A venerable institution like Princeton owes its reputation to its longtime intellectual excellence. It does not need to worry about brand protection. It will always attract brilliant students. They will perpetuate their “brand” not just by bringing in high-stat students, but by bringing in students who can contribute intellectually and creatively. I think some of the most elite colleges are a little concerned about how Philistine their student bodies have become. They will always produce successful business leaders - they don’t have anything to fear in that regard - but they want to be sure that they are also producing playwrights, physicists, archaeologists, architects, philosophers, and composers. Einstein isn’t famous for being famous; he’s not a Kardashian. He’s famous for his work as a pure scientist, most of which he conducted at that not-so-famous university he was forced out of by the Nazis. Great universities achieve their status by cultivating great minds. By the way, Berkeley has rejected students with perfect (or near-perfect) scores, especially within their ultra-selective Engineering and Computer Science departments. Go to the admissions results threads here on College Confidential. If you are considering their EECS faculty, an 800 in Math, at least, is pretty typical. Their acceptance rate is comparable to MIT or CalTech.You will probably get in, but it’s not certain.
If this isn’t creature that lives under a bridge, this is a great example of how attitude and personality could make an admission officer reject an applicant despite outstanding academic qualifications.
For what it’s worth, our valedictorian this year had a 2400 on his SAT (yes, one sitting) and he’s also a state-ranked athlete and has won national academic awards. he applied to both Harvard and Princeton and did not get into either.
@NickFlynn I’m not going to be this blunt about myself on the application. Everyone here is saying that I don’t have a 100% chance of getting into a school I like. Assuming that is not stemming from their jealousy that is very present from them calling me a troll, where do you think I have a 100% chance of getting in that is in the USA?
@woogzmama I don’t understand your point… Yea, colleges like that don’t worry about whether they will give out famous people. I know berkeley’s engineering is more selective than its other departments but by how much? Is it actually as selective as MIT? Can’t I apply as a less selective major then change once I’m in? Also, a near-perfect score is different from a perfect score and a perfect score on the SAT subject test is very easy because of the giant curve.A 800 on every section of the regular SAT on the other hand…
I literally did every single practice SAT test available in every book that was published after 2005.
@SouthernHope Wow, seriously? Did he have a criminal record or something? How was his GPA?
Mr. Tyson - You have made your stunning ignorance of American colleges and universities quite obvious on this thread, by declaring Washington U, Vanderbilt, and McGill (albeit Canadian) “not famous enough.” They are all internationally-renowned research universities and exceedingly selective. I would not say your chances are 100% at any of the three, especially if you are as contemptuous as you’ve indicated, but they are all known for placing more importance on test scores than, say, Princeton. I’d say most “less famous” colleges in the US are close to 100% safeties for you, especially if you aren’t seeking financial aid. Colleges like Princeton delight in rejecting applicants with 2400 test scores, especially if those applicants think that they are automatically entitled to an acceptance. They will prefer the student who scored a mere, say, 2300, while bringing a team to the state finals, performing a solo with a regional symphony orchestra, winning a juried art exhibit, organizing a successful charity drive, working 20 hours a week at a part-time job to assist his or her poor family, caring for a grandparent with Alzheimer’s, or any other activity that demonstrates community spirit and the potential for bringing energy and imagination to the campus. That’s what’s meant by “holistic admissions.” The top handful of colleges can “cherry-pick” their student bodies, and do not need to rely on test scores exclusively. If you would like to humbly request a few constructive suggestions, please feel free to do so, but not until you acknowledge that nobody is threatened or intimidated by the numbers “2-4-0-0” transmitted through cyberspace.
LOL – it would actually be awesome if he had a criminal record…because the guy is freakin perfect. Not only a 4.0 a 2400, a state-ranked athlete, a gifted musician and singer and pretty much the nicest person you ever met but also an incredibly considerate and kind person. Well, he received a full scholarship (the whole shebang plus research dollars) at USC, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt. he also made it into Brown, uChicago, and Berkeley and a handful of others. But Harvard and Princeton said no. Not to worry, he’s ecstatic with the way it turned out.
I certainly hope that OP is pulling our legs just for laughs. Gotta admit, he doesn’t have a laundry list of ECs!
@woogzmama by “less famous colleges in the US” what colleges do you exactly mean? Northwester and Duke for instance?
@SouthernHope Wow. Very very very very interesting. Why would they reject a person with a 4.0 and 2400?
@MikeTyson51 well, because there are too darn many of them! Last year (sorry I don’t have the source on this) it was reported that Harvard rejected 45% of the 2400s that applied that year.
Most Americans would never, ever call Northwestern or Duke “less famous.” Duke’s acceptance rate is barely higher than Princeton’s. I think your chances are very good, but not 100%, at Northwestern. Your stats will earn you careful consideration at Princeton or Duke; I’m not going to say otherwise. The simple fact is that colleges in that tiny, elite handful have the luxury of turning down an applicant with a 2400 SAT just because they can. There are more than 3000 four-year colleges in the United States, and you won’t impress anyone with your sophistication if you have only heard of a few of them.
@woogzmama Also, I don’t have many extra activities because I was busy with academics, I assume universities will understand that. Wouldn’t they? Universities are for academics, so why would they accept a person with lower grades over a person with higher one’s because they have some experience helping sick people or some BS like that. Are universities naive enough to think people do those things only to look like a nice person?
Can’t find the link right now, but the acceptance rate for applicants with 2400 SATs at Stanford is 30% over the past couple of years. I would assume that it is pretty similar at HYP + the other schools with overall acceptance rates down in the single digits.
I’m not sure why someone of your obvious intellectual gifts would want to argue about this with random strangers on the internet, but maybe you could put some of your energy and talents to work on something more productive?
Mr. Tyson - All I can do now is suggest that you test your hypothesis and see how it works out for you. I will congratulate you if things turn out as you hope.
“I like Princeton because Einstein was a professor there”
No, he wasn’t.
How does the presentation of five guest lectures constitute being “a professor there?”
@merc81 Did you even read it? He was a full time professor there. He even had a house in Princeton NJ