<p>I don't know if this is just frustration over my low GPA or something, but it seems like the vision of who gets accepted to top schools on CC is far different from reality. If one were to look at the SAT ranges, given gpa's, and other tangible numbers of achievement, one would find a large range of scores. Yet, on CC, people are advised to no even apply because there SAT scores are not above the 50th percentile. Even then perfect score students are denied frequently (see any results thread). I am wondering if these students below the top 50th percentile actually exist. The general argument is that athletes and developmental cases usually hang on the lower part of the spectrum, but I have doubts about these groups composing HALF the class.
In the next town over, a student ranked high in his class got accepted to Dartmouth ED with a few extracurriculars and a (relatively) low SAT score of 2100. He is not an URM, not rich, and not an award winning scientist prodigy. A cursory google search returned many of these kinds of stories for top schools. Looking at CC, it seems like these students would never ever get accepted. Where are the invisible students? Why do seemingly more qualified CC users get rejected with better scores? I believe that admissions officers would see right through the typical CC personality.
Thoughts? I know I am ranting, but I just think that there is a large gap between reality and the internet that is not talked about on this site.</p>
<p>Weellll first of all, not everyone on CC is telling the complete truth.</p>
<p>Secondly, the thing about admission to many of the top schools is that it comes down to luck. Because of the vast pool of qualified applicants, many decisions are made based on who fits the class better (i.e. a dancer would be chosen over a musician if there were 100 other musicians but only 10 dancers), or based upon the “personality” of the applicant conveyed through the essays or recommendations.</p>
<p>This is the 1% on here. No sweat.</p>
<p>This website has to be extra scary to make up for the fact that a lot of people go to schools where their classmates and guidance counselor tell them they’ll for sure get into Harvard just because their test scores are higher than average. Top schools are reaches for everyone and some people need a reality check with that. Regardless of what kind of applicants they actually admit, they admit very few of them, so your chances of getting in even with high stats are very slim.</p>
<p>So CC more reactionary, then?</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “reactionary,” but I’d say CCers are more pessimistic than the general population. Still, it’s with good reason - top schools get more and more competitive every year.
But you really can’t know your chances at top schools until you apply. So apply to schools you are interested in, but don’t get too attached to them.</p>
<p>Thanks! I just needed some direction. Sometimes these forums can feel like a display of everyone better than you.</p>
<p>I think that to get accepted it’s more than just a grade on your transcript, but rather what makes you more “special” than all the other people, what passion or interest you are trying to accomplish. </p>
<p>That can be seen in your essay and interviews, because you have to show your commitment and to show that you DESERVE that college.</p>