<p>Is it really like winning the lottery like many people on cc say or is it that the strongest candidates get in? Are people who are disgruntled because they got rejected and felt they deserved a spot spread rumors? Do you have to win the international prize for being most awesome at the age of 6? (alright I may have made that up) In all seriousness what is the truth about admission to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, and U Penn?</p>
<p>The truth is your future isn’t necessarily doomed if you don’t go to an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>Obviously, otherwise the human population would be significantly lower.</p>
<p>LOL well they’re unpredictable admissions. “Smarts” to get into these schools is a given. Its the other stuff. At my school the top 1-4 didn’t get in but 4 and 6 did. 4 didn’t do anything outside of school but work at Subway and 6 was a basketball star [with recruiters]/student council/chicago scholar/etc etc.</p>
<p>Strong candidates usually get in, and there is no set formula to the admissions. And also as mrlauren said, doesn’t mean you’re going to screw up in life.</p>
<p>Well, in general, the higher your grades and test scores the greater your chance of being admitted. So it’s not a lottery, since your stats do affect your chances. But there are many more applicants with very high stats than can possibly be admitted. So choosing among them can seem pretty random to an outsider. I think a better word than random is subjective. There are subjectively-judged parts of the application - the essay for example, or the overall sense of “who this person is” that the reader gets from the application.</p>
<p>The scoring or judging of subjective features is completely hidden to outside observers, making the eventual decision SEEM random.</p>
<p>Like Coreur says, there’s no hidden “truth”. The fact is there are multitudes of qualified applicants. Then it turns to the subjective factors. I was admitted to the two Ivies I applied. Why? My scores weren’t the best – very good but not eye popping. My transcript showed my real desire to learn and pursue things. ECs – meh. My essay? One was quite rote, as I recall. The other one probably caught readers’ attention (subject was how I tanked a good friendship by revealing a deep secret (sexual orientation) and how I had to fight to mend it). Lastly, I’m Asian and was a top student leader in a predominantly African American HS.</p>
<p>I can only surmise that that year, they didn’t get too many applicants from Chinese student leaders from inner city high schools. </p>
<p>No magic, no science – just lots of admissions committees trying to do the right thing for their respective colleges.</p>
<p>It can indeed seem like a lottery because admissions is so difficult and there are more academically qualified applicants than spots. This forces adcoms to accept or reject students based on non-quantitative aspects of their applications, which is why it can feel so much like a lottery.</p>
<p>Of course, it could actually become a lottery at some point:</p>
<p>[Behind</a> The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR](<a href=“Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR”>Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? : NPR)</p>
<p>Thanks guys 
I really don’t want a formula, I just wanted to reaffirm the fact that admissions there is not random.</p>
<p>It’s not random and I agree with the above posters. But, since all they have to judge you on is the CA, you have to present a great package- not just stats. I don’t think lottery is the right word- in the end, they have many needs to fill.</p>
<p>It may seem random, but it’s not. If you have great scores and EC’s, you’ll get into at least one of the ivies.</p>
<p>It’s definitely not random, but that doesn’t mean it’s predictable. Admissions at selective schools is a black box, meaning that most students will never really know precisely why they were rejected, or for that matter, accepted. Superstar applications are the norm at the Ivies – lots and lots of them. More than they have room for.</p>
<p>Don’t spend a large amount of time and energy hurling yourself at schools which, statistically, you have little chance at. Choose your safety first, and then several good matches. Only then should you look at high reaches.</p>
<p>The way I came to look at it with my D was that your stats will get you into the conversation, but your essays, letters of rec., leadership in EC’s will reveal you as a person, which may get you in. Of ciurse in the end it could come down to demographics such as where you are from, how many other canidates there are from your county that particular year, which adcoms read your application, etc. we’ll never really know all factors!</p>