<p>Can we start a thread that discusses how exactly Harvard, Princeton, and Yale pick their incoming class from a large group in which almost everyone is qualified. Besides luck, good grades, good ECs, good essays, how do their differentiate from everyone?</p>
<p>Please, read one of the many excellent college admissions books recommended here (use the Search function for ‘books’), read some of the admissions blogs for selective schools (eg. MIT), and listen to some of the podcasts/videos from schools/Adcoms discussing admissions.</p>
<p>BTW, HYP are no different from other very selective colleges in how they choose their class.</p>
<p>They put all the names in a raffle and the lucky winners that are picked get in!</p>
<p>There are numerous books, especially over the past 10 years, that discuss how the classes are selected. About 8 years ago, I started with Karabel, The Chosen, read the books in the bibliography and then read any books that quote it. That covered about 20 books. If you don’t have time, read the reviews on Amazon or another source. For Yale, Kingman Brewster’s 1965 letter sums it up pretty well. If you are applying there, it is very instructive.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is qualified. Many of us who make phenomenal grades with all hard classes on our schedules and also pull test scores that make the middle 50% of these top schools (2200 on SAT and 32 on ACT) underrate ourselves thinking that most of the applicant pool to these top schools match us academically. This is not true. Remember, academics above all. Past that, just to condense all those “books on admission,” it is about how interesting of a person you are. It is all about standing out. If you are a genuinely interesting person then they want you. Also, at this highest tier you are talking about, the colleges are looking for students that are already very successful. That goes hand-in-hand with being very interesting. It is rare to find a high school student that has successes that match the gravity of achievements by adults working in the industry. It is a misconception that going to a school like HYP leads to success. They pick people that are already successful, it minimizes the risk that the alumni would bring any shame upon the name on the degree. Pick a kid that has already proved his/her capacity for success and the chance that this kid will go on to give a good name to your university and continue fueling the misconception that going to a uni like HYP leads to success. The colleges are thinktanks, they want to put on the image that going there will lead you to greater success than others, this way more kids will apply and they have more chances to find hidden talents. Examples of successes of great gravity that get kids into schools like HYP are starting companies (and various forms of entrepreneurship), having your name on a significant research publication, placing high in a talent competition like Intel Talent Search, anything essentially showing that despite your age you’ve made a great contribution to society. All of this on top of great academics of course, unless you’ve got certain hooks to make up.</p>
<p>Haha a raffle sometimes is what they could do lol. And I know not everyone is qualified. I bet 80% are “qualified” with 50-60% of them are actually getting a fair chance at admissions. I know they have more then 1,500 applicants who are outstanding and have accomplished many things…</p>
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Oh yeah, definitely won’t dispute that.</p>
<p>Your chances increase as your application strengthens… to a point. If you have a 24 ACT and play basketball, your chances are likely <1%. If, however, you have a 36 ACT and are highly involved with several interesting ECs, then your chances will be probably around 50%. There will always be a random, raffle-like component of college applications, yet the odds most definitely can be turned in your favor.</p>
<p>It’s do you meet the grades and testing minimums. After that, it’s just selecting a class based on trying to get as many different types of people. Hopefully they need to fill the activities/major that your interested in that year.</p>
<p>Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…</p>
<p>Asuming 30K Application. Here’s what must happen.</p>
<p>1) By computer - 10K applications are flaged to have insuficient grades or GPA. To satisfy the holistic thing, a human being will review the essay and EC’s and search for some sign of superpower or Olympic status.</p>
<p>2)Another 10K applications are cut because of of insufficent courseload or one too many SAT’s. If they really didn’t care, they wouldn’t ask for all the tests. If you’ve made it this far and have flaws, maybe a holistic hand might save you and maybe only qualifying for the olympic trials will do.</p>
<p>3)Another 5000 applications are cut mainly because of being the same international type of candidate. Sorry India & China.</p>
<p>4) So that leaves 5000 applications. Admissions will more than likely spend the bulk of time on these applications trying to find a diverse pool. It’s here where they will fully consider EC’s and the applicants region and possibly race. By step 4. everyone has a great GPA and SAT or Olympic like status.</p>
<p>5) 1500-2000 are sent acceptance letters.</p>
<p>May I direct you to this forthright message?</p>
<p>[Reed</a> College Message essay](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>
<p>and also this:</p>
<p>[Behind</a> The Scenes: Amherst: NPR Report](<a href=“Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR”>Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR)</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> University | Admission Requirements](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/requirements/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/requirements/)</p>
<p>From Harvard’s admissions web pages:
</p>
<p>Yale’s description: [What</a> Yale Looks For | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/what-yale-looks-for]What”>What Yale Looks For | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>All three colleges go beyond test scores.</p>
<p>To infinity and beyond!</p>
<p>The lack of a clear, concise formula adds a mystique to the admissions process.</p>
<p>I think that doing stuff to impress adcoms is too self-serving. Racking up community service hours for personal gain is somewhat less authentic than doing it because it’s who you are. </p>
<p>Are their signs of inauthenticity that elite schools look out for in an ap?</p>
<p>Some things stick out to me in a negative way. The longer the list of ECs, the less believable and committed the individual sounds to me. I’m not trained in any way but it’s a perception. </p>
<p>When I was in the military, I applied for a part-time civilian job to get some extra bucks. In the interview, I’m in my twenties telling the guy I’m qualified because I manage $160 million dollars in equipment and money. I couldn’t get a job anywhere. It was true but too unbelievable to people without any military background.</p>
<p>I think some applications read like that. Some with too little but probably a lot with too much.</p>