@florida26
You are either a kid, or you’ve never bought a house, or you’re insanely wealthy, or it’s a combination of the three.
No typical person makes simultaneous offers on multiple houses. A home offer involves earnest money, and it’s not $50.
“The more the better for them. Then they can reject more and have higher yield rates and look better in the rankings”
The acceptance rate counts for 1.5% of the USN ranking. Can we please stop the trope that colleges seek out tons of apps just to reject them just to look good in the rankings?
I feel like a broken record. You do not need to major in neuroscience as an undergrad to become a neuroscientist (whether in research or as an MD). And it would appear that (fortunately) none of you has accompanied a friend or relative to a neurologist for either treatment (such as it is) or diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
There are clinical trials going on right now being led by both neurologists and neurosurgeons, so this kid’s fact base is accurate. And to argue that a 17 year old should major in “neuroscience”- when all of the cutting edge research is in fact interdisciplinary (chemical changes in the brain; biological origins of either a genetic or epigenetic basis for the disorder; the enormous efforts to discover if there is an environmental or dietary trigger for Alzheimer’s, etc) seems to suggest that you guys have entered a twilight zone in Higher Education, i.e. if your major doesn’t have the exact name of what you hope to do on it, you will be relegated to asking “want fries with that?”
I find it hard to believe that there is anything besides sour grapes to the reactions here. You’re picking on him because he’s leaning towards Yale which doesn’t have a Neuroscience department- when one of the largest investments for the entire State of Connecticut right now is occurring on Yale’s West Campus with their build-out of their science program??? A huge campus which will house basic research, the school of nursing, med school research programs which will run the lab component while the newly constructed cancer hospital in New Haven handles the patient intake, the entire genetics and brain studies programs, and capacity for hundreds of research labs, grad students, faculty, and both private and federal investment??? (not to mention free parking and a shuttle bus).
Yale seems like a fine choice- and he can get home via public transportation (Metro North to the subway) whenever he gets homesick. What’s not to like???
I don’t really fault anybody for applying to all the Ivies (plus other selective schools). If one of your top criteria is to attend a university with highly able students, it makes sense. And I note that this kid also had match and safety schools, so his list was exactly what many of us advise students to do. It was reach-heavy, but that was (obviously) appropriate.
If I were advising him, I would tell him to go to Yale–because while he might be “that guy” to some extent, he will also be a guy who turned down Harvard and Princeton to go there, something that Yalies appreciate.
@GMTplus7 once again you are completely mistaken . You should try and be more careful .people make multiple offers because their offers get rejected. That is very typical
There is no earnest money in my state (there was in other states where I’ve lived and bought homes). No money changes hands until you go to contract… which can be a week after your offer is verbally accepted. And the contract money (like the earnest money) goes into escrow and is fully refundable.
Just get your facts straight. it’s not like you are risking thousands of dollars by making multiple offers.
@GMTplus7 @florida26 claims to probably be in the one percent in another thread.
Wow, in all the states I’ve lived in, a significant earnest money deposit was required to make an offer. I was not aware that it was not the norm in other states. Just goes to show that even grumps like me can learn something new… 
I thought one could only have one offer in at a time. When that is rejected, then one moves on to the next.
@blossom Aside from the Ivy League, how many students do you know who want to go to all of the schools in an athletic conference?
How many students have you heard of that want to go to UF, Bama, Vandy, Mizzou, Georgia, Tulane, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss State, UT- Austin, and Texas A&M just because they are in the SEC?
How many students do you know who want to go to UMD, Michigan, MSU, Indiana, UMinnesota, Nebraska, and Penn State just because they are Big 10 schools?
How many people do you know who want to go to Cal, Stanford, USC, Washington, Utah, and UCLA just because they are Pac- 10 school?
It would be ridiculous because each school is so different, the only thing linking all of them is their athletic conference (or their prestige if they are in the Ivy League). That’s why it’s absurd.
In fairness to both sides, everyone makes comments based on their experience. There are states such as California where multiple offers are the norm as houses are put on the market in expectations of competing offers. They list low. In other states, it is the opposite and multiple offers are neither common or sought-after. Tune in to the popular HGTV shows and you will see plenty of both. GMT+7 is probably more attuned to the House Hunters International show.
Regardless of the offers, the analogy between buying houses and applying to colleges is hardly optimal.
Xiggi, if it’s stupid for him to apply to all the Ivies, and not avoid publicity, u probably think that the way I handled things in high school was sheer genius. Not only did I avoid the risk of getting in all Ivies by not applying to any, I also had the foresight to get crappy grades so that I wouldn’t get into any non-Ivies that were any good.
I do not want to argue about that perception, but allow me to repeat that the reactions to such story can be both divergent and still correct. Pointing to the potential pitfalls in what I called placing your life on a tee and permitting swings is not close to holding a grudge. NOTHING is meant to belittle the accomplishments prior to the release of the decision by the 13 schools. Some might --including me-- do not consider collecting multiple admissions an accomplishment per se, but others might disagree. Simply allow me to repeat that had Harold chosen to apply ED to JHU (which might fit a student with a profound medical aspiration) and be precluded to pursue 11 of his remaining choices, would that have been a … lesser accomplishment?
Regarding this boy, I think we all would like him to be our friend or brother. We probably all would like to be part of such a religious and loving family who took a giant step to better their life. This kid IS remarkable in many ways. That does not stop me, however, to think he should have been smarter about accepting to be part of a story. Forgive me to believe that the results of admissions should be deeply personal, and remain confidential. No pun intended. There is NOTHING to gain for Harold here, and quite a bit to possibly lose. There is NOTHING to gain for his classmates and especially his future classmates. The story is, shall we be reminded of, about 12 … rejections of an offer of admission.
Again, had he enjoyed his success in the privacy of his home, he would have been an even better person! He did not need this circus created by the sensationalist vultures, And he surely did not need to turn into ammunition fodder for the anti-AA, anti-immigrants who get benefits, and other hateful groups. Ed Blum’s biggest problem is that he can’t locate enough accounts to fuel his mean-spirited attacks. He just got served an exhibit on a silver platter. Schools that are challenged will have a hard time to defend their holistic policies when facing evidence of applications that are exact copies, safe and except a large distinction.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Blossom, did you happen to catch the Sunday show where they described that many cases of Alzheimer are misdiagnosed as the doctors missed a simple vitamin deficiency. Taking B12 in a simple pill reverse some of the symptoms.
A company I worked for is in the secondary stages of a clinical trial for a therapeutic for Alzheimer. I am not sure if there are any neurosurgeons involved, but they surely employ a great number of biologists, and especially biologist who specialize in … rare plants. One noteworthy part, this is done exclusively in Europe as they have abandoned plans to deal directly with the US FDA.
Xiggi- I am somewhat up to speed on Alzheimer’s research as a lay person … and agree with you that anyone who thinks that Alzheimer’s research is the sole province of one particular branch of medicine is woefully behind the times.
There are some interesting post mortem results which might indicate early brain trauma (perhaps a link like Parkinson’s in professional boxers?) which is where the neurosurgeon’s have gotten involved. The botanists don’t surprise me.
And if this kid HAD decided to apply to JHU early, he’d have gotten an earful from posters here that:
1- it doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad for med school
2- JHU is a terrible place to be premed- you should be at a less competitive school so you can get a higher GPA
3- only a prestige- %^&* thinks that JHU is a better college than random state U near me where you could have gotten a full ride
Right?
I’m sniffing sour grapes.
Well, I am not sure if I can recognize sour grapes and differentiate them from simply having an opinion about something. This site is full of stories that trigger different reactions. We tend to applaud when the outcome is good and tend to crucify the outcomes that did not work out well. The kid who comes here to share his agony of being rejected ‘everywhere’ and has to attend his ‘horrible’ safety usually gets an earful about his application decisions. The 2400 SAT who lament about the lack of recognition by the Ivies for Asians get an equal dose of flagellation.
But arguing and second-guessing is just part of the fabric of this board. The best part is that there are always people who learn something from all our arguing. 
@Hunt
“If I were advising him, I would tell him to go to Yale–because while he might be “that guy” to some extent, he will also be a guy who turned down Harvard and Princeton to go there, something that Yalies appreciate.”
Really? My D has not sensed any of such appreciation whatsoever 
At my school:
Valedictorian - HYPSM, Duke, Columbia, waitlisted at Chicago.
Salutatorian - HYP, Wharton, Caltech, Dartmouth, rejected at SM.
Both are Asian males.
3 - Hispanic/female - HY, Duke, Columbia & others.
A couple of extremely competitive African-American males who attended middle school with D.
a) HPM, Columbia, Dartmouth, WL Stanford
b) PY, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, rejected at Harvard & Penn
My thought is that schools are just going for the same students and we’re noticing it more with highly publicized cases.
Those are exceptional results. What sort of school do you attend?
@TheGFG
Large STEM-based public magnet. If it helps, our school is ranked in the 100 nationally.
There were a few others who did comparably well, An HYM and an HYP + Little 3 (both asian males) come to mind; even school administration & teachers are shocked by results.
“Though these stories are nice, my stomach churns at the idea of someone putting Dartmouth and Columbia on the same list.”
Unless you are talking about the towns instead of the schools, there is nothing “wrong” or even surprising about a smart kid applying to both Dartmouth and Columbia, especially for a kid aiming to go into medicine and do brain research.
I agree that Manhattan and Hanover are very different sorts of cities, but Dartmouth and Columbia have more similarities than they do differences, especially for Mr. Ekeh. Both are excellent schools in general where he can get a fine education. Both have medical schools and nearby big medical center hospitals that do a lot of research. Both have strong pre-med programs that get a lot of their students into medical school. And both offer Neuroscience as an undergrad major, should he decide to get started on his brain studies now rather than waiting until he is a doctor.
For Mr. Ekeh applying to both Dartmouth and Columbia makes perfect sense.