<p>Hi. I was just wondering if same people applying to the same school will be a disadvantage. </p>
<p>For example, if there are 3 students applying to a college; one as art, one as business and one as engineering, will this affect the individual acceptance rate? Or does it not matter because of the differences in major? </p>
<p>Yes, this matters, but to what degree depends on the college.</p>
<p>If ten kids apply to a top school like any of the Ivies, Duke, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, WUSTL, etc., it affects everyone’s chances at that school. Even if all ten of the kids would normally get into the school, the school may only take one or two of them. No one can know to what degree it affects you and if you would’ve gotten in had you applied from a different high school, but I would say it has a definite impact on admissions.</p>
<p>Actually, the effect will be negligible unless a school starts to dominate, then the bottom few may get knocked out. At three, it’s unlikely that would happen at any but the smallest of schools, and we’re talking really small. D is going to a Top 20 LAC under 2000 undergrads where three got in from her HS - unusual for any HS to get three in, but still less than 1% of the class. (All three are attending by the way, but they rarely see each other, so even though small, it’s big enough.)</p>
<p>Odds are, kids will only start to knock each other out only in the most extreme circumstance, like TJ into UVa or Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, or Harvard Westlake into some of the Ivies. And you never know who will get in - don’t assume you know who the “top” kids are, you don’t know their full application and how admissions committees will read them. It’s more than grades or test scores once you get past a certain point - I would never advise any well qualified student to not apply somewhere because they’re afraid so-and-so will beat them. You can’t predict that - send in your application to anywhere you’re qualified, regardless of where your classmates are applying…</p>
<p>Apply where you want to and don’t worry about the others.</p>