Are there any normal applicants?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Do normal people get into Ivies + MIT, Stanford, U of C etc? By normal I mean someone who doesn't have crazy acronyms in their application (USMSO or whatever it is) and more? Someone who actually LIKES what they do in their EC's and can successfully show it in their essay? For example, my dream school is MIT along with the other 53,453 people in the US but I don't have a big share of math/science-y things, but instead I've done a lot of business work ,non profit work, and service and list goes on, finance+animation being my passion. I know this might sound like a chance me, but for any college, is it true to just follow your passion(s)? </p>

<p>And please do not post the "Do normal people get into MIT" link..</p>

2

<p>Generally no. The nationally average SAT and ACT scores are about a 1500 and 20 respectively (and even those are high since they exclude dropouts and people not considering a four year). Virtually everyone at the top schools are not “normal” but far above it. That being said, there are plenty of students who didn’t win a national award at the Ivies and peer institutions.</p>

3

<p>You might want to consider NYU Stern, Cornell Dyson, CMU Tepper… not just MIT Sloan.</p>

4

<p>Thanks Catria… Personally I don’t think Stern is worth the $</p>

5

<p>I knew Stern had poor financial aid but feel free to consider Cornell Dyson, CMU Tepper or Brown Starr (it might not actually be listed as a business school but it delivers a curriculum much like that of a business school if you’re OK with holding a degree that is not AACSB-accredited)</p>

6

<p>You have to consider just how many applications schools like Harvard, MIT, Stanford get. They can pick from a vast array of 4.0 students from all over the US and around the world, so they have no motivation to let in “normal” applicants.</p>

<p>Your best bet at getting into a prestigious school is frankly being in a state with a great public flagship. I have little doubt you can find many good but not spectacular in state students at schools like UCB, UCLA and UMichigan, and these are schools that (in research at least) are fully able to compete with the Ivies and the other top private schools. However the top publics really tend to shine at the graduate level, where they unfortunately become just as selective as the privates.</p>

7

<p>If you consider average person as “normal”, then no. No average person will go to Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc.</p>

8

<p>When I say normal I don’t mean the average high school student, but someone exceptional, but to the point where well I guess I don’t really know my question actually…</p>