We will all know soon enough as to whether we have been accepted or not into an Ivy or other very selective school.
I was told by my school counsellor that getting into an Ivy basically entails having something that distinguishes you from all of the other applicants. Let’s face it, there are thousands of applicants with excellent grades, SAT scores, APs’, extra-curriculars, etc.
So what is it that gives the one candidate the edge over others - that special something that causes them to be selected. To some extent, we can only speculate.
I would be curious to hear from those who have been accepted or received “likely” letters, what they feel gave them the edge over other applicants.
<p>I didnt apply to an ivy but was accepted to and will be attending Hopkins because....of my dedication to and entusiasm for neuroscience research over the past 5 years.</p>
<p>Just the kind of information that I was hoping to get. I am glad that you responded since I was looking for information from those accepted to an Ivy or other highly selective college.</p>
<p>I got into Columbia ED because I play 4 woodwinds, including 2 double reeds, have taken an extremely demanding course load in high school and wrote an extremely unique essay about how musical transcends every part of my life.</p>
<p>Not all applicants are truly unique that get accepted. You just have to in some way "stand out" whether it be from a unique community service project or discovering a new protein (yes, a kid from my school who is a current frosh at Yale did this..)</p>
<p>I think I got accepted to Stanford because my long essay was emotional and true-to-life. It captured a dimension to my life that surpassed anything my grades and SAT's could do. My short answers ranged from humorous and light-hearted to intellectual. I know that I was completely satisfied with my application because I felt that every word on that paper represented me without any boundaries or my guard up. They need to see a real person, and then you never know what can happen:)</p>
<p>Ok, fine, I think I got accepted to Brown b ecause I took 5 languages in high school (native speaker in none of them), took the most difficult courseload at my school, and demonstrated interest in classics, my intended major.</p>
<p>For these essays, is it pretty much imperative that you talk about an activity you have already done, or hardships you have overcome? I feel like I have none of these to write about. Did any of you write about what you plan to do or just something totally intangible.</p>
<p>I wrote about ordering sandwiches to demonstrate rational risk-taking. I have really had no major hardships or revelations, or life-altering experiences.</p>
<p>As you can see, no-one except the adcoms really knows why one person is accepted at highly selective schools and another, seemingly with the same stats and other information, isn't. Some folks with "hooks" find that these hooks just aren't enough, while others with seemingly no hooks, are accepted.</p>