<p>thats exactly what i was saying on a different thread, randomperson.
and what does snarky mean?</p>
<p>huh, interesting. Hardly anyone from my school goes to the top ivies. I guess I'll just apply and see :-)</p>
<p>Obviously, Ivies in particular look at the pool of applicants from each High School. But they arent going to limit the number of individuals from that school FOR THAT SOLE REASON.</p>
<p>But lets say you went to Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax, Va or Jefferson County in Alabama, or Whitman in Montgomery County, MD, or Stuyvescent in New York City, and 15 apply to Harvard in the early round. Obviously the ones that shine will make the ones that are weaker seem much more weaker, IF EVERYTHING ELSE IS THE SAME.</p>
<p>For all intensive purposes you are competing with individuals in your school, thats why they ask for a High School Profile.</p>
<p>If you are different in some way, Poor, URM, Athelete, then its a different ball game.</p>
<p>But if you are otherwise identical to all the top 10 in your school and your #11, why would Harvard want you when there are people better than you. Obviously they understand that #11 in your school is better than #1 in Miami Central or Ballou High, or East LA or something and they will take that in consideration. So really its an even balance.</p>
<p>JUST DO YOUR BEST AND AIM FOR THE HIGHEST. IN THE END OF THE DAY ITS YOUR STATISTICS THAT GET YOU INTO COLLEGE. GET A 2400 AND A 4.0 AND 4 LEADERSHIPS IN CLUBS AND IT DOESNT MATTER HOW MANY PERFECT KIDS THERE ARE IN YOUR CLASS SINCE YOU WILL BE JUST AS GOOD INDIVIDUALLY. Harvard might just take your whole top 5%, maybe, maybe.</p>
<p>maybe you could just poison the classmates who pose the most competition.</p>
<p>Although, on second thought, you'd need a reaaalllly good SAT score to overshadow a murder conviction.</p>
<p>From what I've heard/seen, your rank has a WHOLE lot to do with it. Grade inflation or not, colleges want to see you've scrambled your way to the top of the heap. They also want to see a lot of AP's, and really good grades in those tough courses.</p>
<p>Many schools do "sweeten" town-gown relationships by guaranteeing a number of spots or providing scholarships to graduates from local HSs. Harvard, for one, does provide for a number of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School students as well as for Boston Latin School graduates. In fact, BLS was a one of the feeder schools for Harvard way back when.</p>
<p>If you believe the comments in books like "The Gatekeeper" (and others written by adcoms from selective colleges), there definitely is an element of competition among your own classmates, particularly if you are from an "elite" high school...</p>
<p>E.g., Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in northern VA...TJ does not rank...doesn't even do deciles...the vast bulk of its 400 or so seniors each year have GPAs between 3.8 and 4.0 (unweighted)...their average SAT last year was 1480; last year something like 60 to 100 kids (with "perfect" resumes) applied to each of the HYPSM schools...TJ sent 50 of its seniors to Ivies--but only two selective schools took a "big" number--Duke (which appears to be treating TJ as a "feeder" school) took 25; U VA took almost 200 (TJ IS a feeder to U VA)...there were between 6 and 9 acceptances by each of the HYPSM...another 7 or 8 to Cornell and to MIT ... 3-5 to Dartmouth, Columbia, U Penn, 3 to Brown...clearly, the selective schools took more than one; equally clearly, they would go only "so deep" in the applicant pool from TJ...I know my S believes (and so did his GC) that his stiffest competition came from his own classmates (he "won" on 4 applications, "lost" on one--i.e, 4 of 5 accepatances, one rejection)...</p>
<p>So...do apply, but be aware that at some point Yale will draw a line below which applicants from your school won't get in, where they might had they applied from a different school/geographical region...it's all part of each school's "building the ideal class" goal...they simply won't take "too many" kids from one school/city/geographical region (or too many poker players or swimmers or science fair winners or left-handed oboe players or whatever)--</p>
<p>Don't forget, especially for the hyperselective schools like Yale, they have an applicant pool in which they get five kids who are "perfect"...GPAs, test scores, ECs about which they're passionate...for every place they have to fill. "Too many" perfectly qualified candidates from one school means some of those "perfect" applicants will get rejected...but some will get accepted, too...and there's no telling if that left-handed oboe player (if it's you) is what they're missing in any given application year...</p>
<p>Good luck...do apply...but also apply to other schools that are a bit less selective--and make sure you have a safety you love...and don't forget (as my S told me repeatedly throughout the process--including before and after his one rejection)--odds are if the school is on your list, you'll be happy there...and get a great education and have an awesome college experience...it could very well be Yale, but will be just as true if it's someplace else...</p>
<p>There is some truth that you are compared to those from your school who are applying. My junior year my school had twins apply ED to Brown, one being a recruited athlete, while the other wasn't. The reality was that the recruited athlete is now attending Brown was deferred and ultimately rejected. There is competition from within your high school. By the way, the twin who was not the recruited athlete was saludatorian of her class and was much more involved in the school.</p>
<p>ok i really need comments on this...</p>
<p>the valedictorian Chinese girl in my class will likely apply to all ivies and top schools...including Northwestern. Northwestern is my 2nd hardest school i am applying to, but i am male and rank 37/500 in my class, a mere 7%...and both will apply RD...</p>
<p>my only advantage over her is that I moved from Korea 6 years ago...(if that helps even a tiny bit...) and I am actively involved in ECs & a leader of 2 clubs, while she is more the study-for-fun type and not so involved in ECs...
also I try to find unique opportunities to participate in ECs...I try to find what most Asians do not get involved in at my school, such as Habitat for Humanity, Track & Field, Key Club...</p>
<p>should I still apply anyway to see what's going to happen, or will I most likely get rejected because Northwestern will be comparing a Valedictorian and a top 7-8% student...???</p>
<p>any help will be appreciated...</p>
<p>Apply. Just don't want Northwestern or Yale or any selective school so badly that you feel like it's the end of the world if they say no. NOrthwestern is very selective...but two kids from one school shouldn't be a problem. Other things might be, of course...but the fact that there are two impressive candidates from one school should not be a deal-killer...</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, certain kinds of qualifications are essentially interchangeably equal...a school, for example, won't favor a 2400 SAT over a 2350, or a 4.0 GPA over a 3.9...the "tie breakers" between two such applicants will be essays, type of ECs, that "mysterious" something that goes to the school's attempt to "build a perfect class"...whether one or both of you fill one of the school's needs...(the storied "left-handed oboe player" thing)...</p>
<p>So...apply...and don't worry about your classmate...chances are each of you will get offers of admission and rejections in a seemingly random way...but it's entirely possible you'll both get into both Yale and Northwestern!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>In the class of 2005 at Stuyvesant, of the 579 students that reported schools they are attending the following schools:</p>
<p>1- West Point
2- Oxford
2- Caltech
6- Cooper Union
1- London School of Economics
6-Amherst
5-Barnard
4-Boston College
5-Boston University
4-Bowdoin
3-Brandeis
6-Brown
5-Bryn Mawr
23- Carnegie Mellon
30- Columbia
34- Cornell
16- Dartmouth
3- Duke
8- Georgetown
7-Harvard
10-JHU
6-McGill
7-Middlebury
11-MIT
43-NYU
4- Pomona
14-Princeton
5-RPI
8-Stanford
6-Chicago
17-UMich
7-Penn
2-UVA
2-USC
6-Vassar
10-WashU
7-Wellesley
10-Wesleyan
7- Williams
8- Yale</p>
<p>I am quite sure that there was a lot of overlap in the admissions process, so don't worry about how many other students from your school are applying because if you don't apply you have a 0% chance of beign admitted.</p>
<p>Wow...where is this Stuyvesant high school??? the stats are crazy...</p>
<p>at my school last year...only a few people got into the top universities...</p>
<p>1- Princeton (valedictorian)
3- Duke
1- Columbia (football scholarship)
2- Vanderbilt
2- Emory
1- Wake Forest
1- Middlebury
1- UNC chapel hill</p>
<p>And also...is it a bad thing if my high school in the recent years have not sent students to UPenn and Northwestern? since i'll be applying to those dream schools...</p>
<p>The famous high school Stuyvesant......<a href="http://www.stuy.edu/about/%5B/url%5D">www.stuy.edu/about/</a></p>
<p>it depends on the school. my school is really competitive, so we have a lot of people accepted at top colleges and i don't think we need to "compete" with our classmates as much. </p>
<p>Each class has about 200 students. </p>
<p>For the years 1999 through 2004 seven or more students have matriculated at each of the following institutions (figures in parentheses indicate the number from the Class of 2004):</p>
<p>U. Pennsylvania 58 (11)
Georgetown 52 (6)
U. Virginia 39 (1)
Cornell 37 (6)
Harvard 37 (7)
Brown 36 (3)
Princeton 36 (10)
Columbia 31 (6)
Duke 30 (10)
Johns Hopkins 30 (5)
New York U. 28 (8)
Stanford 27 (1)
Vanderbilt 26 (4)
Emory 22 (3)
Yale 22 (3)
U. Southern California 21 (6)
Dartmouth 18 (3)
Carnegie-Mellon 15 (2)
UNC (Chapel Hill) 15 (1)
U. Chicago 12 (3)
U. Michigan 11 (4)
Northwestern 9 (2)
Washington U. 9 (1)
Amherst 8 (1)</p>
<p>I edited out about half of them so the numbers won't add up though.</p>
<p>The competition btwn classmates occurs when many students at any school apply to the same college. Any particular college will only take so many kids from each individual high school as they look for diversity in many forms. So if your high school has many applicants to a school you are in competition w/ classmates.</p>
<p>ava_ator</p>
<p>I agree with everyone that yes, elite colleges will accept more than one person from a particular HS and yes, you will be "compared" with kids at your HS, if not exactly "compete" with them.</p>
<p>On your larger question about whether you should apply Yale EA--my advice would be, only if you have a hook.</p>
<p>As you know, last year was the first for Yale's "single-choice early action" plan, and the result was a record-breaking numbers of early applications. Top students who weren't comfortable making a binding decision in October rewarded Yale for its new policy. </p>
<p>I suggest you read the old CC thread on last year's Yale EA decisions to get an idea of the massacre that resulted. </p>
<p>Between my daughter's boarding school and our local public HS I know 40+ students who applied SCEA to Yale last year. Only students with hooks were admitted: children of Yale faculty, legacies (and not all of them), recruited athletes, and URMs. Only one student was admitted for purely academic reasons--although the crucial part of his academics was probably that he was that rare bird, a tenor. </p>
<p>So, if you have one of those hooks--apply, even if you're not the top-ranked student at your school. But if you don't have a hook, you would definitely be wise not to waste your early-application advantage on Yale but use it for another school you might like just as well (and your post implies that you do have some good second choices).</p>
<p>Unless you have a hook or go to an amazing school, you are up against your high school counterparts.</p>
<p>Colleges want diversity, and once they have a certain number of people from a certain school district, they will not tend to accept any more. This is why people who apply early have an advantage, even over ppl who are more qualified but apply regular.</p>
<p>However, if you go to Andover, Exeter, Stuv, or Thomas Jefferson, then colleges recognize that your school is amazing and they will continue to accept people.</p>
<p>But basically, you are fighting against ppl around you (especailly b/c of the diversity factor) so decide wisely!!</p>
<p>I live local to stanford, in one of the Palo Alto School District public schools, and for the class of 2008 12 kids got into Stanford early, 22 got in regular, and 20 decided to go. My school does not rank, and it is impossible for all of the acceptees to have been in the top decile, considering that the top decile consists of 40 kids, and at least 10-15 of those didn't apply to Stanford at all. </p>
<p>Also, going to Andover/Exeter is NOT a shoe-in, in fact famous prep schools more than any others tend to be given quotas by top schools. For instance, Harvard and Princeton each accept about 24 each year, Brown accepts 7, etc. (My friend was Deferred and then rejected from Harvard, and not accepted at Brown, but is now at Stanford).</p>
<p>"also I try to find unique opportunities to participate in ECs...I try to find what most Asians do not get involved in at my school, such as Habitat for Humanity, Track & Field, Key Club..."</p>
<p>Huh, funny, these are the things that ALL the asians do at my school.</p>
<p>well, it looks like you live in Washington state...and the west coast area is filled with asians obviously so...at my school nearly 9 out of 10 people are white...</p>