Rejected. Congratulations to everyone accepted!
waitlisted- not surprising since i didn’t even get an interview lol
@hhiiiiiiii I can’t speak for CIEE83, but I don’t think he or she meant to impugn those who were accepted. That is truly a great accomplishment. I think he/she meant that, objectively speaking on paper, there are some people who are more qualified that are not accepted. As was referenced in the article I and others linked earlier, sometimes these decisions can come down to them wanting someone from the Minneapolis public school system. There are some things that are simply beyond an applicant’s control. When admissions teams are building a class, it is as much about demographics as it is about test scores and grades. Call it “fit” or “social engineering” or whatever you want. I don’t think he or she intended to diminish anyone’s accomplishments.
Congrats to all the newly accepted students! As an alum and a mom of a freshman I welcome you!! Some of you have some very hard and enviable choices to make now and I hope that Yale is the best fit for you.
I do, however, have to beg to differ with the quote above that says many students with the “same credits, stats…are not admitted” Just like DNA is different for each and every person, there are no two candidates that are exactly alike. Like parents, siblings and relatives whose DNA may be very, very similar, there are subtle differences. Your stats may be the same but the first violinist in the orchestra may be a junior and have only one more year before graduation. For continuity, Yale may need a freshman to come in and be in the orchestra that one year before the other student graduates. So, the AdComs would be on a mission for the violinist. Or plug in club volleyball player, newspaper editor, debater, etc. and the list of things that distinguish one student from another is infinite. One example of the harsh reality of not planning ahead was my D’s high school championship volleyball team that was on a roll for 3 years. Sadly, the team had 8 seniors, including her, who graduated and left the team decimated. It may be a long time before they are able to assemble that kind of talent again.
This is not an exact science but it works. YHPS have graduations rates approaching 96-98%. It may be hard as heck to get in, but once in, students stay. Yes, there are some kids for which this type of education does not work and they leave. The stats show that this is rare. I took my D and three of her suitemates to Florida for spring break and the 4 of them could not be more different. They are all special is very different ways, being smart just one of them. And under any other circumstance they would never, ever have met.
So, please do not spoil it for those who got into their first choice school. Quiet as it’s kept, I have never had a supervisor or boss that went to an Ivy League school so it definitely is not a automatic recipe for success.
Boola!! Boola!!
@LegacyMom: From my perspective (an Ivy-educated parent whose children have been accepted, wait-listed, and rejected by Yale, as well as other Ivies and elite schools like Stanford, UChicago, and Duke), I disagree with the sentiment “there are some people who are more qualified [than those accepted] that are not accepted.” Instead, I believe that non-objective factors (and probably subjective factors too), play a significant role, and sometimes a determinative one, in selecting among a large pool of comparably qualified applicants to fill the limited number of spots available at elite colleges. For example, I know two students who “objectively” appear to be the same (perfect SAT, SAT II, and AP scores; tons of leadership, community service, and extracurricular activities; and extremely personable and well-liked) – the only difference between them “on paper” is that one attends a private school and the other a public school; yesterday, one was accepted to Yale and the other rejected – who’s to say that the one accepted (or rejected) was more or less qualified than the other?
@Bizzybody – In the context of CIEE88’s comments, we aren’t talking about people that are the same “on paper”. We’re talking about cases where “on paper” a person with objectively better stats gets rejected. Yes, there are lots of things that come into play which are subjective. And in some cases, where one goes to high school or whether or not she plays the oboe could be what makes the difference between being accepted, waitlisted or rejected.
I wasn’t trying to denigrate accepted students – getting into an Ivy is a huge achievement. My point is not that admitted students don’t deserve admission, but that the Ivies could fill their classes several times over with similarly deserving students, and if there is one spot for 3 strong applicants, then the admissions committee has to toss out two of those students at random. Those of you who were accepted should feel justifiably proud of your accomplishments - but so can numerous equally talented students who were not.
accepted to Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Yale and Dartmouth !! I should have just applied to the rest because yesterday was the luckiest day of my life
After three years of silent stalking these pages, I feel the need to post. One child admitted to all but one Ivy. One child, with better stats but different goals, rejected by three (will attend safety school). It comes down to what the schools want that year. I’m so happy for all those accepted! Congratulations! And enjoy the ride. Take every advantage of this opportunity. It is a gift. Treat it as such. For those with outstanding stats but rejections - you reached for the stars. You rock! Hopefully you applied to safety schools you will lovw. Take advantage of every opportunity you are offered. Stretch, reach, and absorb every experience. You know you can succeed!
It is not about belittling one achievement or glorifying a loss - it’s about celebrating amazing students. Good luck to all next year.
For whatever its worth- I would like to leave this behind for future students.
We went to the admitted student event last night locally. We all as parents asked a lot of questions and some of the answers may surprise you. I was very surprised myself that some of what we thought were reasons my daughter was accepted were nothing in the end and ultimately what we thought were her weaknesses were not at all.
I live in CT. There were 30 students accepted from CT. Apparently some part of that number included children of professors. I did not ask how many. There are many states that admit in the single digits. The highest number of applicants was from (and normally is from) the state of California. As far as international students, they get a huge amount of applications from China and India. Most applications are from these locations. This year there was a very large percentage of STEM or Math and Science majors. We were told that it was half of those that applied. This would explain why so many highly qualified students were not admitted because you had to have really impressed them to make those coveted spots this year. This is not the same every year. Just this year was a big hit on Math and Science. There will be two more residential colleges opening up in 2 years. This will allow for 800 more students total or 200 more students in that freshman class because it will be 200 per year. This does not happen for two years so all of you 9th and 10th graders better keep your heads up and work hard! You may have a better chance.
Most kids that apply fall within the same basic grade and score criteria- but it is what your file says after that which must catch the eye of both admissions and the final committee. You must stand out- your file must show you are not just well rounded in your interests but that you can handle the pressure of being high in academics as well as being busy in a rounded schedule. They don’t want students that hide in their room or study all the time. They want ones that will try everything when you get to their school. They can tell when a student pads their resume for the sake of getting into school. My daughter commented on her way home last night that she didn’t put anything on her application that was not genuinely a passion of hers. They could tell. It came across in her answers and her essays. When we attended the tour last summer, we were told that the worst thing you could do is buy a ticket to Haiti for a week and write your essay on it. Anyone can do that- but if you are the one that planned the trip, raised money for your entire class to go and went back again to follow up on what you started - then write about what you learned during the process. Otherwise you just paid to piggy back someone elses work and bought an essay idea. Keep that in mind as you plan and prepare because it makes great sense. Do what you love and then do more with it. Be the one that makes a difference. My daughter had average stats for her application. She had a 2220 on her SAT, her SATII were all just average between 660-740 and her gpa was 3.97uw 4.8w. She didn’t win any national awards because she was busy being a typical teenager and didn’t know to apply. She applied as “undecided”. But she did so many things both in and outside of school that made her shine above the rest. She also created a support group she started in middle school for kids born with the same birth defect that she had and started a fundraiser for the same basic cause that she raised $8000 for AFTER she applied to her schools (not before…she did it just because she wanted to make a difference and not for the purpose of being recognized). As a result she was featured on TV, was recognized by her peers and advisers and ultimately those things were added to her file in the form of a letter from guidance. We will never know for sure if that made the difference in the end but in the end she made a difference AND she was admitted to the class of 2019. Good luck and GO BULLDOGS!
Interesting that you note children of professors. I’ve heard about children of Ivy professors knowing they were accepted before formal notifications went out. Purely anecdotal, but I wonder whether being the child of a professor is the ultimate Ivy hook. Above being a legacy or big donor.
Most private schools give preference to children of faculty and staff. I know that my D’s high school did. They also got a serious subsidy cause, ironically, what some of the staff made was not enough to afford the school!! One of the perks of employment in education.