<p>So I want to try my luck by applying to 2 of those schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford). Based on my stats..which ones do I have to best (relatively..) shot at?</p>
<p>International (Canada) Needing full-aid. Intended major: Economics
90+avg for sure (don't know yet..) Very competitive HS
SAT 1: Took Nov. At least 2100+..
750 Math II
760 Bio M</p>
<p>Taking the hardest courses and all ap available</p>
<p>Executive positions in 5 school clubs (3 presidency) (varied clubs..)
2 leadership positions in community orgs.
4 Other ECs (more like groups or programs so no leadership position)
No significant awards
<em>Working on starting a business</em> XD</p>
<p>Listing it like this makes me sound kinda boring..but I'm very committed to my ECs (I'm not really the kind that want to prepare for competitions. :P ) My essay explains why I love what I do. Teacher recs..to be honest, I dunno. I'm sure they will be good but I'm not sure if they'll be soo good as to be a deciding factor in my chances.</p>
<p>Why just 2? I really recommend applying to EVERY one of them, considering they are reaches for just around anyone and you heighten your chances of acceptance if you apply to all 4 as opposed to 2.</p>
<p>You ask an impossible question. The four schools are equally difficult to get into and admission into each, except in cases where a hook is involved, is near impossible to predict. If you’re really determined to have the best shot at getting into one of them you might as well apply to all of them, though I warn against attending a school you haven’t visited (which, if I haven’t presumed too much, is the case with all of these), even if it’s a HYPS.</p>
<p>Well truth is, I don’t really have that much money to spend on applying to colleges…>< That’s why I want to apply to 2 out of the 4 (or maybe just HYP, stanford doesn’t have as good an econ program as hyp…or so I’ve heard). To be honest, I like Harvard the best out of those 4. Great econ program and reputation (for business), no greek system (not really interested in that), fairly small size with most ppl living on campus…</p>
<p>I wish I can visit but I’ll need visa, money, and time…which I don’t have =(</p>
<p>You are not more likely to get into one over the other three, so just get that idea away from you now. These colleges are all almost equally selective and difficult to get into; your best bet is to pick the two that YOU like best and apply.</p>
Stanford’s economics department rivals just about that of just about any school in the nation.
Harvard lacks an undergraduate business program; if you are simply talking about reputation then any one of HYPS will land you interviews where you desire and will get you recruited by firms.
Harvard similarly has a top-notch economics department. There is perhaps some quibbling had amongst undergraduate economics majors about the level of personal attention however. That said, YPS probably have their own flaws in their economic departments that you yourself can discover through research.
If by fairly small size you mean number of people attending, you’ll find that at YPS the number of people is just as small or smaller. Most people live on campus at YPS as well. Oh, and Greek life is more or less non-existent at Princeton as well and isn’t all that strong at Stanford or Yale (I am researching some of these bits for you by merely visiting [a well known college information website]; you’re welcome).</p>
<p>If the application fees are really that big of a concern, you might be better off not applying to any, as it seems that you 1) haven’t put in significant research into any of these schools and 2) wouldn’t stand out in any of the schools’ pool of applicants, though admittedly that is based on a cursory look of the info you’ve provided.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info monster! I admit I’ve only compared Harvard with Upenn (wharton), the two schools with the best reputation in business/econ. And those are the things I liked about Harvard over Upenn. I imagined that YPS would be similar to Harvard. The reason I posted this is because a friend of mine said that Princeton is easier to get in…but I guess from the replies…that is not the case…</p>
<p>Same with Yale, Princeton, and Stanford. All four offer an Economics undergrad major but not specifically Business. The only Ivy League schools to offer an undergrad Business major are Penn and Cornell. Princeton offers neither undergrad nor graduate degrees in Business.</p>
<p>To OP: Princeton does indeed have the highest acceptance rate of the four (though by only about a percentage point). I would wager that this can be attributed to multiple factors. The most prominent is probably the removal of an early admission program a few years back (Yale and Stanford have restrictive early action), whereas Harvard, which also removed its early admission program, might be the only school that can get away with it in the numbers, simply because it has the most prestige of any school in the world and will get its demographic of applicants who apply just because it’s Harvard. </p>
<p>I would also wager that Princeton has a tad more self-selectivity, if mostly due to certain negative (and false) stigmas that cloud Princeton’s image: excessively preppy, elitist, snobbish, etc. The advent of “grade deflation” probably has also deterred a few would-be applicants here and there. The positive side of this self-selection is that a great bulk of these dissuaded applicants are arguably undesirable for the student body anyways (they believe in those negative stigmas because they haven’t made the effort to look into the school either through research or by visiting/because they’re dumb and believe everything they hear, and they are turned off by grade deflation because they have grade tunnel-vision (eww…grade grubbers)).</p>
<p>I’d say, in my experience I’ve based my school choices ENTIRELY on what its faculty specializes in in your intended area of study.</p>
<p>You have strong knowledge of economics? Check out papers professors from each university have published and find out whose work you’re really interested in learning in.</p>
<p>@Monstor: while I’m applying to Pton, I’m still turned off by the grade deflation. It’s not because I’m a grade grubber, but just because better GPA–>better chances at getting the job you want (for most careers, anyway) and more opportunities, generally speaking. I’d rather not have to work as hard to get a good GPA…</p>
<p>quomodo: the grade deflation at Princeton is minor… Brown has the highest average GPA at around 3.6. Princeton is not that different at about 3.3, with Harvard, Stanford and Yale in between at about 3.45 to 3.55. The thing is, the deflation at Princeton is SO widely publicized and acknowledged that adcoms at graduate and professional schools will naturally make mental adjustments in reviewing applicants. After all, it is their job to know EXACTLY how hard each school grades.</p>
<p>If putting money up for 4 applications is a burden, I would suggest dropping down a level in selectivity (ex: Duke, Cornell, and U of Chicago) where the chance of getting in goes up. HYPS is a crapshoot for anybody. Still fine schools, just not running 5% admission for unhooked applicants.</p>
<p>I’m applying to Upenn and UChicago and a couple less selective schools, so the top schools are just for “luck” XD. And I’m aware that these schools don’t have a “business” program, but their econ depart and reputation in the “business world” is what I’m looking for…</p>
<p>Speaking of less selective schools, any suggestions for schools that I’d have a pretty good chance at getting in? (with full aid, of course)</p>
<p>I’d suggest looking into schools that offer need-blind admission for International students, as not all colleges do that (or do all 4 of them do it?). I believe Princeton does at least.</p>
<p>If you are applying to Wharton (Penn), it may be just as hard, if not harder, to get in than HYPS. Wharton, not the whole university, is extremely selective.</p>