<p>I disagree, Byerly. A student cannot attend a school that did not accept him. If the college, in the interest of geographic diversity, accepts only one applicant for a given school, then the top student does indeed stop the one right below from getting in.</p>
<p>If you look at college admissions from the larger perspective, then you're right. Colleges admit more than they expect will attend. The students who decline their acceptances don't hurt those who have also been accepted. However, if you look at admissions from the more personal, high school specific perspective, then it does indeed matter. Most high schools have at most two students accepted to a given Ivy. (Obviously, exceptions do exist.) Some schools, because of their small size, have only one. I a student applies for an ego boost, with no intention of attending that college if accepted, he then prevents one of his classmates from being accepted.</p>
<p>You could argue that the best students will get into the Ivies. I'll argue back that the Ivies accept the best students, but that many, many of the best are still turned down. Again, if you look at an individual high school, you'll probably see that at the top there are only small differences among students. Is number one is the class really that much better than number two or three?</p>
<p>The students who get into the Ivies always deserve their acceptances. That doesn't mean that those who are turned down wouldn't do just as well.</p>
<p>I don't get it. What's the "ego boost" of getting into your 6th choice school?</p>
<p>I don't buy it. There is no guarantee that you'll get in anywhere, which is why every applicant, no matter how talented, is well advised to apply to a number of schools. </p>
<p>If he or she ends up with 6 acceptances and the luxury of snubbing that 6th choice school, well great. There is always the possibility, however, that only that 6th choice will accept you.</p>
<p>"What's the "ego boost" of getting into your 6th choice school?"</p>
<p>Nothing - if it is indeed your sixth (or eighth or whatever) choice school. I fully agree that a student should apply to as many schools as s/he wanted. However, I've encountered other students who say, "I'd never want to go to school up north" who apply to Dartmouth and others who say, "No way would I go to school in a city" who apply to Columbia. Believe it or not, some students apply to these schools with no intention of attending; they just want to see how many schools they can get into. It's that philosophy that bothers me. I have no objection to students trying to maximize their chances of getting into a great college - and today that means applying to a minimum of ten schools.</p>
<p>Byerly, I am VERY sure that kids apply to the ivies just to see if they can get in. It is a HUGE ego boost to say, I got into Harvard, Yale and Princeton, but chose to go to Trinity. And a trophy is a trophy, even those at the best high schools, the kids who love to learn, care about what schools they get into. I have MANY MANY friends (in my HS and outside) who are applying to the ivies just for that ego boost.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It is a HUGE ego boost to say, I got into Harvard, Yale and Princeton, but chose to go to Trinity.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It is a huge ego boost to SAY such a thing, but Byerly doubts that such a thing happens very often. Byerly is asserting, as I read his post, that either </p>
<p>1) the kid who applies to all of those schools goes to Trinity because that is the only school that admitted him, </p>
<p>or </p>
<p>2) the kid goes to one of HYP, because if admitted to one of those schools, the kid will probably choose any of those for matriculation over Trinity. </p>
<p>I have posted before on this forum that I know of one local example from last season of a cross-admit to Harvard and Notre Dame who chose to go to Notre Dame. But he applied to Harvard because he really wasn't sure he could pass up the chance to go to Harvard, and because he knew he was a competitive applicant. He didn't decide until the national reply date where to matriculate, and I don't think the decision was easy for him. I doubt very much that there are many applicants who are convinced that they will go to a Tier 2 school even if they are admitted to a Tier 1 school who even bother to apply to Tier 1 schools.</p>
<p>It's highly unlikely at most schools that they have 5 students qualified for the top Ivies. It is just as unlikely that if they do, the Ivies are only taking one from that school. Every student qualified for the top Ivies, and truly interested in attending one, should give themselves the best possible chance. That means applying to all that they would be happy attending. Why settle for State U if that isn't where you want to be? I can assure you that those other 5 students would be happy to see you at State U if it means they get to go to their top choice.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with applying to multiple Ivies and in no way will it hurt you. In fact at my school applying to 6 Ivies was common among the top students.</p>
<p>again,
i truly cant believe counsellors would lie about that "they talk to each other" thing just to prevent cross-acceptances. doesnt seem right.</p>
<p>Some GCs are just lazy and beleaguered,
Some GCs are truly ignorant.
There ya go.</p>
<p>There's no reason NOT to apply to a lot of them--granted, all 8 are very different though, and esp. if you have a particualar field of study or type of location (urban, rural etc) in mind, do consider carefully where you may be better suited. Nonetheless, on a general leve, the Ivies will have better resources than state schools and perhaps ever some top privates, and that's something to consider for sure.</p>
<p>The "Nature of the Beast" may be that the top tier schools have certain qualities they want in their freshman class that goes beyond the GPA/SAT/ACT/EECs. This may in turn cause an applicant otherwise eligible to not be accepted. Basic statistics suggest todays applicants will only increase their odds of acceptance by applying to more schools than previous graduating seniors.
This years class has to deal with that reality, and plan accordingly. As parents, we need to encourage our children to do the best they can do, for that's really all we can ask of them.</p>