<p>Is it true that schools (with particular regard to the most selective) use classmate comparison as a serious factor in admissions?</p>
<p>According to the adcom I’ve talked to they do. But this is just one school so obviously other schools probably do it differently. The school will compare the applicants from the same high school to get a subset of those kids to put into the full stack of applicants from all schools. So they may take 50 from your high school into the full review process and only 20 of those actually get admitted after getting compared to all the applicants.</p>
<p>They do particularly for the schools that do not rank students.</p>
<p>It doesn’t mean you won’t get in… for example, in my D1’s class of 52 (unranked high school in the midwest), 2 kids got into Dartmouth and 2 into USC’s film school. Statistically that is pretty good – and given the small size of their class, if the school had a “quota” for their high school then two of them would not have gotten in.</p>
<p>Plus, you can’t predict WHICH kid will get in when multiple kids apply to the same school. My D2 got into U of Chicago. Another student in the class with higher grades and stronger leadership ECs did not get in. The other kid was pretty ticked off, I think they considered themself to be more deserving of a spot at U of C. Obviously the admissions officers did not think so.</p>
<p>Remember, at holistic schools, there may not be any simple comparison. Not like they line up stats. Yes, they can like one more than another, based on the whole app package. So, it’s still within your control to send a fine application.</p>
<p>Would there ever be a situation in which a student who would have gotten into a school does not upon comparison to a classmate who also applied? Or is it like the hypothetical EA-RD comparison colleges sometimes use to claim that a student who got in EA who have gotten in RD?</p>
<p>Well, yes, an adcom or several who review that kid, can “like” another candidate better. Of course. You said most selective and you know the competition at some can be so fierce that there are plenty of top achiever kids, not space for all. Remember, they look at the whole app. </p>
<p>Are there limits to how many they will take from one hs? We get this question every year. The answer is, maybe yes and maybe no. Intparent’s example is good. It depends on how many compelling (not just good, but the adcoms want them) kids apply from that hs. And from other hs in that community and that area. It can depend on whether they have taken a bunch of kids from that hs in the past few years and want to give another hs a shot. That can’t be predicted.</p>
<p>But, look at the Common App. Even the version up now will give you an idea of all the points adcoms see and the several chances to write meaningful responses. Use it well. Give yourself the best shot.</p>
<p>Classmate comparisons don’t matter if the individuals are superior applicants. Top schools don’t feel they need to set aside slots for any particular school. Thus if one year, one school’s applicants are better than every other in the district, they’ll be the only one getting admit decisions. They aren’t beholden to spread their admits around. My area HS 3 years ago got an inordinate amount of admits to my Ivy alma mater – a true statistical head-slapper. But the kids were just that good. Then the following years they’ve only gotten 1-2. That’s how it goes.</p>