<p>LOL, I don't know about Harvard, but a person in my class did basically NOTHING EC wise besides one or two clubs with non-important officer positions, amazing GPA and test scores, and got into Tufts. Many people with fabulous EC's and lesser GPAs and test scores got rejected from Tufts.</p>
<p>Obviously neither would have a chance, but who would have a bit more of a chance. I'm just curious. I would like to think that the 2400 fellow might have a small chance at harvard.</p>
<p>I suppose the 2400 person would have the better chance.</p>
<p>And yes, CityGal55, Tufts is not Harvard. Tufts only ranks 27th in USNW, versus Harvard's tie (with Princeton) for #1. Meaning not only is Tufts not Harvard, but it's not Princeton, Yale, Duke, UC Berkeley, Caltech, MIT, Columbia, etc, etc.........</p>
<p>1400/1600 is far better than 1910/2400 however, and their rank probably means that they have a strong GPA as well. So what you have here is a person with a strong GPA, decent test scores, and stellar ECs.
I don't see how that disproves anything here.</p>
<p>I would just like to point out that I really dislike the pressure to do ECs throughout high school, and it *<strong><em>es me off how colleges look at them. Example(these are both true), student A at my high school is in debate, the debate team at my school is VERY good, won tournaments, etc and this kid has won "best speaker" award several times. This kid hates debate with a passion, and does it only for college admissions purposes, this EC will really help this kid with college admissions. Student B loves chess, he plays many hours(15+) each week with friends or online and is obssessed with it. However this kid also sucks at chess(I can beat him 50% of the time and I hate chess), and has never won any competitions in the 4 years I've known him. This is a mediocre EC at best for him in terms of college admissions. That just *</em></strong>es me off (especially since I sort of agreed to play the whole EC game myself)</p>
<p>Here we go again with the ranking. Those rankings mean nothing. Tufts is an excellent school, and I really don't see how exactly, number 20 is all that different from 27. And furthermore, who cares? Any school in the top 60 or so will give even the most arrogant student a great education.</p>
<p>Ditto to nalcon. I like playing this game called go a lot, but I am not very good at it. This whole EC game is lame.</p>
<p>What is there to be "unconfident" about your stats? Both of you (blue_blooded and momofthreeboys) are a bit deranged. Btw, those are definitely not my stats if you thought so. If I get into a good school, awesome. If I don't, it's nothing big.</p>
<p>In my HS, the No. 4 student, who had perfect or near perfect scores on the SATs, APs, and IBs got into Harvard despite having done no ECs besides student government and debate (the former of which is a joke, the latter he was very active and skilled in)</p>
<p>And Calcruzer: Tufts may "only" be #27 in US News and its reputation may not come close to rivaling that of the HYPS schools, but it's not like you're a failure if you go there (except in the CC world that is). It's still not easy to get into. I think you, and many others on this site, put too much faith in the US News rankings. Tufts suffers because ppl in Mississippi and Nebraska have never heard of it. Why is that? Because it's located within 10 miles of both Harvard and MIT, which I feel is not a disadvantage for educational purposes.</p>
<p>I agree. Tufts is still a top school, and very difficult to get into. Tufts is in the unique position of being an excellent, higlhy selective school literally right next door to two massive research universities, one of whom is the oldest University in the US. Any school in that position would have difficulty making a name for itself. But, I think under the circumstances, Tufts has done a superb job of placing themselves firmly among the most sought-after universities in the US. Now, they just need to advertise much more (so that southerners and westerners will familiarize themselves with us).</p>