Best-fit students for Universities

College Search & Selection
1

<p>This is just a question sparked from curiousity...</p>

<p>Reading through each school's application, you can kind of get a feel for the type of student that the school is looking for. For instance, when reading through Stanford and Caltech's application, I liked the room for creativity that was given with some of their questions (Jot a note to your roommate for Stanford, and for Caltech, they had a box where you could fill it in with anything that interested you, whether that be an essay or a drawing). When I looked through Harvard, Yale, and Princeton's application, they seemed more "stay-in-the-box", although it may have been because H + P use the CommonApp, and with the "Choose your own topic" question you can use that to showcase more of your personality. Princeton did have a few questions asking "What's your favorite book" and stuff like that.</p>

<p>But basically my question is, do you think there is a big difference in the type of students these schools look for? Are they all going for the well-lopsided angular students with top scores yet something that makes them stand out? Or do some schools look for the well-rounded students? Quirkier students? More intellectual students? Lots of people apply to Ivy Leagues, get into one of them, and then are surprised when they don't get into another. What type of student do you think Harvard prefers compared to Yale? Princeton compared to Stanford? Do you think the way in which you present your app to each individual school by tweaking what you wish to emphasize could great affect your admission decision?</p>

<p>Okay that's enough rambling for now... :)</p>

2

<p>Keep in mind that the colleges are building a "community" , so if they suddenly get a lot of oboe players or theater majors in a certain year, the value of those directions becomes less for the pool of all applicants and suddenly it 's important to have been on the debating team. But of course it may turn out vice versa. They want a well-rounded student body but not every student has to be well-rounded. They also want people who will be happy in the environment they offer and not transfer out. So it's good to get a strong sense of the ethos and values of the community as a whole--campus visit is especially important. They should be able to "picture you" fitting in there.</p>