<p>I agree with Olymom. As seniors go through the application process, more than a few rethink their choices - for whatever reason. For my youngest daughter, a school that she visited and liked in March of her junior year fell to the wayside after a subsequent visit in November of her senior year. She still applied but with diminished interest. (One of her friends applied EA and then regretted the quick move as she watched her classmates look at a variety of schools that she hadn’t even considered.)</p>
<p>Students forget that the app process flows both ways. As the student determines “fit” so does the university. No more no less. (And sometimes the flute player fits - and the valedictorian doesn’t.)</p>
<p>Our former principal (now retired) of our school firmly believed that UVA had informal quotas for our high school (a public Northern Virginia school). He was the principal for 15 years and noted that the number of acceptances from UVA never varied. Some classes were brilliant and other classes were partiers. Still the same number of acceptances. Some years everyone applied to UVA and other years very few kids applied. Still the same number of acceptances. </p>
<p>Our school is one of the strongest schools in the state but the principal and faculty believe that UVA is informally obligated to accept Virginians from every part of the state. Therefore they do put a quota (unofficially, of course) on the stronger Northern Virginian schools (except for Thomas Jefferson, a selective public school).</p>
<p>Yorky, I have seen this situation addressed a number of times regarding UVA and Thomas Jefferson (I believe that is the school). I have read complaints that TJ is given favoritism for UVA as often as I have read that it is held to unofficial quotas to get representation from all over the state.</p>
<p>An admissions officer for UVA has been a poster on this site, and he adamently denies that either situation exists. </p>
<p>Do realize that when students are assessed for admission, every little thing is not measured to the infinitismal degree. There are cutoffs for categories so that a perfect 4.0 may get the same score as a 3.85, for instance, and 4 AP courses given the same weight as 8, or SAT scores at the 760 level in the same category as a perfect 800. So students within those categories are considered “all things equal”. When that happens, geographic diversity or some other item of interest can tip the scale for weaker students --weaker when every little thing is assessed. It’s not a system where everyone is stacked up evenly with the strongest kids snatched up.</p>
<p>The correct answer is: not as an absolute or a theoretical. However, as a practical matter, in order to assure the widest possible geographical diversity within the available pool of Extreme talent, the math dictates a ceiling of sorts. It’s just not a formula or predictable. A school may send no seniors to a particularly popular college for 3-5 yrs. in a row, then send three or four of them during one year, because the record of the students, the needs/desires of the college, and the distribution of talent that year warranted it. </p>
<p>Generally, from all high schools in our region – whether shining public or competitive private, and regardless of the size of that school, btw – there are a handful of students, literally, who get acceptance letters to Elites. When you do the math and consider all the metro regions in the U.S., and account for heavier representation from specific ‘feeder’ schools with a history in favor of an LAC or Ivy (such as certain prep schools), it is usually not physically possible to send more than a couple to HYP, and a few more than that to other highly-ranked schools, collectively.</p>
<p>If we’re talking about the top colleges, I doubt that any school has a firm quota. But I bet there are informal guidelines.</p>
<p>At many private schools and top high schools (like Thomas Jefferson and Stuyvesant), there will be many kids accepted. Harvard does not accept just one Stuyvesant student a year. But at some point – 10? 20? 50? – it will draw the line.</p>
<p>At some of the smaller high schools in my area, it is extremely rare for more than one kid to be accepted to a top school. In fact, it is hard for any kids to get in, so the chances that more than one get in is even rarer.</p>
<p>Let’s look at it this way – if Columbia’s acceptance rate is about 10%, and there are 10 students applying, maybe one will get in. The chance that more get accepted is unlikely simply based on that acceptance rate. </p>
<p>I have known students to discuss applications and to be sensitive about where they were applying based on where their friends wanted to go.</p>
<p>There may not be exact limits, but there are limits.</p>
<p>When my daughter and I attended a Columbia information session, a student asked whether there was a limit on the number of students Columbia would accept from a particular high school. The admissions officer said, “No, there’s no limit, but of course we’re not going to take 100 students from Stuyvesant or anything like that.” </p>
<p>A large portion of the room groaned at that answer. Evidently, many of the students at that information session were from Stuyvesant or other magnet schools.</p>
<p>This was absolutely not the case at the ivy where I worked in admissions. Students were not only compared directly with their classmates, they were looked at against applicants from their schools in past years.</p>
<p>In my experience, there is no ‘quota’-- if there are 4 legacies and 3 athletes you may take 7 that year from a school you generally take 2 from. But if they are all unhooked, most colleges will limit representation from any one school.</p>
No college would ever admit to a quota, even if it has one–the only possible result would be negative for the school.
No quota would apply to athletes; URMs; children of major donors; or those with major hooks of another sort.
Public schools need to have reasonable representation from across their states, lest they alienate the legislators who fund them.
Elite schools–especially small ones-- pride themselves on the diversity of their student body, which too many kids from individual schools diminishes.
Non-elite private schools are likely to welcome a larger than usual group of kids who exceed their criteria and pay their own way.
Non-elite schools which have historically benefitted from a steady stream of applicants from an HS are likely, in a down year for applicants, to admit one or more below average applicants if necessary to keep the pipeline flowing.</p>
<p>I live in Northern Virginia as well and I have very close friends who go to Thomas Jefferson High School.</p>
<p>At my high school the same number of people always seem to get into UVA as well, no matter if it is a “smarter class” or “dumber class”. </p>
<p>Even though more people may get into more top colleges from top high schools like TJ, I believe they deserve to get in wherever they get in, even if it is a lot of students. The people who get into the top schools get in because of their high GPA, STA/ACT scores, ECs, and other things. If they were not at the top high school, they would most likely make it into the same schools. </p>