Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Northwestern, other Ivies What Does It Take ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

Well a gifted something. If not a recruited athlete, these kids are exceptional musical talents, or writing, or stem, etc. It's an intimidating group.

Yes. Legacy or URM too.

Don't know about legacy status but the urm's are as intimidating talent wise as all the rest.

I’m sorry but this is just absolutely not true in my experience dealing with kids from HYPSC schools

Is the C for Cornell?

Usually, the C is for the University of Chicago. HYPSCC would include Columbia.

The more common acronym is HYPSM (MIT).

The posters who try to sneak their school in with HYPSM are funny.

[Anonymous]

I have a DC like this. I worry he will look too perfect and AOs will think he prepped. Honestly DC is just exceptional.

I certainly don't have a DC like this but I think what AOs are looking for in this case is a bit of personality -- and the person have a little fun, would they be a good roommate. So I would try to emphasize that in some way in essays etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

Well a gifted something. If not a recruited athlete, these kids are exceptional musical talents, or writing, or stem, etc. It's an intimidating group.

Yes. Legacy or URM too.

Don't know about legacy status but the urm's are as intimidating talent wise as all the rest.

I’m sorry but this is just absolutely not true in my experience dealing with kids from HYPSC schools

Is the C for Cornell?

Usually, the C is for the University of Chicago. HYPSCC would include Columbia.

The more common acronym is HYPSM (MIT).

The posters who try to sneak their school in with HYPSM are funny.

Or sneak YP and M in with Harvard and Stanford with how things have been over the last 30 years. US News is keeping those other letters in play.
HS is where you want to go for undergrad, business school, med school, ed school, law school (Y is the best, don't worry DCUM lawyers), and pretty much any PhD program these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a DC like this. I worry he will look too perfect and AOs will think he prepped. Honestly DC is just exceptional.

I certainly don't have a DC like this but I think what AOs are looking for in this case is a bit of personality -- and the person have a little fun, would they be a good roommate. So I would try to emphasize that in some way in essays etc.

I agree that you want to humanize kids with high stats (essays IMO should avoid academics unless there is a research passion)! The great thing about having a truly brilliant kid is that they are able almost always able to do schoolwork and any test prep in far less time than most, which leaves more time to stand out EC wise or in terms of research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you've attended any of these schools as an undergrad you know that third of the students are truly exceptional - genius level IQ. They are not in the same league as their peers and it's obvious to everyone. These are the kids who don't study for the PSATs and are National Merit Scholars. These are the kids taking the max number of AP classes and doing well. A third meet all the thresholds for smart and exceptional in a specific area - athletics, music, acting, etc. And a third meet all the thresholds for smart, but aren't as exceptional as their peers. These students are really good students and they may do a lot of interesting activities (german camp every summer, advocacy work on a national level, etc.), but they need to work hard and they're not going to be at the helm of the NIH. This person might become your primary care doctor, but they're not going to be leading research studies. The latter is the group that really benefits from ticking the boxes -- being a URM, a first gen college student, a good enough athlete to play on a team - but not olympic caliber, or a legacy. And then you also have to sprinkle in the wealthy donor children who don't fit into any category, but have the arrogance to think they do.

Lol. I have two family members (husband and brother) who are just shy of being at the helm of NIH (both are MD/PhDs, internationally known research scientists, one chairman of a arge department at a top 2 medical school, one chairman of a top 10 school of medicine). Neither are geniuses. They're very smart but having lived with both at one point in my life I can tell you that they're very much mere mortals and had to work hard for their grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

Well a gifted something. If not a recruited athlete, these kids are exceptional musical talents, or writing, or stem, etc. It's an intimidating group.

Yes. Legacy or URM too.

Don't know about legacy status but the urm's are as intimidating talent wise as all the rest.

I’m sorry but this is just absolutely not true in my experience dealing with kids from HYPSC schools

Is the C for Cornell?

Usually, the C is for the University of Chicago. HYPSCC would include Columbia.

Chicago? Absolutely not. Caltech and Columbia would be more likely than Chicago. I’d rather send my kid to at least 9 schools before Chicago (Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Caltech, Duke, Columbia, Penn, Yale). Northwestern and Dartmouth are probably better undergrad experiences as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

+1
My friend's son got accepted into Harvard by being a high stats, gifted athlete, and an URM. This kid was a triple threat. He checked off every box that college admission counselors are looking for. Best of all he is the most humble and gracious kid that I have ever met. I am so proud of him!

It doesn't work like that.

If you're a recruited athlete, your actual academic stats (as long as they're good enough) and minority status don't really matter. If you're not a recruited athlete, being a "gifted athlete" means about the same as being a boy scout or the captain of the chess team (i.e. it doesn't matter).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

Well a gifted something. If not a recruited athlete, these kids are exceptional musical talents, or writing, or stem, etc. It's an intimidating group.

Yes. Legacy or URM too.

Don't know about legacy status but the urm's are as intimidating talent wise as all the rest.

I’m sorry but this is just absolutely not true in my experience dealing with kids from HYPSC schools

Is the C for Cornell?

Usually, the C is for the University of Chicago. HYPSCC would include Columbia.

The more common acronym is HYPSM (MIT).

The posters who try to sneak their school in with HYPSM are funny.

Or sneak YP and M in with Harvard and Stanford with how things have been over the last 30 years. US News is keeping those other letters in play.
HS is where you want to go for undergrad, business school, med school, ed school, law school (Y is the best, don't worry DCUM lawyers), and pretty much any PhD program these days.

Oh yes. Definitely street clear of Yale and Princeton and MIT. They are not worthy of your little genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It all depends on fit. I have one kid at a top 20 national university (engineering major) and one at a top 3 LAC (premed). Both love where they go. Each type of college has its drawbacks and benefits.

There are more than 5-15 % of applicants that "fit". That is hogwash. It is a matter of what the SCHOOL is looking for that year, the school's admission priorities. It is luck at a certain point.
Read "who gets in and why".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

Well a gifted something. If not a recruited athlete, these kids are exceptional musical talents, or writing, or stem, etc. It's an intimidating group.

Yes. Legacy or URM too.

Don't know about legacy status but the urm's are as intimidating talent wise as all the rest.

I’m sorry but this is just absolutely not true in my experience dealing with kids from HYPSC schools

Is the C for Cornell?

Usually, the C is for the University of Chicago. HYPSCC would include Columbia.

The more common acronym is HYPSM (MIT).

The posters who try to sneak their school in with HYPSM are funny.

Or sneak YP and M in with Harvard and Stanford with how things have been over the last 30 years. US News is keeping those other letters in play.
HS is where you want to go for undergrad, business school, med school, ed school, law school (Y is the best, don't worry DCUM lawyers), and pretty much any PhD program these days.

Oh yes. Definitely street clear of Yale and Princeton and MIT. They are not worthy of your little genius.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having high stats and being a gifted athlete is the secret sauce.

Well a gifted something. If not a recruited athlete, these kids are exceptional musical talents, or writing, or stem, etc. It's an intimidating group.

Yes. Legacy or URM too.

Don't know about legacy status but the urm's are as intimidating talent wise as all the rest.

I’m sorry but this is just absolutely not true in my experience dealing with kids from HYPSC schools

Is the C for Cornell?

Usually, the C is for the University of Chicago. HYPSCC would include Columbia.

Chicago? Absolutely not. Caltech and Columbia would be more likely than Chicago. I’d rather send my kid to at least 9 schools before Chicago (Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Caltech, Duke, Columbia, Penn, Yale). Northwestern and Dartmouth are probably better undergrad experiences as well.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all know that superb stats are not enough for one to get an offer of admission to Stanford, Harvard, and/or Princeton. At what point are superb stats enough to get one an offer of admission to an elite private National University ?

In another thread, a poster listed Stanford, Harvard, and Princeton as their daughter's top 3 school choices. The poster stated that her daughter had the stats for these schools. Most of us understand that stellar stats (GPA, class rank, and standardized test scores) are not enough to generate an offer of admission to the most elite private National Universities.

Is there a point at which stellar stats are enough for admission to an elite private National University ? If so, where--in terms of US News rank--is that point ?

For a student interested in studying liberal arts whose top choice schools are Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Northwestern or any Ivy, wouldn't applying ED to a Top 10 SLAC be a wiser path due to the relatively high ED admission rates ? (#1 ranked Williams College and #2 ranked Amherst College have reported ED admission rates above 30% within the past few years.)


Being rich so you are a legacy/Z lister/development donor candidate coming from exclusive private school with lots of extracurriculars and experiences which require resources and connections.

2. Being poor URM from inner city or rural public schools where you shine against peer backdrop and have access to pricy activities and special programs through sponsorships.

3. Being incredibly lucky on top of being incredibly talented.

[Anonymous]

1. Being rich so you are a legacy/Z lister/development donor candidate coming from exclusive private school with lots of extracurriculars and experiences which require resources and connections.

2. Being poor URM from inner city or rural public schools where you shine against peer backdrop and have access to pricy activities and special programs through sponsorships.

3. Being incredibly lucky on top of being incredibly talented.

[Anonymous]

The only kids I know at elite (or very good, I'm not going to argue with whether you think these are all elite or not) schools are ones with an athletic hook:
-Harvard (field hockey)
-MIT (Crew)
-Cornell (Crew)
-Dartmouth (field hockey)
-Georgetown (fencing)
-BC (soccer)

[Anonymous]

Worst traits are being Asian(east or south), being middle middle class and attending competitive suburban public schools.