<p>Hey guys, so this thread is to see who has been accepted to the Ivies and other top schools without being in the top ten percent of their class. If you were, could you state why you think you were accepted?</p>
<p>One student in my school was accepted into MIT and he’s somewhere near the 80th percentile in our school.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about his test scores and academics beyond that, but he had the hook of being of African American ethnicity, and he was a state-ranked swimmer.</p>
<p>Wow! Thats really encouraging, considering MIT is one of the most selective schools in the world.</p>
<p>If your school ranks and you’re not top 10%, chances of ivy admission without a real hook are nil.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Cases like the above are very rare and should not be an incentive to apply to schools like MIT. As Waverly said, top 10% is basically a requirement to be considered to highly selective schools.</p>
<p>Well, would these be hooks:</p>
<p>URM
State Office position in an organization
Tutor to International Kids at an Ivy to help with English Speaking Skills</p>
<p>I’ll also be getting a letter of rec from the director of the above English program and come from a small public school</p>
<p>Hooks=URM, recruited athlete, legacy, development.</p>
<p>Was looking in the Cornell 2016 ED results thread and this is what I found:</p>
<p>"Decision: Accepted to ILR!!!</p>
<p>Objective:</p>
<ul>
<li>SAT I (breakdown): 2150: 700 CR, 690 M, 760 W</li>
<li>ACT: none</li>
<li>SAT II: 720 lit, 720 ush, 690 math one</li>
<li>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7-3.8</li>
<li>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 25%
…</li>
<li>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none"</li>
</ul>
<p>–</p>
<p>"Decision: Accepted to CALS</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (710 CR, 760 math, 800 writing)
ACT: 34
SAT II: 650 math II, 680 US history, 680 chemistry, 740 biology
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5 i believe, or something equally unappealing
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 20% in class of 393 people
…
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A (Asian)"</p>
<p>@Smugness</p>
<p>Early Decision is usually an exception from the general rule as I’ve heard.</p>
<p>Admission chances receive a HUGE boost with ED, so what would normally eliminate someone from being admitted during regular decision might not eliminate them during ED</p>
<p>Accepted to UChicago RD (9% admit rate) and USC (19%) with scholarship (~1000 in 25000 are selected). Mind you, both schools are 90%+ in terms of accepted students within top-10% of graduating class. </p>
<p>Wasn’t even in the top-15% at an extremely competitive public until second semester senior year as an Asian-American (no hooks at all). Feel free to browse through my decision posts. Class rank is something I’m currently working with my counselor to get rid of at my cutthroat high school. </p>
<p>Anyways, nil chance, requirement? I dunno. Maybe I’m just another statistical anomaly.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A friend of mine who is in top 25% this year got accepted to Stanford and Amherst
He’s Asian</p>
<p>@detoidi</p>
<p>Your asian friend might have some other hook that’s responsible for getting him in.</p>
<p>For instance, I know that Stanford accepted one student this year who has the US record (and world youth record I believe), for fastest completion of a Rubix Cube with 1 hand, and fastest completion of a Rubix Cube with 1 hand and behind the back.</p>
<p>I wasn’t top 10% and I got in. No hooks.</p>
<p>The opposite happens, too. My friend is ranked 2nd out of 530 and has a 5.0 GPA right now, plus perfect test scores, tons of extracurriculars, and insane community service, plus her parents are a same-sex couple. But she got rejected from Stanford early decision. It’s possible to get into elite schools without being in the top 10% if your other qualifications are strong enough, though.</p>
<p>Students at Ivy feeder schools have a significantly better chance at getting in to top schools while being out of the top 10%. TJ would be one example. But those schools are limited in number.</p>