Do Harvard, Yale and Princeton not take "normal" kids?

Applying to College
181

<p>Don’t be overly cynical, cobrat. The admission % accounts for only 1.5% of the USNWR ranking, so going to all that trouble for something that really doesn’t move the needle would be silly. As far as rescinded admissions, that is extremely rare and actual fraud, malfeasance, or failing to graduate is usually required for this to happen.</p>

<p>Having said that, it is true that Ivies, like other schools, send out a lot of letters and the like to students that eventually get rejected. Just being contacted doesn’t mean a whole lot, other than it makes people feel good.</p>

182

<p>chicabuea-Your daughter’s case sounds fascinating, particularly since I’m an International Applicant who’s lived in several countries and have been to over 6 schools in my life. If I may ask what was her project about?</p>

183

<p>i have done SAT WITH A SCORE OF 2100, WHAT ARE MY CHANCES TO ENTER THE IVY LEAGUE WITH SCHOLARSHIP AS A TRANSFER. WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CHANCES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS</p>

184

<p>What cobrat said. Schools want as many people (and as many different types of people) to apply so that they get the pick of the litter, so to speak. But (with the exception of sports recruitment), the people who encourage applicants to apply and those who decide which applicants are admitted never talk to one another. It sucks, but the schools that strongly encourage you to apply will frequently turn around and reject you.</p>

185

<p>PLEASE READ THIS CCers! I AM IN DIRE NEED, I HAVE NO COUNSSELLOR, NO GUIDE!!!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1024592-seniors-cc-urgent-i-never-had-chance-do-ecs-so-will-hypsm-reject-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1024592-seniors-cc-urgent-i-never-had-chance-do-ecs-so-will-hypsm-reject-me.html&lt;/a&gt;
Just a few minutes please!</p>

186

<p>If you’re not a great test taker and your grades are below a perfect 4.0 how can you prove you’re the best? Especially when there’s so many kids who have grown up trained to get a prefect 4.0.</p>

<p>That annoys me more TBH. I’ve started to get to know people before I help them, and if their GPA is higher than mine I refuse to help them.</p>

<p>At my community college I keep running into people that drop classes if they don’t have an A in them >> This sorta behavior should result in you being kicked out IMHO. SATs shouldn’t be practiced for the same *@#% reason!!</p>

187

<p>i really want to get into upenn
i came to united state one years ago during my junior year i didn’t even know how to say hi.i lived in ouest africa and i speak french.i couldn’t take any ap class because i was a ESL student( esl mean english as second language)
my gpa is 3.8
i’m volunteering at a hospital 60 hours now
voluteer at the library
i am in the red cross club
drill team
debate team
i play soccer
and yearbook
but my sat are really low because i don’t get the words
i’m planning to go to community college for two years then transfer to upenn or brown
i’m really sad because i know i don’t have any chance of getting in but i will try so hard and take the sat again to see if i can get a better score
i really want the best that why i came here
i think the take normal kids</p>

188

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<p>If you’re not a great test taker than you’re not the best on a national basis, no matter what you think of yourself in your small localized area. </p>

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<p>I would think that’s exactly the sort of attitude the top schools don’t want to see, regardless of your other stats.</p>

189

<p>

Lol. If you think colleges care about admissions rates because of the impact they have on the USNWR and not the sheer psychological impact the figures have on prospective students, you’re being overly naive. How many laypersons do you know who see Brown as a school that barely makes the cut as a top 15 university because of its place in USNWR? People flock heavily to the acceptance rate.</p>

190

<p>More than the USNWR ranking? You are the one that is kidding yourself.</p>

191

<p>Please don’t interpret this as a knock on WashU because it’s an excellent school without a doubt, but how many people consider WashU on a higher level, in terms of prestige/selectivity/academics, than Brown because of the USNWR, which places WashU at 13 and Brown at 15?</p>

192

<p>So WashU has been benefiting from its ridiculous policy of waitlisting the strongest candidates until they call up and declare they will definitely accept if offered a slot?</p>

193

<p>monstor, the problem is your argument doesn’t prove at all that it is acceptance rate that makes Brown more prestigious. Here are the lowest acceptance rates according to USNWR (I didn’t go down to WUSTL which is 22%)</p>

<p>Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA 5%
Cooper Union, New York, NY 7%
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 7%
Yale University, New Haven, CT 8%
Juilliard School, New York, NY 8%
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 8%
College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, MO 9%
Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, KY 9%
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD 10%
Columbia University, New York, NY 10%
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 10%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 11%
Brown University, Providence, RI 11%
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 13%
United States Military Academy, West Point, NY 15%
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 15%
Victory University, Memphis, TN 15%
Amherst College, Amherst, MA 16%</p>

<p>So are you trying to tell me that Victory University is more prestigious that Amherst, or Alice Lloyd is more prestigious that Columbia or Brown? Of course not. Brown is more prestigious than WUSTL to most people because it is Ivy League and very old, and well known. WUSTL is still a mystery to many and the name doesn’t help.</p>

<p>Among those that know schools well, however, many consider WUSTL at least equal to Brown, if not better. Are they right? I don’t think it is a question that can be answered, personally. But I think admission rates have extremely little to do with it. In fact, having been on CC for some time now, I can safely say most people don’t really look at it all that carefully, they look more at the academic stats and how they compare to the admitted students in that regard to judge how good the school is and their chances of getting in. The Ivies are an exception because they get an overwhelming number of qualified applicants.</p>

194

<p>I went on the Harvard admissions information tour followed by a tour of the campus yesterday.</p>

<p>It was very impressive. I looked at my son during the information session and could tell this is where he wants to be-not because of the rankings or the buildings (although I am sure that doesn’t hurt) but because he identified with what they were saying-they were speaking his language. For the first time in this whole process he felt OK that he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life-if one of the best schools in the world won’t even let you declare your major freshman year (they call it concentration) then he must be OK, right?</p>

<p>The admissions counselor talked about the process and there is no magic bullet. He did address the importance on the essay in answer to a question and said it is probably now less important than it used to be because they often wonder if the applicants have actually written it-they aren’t stupid and know this is an area where people pay to get help-maybe too much of it and cross a line. He also said they like kids who are involved in their communities but some kids can’t do it as much because they have other factors-long school commutes, having to work to help out at home, etc. Our tour guide after the tour was over talked to my son a bit and said he never took an AP class-his school didn’t offer them. They don’t hold it against an applicant if they took the most challenging classes offered at their HS.</p>

<p>I left Harvard with the distinct impression that if my S doesn’t get accepted it’s not because he is lacking in any one thing-he’s just competing against the best of the best and he didn’t make the cut. I feel that he will be given a fair shake and it may even help he isn’t some “manufactured” candidate-he’s just a regular kid who happens to be a very intelligent and talented young man. </p>

<p>The Admissions Counselor gave the distinct impression they are well aware what a big business this is-getting kids into the “right” schools. </p>

<p>To answer the question posed by this thread-based on what I saw yesterday I think they do take normal kids-it’s how you define normal. I think my S is normal but he would fit right in on that campus-looked like plenty of pretty normal kids walking around to me.</p>

195

<p>

This is what I’ve been thinking for a long time. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to write a good essay. It just means that (a) you shouldn’t totally obsess about it and (b) you shouldn’t think that a well-written essay will outweigh gaps elsewhere in your application.</p>

196

<p>I would NEVER pay anyone to write my essays. Goodness no!!!
I’m only a junior and I already have ideas about what I could write about…but all those ideas just can’t be articulated as well if someone other than myself attempted to write it. </p>

<p>It just doesn’t work out. Guys, write your own essays. Everyone has an unique story to tell. </p>

<p>Do it yourself and don’t stoop as low as to the point where you get someone else to write it.</p>

197

<p>It’s not just as blatant as paying someone to write it-they also said it doesn’t need to be read by the entire HS English Department before being submitted.</p>

<p>I have just started reviewing some of the CA and Harvard supplement for my S-without the essay-he is still working on it. He has totally changed his topic since his visit the other day-it is a secret! He will write it and have his current English teacher review it for typos etc. It will be uniquely his-I am sure the only time I will see it is the final proofing of his application before submission. That is his work-and I don’t doubt it will be good because he is a good writer. I have already seen things on the CA I would have written differently but it is his work and his application. </p>

<p>I always tell my kids do the best they can and what other people do is beyond your control so don’t waste time worrying about it.</p>