Did Anyone Here Get Merit Aid to a Top School?

[Anonymous]

DC got merit aid at UMass Amherst, UMD, and George Mason. DC did get into 1 Ivy and WL at another Ivy. He also got into GA Tech, U Mich, UVA, VA Tech, UCLA. DC also got a private scholarship from a local business that provides a scholarship to 2 students from their HS.

There is a specific scholarship at U Mich for VA residents. He applied but wasn’t selected.

He ended up at a large state public institution (not U Mich), where out of state tuition was not much different than instate at UVA ($45k)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

My spouse and I have six university degrees between us, and that includes three from an Ivy. We have spent eight years collectively studying and working in Europe and Asia. Personally, these experiences have severely humbled me and exposed to me to some super smart, resourceful people - many whom will someday have kids competing with TJ grads (and my kids) for a winning spot at a top US college or university. I cannot count the number of families I’ve met who have kids who are trilingual, and others with nearly four languages. These families are musically accomplished, stellar academically and are, too, very involved within their community. These families are both US citizens, as well as international. Alternatively, there are so many strong candidates who will never come near the benefit of the above, but still earn a seat at an Ivy. Indeed, OP’s high school career is/was impressive, but I’m confident that everyone agrees that, Ivy or not, she will thrive due to her drive and determination.

You ask what’s missing from the resume? I’m not sure the checklist exists in elite college admission. Everyone who gets serious consideration is accomplished, similar to the OP. I was not a member of the admissions team, but was fortunate to gain extraordinary firsthand insight into the extremely competitive admission process. There are thousands and thousands (not a dozen) of applicants who look out-of-this-world exceptional. The admissions staff put a lot of energy into selecting a new class. It’s not easy, may appear wholly random - on the surface, but it works. Today, I am certain I would NOT make the cut and so glad it’s behind me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

My spouse and I have six university degrees between us, and that includes three from an Ivy. We have spent eight years collectively studying and working in Europe and Asia. Personally, these experiences have severely humbled me and exposed to me to some super smart, resourceful people - many whom will someday have kids competing with TJ grads (and my kids) for a winning spot at a top US college or university. I cannot count the number of families I’ve met who have kids who are trilingual, and others with nearly four languages. These families are musically accomplished, stellar academically and are, too, very involved within their community. These families are both US citizens, as well as international. Alternatively, there are so many strong candidates who will never come near the benefit of the above, but still earn a seat at an Ivy. Indeed, OP’s high school career is/was impressive, but I’m confident that everyone agrees that, Ivy or not, she will thrive due to her drive and determination.

You ask what’s missing from the resume? I’m not sure the checklist exists in elite college admission. Everyone who gets serious consideration is accomplished, similar to the OP. I was not a member of the admissions team, but was fortunate to gain extraordinary firsthand insight into the extremely competitive admission process. There are thousands and thousands (not a dozen) of applicants who look out-of-this-world exceptional. The admissions staff put a lot of energy into selecting a new class. It’s not easy, may appear wholly random - on the surface, but it works. Today, I am certain I would NOT make the cut and so glad it’s behind me!

The kid authored a textbook and is taking 400 level math classes at duke as a freshman. I'm going to wildly guess that the majority of incoming math majors at Harvard did neither.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re UMC and unfortunately fall into the category of unlikely to qualify for aid although paying full is a big investment, doable but not ideal. However, DC still has eyes set on the likes of top ivies, Stanford, Duke, etc. I know the ivies don’t offer merit scholarships, but we noticed some top schools like Duke, Vanderbilt, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, etc. offer non-need based scholarships to some students each year. We know it’s a long shot but does anyone here have experience with any of these scholarships at top schools, and if so, what did your DC do to qualify and where else did they get in? Of course we’re prepared to save money by staying in-state too.

I think you have your answer with the Duke student. =-) Lots of tough courses, a job, write a book, etc. If you grew up speaking a non-English language, that may also help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

My spouse and I have six university degrees between us, and that includes three from an Ivy. We have spent eight years collectively studying and working in Europe and Asia. Personally, these experiences have severely humbled me and exposed to me to some super smart, resourceful people - many whom will someday have kids competing with TJ grads (and my kids) for a winning spot at a top US college or university. I cannot count the number of families I’ve met who have kids who are trilingual, and others with nearly four languages. These families are musically accomplished, stellar academically and are, too, very involved within their community. These families are both US citizens, as well as international. Alternatively, there are so many strong candidates who will never come near the benefit of the above, but still earn a seat at an Ivy. Indeed, OP’s high school career is/was impressive, but I’m confident that everyone agrees that, Ivy or not, she will thrive due to her drive and determination.

You ask what’s missing from the resume? I’m not sure the checklist exists in elite college admission. Everyone who gets serious consideration is accomplished, similar to the OP. I was not a member of the admissions team, but was fortunate to gain extraordinary firsthand insight into the extremely competitive admission process. There are thousands and thousands (not a dozen) of applicants who look out-of-this-world exceptional. The admissions staff put a lot of energy into selecting a new class. It’s not easy, may appear wholly random - on the surface, but it works. Today, I am certain I would NOT make the cut and so glad it’s behind me!

The kid authored a textbook and is taking 400 level math classes at duke as a freshman. I'm going to wildly guess that the majority of incoming math majors at Harvard did neither.

please revisit this: "waitlisted by the two Ivies".

This was not accidental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

Again, across all of the Ivies, how many incoming math majors are already in 400 level classes?


My spouse and I have six university degrees between us, and that includes three from an Ivy. We have spent eight years collectively studying and working in Europe and Asia. Personally, these experiences have severely humbled me and exposed to me to some super smart, resourceful people - many whom will someday have kids competing with TJ grads (and my kids) for a winning spot at a top US college or university. I cannot count the number of families I’ve met who have kids who are trilingual, and others with nearly four languages. These families are musically accomplished, stellar academically and are, too, very involved within their community. These families are both US citizens, as well as international. Alternatively, there are so many strong candidates who will never come near the benefit of the above, but still earn a seat at an Ivy. Indeed, OP’s high school career is/was impressive, but I’m confident that everyone agrees that, Ivy or not, she will thrive due to her drive and determination.

You ask what’s missing from the resume? I’m not sure the checklist exists in elite college admission. Everyone who gets serious consideration is accomplished, similar to the OP. I was not a member of the admissions team, but was fortunate to gain extraordinary firsthand insight into the extremely competitive admission process. There are thousands and thousands (not a dozen) of applicants who look out-of-this-world exceptional. The admissions staff put a lot of energy into selecting a new class. It’s not easy, may appear wholly random - on the surface, but it works. Today, I am certain I would NOT make the cut and so glad it’s behind me!

The kid authored a textbook and is taking 400 level math classes at duke as a freshman. I'm going to wildly guess that the majority of incoming math majors at Harvard did neither.

please revisit this: "waitlisted by the two Ivies".

This was not accidental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

My spouse and I have six university degrees between us, and that includes three from an Ivy. We have spent eight years collectively studying and working in Europe and Asia. Personally, these experiences have severely humbled me and exposed to me to some super smart, resourceful people - many whom will someday have kids competing with TJ grads (and my kids) for a winning spot at a top US college or university. I cannot count the number of families I’ve met who have kids who are trilingual, and others with nearly four languages. These families are musically accomplished, stellar academically and are, too, very involved within their community. These families are both US citizens, as well as international. Alternatively, there are so many strong candidates who will never come near the benefit of the above, but still earn a seat at an Ivy. Indeed, OP’s high school career is/was impressive, but I’m confident that everyone agrees that, Ivy or not, she will thrive due to her drive and determination.

You ask what’s missing from the resume? I’m not sure the checklist exists in elite college admission. Everyone who gets serious consideration is accomplished, similar to the OP. I was not a member of the admissions team, but was fortunate to gain extraordinary firsthand insight into the extremely competitive admission process. There are thousands and thousands (not a dozen) of applicants who look out-of-this-world exceptional. The admissions staff put a lot of energy into selecting a new class. It’s not easy, may appear wholly random - on the surface, but it works. Today, I am certain I would NOT make the cut and so glad it’s behind me!

This girl took Algebra in 5TH GRADE and authored a textbook while in high school. She is not the norm for Harvard or anywhere.

I have had kids at a Big3 private and DCPS (Wilson/Jackson Reed). I know kids personally who were admitted to the Ivies both this year and last who had strong academic resumes both nothing on the national or international stage.
I know kids who attended School without Walls and did well and took some dual enrollment classes at GW and that was their only hook and they got in. Their extracurriculars were just normal school-based stuff ("member of the French club"). Nothing more and they got in.
I know kids at Sidwell and St. Albans who just did very well academically. Period. No regional, national or international anything. Again, just regular old "played soccer and joined the French club" and got in.

Sure, there are a few kids who split the atom in 8th grade and make a dent in eradicating world hunger in 10th who apply but there are PLENTY of normal kids who are doing none of the above. I know because I know them personally.
And they do well once they get to college.
You are WAY overestimating what is necessary to get in. Sure, many kids like the ones I mentioned do not get in; but others do.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. I also know a few unhooked TJ girls who got in HYPSM with less accomplishments. They are all gifted but not profoundly gifted and accomplished like this girl. The Ivy acceptance is a myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

My spouse and I have six university degrees between us, and that includes three from an Ivy. We have spent eight years collectively studying and working in Europe and Asia. Personally, these experiences have severely humbled me and exposed to me to some super smart, resourceful people - many whom will someday have kids competing with TJ grads (and my kids) for a winning spot at a top US college or university. I cannot count the number of families I’ve met who have kids who are trilingual, and others with nearly four languages. These families are musically accomplished, stellar academically and are, too, very involved within their community. These families are both US citizens, as well as international. Alternatively, there are so many strong candidates who will never come near the benefit of the above, but still earn a seat at an Ivy. Indeed, OP’s high school career is/was impressive, but I’m confident that everyone agrees that, Ivy or not, she will thrive due to her drive and determination.

You ask what’s missing from the resume? I’m not sure the checklist exists in elite college admission. Everyone who gets serious consideration is accomplished, similar to the OP. I was not a member of the admissions team, but was fortunate to gain extraordinary firsthand insight into the extremely competitive admission process. There are thousands and thousands (not a dozen) of applicants who look out-of-this-world exceptional. The admissions staff put a lot of energy into selecting a new class. It’s not easy, may appear wholly random - on the surface, but it works. Today, I am certain I would NOT make the cut and so glad it’s behind me!

Harvard interviewer PP here. Yes, there are many accomplished kids applying each year, but this girl is absolutely one of them. Perhaps she’s missing some of the awards someone with a profile like hers usually has like an AIME Qualification, but that’s of course just a small piece of the puzzle and she has a lot of other things going for her. It could have even come down to her essays, with Duke finding something in them that they really liked while other similar caliber schools did not like as much. But again, fixation on the ivy label in this situation is completely unwarranted. There are schools that are equally, if not more, reputable and competitive than the ivies such as Stanford, Duke, MIT, Caltech, etc. She just as easily could have gotten into a scholars programs at an ivy and been rejected from Duke, Stanford, Caltech, etc. There are many situations I’ve seen where kids do really well with the ivies and miss out on several top non-ivies. Ultimately, all of these schools have to make tough calls and some of these decisions are made on the margin, and even then you have to remember admissions teams consist of people with their own inherent biases and blind spots. What’s clear is that this girl would have been able to handle the rigor of any college, so it likely came down to non-academic reasons for her acceptances and rejections.

[Anonymous]

In holistic admissions, you will never know why a student was rejected.

[Anonymous]

Merit aid at Northwestern for grad school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

Completely agree. I don't think a kid's resume can get more impressive than this girl's. I think we can all agree that she's an outlier.

However, I know quite a few kids who were admitted to an Ivy (last year and this) who had 25% (if that!) of her resume BUT they were legacy or URM. The legacies being almost uniformly wealthy and privileged and really the same with the URM: these were not kids who pulled themselves up out of poverty but the kids of dual law partners and similar who had more advantages than 99% of Americans, despite being a URM. It's just a wacky, wacky system.

I’ve noticed that, too, about URM. Very wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

Agree, maybe it hurt that she was at TJ and her class rank was a bit lower? Because H/Y/S still is taking the unhooked kids at the very top of the class at our private with pretty pedestrian extracurriculars comparatively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s amazing that PP’s daughter is doing so well at Duke, but i also find myself irrationally angry about her getting waitlist elsewhere. Like what could possibly be better than that resume?? I’m an alum interviewer for an ivy and stories like this are the reason i took several years off. It was too depressing to see amazing applicants get rejected or wait listed…

I'm an Ivy alum and worked in an Ivy admissions office as a grad student. Sadly, this resume is rather pedestrian among the most elite schools. Keep in mind, though, at the end of the day you only need one acceptance letter.

I know about a dozen DMV kids who were admitted to Ivies in the past year and none of them have a resume of this quality. They are very smart, do well in school but nothing like this. I know because I have one such kid.

There are plenty of Ivy admits who get in on much less than this girl.
If I know more than a dozen there are hundreds more.

Agree, maybe it hurt that she was at TJ and her class rank was a bit lower? Because H/Y/S still is taking the unhooked kids at the very top of the class at our private with pretty pedestrian extracurriculars comparatively.

4.65 is the tippy top at TJ.