<p>I'm a senior at a competitive public high school in Texas, and the only college I've ever really wanted to go to is Columbia. Though I fully expect admissions to an Ivy to be a crap shoot, I feel I'm pretty well qualified (2370 SAT, 4.6 W GPA, Nationally-ranked Academic Decathlete, deep involvement in Mock Trial, Latin, and Orchestra). However, I happen to be in the same graduating class as what my teachers recognize as a "once-in-5-or-so-years" kind of kid (2360 SAT, 5.0 W GPA + Valedictorian, Nationally-ranked violinist, NHS President 4 years running). I have him slightly beat when it comes to essay and recommendations, but there's little doubt that he's all-around more eligible than I am.</p>
<p>If getting into an Ivy is as miraculous a feat as it's made out to be, the admission of two students from the same school seems to me unfathomable. Is this the case? Are my chances worse because of this other student? If so, is there anything I can do to circumvent this issue? He's not going to apply Early Decision, but I have little reservation about doing so; would this be helpful?</p>
<p>I would apply Early Decision since you say Columbia is the only college you've ever wanted to go to; the ad coms wont even look at his application until after the RD deadline; by that time, you will have been accepted or rejected (or waitlisted).</p>
<p>I don't think it would be an immensely big problem. There's a bunch of students from my school who apply to top schools each year and a few manage to get into each school every time. However, I would suggest ED in this case since you're pretty much set on Columbia.</p>
<p>your opponent is not a superstar. stay here on cc and learn what a superstar means.</p>
<p>you'll be fine. adcoms aren't supposed to compare you to another applicant from the same school. you have a better chance than most already, so just do your best.</p>
<p>At my son's HS, six were accepted at Dartmouth; at least two at MIT (probably more, but two are attending); two at Yale; two at Georgetown; two at Duke. And so forth.</p>
<p>I don't think your acceptance or rejection will have anything to do with him.</p>
<p>You should ALSO think about applying to the University of Chicago, in case you don't get into Columbia ED, as it is very similar to Coumbia in many ways- it has the core, it attracts the same type of student, it's located in a big city, they have one of the best Mock Trial teams in the country, their Classics program, in fact their whole language program is reknown, and you have a greater chance at acceptance there than at Columbia.</p>
<p>If your school is competitive enough I doubt Columbia would have any qualms accepting both of you. Two or three kids from my school got in Penn last year, for example. Plus, I think you're qualified enough in your own right. This "superstar" really doesn't seem all that more impressive.</p>
<p>Actually, at a Cornell info session that I attended, an admissions director stated that this is precisely what they do. They line up all the applicants from a school, bring up past rejected/accepted apps, look at how the currently enrolled students are doing from that hs, etc.</p>
<p>Still, if you plan to apply ED and your opponent won't, it will remove any basis they would have to compare you two. They won't know about him yet.</p>
<p>You know this person's first choice is Columbia or are you worried that s/he is competition for every Ivy League?</p>
<p>It depends how many students Columbia accepts from your school. If it is usually 5 people, you shouldn't worry, but if it's 1 person every 8 years, then that's a different story.</p>
<p>How is that kid substantially better than you? Yes he has superior grades and comparable scores, but a ranked violinist and NHS president for 4 years is not THAT rare at columbia. Amazing musicians commonly get unnoticed bc there are so many amazing musicians applying to Columbia.</p>
<p>Hahahahaha sorry to everyone who may have taken issue with my coinage of "superstar." And yes, I've spent enough time on this site and CollegeData to know that there are kids out their with whom he can't even compete. Nonetheless he is well-qualified for an Ivy, and I could see an adcom picking him over me.</p>
<p>It was reassuring to hear the cases of multiple students from one school being selected, because I really think merit should overrule that circumstance. By the same token, it was disheartening to hear that adcoms themselves said that they would be less likely to take someone if another student from his high school had already been accepted. In any case, at this point I'm set on ED. I think it could only help me.</p>
<p>On an unrelated topic, I heard that first-years from Texas are about the least represented of all the states (taking population into consideration I'm sure). Some people have told me this will help my chances, and others have told me it will hurt them. Which is true?</p>