<p>My three top reach schools (HPYMS level) have never accepted more than 3-4 students from my school.</p>
<p>But if I already know more hooked kids than that applying....
In my class, I already know 2-3 athletes that have already been recruited at each, and two of the valedictorians are URMs and they're applying.</p>
<p>These schools were reaches for me to begin with. But at this point, do I still bother applying?</p>
<p>Of course you do. There’s no ‘specific’ deciding factor for acceptance, you should still go for and see what happens. Luck may come your way.</p>
<p>2 of the valedictorians - how many are there? This concept of more than one valedictorian is new to me.</p>
<p>Frequently in school who do not have weighted GPA and up with many students with that same top GPA. Here on CC I have seen as high as about 30 Vals for a single school. In those cases, it has to lose it’s significance.</p>
<p>To the OP, apply. At D’s high school, prior to last year, the average (rounded to the nearest number) number of accepted students from our high school would have been 0 yet 2 were taken last year. It they like what you are going to contribute to Harvard, you will be accepted regardless.</p>
<p>Two of the URMs are Vals and are applying. Are they black, Hispanic, or American Indian? If not, they may not be a URM. Asian students are not URMs.</p>
<p>Go ahead and apply to a couple, but make sure you have other reaches, matches, and a couple of safeties (including financial safety if F/A or money is an issue).</p>
<p>yes, some schools have more than 1 Val if the top scores are tied. That happens, especially in larger, competitive schools.</p>
<p>We have about 2-4, I think. I’m not really sure, its not so publicly known
They are native american, and they are both amazing I can’t see them getting turned down!</p>
<p>Yea you shouldn’t really pay attention to your high school in this way. The admissions office doesn’t have time to go in and sort out all the applications by high school most of the time. They’re already all mixed up when they come in.</p>
<p>Of course you should apply. The process is so unpredictable that you cannot make assumptions.
Audaces fortuna juvat !</p>
<p>Keylime, I probably graduated high school before you were born 
and we had 10 vals. It all just depends on students’ GPAs. The vals decided who would “get” to read the graduation speech, but they all worked on it, IIRC.</p>
<p>My reach schools have never accepted anyone from my entire state’s region, much less my high school. I’m not letting that get me down.</p>
<p>Honestly? A couple of recruited athletes and some highly ranked URMs at a school that traditionally gets 4 in maes chances for a reach student petty much nil.</p>
<p>Yeah, thats what I figured…</p>
<p>^Gotta love hmom’s wonderful grammar…
(still thinks she lives in a trailer in Jersey…)</p>
<p>Anyways, please just go for it. If you don’t try, you’ll never know :)</p>
<p>Gotta love posters like OHKID who have nothing of substance to add but don’t hesitate to share the ignorance. I may not be great at typing on cell phones, but I do know the difference between grammar and spelling.</p>
<p>My advice is to ignore the posters who will give you their keen insight on schools the closest they’ll ever get to is view books.</p>
<p>settel doun hmomfiv it was jus a jok</p>
<p>^Okay, you got me. I’m just a high-schooler with guidebooks, mailings, and friends in low places (but I do have a notebook computer now 
)</p>
<p>Still, you shouldn’t refrain from applying just because of your peers. Even if you don’t make it in, it’s really not the end of the world, and at least you won’t have to beat yourself up in the future wondering if you could have made it to the “big leauges” as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>The only reason I tend to disagree with hmom is because she bases everything on prestige. I understand that’s how I-bankers roll, but for the rest of us mortals, the world really won’t end if we don’t make it into HYPMSC, and it’s also not exactly a casual walk down the yellow brick road if you make it into HYPSMC, either. Heck, today on CC I read a thread from someone whose family makes $200k a year and never even went to college at all, and I’ve also read stories on here about many low-brow workers out there holding ivy degrees working under state U grads. Maybe it’s not the way things should be, but it happens on a quasi-regular basis, even out here in my no-prestige corner of the rust-belt midwest. </p>
<p>So, if you’re wondering about my “trailer park” joke, it’s just my attempt to pop the hot air baloon of prestige admissions and make us all “chill-ax” for a minute. You should never stop going for something just because you’re bad at it, because maybe with enough work and some luck, it’ll work out. I know you have no time to improve your applications now or hire a geneaologist to prove that you’re .01% Inuit or something like that, but maybe this experience will teach you to work harder in college and do well there. With the right attitude and time spent, you can become a superstar.</p>
<p>Heck, I worked 6 years at Cross-Country at my school where anyone could run, and I went from not being able to run 1 mile to being able to run 5 without losing my breath. So please, don’t give up becuase of your circumstances. Apply, see what happens, and if you don’t get in, who cares? There are still thousands of top-quality schools out there that would LOVE to have you among their ranks, not to mention the fact that many can still lead you to the same places an Ivy education can. </p>
<p>Just have fun with the process and I wish you all the best, Ellie7.</p>
<p>Elle7 – With HYPS schools, once your grades and scores are in a certain range, the admissions committees make their decisions more wholistically. Thus, a val might not look as good to the committee as a student with slightly lower grades but longstanding achievement in a particular area she plans to pursue in college, or that will add tremendously to the vitality of campus life. In one of my children’s graduating class, the val, who also had excellent EC’s, was not accepted to the HYPS schools to which he applied. A number of other unhooked students, presumably with lower GPA’s, were accepted there though. The point is, these schools are a long shot for everybody (perhaps apart from from avidly recruited athletes) – if you are in the range, and that’s where you want to go to school, don’t give up because of the perceived competition from your classmates.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Again, you know not of what you speak.</p>
<p>The OP asked a very specific question. What’s the chance of getting into an HYP school when you are competing with recruited athletes, URMs with higher stats, and these schools only take a few from your high school.</p>
<p>Having been an ivy league adcom, I know the answer–chances are poor.</p>
<p>No problem says OHIOKID, just apply. But he’s not looking at the full picture. A properly turned out application takes a lot of time and that’s time not spent on schools where you have a shot. Many schools require demonstrated interest, and again, if you’re busy writing all the supplements for other schools and tailoring the CA essays, you won’t have time left to demonstrate all that interest.</p>
<p>Next, there’s the fact that schools ask where else you’re applying. If you tell WashU that you’re applying to HYPS, they know they are a backup and Tufts syndrome is an issue.</p>
<p>So whether or not to apply is a lot more complex a decision than the clueless will lead you to believe. By all means apply to your dream schools, but do carefully thinking through the ramifications.</p>
<p>OHIOKID, I certainly am honest with kids seeking banking and similar jobs about where they’ll have to go to school to have a shot at them. To think that makes me all about prestige is, well, a reflection on a high school kid with little exposure. Try to focus on helping where you truly have knowledge. If I were all about prestige, I’d be telling the OP to apply to HYP because they’re the only schools wotrth attending!</p>
<p>Lol no one in my school’s history has ever been accepted to HYPS. I’m still applying though, as should you.</p>
<p>Occasionally schools will fluctuate from the norm - in that they will accept maybe 2 more from a school than they usually do, but they have to be truly exceptional unhooked candidates, even by HYP standards. Unfortunately I have to agree with hmom5; it looks like your HS screwed your opportunities at these few. Obviously HYPSM are not the only colleges where you can get a top-notch education, and I guess if it’s any mental reconciliation, you can still apply if you want to pay for the application fees. You never really know until you know, if you know what I mean. But I still agree with hmom5’s points; don’t apply if it’s going to take away your focus on your applications to other schools.</p>