<p>My college counselor is letting me put two Ivies on my list. One is locked in (I'm a legacy).
I can't pick which one to put in the other slot. I'm essentially torn between two options:
1) A school that I like less but have a better chance of getting into.
2) A school that I like a lot but have a worse chance of getting into.</p>
<p>Obviously the chance of getting into any Ivy League school is not great. Which one should I choose, in your opinion?</p>
<p>I would choose 1, but that’s me being safe.</p>
<p>If going to an Ivy is your #1 goal, I’d go with option 1 unless you don’t think you will be happy there. A lot depends on how much more you like #2 as compared to #1. But be aware – for many colleges, the benefit of being a legacy goes away if you don’t apply ED.</p>
<h1>2 is my favorite school but #1 is still better than all of the other choices on my list (besides #2).</h1>
<p>Go with number 2. You’ll never have the chance to apply to it again as a high school senior.</p>
<p>Cornell 2015
ED deferred: ~1200
RD applied: 32,908
Total RD pool: 34,108
RD admitted: 5,311 (15.6%)</p>
<p>Penn 2015
ED deferred: 1100
RD applied: 27,092
Total RD pool: 28,192
RD admitted: 2743 (9.73%)</p>
<p>Dartmouth 2015
ED deferred: ~650
RD applied: 20,626
Total RD pool: 21,276
RD admitted: 1828 (8.60%)</p>
<p>Brown 2015
ED deferred: ~1828
RD applied: 28,150
Total RD pool: 29,978
RD admitted: 2115 (7.06%)</p>
<p>Columbia 2015
ED deferred: ~1070
RD applied: 31,712
Total RD pool: 32,782
RD admitted: ~2040 (6.22%)</p>
<p>Yale 2015
SCEA deferred: 2952
RD applied: 22,025
Total RD pool: 24,977
RD admitted: 1245 (4.98%)</p>
<p>Notes:
(1) Most of the deferred numbers have been estimated based on numbers/percentages from past years.
(2) Cornell’s admit rate is deceptively high because it includes all colleges. Cornell CAS is much more selective.</p>
<p>The chances of getting into one of these are exceedingly slim, even for an extremely qualified applicant. I vote option #2…go with the one you like best.</p>
<p>Depends on which is #1 and which is #2. I don’t think anybody can give you good advice without you revealing which is which.</p>
<p>1) Columbia
2) Harvard</p>
<p>Yeah, the marginal difference between a 5.5% acceptance rate and a 6.1% acceptance rate or whatever?* Not that much easier to get into the latter.</p>
<p>*Not actual admissions rates, but close enough</p>
<p>michiganboy2011, you misunderstood. I wasn’t saying I was a lock for Columbia or any other school. I said the other Ivy on my list is locked in by which I mean I’m definitely applying there (not that I’ll definitely get in) because of legacy. I also didn’t name that school.</p>
<p>Dude, you’re delusional if you think you have a better chance of getting into Columbia than of getting into Harvard. Like, how is this even a consideration? Do you seriously believe Columbia’s 6.2% acceptance rate gives you some security that Harvard’s acceptance rate doesn’t…?</p>
<p>My prediction: You’re not getting into either.</p>
<p>OK, I’m a newbie here, so don’t flame me for asking: why not just apply to both? Your college counselor can make suggestions, but I don’t understand how he or she could prevent you from applying to both.</p>
<p>Apply to Harvard. Columbia is really polarizing. I’ve spent a decent amount of time on the campus (my best friend goes there). Honestly I could never see myself there. I think if you don’t like Columbia out of the gate, you aren’t going to be very happy there. </p>
<p>Harvard has its shortcomings but the upside of a real campus, residential colleges, and a much livable town make it much more more appealing for me.</p>
<p>1) A school that I like less but have a better chance of getting into.
2) A school that I like a lot but have a worse chance of getting into.</p>
<p>The schools in question being Columbia and Harvard - in RD round, Columbia is tougher than Harvard based on 2015 class.</p>
<p>texaspg, Where are you getting your info from?</p>
<p>What do you mean your college counselor is “letting you” put 2 Ivies on your list? Whose application is it anyway? It is yours, I assume! You should apply to as many schools as you can-- cast a wide net. Your college counselor works for you. You are the decider. You can never tell which school might admit you and which one won’t.</p>
<p>University expected admitted Applied EA/ED applied admitted RD percent
Columbia 1,419 2,419 34,929 632 3,229 1,787 0.05637224
Harvard 1,663 2,158 35,000 n/a n/a 0.061657143</p>
<p>If you check purely based on how many applied in RD and how many were accepted (this number goes up a bit if you know how many were deferred from ED), you get 5.6% for Columbia vs an over 6.16 for Harvard. The RD numbers for Harvard will drop to 5% or less this year since they will also admit 600+ kids in EA this year.</p>
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<p>Yes, I thought that was an odd statement, as well. Why not apply to several Ivies, or at least 3 so you can include the one you love, the one with the best chances, and your legacy college.</p>
<p>There’s a lot more to how difficult it is to get into a school than acceptance rate. Columbia’s scores are lower than Harvard’s and around the same as Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn (all of which are higher than Cornell). Harvard is more selective than Columbia, anyone who has been to a high school with lots of admits to both will see that. Heck, Columbia even let me in :)</p>
<p>Are you still there admitone? </p>
<p>Their popularity has shot up since Obama got elected, their rank moved to 4 and they joined commonapp, in that order (they increased applications by almost 25% last year. It won’t be surprising to see if they get more apps this year than Harvard.</p>