<p>My daughter just found out that another girl from her school plans to apply ED to the same Ivy school that she planned to apply to. Although my daughter has great everything, this other girl has a very similar profile and is just a bit better in every category. The one advantage my daughter has is an alumni connection. She had planned to apply ED to this school because of the connection, thinking it was her best shot for Ivy admissions. </p>
<p>I know that the colleges can accept more than one student from her high school, but since they are so similar, I am wondering if my daughter should just pick a different school for ED.
Does anyone know how much head-to-head comparisson that they do?</p>
<p>I am a firm believer that ED should be used for her favorite school, and that ED is a love match. Does she love another Ivy school as much as this one? I say take your chances with the school that she would be happy to attend. </p>
<p>I will leave the rest of the advice about kids with similar stats up to other parents. I would make it clear that this is a first-choice school, and would make sure essays, LORs etc convey what she would bring to the campus, not just how much she would like to attend.</p>
<p>Of course not. That ivy league school may accept both students, one of them, or reject both of them. The other applicant from the high school does not affect the chances of your daughter. Good luck to you and her.</p>
<p>Does your school have Navience? You should check to see who many students apply/ are accepted from your D’s HS each year at the colleges in question. If usually only 1 is accepted, then your D may get bumped by a more highly qualified candidate.</p>
<p>thank for your responses. After thinking about it, I realized that its only May now - who knows if by November this other student will still want to apply early the that University - or if she is just saying that she is applying to one school and really applying ED somewhere else. they all play games.<br>
I would like to know if they actually compare all the applications from a high school or an area, or do they just read the applications in random order and decide on each separately?</p>
<p>Applications are usually read by region i.e there is an admissions officer that covers specific states or parts of states. Some colleges may separate the applications further by ethnicity such as being read by a Latino or African American recruiter.</p>
<p>For most colleges, all the applicants from each school (sometimes by city and region) are read together for comparative purposes. While colleges have established school profiles on file, a comparison of the applicants gives them even more perspective.</p>
<p>This is will hurt your daughter, but if she is just a “bit” worse in every category, then her chances shouldn’t be compromised by another ED applicant from her school.</p>
<p>I talked to representatives from UPenn, Stanford, Duke, and Harvard about the admissions process a bit. They said that they don’t compare applicants. They look at each applicant individually in a holistic process.</p>
<p>^^All students are looked at holistically within the context of their school/ region by the admissions reps. The Admissions reps for each region have a big say in who they will push to get admitted when it comes down to making final admissions decisions.
“They said that they don’t compare applicants.”
They are saying what they think you want to hear, in order to get you to apply, but applicants ARE compared when there are more qualified students than can be accepted, which is the case at the above schools . Dont kid yourself.</p>
<p>If you are not on the admissions commitee…there is nothing you can do about who they eventuallly take. So, I’d jsut suggest you have your kid do the best she can do, and give it her best shot. That is what we all have to do, anyway, as we grow…I have heard of one situation where two kids applied to Williams–they ask for peer letters, apparently…one wrote a bad one for the other, thinking it would help her get in…she was rejected(the one who wrote the bad letter for the other)…don’t know if it is a true story…but I could see that happening. The best way to deal with this college application process, I think, is to just encourage your kid to do the best, worry a lot, but never make the kid feel there is only one place…that, instead, there are many places that he/she can get a good education and have a promising life.</p>
<p>Essentially, there is no quota on how many students they will admit from a school. If all the applicants from that school are good enough, they could all be admitted. That being said, like some earlier posts, the counselor is in charge of a specific reigon and will know about the rigor/other factors of your school.</p>
<p>Also take note that your school itself can help you, but never hurt you. My school for example generally has a huge yield percentage on admitted students to the University of Chicago. Historically, we do see many students admitted that one would normally believe.</p>
<p>At most large schools, for every kid you know about who has applied ED to “your” Ivy, there are several you don’t know about. Apply where you want and let the chips fall. It’s insane to craft an admissions strategy based on what other kids are doing.</p>