<p>I have the following questions. These questions do not apply to just Ivy League schools but other top schools such as MIT, Stanford, Chicago, Northwestern, Georgetown, Duke, Williams, Amherst, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore etc. I would really appreciate it if anyone out there could just give me a very brief description of what each school prefers in their applicants. I am asking this question because on the websites for each of these schools, the descriptions for what they look for are all very generic and similar to each other.</p>
<p>1.) If you fit in well with the student body of the school in terms of interests and personalities, is this a plus factor or is this bad, because schools do not want to have a homogenous student body?</p>
<p>2.) What kind of personalities/ interests are preferred at each top school? For example which top school likes students who take initiative and show leadership, which ivies like students who are intellectual and quiet, students who are active in their community, etc.</p>
<p>3.) Could anybody who is knowledgeable about top schools admission</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I hope this isn't too much to ask! But I'd really appreciate it if anyone would take the time to answer these questions.</p>
<p>What? There is no āpersonality typeā associated with each particular school. All of these top schools strive for diversities of excellence in their student bodies. Therefore this is an impossible question to answer and any such conversation would merely devolve into stereotyping. I canāt handle it. Any one else is welcome to it. </p>
<p>If your goal is to become ātheā applicant-type you think each school is looking for, so as to presumably boost your admissions chances, this is a pointless exercise. The best way to be admitted to a top school is to be a compelling and unique individual whose unique individuality and unique talents can enrich any schoolās community.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to determine from mission, curriculum, locationā¦which school is the best fit for you and your educational goals.</p>
<p>Actually Iām looking for a college that will fit me, I am not trying to change myself to fit a college, but thanks anyway! I was mainly looking for a school that fits my strong interest in history and the classics, and community service. I guess Iāll just find out on my own then!</p>
<p>Youāre interested in history and classics, soā¦youāre looking at MIT? Doesnāt sound like someone who is looking for a fit. Sounds like someone who is looking for prestige.</p>
<p>Iām guessing this thread was inspired by my post in the other thread (seeing as they are about 10 mins apart) where I said no one should be interested in all 8 ivy leagues.</p>
<p>Itās not so much to say that thereās a specific type of person, but just that each person should have a set of things they look for in a college, and thereās no way that all 8 ivy leagues have all of them.</p>
<p>For example, things to look at are:
size
surrounding area (e.g. city, suburb, rural) and similarly area of the country
curriculum requirements
areas of study that are particularly exceptional</p>
<p>As @mathyone points out, if history and classics are your interests, MIT is a bit of a head scratcher.
Do you care about east coast (e.g. Duke, Hopkins) vs west coast (Stanford) vs midwest (Chicago/NW)?
Do you want a big research university (e.g. Vandy, Duke, Hopkins, Stanford) or a small UG focused liberal arts college (Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams)
Do you want to be in a BIG city like NYC (Columbia), in a small city like Providence or New Haven (Brown or Yale), or in the middle of nowhere like Hanover/Ithaca (Dartmouth/Cornell)
Do you want no distribution requirements (Brown) or a very strict set of distribution requirements (Columbia)?
etc.</p>
<p>It really depends on the school. MIT is a very quirky, geeky, āoutside of the boxā place, so you have to be willing to be around some really unique personalities.(itās why I love it, for the record). But a place like Williams is in a completely different league, where small-town elitists come to play. (I live near the school and this is just what Iāve observed). And as @swingtime said, each school is looking for diversity, so even if a generally quirky place like MIT is not something that appeals to you, you would still be able to find a niche there. </p>
<p>It might be helpful to tell us about a little bit about you too =)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies guys. oops Iām not planning on applying to MIT, I would not fit in at all there, I was in a hurry and just mentioned the first schools that came to mind. After talking to many people in the last few days and doing even more research I feel like I really like Dartmouth, and Yale. I like these schools because I really liked the intellectual atmosphere and they both have outstanding classics and history programs. I also like Dartmouth and Yale because I want a college with a vibrant social life!</p>
<p>When I applied to college, I used to believe fit was important for top schools. Now I believe it is really insignificant, except for your preference to be in an urban or rural location. The student bodies at all of these top schools are very similar as are the environments. They may vary a bit from place to place but every top school can provide you with an excellent education, great opportunities, wonderful experiences, and help you meet great people. Pretty much all of them also have an environment that can be incredibly stressful to the point of being toxic.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that UChicago and Brown, unlike some of their peer schools, admires some part of quirkiness about you. This can be reflected in essays or teacher recs. </p>
<p>My impression is that Brown wants as liberal of a student body as possible, so my application, which mentioned campaigning for Romney, would not have been well-received.</p>
<p>Brown for me was strange. Their writing supplement seemed incoherent with what the institution is supposed to be about. Fairly straightforward and formulaic questions, nothing that really encourages you to have fun with it. I love the idea of the school, but I found that really strange.</p>
<p>Thereās no question that each school has a slightly different reputation, and so tends to attract more of some types than others, but in terms of admission, applying against the collegeās type is probably something of an advantage. Iām sure Dartmouth gets far more applications from sporty, social, future economics majors who love camping, than it does from hipster theater types who love to be camp. It wants to have at least some of the latter. Itās really not that uncommon to see a good student rejected at the college that seems perfect for him or her and accepted at one that looks like a misfit, for precisely that reason.</p>
<p>I am positive Brown does NOT āwant[] as liberal of a student body as possible.ā However, thereās little question liberal students seem to find Brown more attractive and decide to apply there and to enroll there in greater numbers than more conservative students. Sorry, SurvivorFan. If Brown didnāt accept you, it wasnāt because you are a Republican.</p>
<p>The schools that you are interested in, look for their incoming class profile. You will learn more there then anywhere else. For example, you will find out about their gender, academic background, work experience, etc etc. And if yours match theres, youāll probably have a shot.
Look for that one thing which makes them stand apart from others. For example, Iām sure Harvardās incoming class of 2014, had awesome GPAs and SATs, but so did the incoming class of Stanford or Dartmouth etc. What was that one thing that got them into Harvard, is what you are looking for.
Hope it helped. </p>
<p>Iām happy to hear it. ^^That is not an observation, that is an assumption. That is just the kind of agenda driven thinking that wouldnāt go over. Who knows, it could have made you stand out. But Iām sure you made choices that were a better fit, anyway.</p>
<p>Instead of letting the rankings drive your search, why not let your academic interests lead your search? Are there specific areas in the classics or history youāre interested in. If so, use Google to find the specific schools where itās being taught. Talk to students and profs. Visit if possible. Are you unsure and just have a general interest in the classics? Schools like Dartmouth and Williams may have a smaller classics department, with limitations; therefore, you might look at Universities with larger departments and more course offerings where you can explore and develop your interests like UNC, Berkley and Mich. </p>
<p>I also suspect that some of the differences in feel and character at these colleges happens because of the experiences you have there, as opposed to the kinds of students they attract. I think they all attract pretty similar students,</p>
After talking to many people in the last few days and doing even more research I feel like I really like Dartmouth, and Yale. I like these schools because I really liked the intellectual atmosphere and they both have outstanding classics and history programs. I also like Dartmouth and Yale because I want a college with a vibrant social life!</p>