<p>OP,
realize that for the ridiculously selective schools with acceptance rates in the single digit category, your application is somewhat akin to a lottery ticket, and move on from there. Put your ticket in the jar, if you wish, but don’t plan your life around winning…go on to make more solid plans for yourself…and if you do win the lottery, than great!</p>
<p>The chance for a great, well rounded student to get in is probably realistically only 2 or 3%, when you realize that some spots in the 7% admission rate are taken up by applicants filling spots that suit the specific needs of the school–developmental spots, faculty children, legacies, sports teams, intel winners, etc.</p>
<p>And all of the 2 or 3% are well qualified…as are all of the other 97 or98% of the applicants that don’t get in. ALL of the students who apply to these schools are qualified-- great students, with excellent gpas, course rigor, interesting ECs, perfect essays, fabulous letters of recommendation, etc.</p>
<p>Every high school has its top students, first chair orchestra, editor of the paper, president of the student body, editor in chief…and all of them are basically fungible when reduced to an application form.</p>
<p>You have done a great job of putting yourself in a position to have a lot of great choices in front of you. Put your ticket in the jar…and then continue on the great path you have set for yourself, and if you happen to win the lottery, mazal tov.</p>
<p>Well, we do see a lot of students taking “hail Mary” shots at the most selective schools here on CC - students that are good (but not great). I’m sure the same is true outside of CC. I wonder about the percentage of applications that don’t really have any reasonable shot. My guesstimate would be close to half.</p>
<p>
OP - Don’t let stuff like this discourage you regarding CC. There’s good info here, but you will need to develop a thick skin.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for HYPSM, the only sure shots are recruited athletes, national level talent (olympiad winner, science fair finalist, top arts talent) , big legacy, and other well known public figures. The rest have to really stand out (just being a varsity athlete and club president isn’t enough to stand out sometimes). I guess with so many applicants, they can choose to be selective to get a diverse group of people. It just wont be interesting to have everyone with a 4.0 and a 2300+ (with some leadership).</p>
<p>dasdui, you are right, they do have to accept someone, so it might as well be you, and if you are lucky, it will be. </p>
<p>You have worked very hard to earn a ticket in the lottery for the Ivy schools…just like all the other applicants who have scores of 700+ across the board, are valedictorians, etc. There just aren’t many applicants in the general applicant pool to Ivys with a 580 verbal, 610 math and a 3.6 gpa with only 2 APs, taken senior year.</p>
<p>And if you are lucky in addition to being hard working, the adcoms will be looking for what is displayed in your application at the same time that they are reviewing it…
Like, they just admitted three students who want to cure cancer and are strong science based applicants, but your application reads as if you might be the next Nobel in Poetry and they are looking to balance all those science oriented kids with a poet or an artist or a future journalist, etc. And yesterday they admitted two debaters and three future diplomats, so they are looking for the applicant who is going to revolutionize elementary education or be the next Steve Jobs.</p>
<p>Remember that while the adcoms are reviewing each individual application, they are also seeking to build an interesting class. Think of it this way…if an orchestra is conducting audition, what if all the “best” applicants are flute players…it wouldn’t be much of an orchestra…and while maybe some of the violins and percussion players don’t score as high on the audition assessment, they are still really strong performers and are necessary to a strong and vibrant orchestra.</p>
<p>And maybe the orchestra only needs 80 performers total, and 1243 performers out of the initial pool of 1310 meet or exceed the parameters set by the judges. The judges couldn’t just pick the top 80 on scores alone (however they decided to assign scores!), or the odds are it would not be a very good orchestra…imagine if the percussionists were all just amazing and the top 68 performers were percussionists, the next 11 were flutes, and just one cello.</p>
<p>how would i be viewed as a photographer who is applying to top schools but not interested in majoring in art or anything design orientated but environmental science or business? should i show my portfolio? i.e. website link?</p>