Did Anyone Here Get Merit Aid to a Top School?

[Anonymous]

I interview for Yale and find it bizarre that she didn't get into Ivys. However, I have interviewed 2 or 3 comparably impressive students (in very different ways) who did not get in. The other 3 most impressive candidates I've had did get in (though one got deferred early & then admitted). (I've also had 2 likely letter athletes get in who weren't nearly as impressive; but I'm counting one recruited athlete who remains the single most impressive person I've interviewed.)

Anyway, I think her failure to get into Ivys is bizarre and I DON'T think most Ivy admits have similar qualifications. BUT I have seen equally bizarre waitlists... sometimes it happened when they took a different, very similar candidate from the same school. Any chance that happened to her?

[Anonymous]

Maybe they were looking for an athletic tuba player from the south. Or a French speaking Native American.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I interview for Yale and find it bizarre that she didn't get into Ivys. However, I have interviewed 2 or 3 comparably impressive students (in very different ways) who did not get in. The other 3 most impressive candidates I've had did get in (though one got deferred early & then admitted). (I've also had 2 likely letter athletes get in who weren't nearly as impressive; but I'm counting one recruited athlete who remains the single most impressive person I've interviewed.)

Anyway, I think her failure to get into Ivys is bizarre and I DON'T think most Ivy admits have similar qualifications. BUT I have seen equally bizarre waitlists... sometimes it happened when they took a different, very similar candidate from the same school. Any chance that happened to her?

Can interviewers see the applicants’ stats and commonapp info before the interview?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I interview for Yale and find it bizarre that she didn't get into Ivys. However, I have interviewed 2 or 3 comparably impressive students (in very different ways) who did not get in. The other 3 most impressive candidates I've had did get in (though one got deferred early & then admitted). (I've also had 2 likely letter athletes get in who weren't nearly as impressive; but I'm counting one recruited athlete who remains the single most impressive person I've interviewed.)

Anyway, I think her failure to get into Ivys is bizarre and I DON'T think most Ivy admits have similar qualifications. BUT I have seen equally bizarre waitlists... sometimes it happened when they took a different, very similar candidate from the same school. Any chance that happened to her?

Can interviewers see the applicants’ stats and commonapp info before the interview?

Harvard interviewer here. No we can’t see all that, we only get basic info about the student like HS name. But yes this girl is more impressive on paper than some of the Harvard admits I’ve interviewed. Of course we’ve also rejected many impressive ones too, at this point it can feel like a lottery

[Anonymous]

I tried to dissect her resume. The impressive part is mostly academic. GPA, AP's, and SAT are very impressive. The co-author of a book is impressive. Everything else is shared by a lot of kids ---competitions (no big wins), volunteering, part-time job, fluent in her native language, club president, etc -- which is probably why she was waitlisted at Ivy's. Believe it or not, lots of TJ kids have similar profiles minus a slightly lower GPA. But Duke saw her potential and she would do great there!!

[Anonymous]

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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.

I would guess that majority of incoming math majors at Harvard (if they are from the middle class and up background) have significant math related achievements such as high scores on AIME; basically not just bright, genius level.

Which is not to diminish the Duke girl's achievements. But if you select for math specifically, there are other things to look at.

[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.

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.

I would guess that majority of incoming math majors at Harvard (if they are from the middle class and up background) have significant math related achievements such as high scores on AIME; basically not just bright, genius level.

Which is not to diminish the Duke girl's achievements. But if you select for math specifically, there are other things to look at.

Harvard interviewer again. I agree that the lack of AIME or Math Prize for Girls is a bit perplexing and probably caused some pause given her clear aptitude for math. That’s really the only flaw I can see other than perhaps a general lack of major awards. But good for Duke to still take a shot because having major awards isn’t everything.