Selectivity question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're new to the process, so apologies if this is a stupid question.

Obviously colleges like Harvard hover around 5%...but of the 95% who are required, what percent were legitimate candidates in the first place? I.e., how many applied on a whim with a 2.8 GPA, how many didn't actually complete the application, etc?

Just curious. I know highly selective schools are still highly selectivce, but I'm curious if things like this are taken into account when people talk percentages.

Harvard will be more like 2.3% this year (it will be announced after Monday?. Almost all of the applicants are extremely qualified. My legacy kid applied (high stats, high EC) but since we had not been able to afford big donations they got the soft deferral

[Anonymous]

The general #s I have heard from people in admissions is that across the selective schools anywhere from 80 - 85% of the applicants are students who they believe are "qualified" to be there (Do not immediately got into the reject pile)

To get into a very competitive school like Harvard, not only do you need the scores like the GPA and SAT - but you need to have distinguished yourself. Are you a student who competes in debate at the national level? or someone on the debate team who may have had some success in local events?

[Anonymous]

The general #s I have heard from people in admissions is that across the selective schools anywhere from 80 - 85% of the applicants are students who they believe are "qualified" to be there (Do not immediately got into the reject pile)

I've heard this on several podcasts as well. Also, DCUM loves to obsess about the few URM kids that are admitted, but there are 20 or more different institutional priorities that shape a class. Most of those benefit the groups these schools have always admitted, well resourced, high stat, connected, white kids. If your kid isn't one of those, I agree with PP that your DC should take their shot, but don't get their hopes up.