<p>If there were a Native American Siemens and Intel winner, IMO gold medalist, president of a major student run organization (FBLA or something that it just important because of its size) who had taken 15+ AP and IB courses by junior year and had 800 on 5+ SAT IIs and a 2400 on the SAT, would this person be a match for HYP? People on here seem to claim that its all random for HYP. I really beg to differ.</p>
<p>You have to be really spectacular to be a match for HYPSM. There ARE matches for HYPSM, but if you’re hanging out on CC in your spare time, you probably aren’t one. Also, even students with incredible accomplishments in high school can be rejected from the top elites if they show that they’re extremely arrogant in their essays or if they claim that everything they’ve accomplished has been to please their parents. Such people really won’t become too accomplished in the real world, and HYPSM won’t waste their time or resources on what are likely to become duds.</p>
<p>Exactly. But these people do exist, and HYP admissions is not “random.” I would imagine that fewer than 3% of CCers applying to these schools get admitted, but it is not because admissions are random. It is just that they do not even know that the kinds of activities HYP students partake in even exist.</p>
<p>This has been discussed many times. The following are matches</p>
<p>-Someone with outstanding qualifications who happens to just fit in with what HYPSM needs. The top-tier colleges want a well-rounded class. So if an ivy gets one good candidate who is a world-class Theremin virtuoso, someone the school wants every year (hypothetically), this candidate is in.
-A Native American/African-American with 2300+/3.9+ and some good ECs.
-Very well-connected legacy with high scores/GPA.</p>
<p>^^ Yes!!! Still, people on here assume—likely optimistically—that these people either do not exist or do not really have an automatic “in” at top schools.</p>
<p>Malia Obama–if she has suitable grades and standardized test scores.</p>
<p>Even matches would have a low acceptance rate.</p>
<p>I thought match on here meant 50%+ chance at admissions.</p>
<p>It is only “random” because we don’t know what’s going on in the admission office. Of course there are people with special circumstances or truly outstanding abilities that will almost guarantee them a sport.</p>
<p>That would include world-class athletes, A-list celebrities, children of very influential people and teenagers who had made huge impacts to the world etc. Assuming that they all did well academically, had decent essays, recommendations, interviews.</p>
<p>If you look at the results threads here on CC for the most selective colleges, you will see some candidates who are accepted at all, or most, of the super-selective schools to which they applied. In a sense, then, those schools were “matches” for those applicants. Some of the posts above have indicated the kinds of studetns those tend to be, although there are probably a few others (i.e., the student with perfect grades and scores from Idaho). But even those super-applicants don’t always get accepted to all of the top schools to which they apply–those schools may be matches, but they still aren’t safeties.</p>
<p>If 50%+ chance is for matching, then there is no match for top schools. I evaluate matching based on admission stats but with some consideration of acceptance rate.</p>
<p>MIT admissions officers has said that more far than 50% of IMO winners who apply are admitted.</p>
<p>Okay</p>
<p>Part of this discussion is semantic. There are many students who are statistical matches – meaning that their grades and scores match the statistics for the enterring classes at these schools. Most of these still have <50% chance at admissions to any of these schools (though the majority of the class comes from this group). Personally, I still call this group a ‘match’, despite the odds.</p>
<p>Then there is a smaller subset of students who have done something truly exceptional. IMO winners, for example. If the grades and scores are there, they have a much better chance of being accepted. 50% or greater? I have no idea.</p>
<p>There is also a group of ‘hooked’ students. Athletes, URMs, probably a few others who have an increased chance of admissions.</p>
<p>Put it all together, and yeah, there are probably some small group of students who will get in anywhere they apply.</p>
<p>Getting a International olympiad medal in IPHO , IMO , ICho or IOI , or Google Science Fair significantly increases your chances as far as I heard but again there is no confirmation that you will get in</p>
<p>If admission to these super-selective schools were really random, then there would be very, very few people who would be admitted to more than one of them, given how many people apply, and even fewer who would be admitted to three or four of them. In fact, however, the results threads show that there is a significant number of applicants who are admitted to all, or at least many, super-selective schools. It may not be so easy to tell who these people will be in advance.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is totally random. It is just factors beyond GPA, score, and EC that we focused on.</p>
<p>Best Matches
1)Endowment Student
2)Legacy (with proven record of family donations) with Good stats
3)Rich with Good Stats
4)Stellar EC’s (Actor, Musician) with good Stats
5)Middle Class with great stats
6)Poor with great Stats</p>
<p>Poor with great stats is better than middle class with great stats.</p>
<p>It is a match for those accepted into HYPSM.</p>
<p>Lol yeah, as everyone has said before, matches are rare, but do exist. Like the cases of the IBO, IChO, IPhO etc. winners. I think that there CAN be people who have a >50% shot at admission. It’s just that most people on CC don’t have accomplishments like that, and for them, it’s kind of like a crapshoot in that they don’t really know if they have what HYPSM/other top schools are looking for.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence time! This girl I know (international too), got into HYPSM + JHU + Cornell + Brown (aka everywhere she applied). She had spectacular awards (a gold medal, a silver medal, and a bronze medal at 3 different IXOs) though. So either she got extremely lucky (possible, since it IS anecdotal evidence), or she had a >50% chance.</p>