<p>Looking on CC, we've all seen HYPM applicant after applicant with amazing stats wondering how we'll ever get looked at. Now, no one from my school applys to top schools, so someone please tell me that those roughly 20k kids competing for top schools are primarily kids who parents push them to apply, or are applying out of a longshot. What percentage of the applicant base has 2250 SAT scores, 3 SAT IIs of 750+, Top 5% of the class, and good to excellent ECs? I consider that to be a very competitive candidate at the top schools. I'm sure we've all got caught up in the delusion. Those of you who go to schools where many kids apply, please clear this up for me.</p>
<p>hahaha I don't go to that kind of school, but clearly, I see at least 4000 of the students who apply for 1000~2000 or so spaces being equally well-qualified.
But then you think that the adcoms would embrace "diversity" so they would choose randomly of the remaining 16000 applicants.
So either way you go, the best advice is just to apply.</p>
<p>between 80 to 90% of the applicant pool at Harvard is qualified to attend and successfully confer a degree from there. Nobody knows for certain who Harvard thinks is "qualified to attend" but you can assume there are a lot of competitive candidates. Thats why when it comes to HYPMS everybody considers admissions a crap shoot.</p>
<p>80 to 90%? that seems quite high. Do you have any info on that?</p>
<p>That's what the Harvard literature and admissions officers say oftentimes.</p>
<p>i would imagine at the top tier the percentage of the applicant pool that are qualified for admission is very high, and that that number drops sharply after the top 5 schools, and even more sharply after the top 15.</p>
<p>harvard's numbers are staggering. 1/4 of the kids who attend there have a perfect SAT score. unbelievable.</p>
<p>about 500 kids a year at harvard have a 2400? I read somewhere that 1/20,000 kids scores a 2400, that must be untrue. I know its 1/6,000 for 36 on the ACT (I did the math on the national report), but the SAT national report just says ppl scoring 750-800, which is like 25,000.</p>
<p>Look at the collegeboard stats. the middle 50% for all SAT scores is from 690/700-790. The 75% is 790 across the board, meaning that 25% of Harvard scores 2380+. Not exactly perfect, but pretty damn close.</p>
<p>Yea, cause only 238 kids in the world scored a 2400 in 2006 (latest available data).</p>
<p>
[quote]
about 500 kids a year at harvard have a 2400? I read somewhere that 1/20,000 kids scores a 2400, that must be untrue.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>harvards 75th percentile is:</p>
<p>CR: 800
M: 790</p>
<p>so it is probably closer to 1/5</p>
<p>still unbelievable for a school with 1500+ entering freshman, talk about a monopoly on the best applicants.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yea, cause only 238 kids in the world scored a 2400 in 2006 (latest available data).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Old SAT. most top schools say they don't take into account the writing section</p>
<p>ye 1MX brings up a good point. Does CC exaggerate the selectivity of HYPMS for the "usual" CC kid? And when i say "usual" i mean 2300+, 3x750+, top rank, great EC's and essays. I'm always skeptical when kids like these get the generic "it's a crapshoot" response in chances threads. Not everyone applying to HYPMS is that good....but the quesiton is what % are? I dunno but it'd be nice to know. Is it common for these applicants to apply to say HYPMS and get rejected at all those schools?</p>
<p>
[quote]
harvard's numbers are staggering. 1/4 of the kids who attend there have a perfect SAT score. unbelievable.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>you might mean that only 1/4 applicants with a perfect score are rejected--that's the statistic i heard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
you might mean that only 1/4 applicants with a perfect score are rejected--
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i hadn't heard that, other than that they turned down over 1000 perfect SAT scores this year (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/education/04colleges.html?ex=1333339200&en=be63b11e397921c6&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg)%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/education/04colleges.html?ex=1333339200&en=be63b11e397921c6&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg)</a>, harvard could likely easily fill all if not most of its class with perfect SAT scorers but they are looking for more than that.</p>
<p>the fact that they can get "more than that" and still have a 1/5 perfect score rate is mind-blowing to me.</p>
<p>"if Harvard implemented a computer system to select freshmen with two criteria, that being a perfect SAT/ACT score and 4.0+ weighted GPA, they could fill their class every year"</p>
<p>For MIT, last year (stats</a> here):
76% of the applicant pool had a math SAT I above 700, 54% 750+
48% of the applicant pool had a verbal SAT I above 700, 26% 750+
70% of the applicant pool was in the top 5% of their classes
75% of the applicant pool had an SAT II math over 730
75% of the applicant pool had an SAT II science over 700</p>
<p>
[quote]
The 75% is 790 across the board, meaning that 25% of Harvard scores 2380+. Not exactly perfect, but pretty damn close.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think there was a post on CC way back about the 25-75% SAT score at HYPMS. The problem with the logic above is that you can't simply just add the 75th percentile CR (800), Math (790) and say that 1590 is the 75th percentile composite score. The reason is that the top 25% who scored 800 on CR may not necessarily have scored 790 on Math. For example, an applicant may have scored 800 on CR but a 680 on Math and vice versa. The two parts are counted separately.</p>
<p>elsijfdl: the 1000 perfect SAT scores refers to the math scores only, not the full 2400. Harvard couldn't fill its entire 2000+ class with perfect scores, because there are so few of them and not all of them will apply or go to Harvard.</p>
<p>elsijfdl:</p>
<p>Harvard turned down 1100 perfect SAT math scores, not perfect SAT composite scores.</p>
<p>It just goes to show that there are many other ways than perfect SAT scores to show that you're talented.</p>
<p>beat you to the punch! (and you are indeed correct about the SAT score post you made previously)</p>
<p>MITs results are plausible. Harvard is just manipulating numbers. There is a big difference between rejecting perfect SATers and perfect math SATers. 800's on math are not that hard to come by.</p>
<p>Haha, I think 1MX is being too optimistic.</p>
<p>There ARE a large number of applicants like the ones 1MX described, the high-scoring students with "good/excellent ECs." I know several from my school who are competitive at the lower Ivies and perhaps some of the higher ones, too, but they simply don't know about CC or don't care enough to post a chances thread. CC has created no illusion. In fact, I would venture to say that there are many applicants with better qualifications than those you see on CC. </p>
<p>Think about it. Are CC students really THAT competitive? </p>
<p>Setting aside test scores for a minute, how often do you encounter a chances thread in which the OP is:</p>
<p>A TASP/RSI alumnus...</p>
<p>An Olympic athlete...</p>
<p>The author of a published novel/nonfiction work...</p>
<p>The medalist in an international olympiad... </p>
<p>A tri-varsity athlete heavily recruited by H/Y/P/S/M...</p>
<p>A Siemens/Intel Finalist/Winner...</p>
<p>A published playwright and the winner of numerous competitions...</p>
<p>An NFAA ARTS finalist...</p>
<p>An international cellist/violinst/pianist/insert instrument here...</p>
<p>A President of Boys Nation...</p>
<p>An All-American athlete...</p>
<p>A Davidson Fellow...</p>
<p>An Anthem/Atlas Shrugged Essay contest winner...</p>
<p>A National History Day winner...</p>
<p>A National LD Debate champion...</p>
<p>And, now considering test scores, how many of the following, "less "hooked" applicants" do you see on CC:</p>
<p>A 2400/36 Double Olympiad Semifinalist; Captain of numerous clubs/sports...</p>
<p>A high-scoring Boys State governor with Siemens/Intel Semis...</p>
<p>A national circuit debater who also holds a patent...</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>In case you forgot this was a question (I almost did), the answer is: very rarely.</p>
<p>But they're out there.</p>