If your GC is willing to help you, give her a copy of this: http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs
It explains well what highly selective universities are looking for. It’s different from what even highly selective public universities want in that there’s more time devoted to reading the rec and a lot of detail is necessary because they have a LOT more staff than UVA.
Point her toward Jen and Brian, first. Those are the two letters that likely resulted in negative decisions.
Then thank her very much and leave her with the document and a homemade cookie.
Her letter will be greatly improved if she makes sure to answer the questions listed at the top and if she tells little stories that explain why you are so different from everyone else.
Each teacher should do the same.
But you can’t control that, you can only use that document as an example and be very humble when you present it, explaining your plan to apply and get into an Ivy, which apparently no one has achieved in 5 years. Think how good it’d be for the school’s reputation!
The fact you’re from South-central Virginia will also help you (as opposed to NoVa).
What are your safeties? Remember that a safety, even for a top student, needs to have at least 30% acceptance rate and be affordable (have you run the NPCs and checked with your parents they can afford the costs, not only of your safeties, but also of your other universities?)
@MYOS1634 That is great advice and a very helpful link. Thank you! And yes, my GC is a wonderful lady who truly wants to see me succeed - she constantly reminds me that “the entire guidance department is rooting for my success” and recently emailed my mother to let her know how I was “such an amazing asset to the school”. She seems very willing to listen to anything and take advice (she admits the Ivies are unfamiliar territory), so I will definitely drop this by her office.
And will I be judged regionally (since Im in South-central VA not NoVA) rather than on a statewide basis? If so, that is definitely good to hear.
My safety school is UVA, which has about a 45% acceptance rate for in-state early action (which I plan to do). As for financials, that has been a huge discussion in my household recently. Originally, I planned to apply to Vandy ED, but my parents have recently encouraged me to avoid ED in order to compare financial aid packages. HPY offer fantastic aid that make this type of education a reality. UVA is very affordable for my family, and I would not have to take any loans.
Ok, that’s very good.
It’s hard to consider UVA a safety though, but if your school has a relationship with them and you’re applying EA, you may be right. It’s just strange to think anyone would consider one of the top public universities in this country “a safety”. If UVA doesn’t turn out to be as safe as you though, be ready to prepare more applications quickly and adjust your list accordingly.
Most of us don’t consider UVa a safety for anyone.
The Ivies offer great aid, but it is dependent on your family financials and details. Have you been running each college’s NPC (Net price calculator?)
To learn what any college looks for, start with their admissions pages. Also look at the sorts of current students they brag about or highlight on their web pages or in printed materials, what those kids have accomplished or are up to.
You may want to consider going with where your high school will be perceived as having an advantage - top Catholic colleges like Notre Dame, Holy Cross, and Georgetown will give you an edge if you come from a Catholic high school.
@lookingforward@MYOS1634 Using UVA as my safety concerns me as well, but here is how I look at it: applying early action is my way of making sure everything works out - if I get denied or deferred, I will be prepared to send out additional apps. Also, based on my Naviance scatter plot and my school’s close relationship with UVA (we have around 4 to 8 girls go every year), my GC says it is next to impossible that I will be denied. Finger-crossed this is the case!
RPI Medal? If so congratulations! RPI is a great school and the women I know who have gone there have gone on to be very successful and very supported by RPI. While UVA can’t be considered a real safety, if you don’t get in, you’ll (barely) have time to put out an application to a safer school. And RPI is a fine safety in any event. We joked that my younger son’s safety was U of Chicago after he got in early. He still applied to one of his safeties (and got a tempting merit offer), but dropped the other one reasoning that he liked UC better.
As to your original question. I don’t think it helps you that the admissions officers probably don’t know your school well, but every year there are students who blaze new trails. (I had a friend at Harvard who was the first in her high school to ever go out of state to college - she was the best lab partner I ever had too, much better at physics than I was!)
My kids’ GC asked parents to fill out a questionnaire that included what we thought their strengths and weaknesses were, some stories about the kid from our point of view, “anything we thought she should know” and similar. She also interviewed each student and had them fill out a similar questionnaire. It really helps the GC to have some concrete examples in front of them, so if yours doesn’t do that, maybe offer.
You can’t accurately use the phrase “no acceptances to the Ivy League in my school’s history” when you also report that a recruited athlete from your high school matriculated to Princeton.
Another way to evaluate a school is reading their newspaper. Rarely do I see anyone use what to me seems to be a fairly valuable resource. You can infer if the schools is purely scholastic, party, safe/unsafe, friendly, competitive etc. by the news, articles, and editorials. I read my alma mater newspaper frequently to keep abreast of what is happening.
Even if you are able to visit the school, that usually is a one time activity, You can read the newspaper daily! (You can tell I am from an older generate when newspapers were read. lol)
@siliconvalleymom my mistake - I guess that is true. What I meant was that there have been no acceptances in my school’s history from a purely academic standpoint (i.e. no one has gotten in with just an application and no athletic recruitment)
@bp0001 I really hope that my counselor mentions that in the letter!
Also, thank you to everyone who has responded! Since my GC offers little advice in this area, you guys have been such a great resource! This really can be a great community. Thank you!!!
@ccmember11598 My daughter is in a similar situation to you and may be applying to Princeton next year. Good luck and please let us all know how this all turns out.
@longdondad I definitely will! I plan to apply early action, so I will post an update in December. Coming from a school that doesn’t have extreme academic rigor or ay Ivy acceptances under it’s belt can be very overwhelming and intimidating. Best of luck to your daughter in this process!! I hope she has a great junior year
I am wondering if you are applying to Princeton as an EA (Princeton offers only Single Choice Early Action), you cannot apply UVA as an EA. If UVA as EA is your safety option, you might want to double check…
