<p>I don’t know. I think coming off as an extreme right-winger could do you in at some colleges, but not others. If you made a big point in your essays about being an atheist, would that hurt you at Notre Dame (but not at Reed)?</p>
<p>Well, Hunt, those are extreme examples. If the applicant made a case for why he wanted ND despite being a fervent atheist, who knows? Maybe ND would be sympathetic and want him to experience the grace of God or something? If, on the other hand, he wrote the app without giving much thought as to why he would benefit from an ND education, his case for admission might not be as convincing.</p>
<p>This would apply in a very few number of cases anyway, because as someone said the extremely vast majority of students won’t be that extreme and/or will have the good sense not to communicate it that blatantly. So for those vast majority of cases, schools would presumably have no reason to suspect or even way to know if the student wouldn’t be a good “fit” for their school. We’re really getting into pure hypotheticals.</p>
<p>nychomie -</p>
<p>The concept of “fit” has to do with how well the university as a whole matches up with the skills/abilities/needs of the student.</p>
<p>It also has nothing to do with admissions; that is, a student needs to find a suite of schools to apply to that are a mix of reaches, matches, safeties and financial aid safety schools, ALL OF WHICH can and should be good “fits” for the student.</p>
<p>As for reasons why someone didn’t get into Ivies, the data say that scores, stats, etc. are not the reason, because too many applicants have stats that match up with those schools. " Since those kinds of schools say “no” to ~80% of valedictorians, ~75% of those that score 800 on SAT verbals ~80% of those who score 800 math, something OTHER than stats is going on here.</p>
<p>Example: about 14% Princeton of Princeton’s incoming class is children of alums or faculty.</p>
<p>That being said, when a disappointing answer comes from a favorite school, I say any rationalization that works is a good one :-)</p>
<p>I just read that Yale would like to admit more science focused students, and few years back Princeton said they were looking for more performing arts students because they received a large donation from someone to build a performing center. Even though both Yale and Princeton are very similar (very UG focused), when they admit for “fit” they may have different focus. When a student apply to both schools, he/she may get admitted to one, but not the other.</p>
<p>Kei-o-lei, I’ve long acknowledged your definition of “fit.” See #48.</p>
<p>Oldfort, in that sense, “fit” is more about institutional need then.</p>
<p>oldfort - for the sake of clarity we have differentiated between “fit” as being how a student thinks the school matches up with their personality and needs, as opposed to “institutional needs”, where the college differentiates students on the basis of their being musicians, debaters, crew members, whatever. Hope that clears it up.</p>
<p>It never crossed my mind that we had the luxury of “fit.” I thought those institutions held all the cards.:)</p>
<p>Well, if a student gets into Notre Dame, Tulane, Michigan, and Reed, they would have some idea where they felt they “fit in” best. Right? After all, they are very different environments.</p>
<p>Students hold half the cards when deciding where to apply, where they think they fit. :)</p>
<p>Yeah exactly ^. YOU decide where you fit, you send an application to those schools, and then the schools decide if they want/need you.</p>
<p>That is the best way to do it for sure. In real life, many apply to quite a few schools, see where they get in, and then decide among those where they think they fit best. Except for the expense, I guess there is nothing wrong with that way either.</p>