URM + 2400 SAT (36 ACT) = Automatic Acceptance?

[sybbie719]

<p>lets go even further…</p>

<p>The hispanic person is from Cuba, which will not get as big of a bump as an hispanic applicant who is of puerto rican or mexican decent (these students are more underrepresented). Your URM status will not help you if the school’s mission is to increase the number of Puerto Rican students to the school.</p>

<p>the African American person is a first generation immigrant from Africa or the Carribean (who are the majority of AAs at Elite schools) and will not get as big of a bump as an african american with multi-generational roots in the U.S. (these students are more underrepresented). Your URM status will not help you if they are looking to increase the number of AA students with multi-generational roots in the U.S. (and they are looking to increase this group).</p>

<p>The perfect scorer has nothing else outside of his perfect score and grades.</p>

<p>A student scoring lower is working 20-30 hours a week to help take care of his family and still participates in ECs.</p>

<p>GC or teacher writes that the student who is the perfect scorer does not like to work collaboratively with others or is a grade grubber (or in a more kinder sense is not looking for what can be learned but how well s/he is doing in class).</p>

<p>There are many variables that can and will be taken into consideration as the adcoms are trying to craft a ** well rounded class that aligns with their institutional mission **.</p>

<p>From page 202 of the Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins </p>

<p>

Quote:</p>

<p>Harvard’s dean of admission and financial aid, Bill Fitzsommons told me that applicants have to do some unusal things to distinguish themselves is a “misconception”. “in brad terms, there are 3 ways to get into Harvard,” he said. </p>

<p>Each year out of 23,000 applicants and 2,100 admits, </p>

<p>about 200 to 300 students get in because “they are among the most exciting potential scholars of the coming generation.” </p>

<p>The second category consists of "people who do something extraordinarily well.’ 200 to 300 excelling in dance, drama, or athletics, whose achievements “are almost surrogates for energy, drive and commitment.” </p>

<p>The third way to get into Harvard is the most common: students who have “plain old accomplishments on a day-to day basis. it is not about gimmicks, but about substance.”</p>

<p>Harvard tells students there are hundreds of excellent colleges choices, and while Harvard may be one of them, other schools might be a better match<br>

</p>

<p>When it comes to elite college admissions, there is no such thing as a shoo-in or a sure bet.</p>

<p>I would also recommend searching the parents forum for the thread</p>

<p>**“Whoever has the most APs wins” **</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/97255-whoever-has-most-aps-wins-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/97255-whoever-has-most-aps-wins-4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Good discussion of how AP classes figure into the “college admissions arms race.” Post #49, by Ben Jones of the MIT Admissions Office, is particularly worthy of note; it is full of wisdom as well as information. </p>

<p>Especially take note of post 49 by Ben Jones- Admissions REP @ MIT (and CC poster)</p>

<p>

First, the MIT adcom perspective.</p>

<p>I don’t know the exact numbers; I couldn’t tell you even if I thought it would be helpful. Numbers mean nothing to us because ~70% of our applicant pool is qualified in those terms.</p>

<p>Based on the thousands of apps I saw last year both in selection committee and as a reader, I can tell you that the average # of AP’s for admitted kids was 5 or 6 (that’s total for all 4 years of HS - i.e. 1-2 per year if evenly distributed). Many admits (most likely the majority) had no college classes. The most common AP’s taken were in math and science (no surprise, it’s MIT). The overwhelming majority got 4’s and 5’s on all tests.</p>

<p>I’ll pause here to add that I frequently saw kids with perfect SAT scores and perfect grades and a gazillion AP classes get rejected. Why? Because often these kids knew how to grind, but brought nothing else to the table. And that’s not who we’re looking for at MIT. We admit kids who show genuine passion. Sure AP’s can be one of many passion indicators - but I emphasize one of many.</p>

<p>When I was on the road, kids asked me repeatedly whether or not they should take a given AP class.</p>

<p>“Well,” I’d respond, “would you be taking it because you genuinely want to, or simply because you think it will get you into college?”</p>

<p>Sometimes they didn’t know the difference, which is a tragedy that deserves its own thread. But I digress.</p>

<p>And this is where you all start saying that adcoms are talking out of both sides of our mouths: we encourage kids to follow their hearts in the choices they make, and then as adcoms we want to see that they’ve taken “the most challenging courseload.”</p>

<p>To which I say: guys, I work for MIT! If a kid doesn’t want to be taking a challenging courseload in high school, that kid is certainly not going to be happy here.</p>

<p>Quite simply, the students who are happiest here are those who thrive on challenge. Most of our admits have taken AP math and science because they would have been bored silly in the regular classes. Indeed, they genuinely wanted to take those classes. They don’t look at MIT as the prize; they look at MIT as the logical next step. It’s an important distinction.</p>

<p>When faced with the choice, we will always choose “the right match*” over numbers. We’re not lying when we say that. You’ve heard me beat that sentiment to death in other threads, so I won’t do so here.</p>

<p>(*Match = mission, collaborative spirit, hands-on, balance, character, and passion, among others.)</p>

<p>But the reality is that when you have 10,500+ applications for ~1000 spots and 70% of the pool has great numbers, your pool is going to have plenty of kids who have the passion and the match and the scores/grades/AP’s. So we admit those kids - what other choice do we have?</p>

<p>But then (understandably) you guys say “Look! You need X, Y, and Z to get into MIT!” To clarify, we don’t require those things; many of our admits just happen to have them. And, I might add, for the right reasons.</p>

<p>This brings me to the more important part, where we toss my affiliation with MIT out the window and I give you my thoughts as a parent.</p>

<p>There is only one coin. There are many sides to the coin, but there is only one coin. And you can flip it however you like.</p>

<p>So when a parent says to me, “Why does HYPSM put so much emphasis on AP’s?” I reply “Why do you put so much emphasis on HYPSM?” When a parent says “My kid’s value as a person/student shouldn’t be measured by how many AP’s he/she has taken” I say “…and your kid’s value as a person/student shouldn’t be measured by whether or not he/she goes to HYPSM.” I could go on and on.</p>

<p>There are literally hundreds of amazing colleges and universities out there (some of which actually admit kids with no AP’s!). Many of them would actually be better matches for your child. Many of them would provide your child with a better education. Most importantly, many of them would ultimately give your child a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment. The right match will do that.</p>

<p>And the match goes both ways. We try to determine if your kid is a good match for MIT. Your kid should be trying to determine which school is the best match for him/her. As a parent, what are you doing to help him/her figure that out?</p>

<p>Here’s a hint: if you’re spending time obsessing that a lack of AP’s is going to keep your kid out of Stanford, you’re missing the point.

</p>