@ggwpafk823
I hear you about the pressure of top ranked students getting in to “elite” schools. My D was under a lot of pressure last year since she was the Val and her school since its opening (1990) had all all their Valedictorians accepted to Ivies/S/MIT.
Yeah, admissions to the super-selective elites aren’t truly IID random variables.
Not a major scholar but I have been waitlisted at my number one choice, University of Oregon. I have been accepted to 6 great schools and I am deciding where to commit by May 1. I have narrowed it to three schools. I any case, I am still hopeful that I will get into UO. Does anyone have knowledge on the chances of getting off the waitlist and accepted to UO? UO say not to send any additional information.
One of the most helpful things for me in guiding my first kid through the application process was reading The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College. This book showed me that at the most elite, highest level of selectivity, HYPSM-type of universities, top statistics (such as 4.0 unweighted, 2400 SAT/36 ACT, 10 - 15 AP/IB classes with mostly 5’s and a few 4’s, 2+ 800’s on their SAT Subject scores) only get unhooked kids TO the gate. (I’m using for my definition of “hooked” kids here as recruited athletes, legacy, development parent, famous celebrity, URM, first generation, overcame a big obstacle like parent dying of cancer/living homeless on the street, etc.).
So for the unhooked kids with the above top statistics (or close to those statistics, I think an MIT admissions officer stated that a 750 vs. 800 SAT score doesn’t make any difference to them) – now these unhooked kids need to show jaw-dropping extracurricular achievements, preferably at a national level (or possibly 2 or more at the state level) to get them THROUGH the door.
Not PARTICIPATION in many EC’s, but a high level of recognized/demonstrated ACHIEVEMENT in those EC’s – well beyond club president or anything at the school level. Things like valedictorian, class president, club president,etc, all help – but someone above said that there are 20,000 schools = 20,000 valedictorians, 20,000 class presidents, 20,000 varsity team captains for each sport, etc.
For example, in the 2012 Olympics, Stanford students brought home 12 gold medals – that’s the level of EC achievement that Stanford is looking for.
I’ve heard that MIT divides their applicants into three piles: “academic superstars” for those that won math/science competitions/science fairs at the highest levels, “artistic/athletic/music superstars” for a similar high level of achievement, and “other”. So for a school (MIT) that’s only taking a little over a 1,000 new freshmen each year, if you don’t have an EC at the highest level to fit into one of their first two categories – well, then that leaves you attempting to compete in the vast, huge, remaining “other” pile of applicants.
Another thing to realize is that the kids who ARE in the first 2 piles at MIT will probably get accepted not only to MIT but to most of the other colleges that they apply to as well – what school doesn’t want to take a kid who competes at the Olympic - level in whatever their EC is?
This may be a slight overexaggeration. Perhaps not everybody at Harvard is a national champion at something – but I think that it’s more in this direction than is generally assumed by those who wonder why their 4.0/2400/36 didn’t get them into HPYMS.
@ggwpafk823, I know the Vassar math department takes a lot of hits, and there is at least one math teacher (who unfortunately teaches 2 gateway classes) that the students I know can’t figure out how or why is still employed there. BUT- I also know a current math major who came in planning to be a chem major / math minor and switched to math major b/c there were “so many great courses that there wouldn’t be time to fit them all in” otherwise. The student is really happy, taking 300 level courses as a 2nd year and has an REU in math lined up for this summer. My D is a physics major, but is enjoying the math (well, except for that 1 teacher…) so much that she is also doing a math minor. So- don’t give up hope on the math department!
Also - leave some room for the unexpected: the math major I know discovered (to their genuine surprise) that they also enjoy philosophy classes. Especially surprising given how writing-averse the student is!