PARENTS, please get the word out to all the applicants coming up the high school-pipeline now: elite colleges do not care about crushing the hopes of thousands of applicants. They care about the almighty YIELD and the multi-millions of dollars made ANNUALLY from application fees. (Harvard has approx. 39,044 applicants times $75 fee = $2,928,300 in collected fees. Multiply that by approx. 13 elite colleges, for instance, and you get approx. $38,000,000 in ANNUAL fees collected from working parents. Hell, that’s movie-star money).
I don’t blame colleges for wanting academic superstars; I BLAME colleges for using marketing to keep hope high, keep fees rolling in, and keep applications pouring in, all in an effort to lower Admission Rates and keep their rank high. Here is what they tell you: “We view applications holistically – everyone has a chance.” Here is what really happens: “Recruit to deny! Recruit to deny! Recruit to deny because YIELD is king!”
HIGH SCHOOL KIDS - hear me please, and explain this to ALL your friends:
Here is how college admissions at every single Ivy league college and all "soft-Ivy" league colleges REALLY works: There is Hurdle #1 and you must get through it; if you don't, you are literally out of the game right then and there. Period. Do not doubt this because the only one getting crushed is YOU. Do not think YOU are the exception. I promise you, you are not. Sorry, nothing personal because I don't know you at all. But I've been through the process and it is as ugly as a slaughter house. Hurdle #1 is Class Rank and Rigor of classes. EXAMPLES: If you have a 3.8 GPA in all AP classes, do not waste your hope and your parents' money because your application will definitely fail Hurdle #1. Your class rank is simply not high enough. If you have a 4.2 GPA taking classes lower than IB/AP/Honors, do not waste your parent's money, do not crush your own hope - - you have NO business applying to Ivy or soft Ivy because your class rigor is not high enough. Period. No EC's or recommendations will save you -- YOU WILL BE *D*E*N*I*E*D*. There are many, many thousands of kids who scored much better than you and they will be picked and you will get the boot.
You are so much better off knowing this fact NOW, rather than working like a dog for months on applications that will fail up front. It hurts for sure, but it does not crush your soul like slaving away until 2am on essays for 6 months and then getting DENIED. Scenario #1 is like having a bandage ripped off suddenly; scenario #2 is like having your leg ripped off.
The next hurdle is standardized tests; that’s Hurdle #2. Fail to score very high and you’re DENIED then and there. Admissions officers won’t really “read” your rec’s, won’t notice your socio-economic background, won’t waste 10 seconds caring about your community service work. Do not put up real, hard-earned dollars on a Vegas-style gamble because at least in Vegas you have a chance. Fail Hurdle #2 and you really and truly have zero chance; your application is already in the virtual trash can. (But your fee is in their pocket. Cha-ching!)
THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION to hurdle 1 &2, it’s not socio-economic background, it’s athletics! Super-star athletes have a chance even with lower class rank and lower std. test scores. (I know a kid who got in to Stanford THIS YEAR to play football for them – I sure hope he’s planning to major in Pottery otherwise he’s going to fail out).
As for the kids who do have top class rank in ultra-rigorous classes and top std. test scores, then and only then do you get moved to the next hurdle, Hurdle #3, where admissions counselors mull over things like EC’s, or legacy, and your socio-economic background. Eternal debates on these topics are all over the web – I’m not addressing any of those topics here.
My ONE mission is to get all the thousands of wonderful kids WITHOUT top rank to STOP applying to Ivies and soft Ivies because you are only fueling the madness, forcing the ever-tightening spiral upwards, and flushing millions of dollars earned by hard-working, loving parents right down the toilet drain – a toilet drain that apparently leads to the happy pockets of Ivie’s and soft-Ivies.