<p>In top colleges (Top 25 range), there is almost always a percentage of applicants (out of the ones in schools that rank) that are outside of the top 10%. Are these applicants primarily the 'hooked' applicants?</p>
<p>I was accepted to NYU (Stern) and CMU (CIT) with noooo hook at all</p>
<p>What was your rank?</p>
<p>What if I'm like 35/175</p>
<p>'What if' in what situation?</p>
<p>I don't think I was hooked. I was certainly not in the top 10% (on second glance, I'm not even in the top half) It can and does happen. You just need to know how to play the game. It's a matter of spin.</p>
<p>Here's my story:</p>
<p>I'll preface this by saying I am not an athletic recruit, URM or legacy.</p>
<p>SATs: 800 Verbal, 620 Math, 800 Writing (Perfect grammar subscore, 12/12 on essay)
SAT IIs: 720 World History, 800 US History, 790 Literature
GPA: 3.26
Rank: 251/469</p>
<p>My ECs are long and involved (not too many of them, I just did A LOT with the ones I got involved in) so I'm not going to type them up.</p>
<p>Used a fee waiver.</p>
<p>Accepted: Dartmouth College(Attending), University of Georgia, Tufts University, New York University
Waitlisted: Duke University
Rejected: Harvard University</p>
<p>Essays are IMPORTANT, as are having high-impact ECs (not necessarily national ECs, but something you have a demonstrable passion for and impact in). You also need good references to cover your GPA and to provide a valid reason (if any) for your GPA. I had no reason, really, I was just lazy, but my teachers LOVED me and wrote recs that showed that.</p>
<p>Remember, the transcript is a huge part of the evaluation, and unless you can make up for it in a big way with other things, your chances are slim. But also remember, YOU CAN PLAY THIS GAME AND WIN. People told me I had no chance, but that's BS. Don't let people get you down on here. Most of em have no idea what they're talking about.</p>
<p>I am SO happy I got into Dartmouth, it was my first choice by far. I can't wait to go there in the fall.</p>
<p>That's a very interesting story. I'm not out of the top 10%, just the top 5%. I was curious about who made up the 5-15% of non-10% freshmen in the top colleges.</p>
<p>Most are hooked, the others went to very top high schools (average SAT score 1350 plus) where top 30% is still an exceptional student.</p>
<p>White. Male.</p>
<p>SATs: 800 Math, 680 Verbal, 630 writing
SAT IIs: 800 physics, 800 Math IIC, 750 Biology GPA: 3.56
Rank: 41/469</p>
<p>ECs ( i was in alot but main ones i liked were football and chess. (not playing football in college tho)</p>
<p>Accepted: Carnegie Mellon
Essays are probably the most important thing (conisdering your GPA and SAT is within a certain range and you are involved in stuff you love)</p>
<p>I had great recs too</p>
<p>I was really lazy my three years of school.</p>
<p>Its funny tho after my first three years of highschool I became really motivated to learn, which shined through my essay. I can't wait for college now tho.</p>
<p>You're top 10 percent though...I'm like top 20%.</p>
<p>Here's an interesting spin on things. I did poorly frosh year so my rank was much lower (85/702) vs. 10-12 (33/702). What do you make of these results:</p>
<p>Frosh-inclusive schools (not top 10%):
Accepted: UChicago
Waitlisted: Amherst
Rejected: HYP, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, Duke, Williams, Northwestern</p>
<p>Frosh-exclusive schools (top 3%)
Accepted: Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCI
Rejected: Princeton</p>
<hr>
<p>My conclusion? Class rank and GPA really matter. The only ones that seemed to have given me a shot w/ the low rank were Chicago and Amherst, which are known for their willingness to take chances on people they find interesting.</p>
<p>Also, I think rank is less important if you go to an established prep school with many strong students.</p>
<p>Well, that's good information, I know rank matters, but it doesn't answer my question: Are the majority of those outside of 10% hooked? I have also read some good answers here (eg, go to really competitive private schools, etc.)</p>
<p>I'm wondering the same thing. What helps those not in the top ten percent get in?</p>
<p>I dunno what got me in. They must've seen something in me I hadn't really seen in myself.</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>10 char</p>
<p>lol i go to a huge crappy public school. </p>
<p>We didn't even learn polar graphs or statistics so the first time I took Math IIC i got a 780. Our classes move really slow, and I can play games on my calculater, finish 10 sudoku puzzles, do HW in class, and still get perfects on the test. Yea I have it easy</p>
<p>That is really cool for you, but still . . . the original question?</p>
<p>They probably would be. We don't really know, either way.</p>
<p>Here's another hypothesis: they could go to private schools where the top 20% traditionally get into HYPSM...</p>
<p>What about medical magnet schools?</p>