Harvard, Princeton or Yale?

[Anonymous]

Dear UChicago grad,

You haven't visited recently. I admit I was somewhat appalled to see it was somewhat seedy like NY neighborhoods 3 years ago but today the University is surrounded by a burgeoning community.

[Anonymous]

This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

If your kid is as qualified as you suggest, I'd trust his or her judgment as to appropriate fit. There are many other high-quality colleges and institutions, and I'd be grateful that my kid was self-aware enough to know he or she didn't want to spend four years in a HYPS-like environment.

[Anonymous]

My kid is undershooting. Graduating from a pressure-cooker high school and does not want the same experience in college. She is quite firm about it, and it's her choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is undershooting. Graduating from a pressure-cooker high school and does not want the same experience in college. She is quite firm about it, and it's her choice.

17:25, trust me, not delusional.

17:20, I believe it's the same reason and yes, kid's choice. I guess I'm hoping the fit is what DC thinks and that selfishly, I don't feel I let DC down if there's regret later. Time for their own decisions, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

If your kid is as qualified as you suggest, I'd trust his or her judgment as to appropriate fit. There are many other high-quality colleges and institutions, and I'd be grateful that my kid was self-aware enough to know he or she didn't want to spend four years in a HYPS-like environment.

My DC refused to tour, let alone apply, to HYPS. Applied to Columbia (similar admit rate, in fact lower admit rate than Princeton), got in, and was happy there. For a very short period, a tiny corner of me wondered “what if?” and then I saw how great Columbia was for DC and stopped thinking about it.

If your DC thinks another top school is a great fit, let him tell you why. Don’t let him undershoot by going to state-satellite-U if he could get a better education elsewhere. But the fact is, there are, what, 20, 30 or even 50 top universities that provide excellent educations and almost all (if not 100%) of the “status” of HYP. In the end, it’s not about status, it’s about fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

+1. Parents really don't get that there are 100,000+ seniors every year with 4.0 gpa, 95+ percentile SAT, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, captain of teams, president of clubs on their app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

+1. Parents really don't get that there are 100,000+ seniors every year with 4.0 gpa, 95+ percentile SAT, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, captain of teams, president of clubs on their app.

NMSF is the top .5% of SAT scorers. There are about 1.5 million kids who take the SAT, so that's about 15,000 kids. I'm sure the list of kids who match all your criteria is significantly shorter than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

Wrong. HYPS accepts many unhooked qualified kids every year. it is just a lottery though, since there are so many of them. Of course people will keep applying just on the off-chance that they might get in. The potential reward is far too high for the long odds to actually discourage very qualified but unhooked kids from applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

+1. Parents really don't get that there are 100,000+ seniors every year with 4.0 gpa, 95+ percentile SAT, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, captain of teams, president of clubs on their app.

NMSF is the top .5% of SAT scorers. There are about 1.5 million kids who take the SAT, so that's about 15,000 kids. I'm sure the list of kids who match all your criteria is significantly shorter than that.

Half the kids take the ACT. Plus all the international applicants. And don't be hyper-literal, it's not just NMSF parents who think their kids are rockstars destined for Harvard. Point remains, the all As, good SAT, APs and sports and clubs kids aren't that rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

+1. Parents really don't get that there are 100,000+ seniors every year with 4.0 gpa, 95+ percentile SAT, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, captain of teams, president of clubs on their app.

NMSF is the top .5% of SAT scorers. There are about 1.5 million kids who take the SAT, so that's about 15,000 kids. I'm sure the list of kids who match all your criteria is significantly shorter than that.

I wasn't being "hyper-literal". What you described probably fits 10,000 kids a year. These kids by no stretch of the imagination could be considered "literally a dime a dozen". Kids with those kinds of stats can be in the running for any school in the US.
Half the kids take the ACT. Plus all the international applicants. And don't be hyper-literal, it's not just NMSF parents who think their kids are rockstars destined for Harvard. Point remains, the all As, good SAT, APs and sports and clubs kids aren't that rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

In my experience parents are delusional and don’t realize their rockstar kid is literally a dime a dozen globally. In short, it’s unlikely anyone’s non-hooked kid can get in. Really, no unhooked kids should be gunning for HYPS; waste of time.

+1. Parents really don't get that there are 100,000+ seniors every year with 4.0 gpa, 95+ percentile SAT, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar, captain of teams, president of clubs on their app.

NMSF is the top .5% of SAT scorers. There are about 1.5 million kids who take the SAT, so that's about 15,000 kids. I'm sure the list of kids who match all your criteria is significantly shorter than that.

I wasn't being "hyper-literal". What you described probably fits 10,000 kids a year. These kids by no stretch of the imagination could be considered "literally a dime a dozen". Kids with those kinds of stats can be in the running for any school in the US.
Half the kids take the ACT. Plus all the international applicants. And don't be hyper-literal, it's not just NMSF parents who think their kids are rockstars destined for Harvard. Point remains, the all As, good SAT, APs and sports and clubs kids aren't that rare.

Only in this forum people think that most kids will be like that....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This forum may not be the best place to ask this in general but the HYPS crowd would the the right audience. Does anyone have a kid who "undershot" college? The highest of stats, incredible resume and really the ideal candidate, but who decided not to even apply for the ultra elite? Visited 3 ivys + stanford but DC isn't in to it. People are surprised. I see it as DC's choice but I do wonder if there will be regret one day.

If your kid is as qualified as you suggest, I'd trust his or her judgment as to appropriate fit. There are many other high-quality colleges and institutions, and I'd be grateful that my kid was self-aware enough to know he or she didn't want to spend four years in a HYPS-like environment.

My DC refused to tour, let alone apply, to HYPS. Applied to Columbia (similar admit rate, in fact lower admit rate than Princeton), got in, and was happy there. For a very short period, a tiny corner of me wondered “what if?” and then I saw how great Columbia was for DC and stopped thinking about it.

If your DC thinks another top school is a great fit, let him tell you why. Don’t let him undershoot by going to state-satellite-U if he could get a better education elsewhere. But the fact is, there are, what, 20, 30 or even 50 top universities that provide excellent educations and almost all (if not 100%) of the “status” of HYP. In the end, it’s not about status, it’s about fit.

Thanks for your response. Not undershooting that far, but definitely walking from the highest opportunities. Interesting yours wouldn't tour HYPS but still stuck within ivy. I'd like to say it's about fit, and everyone talks about that, but seems hard to gauge to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale

I went to none of them, but I work in fields where I've come into contact with grads from all of them. I always like the Yale grads.

I feel the same way.