale. He had a 2400 too. You cannot academically earn your way into the top institutions without showing some degree of fit. </p>
<p>*Edit: Okay maybe I wasn’t being entirely truthful - he got into Columbia, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, etc., but Yale was his first choice.</p>
<p>@boomshakalaka: Even doing well in competitions doesn’t guarantee you anything. I know a guy who competed on the US team in the IBO, placing 2nd in the world, and he didn’t get into Harvard.</p>
<p>^^ Assuming he didn’t apply to Harvard, that means he was accepted at 4 of the 5 best (as determined by USNWR) schools in the U.S.</p>
<p>Of course it doesn’t guarantee admission. Harvard admission also depends on diversity, which is very unpredictable, much like other schools. Maybe on that year, several ppl from the IBO team applied to Harvard and got in, and they had other things to offer, and perhaps something went wrong with him (rec., etc). There are many variables to consider. I’m simply saying performing well internationally in competitions will put ones’ candidacy into great light, no guarantee however.</p>
<p>@boomshakalaka is correct. All sorts of variables go into Harvard admissions. And, believe me, you’d be surprised at the stats and credentials of some of those who get accepted vs. some of those who don’t.</p>
<p>But, anyway… what I think we can all agree upon is that no-one’s “admission is without doubt”. Absolutely no-one.</p>
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<p>Yes, they exist. They’re the exception. Looking at Harvard’s Common Data Set for 2008-2009, the Freshman Profile shows that the lowest-scoring 25% of the enrolling class had SAT scores at or below 690 CR, 700 Math, and 690 Writing. A 2100 composite score would be slightly above that. That 25th percentile is composed overwhelmingly of students with something extra. Developmental admits (parents who can donate at a very significant level), athletes, the famous or the exceptionally talented in a non-academic discipline, or others who have some unique story. Like this: [url=<a href=“http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/20/local/me-harvard20]She”>She finally has a home: Harvard]She</a> finally has a home: Harvard - Los Angeles Times<a href=“though%20I%20dunno,%20this%20young%20woman%20probably%20crushed%20the%20SAT%20or%20ACT”>/url</a>.</p>
<p>That same CDS shows that the 75th percentile scores were 800/780/790. The top-scoring 25% of enrolling Harvard freshmen in 2008 (or is it 2009?) had a composite SAT score of around 2370 or higher. An applicant who was the usual highly-motivated, bright student, with a strong GPA putting them in the top 10% of their high school graduating class along with a challenging curriculum but without any special hook, would probably need to have a similarly high SAT.</p>
<p>^You can’t add up the 75% scores of the three subjects and assume a 75% composite score.</p>
<p>^True. Nonetheless, the score ranges indicate that very few kids will have SATs in the 500s and 600s, and those students are almost guaranteed to be hooked in ways beyond legacy. A 2100 legacy (who is not a developmental admit) without impressive achievements is unlikely to be admitted to H.</p>