Hey everyone! As the title says, I had some concerns/ questions about this. I am in 10th grade at Exeter, and I am starting to think about colleges. I am not the brightest or smartest student in my class, or the most athletic, however I truly would like to attend Yale, Harvard, or Princeton. I was wondering if someone, who knows more about this than I do, can provide some insight as to what I can do to improve my odds. Before coming to Exeter, I was fairly certain that I was at the top of my class, but at Exeter, I am not.
You should work as hard as you can to do well academically and pursue your other interests to the extent possible. You will need to be realistic about your odds which are pretty low if you are not at the top of the grading scale or a star athlete. Perhaps you fill some other buckets attractive to the Ivy League
Are you URM, Legacy or first gen? Or of geo diversity like from North Dakota?
It is way too early to think about specific colleges (especially the hyper-competitive ones). You just have one full year’s GPA and you have no standardized testing.
You also need to recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience.
It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but it is too early to start planning for specific colleges. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC until your junior year.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study hard for standardized tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your friends and family.
When the time comes, asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. You should have outstanding guidance available to you at Exeter.
You will need to expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
There are thousands of great colleges in the US. Why do you think only one of those three will do?
Have you asked the college placement team at Exeter about this? They will know your chances much better than anyone here could.
Being unhooked, and in the middle/bottom of your class at Exeter, will make it very difficult for you to get into HYP. Colleges will be comparing you vs other students at Exeter (and other boarding schools).
But as others point out, there are plenty of other great colleges to choose from.
@XXmysticwindXX
Agree with above, unless you are at the top 10%-15% of your class at Exeter or you have major awards or your family has donated tens of millions then there is very little chance of making it to the top ivies (HYP).
As I am sure you have noticed everyone and their mother at Exeter and other comparable New England boarding and prep schools have HYP as their top choices. The competition is insane. Many people who are fairly smart/ accomplished and are in the top 30%-40% or so but not at the very top of their class at places like Exeter and Andover usually end up at one of the lower ivies, but not HYP.
Ask your counselor. They will have a much better idea of your chances. If they say your chances are not that great, it might be worth looking at doing ED at a non-HYP ivy. The non-HYP ivies also become crapshoots during RD.
At a school like Exeter, you’d get much pertinent adivce from your school counselor that at CC. Based on the information released by Exeter, Andover and the like, between 40% and 50% of their graduates end up at the ivies and their peers (roughly top 25). If you are in the bottom half of your class, you’d be lucky to get into one of these super selective schools.
What is exeter?
Phillips Exeter Academy, called Exeter to distinguish it from Phillips Academy Andover (generally referred to as Andover). Both are highly selective (and highly competitive) college prep boarding schools who regularly send their students to top colleges and universities.
You must have been a prep when my daughter was a senior. She just went through the college admissions process, so I’ll be glad to answer any questions you have. First, I think it’s best to set your expectations correctly. Generally, you need a 10.0 gpa or higher to have a chance at HYP unless you are URM. Even then, a 10.0 will put you near the bottom of the contenders. Exeter has about 100 applications to Harvard every year, of which they will admit about 10 students. The numbers are about the same for Yale. So the realization is that you aren’t competing with kids across the country to get into Harvard like you would be if you went to a local high school…you’re competing with 100 of your fellow Exonians for 10 spots at Harvard.
If you apply ED, you can potentially get into a lower Ivy with below a 10.0 gpa (you’ll still need a 9.6+ even for ED Cornell) assuming all other aspects of your application are excellent. They look for leadership (Dorm Proctor, Club Head, student body government) They look for achievement (state, national, or international level recognition) in whatever it is that you do. God help you if you’re a musician at Exeter. You’ll also need a strong essay so have the English department review your essay. Model UN and Debate always look good on an application.
When it comes to RIGOR The advanced students take the enriched math classes (example: Math 411). The regular (or at least regular for Exeter) students take the regular math classes (example: Math 410). It’s the same subject, just 1-2 more homework problems per night and tougher competition among students in class. This is important because the class average set by the math department is B+ (9.0). Out of 12 kids in a class, there will generally be 2 A, 2 A-, 4 B+, 2 B, and 2 B-. It doesn’t have to be that exact breakdown of grades, but the class average WILL be a B+. If you’re in enriched classes, it’s MUCH harder to get an A-. Not just because the class moves at a faster pace and covers more material, but also because the kids are the top half of math students and Exeter sets the average of every math class at B+.
It’s better to be in the top of the class in Math 410/420/430/440/450 and get an A or A- than be in the bottom half of the class in Math 411/421/431/441/451 and get a B or B-. I’ll say it again…If you consider yourself an average math student at Exeter, then you will be in the bottom half of Math 411, but the top half of Math 410… and the grade average in each class will be a B+. Even if you consider yourself advanced in your math courses, starting the Math 400 series as an upper, so is everyone else taking the 400 level course along with you. There will still be a “top half” taking 411 that term, and a “bottom half” taking 410 that term.
Nutshell: Rigor only pays off on your application if you can maintain your gpa. Otherwise, stick to the non-enriched classes. The non-enriched class is still listed as Calc 1, Calc 2, etc, but you’ll get a higher GPA and look better to colleges and universities.
It’s a misconception that the top 3rd of Exeter students go to Ivy+. While it is true that about 30% of the student body go to Ivy+, that’s doesn’t mean that if your GPA is in the top 30% then you have a good chance at Ivy. Realistically, your GPA will need to be in the top 20% (10.2 or higher) at Exeter to have a chance at Ivy+. The recruited athletes, URM, and other solid hooks take the rest of the spots to make up the 30% of Exeter students that go to Ivy+. My advice is choose your ED school wisely. Don’t waste your only ED chance on a HYP dream if you have less than a 10.0 gpa. To parents who are considering Exeter for it’s Ivy matriculation rate, it is bold to think that your child will be in the top 20% at Exeter. If Ivy is your only goal (which it shouldn’t be, but probably is), think carefully before sending your kid to Exeter because they will be competing with fellow Exonians for the Ivy spots. My last advice is take a good look at the top LACs (Little Ivies). They’re excellent schools and do very well when it comes time for graduate school admissions. Exeter is basically a small LAC itself, so you will feel more at home with small class sizes and will have an advantage when it comes to academic preparation and classroom discussion. You will also have a significant advantage applying to the top LACs from Exeter with even a 9.4+ gpa. A 9.4 to 9.7 gpa student with a 1500+ SAT who applies ED to the top LACs will have a good chance.
1 Like
Maybe read this: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/opinion/college-admissions-shocker.html
I hope you read it, laugh, and then take a step back and follow the advice of @happy1
“I truly would like to attend Yale, Harvard, or Princeton”
You and everyone else. Especially your classmates. Seriously. You need to ask yourself WHY this is a goal for you. (My guess is it’s because they’re widely perceived as “top” schools and you want to be perceived as a “top” student.) That’s not a good place to start your college quest.
Listen to the advice above, make the most of your learning opportunities at Exeter both in and out of the classroom and enjoy your HS years. Once you’re ready to begin the college search in earnest, explore broadly. You may be surprised by the wide away of options, and which actually appeal to you once you visit. The best school at the end of all this is the best school for YOU, the place where you will thrive. If that turns out to be HYP, and they, happen to choose you, well, lucky you. But don’t make it your goal.
And remember and savor this: By being a student at Exeter, you are already in an extraordinarily lucky and privileged situation. (Some might say it’s the H of the HYP of boarding schools.) Most students in this country and in the world at large don’t have this opportunity. Savor it.
are you a new lower?
On applying EDII to Swarthmore. Read this post if you were rejected by your ED school and wondering if you should apply EDII to Swarthmore.
First of all, don’t feel bad about being rejected ED by any top university or college. I’ve seen Exeter’s SAT/GPA scattergrams for all the top schools and they are insanely competitive. It doesn’t mean that your application was somehow inferior, Harvard rejects more valedictorians than they accept every year. It is more indicative of what that particular school was looking for as they fill their community.
My daughter was ultimately rejected by her early decision Ivy as well, and now she’s very happy at Swarthmore. As you apply to a range of reach, target, and safety schools…the accept/reject notifications will help narrow your choices and make the decision for you, and you’ll take the best option available to you which is all you can ever do. Based on academic reputation, ranking, and admit rates to top graduate schools, Swat is the best LAC in my opinion. Williams was also a top LAC choice for my daughter, but she much preferred being near Philadelphia than in west Mass. Ordinarily, she would never make a college decision based on geography, but the difference in academics and grad school opportunities between Swat and Williams is so close that geography can tip the decision.
As for the question about applying EDII to Swarthmore. You get the same significant advantage in applying EDII as you do with ED. You’re showing the college the highest level of interest, and they get to protect their yield by admitting you. For this reason top universities and colleges are filling from 33% to 50% of their freshman class from ED pool. It’s partly why the regular decision admit rates are so low…almost half the spots are taken in ED and EDII. In my opinion, Swarthmore is the best college or university (by far) that even offers an EDII opportunity. It’s not often you get a 2nd opportunity to get an admissions advantage to a top school.
Since EDII is binding, you should only apply EDII if Swarthmore is your second choice after your ED school. You don’t want to be in a position where you are locked into Swarthmore and wondering if you could have gotten into Williams or another top school that you would have preferred but wanted to hedge your bets with an EDII advantage. Because transfer rates to top colleges and universities is so low, you can’t rely on transferring to another top school later. You need to make decisions as if you will be spending all 4 years at whatever school you choose. If Swat and Williams (or another top school) are both equally your second choice schools after your ED school, then take the one that gives you an advantage in the application process because there are no guarantees in this game.