<p>Is there any thinking about twins applying to the same school? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage? They are attending different HS and have some different focus in their resumes but most interests and extra curriculars in common. One has high class rank but slightly lower scores and the other has the reverse. Will one have an advantage or will they be looked at together to some extent?</p>
<p>brklynmom,
I am currently going through this situation. Both of mine are in the same HS but have very different academic profiles (one looks stronger on paper) and interests for possible majors. They have two overlapping schools they’ve applied to. I have asked their high school’s college counseling office this very question, and have been told that as a rule, colleges do not like to break up families. So, I’m looking at that as possible good news.</p>
<p>I have heard that some colleges (maybe most colleges?) prefer to accept siblings and keep the peace in the family, but at some schools such as Harvard there is explicitly no sibling preference. As Harvard’s office of admissions sees it, it could fill its class several times over by accepting just siblings of its current admits, current students, alumni, but there are simply so many other highly qualified candidates that Harvard would like to admit that Harvard has decided not to constrain its admissions in such a way. </p>
<p>People think there must be a sibling preference because it appears that siblings frequently “both got in” or “all got in,” but I think it’s just that any time siblings both or all go to Harvard, they are more noticeable or “remarkable.” </p>
<p>I think of all the people at Harvard I knew whose sibling(s) did not go to Harvard!</p>
<p>Browniebaker,
The comments I made refer specifically to twins. The information was given to me by a former admissions officer who worked at three very elite institutions. Yale accepted quadruplets this year, and from reading their bios, it is clear that they didn’t present identical academic profiles.
I do know of many instances that siblings do not get accepted.</p>
<p>At my old high school, there were twins who had nearly the same exact academic profiles (eerily similar ECs, intended majors, class schedule, rank, and SAT scores). They both are @ Duke University on a full ride (they both won that scholarship Duke offers annually). So some shools do like to keep families, but I don’t know of which schools do thsis consistently. Good luck :)</p>
<p><<the comments=“” i=“” made=“” refer=“” specifically=“” to=“” twins.=“”>></the></p>
<p><<yale accepted=“” quadruplets=“” this=“” year,=“” and=“” from=“” reading=“” their=“” bios,=“” it=“” is=“” clear=“” that=“” they=“” didn’t=“” present=“” identical=“” academic=“” profiles.=“”>></yale></p>
<p>@momof3sons: Sorry I had no comments specifically on twins. I think many of the considerations regarding siblings apply to twins as well. I have no reason to think that twins have to have “identical” profiles to be admitted to the same school.</p>
<p>I asked this at every school they visited, and some said they try to give the same decision to both, and others said that they didn’t have a policy. My twins have pretty similar stats, which probably makes it easier for the schools’ decision-making.</p>
<p>I was wondering this very thing since my girls will be going through the process next year. Meanwhile, EVERYONE asks me if they’ll go to the same college. So far, they both love a particular school, but we’ll see. For my own selfish reasons, I do hope they go together. I have told them if they end up at the same school to not room together. They didn’t hesitate in agreeing with me!</p>
<p>Dartmouth has a lot of twins. I think they like to accept qualified twins together when they can.</p>
<p>Two years ago, a pair of twins from my school both applied to Yale SCEA. They were very similar, both at the top of the class, one had a slightly higher GPA (hardly a significant difference), both had stellar test scores, same ECs. One was accepted, the other denied.</p>
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<p>I’m not sure whether Harvard’s twin policy is the same as its sibling policy. I do know that Harvard’s class of '08 had a set of twins in it.</p>
<p>I know when Yale accepted those quadruplets, the article that I read about it said that generally if twins have similar resumes they like to either reject or accept both. Obviously, though, if one has a 4.0 and the other has a 2.5 GPA, that may be a different story. If I were a twin, though, I wouldn’t bank on getting into a good school just because my more academically inclined twin is also applying and has a good shot at getting in.</p>
<p>Another bonus… some schools give a discount to siblings who attend at the same time. At GW, it’s 1/2 price for the second student. Too bad my twins would never want to go to the same school!</p>
<p>my older brothers are twins and both got accepted to the same colleges and rejected from the same colleges, they both ended up going to the same schools, one for sure had better grades then the other, hobbies and clubs, sports etc where basically the same if not exactly the same. i think being a twin and applying to the same school can help, particularly if one of the twins has lower scores then the other i think they like to keep them together.</p>
<p>hahaha I made a thread pretty much dealing with the same topic several years ago</p>
<p>so if one of my twins was rejected and the other accepted and I were to appeal the decision…what’s your recommendation on the appeal reason?</p>
<p>It seems to me that, barring extraordinary circumstances, the only valid basis of appeal would be the instrinsic merits of the rejected twin’s application. </p>
<p>Surely the argument that each twin cannot attend without the other twin would be an argument against the readiness of both twins for the independence and maturity that college demands.</p>
<p>Yeah. Appealing based on “but my twin got in!” aren’t going to make them take pity and change their minds (although you may create a new water cooler story for the admissions office).</p>