Tell me about the kids you know getting into the Ivy League . . .
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Anonymous
... if it makes you feel better about yourself. Sounds like jealous to me |
Anonymous
national level: chosen as a speaker to the US Senate and published in senate record (not sure if that is what it is called, sorry) |
Anonymous
| Of the 10-20 recent Ivy admits that I know pretty well, the breakdown is roughly 30% primarily recruited athlete; 30% primarily underrepresented minority; 40% no obvious hooks. Naturally, most of these admittees fall into multiple categories, i.e., some of the athletes are also URM and/or strong academically. There were legacies in each category and non-legacies with prominent parents. None of those with hooks were dummies, I’d say most could get into a school like UVA or Wake without the hook. Almost all were very presentable and well rounded. |
Anonymous
Which sport? |
Anonymous
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Minority, incredibly hard worker who loves learning. Winner of several fellowships/scholarships,
traveled with well known choir, started own charity, published article in well known journal. Excellent grades. High but not outstanding test scores. |
Anonymous
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My nephew is going to Yale for a sport, recruited athlete but also a really good student, had about a 2040 on his SAT's but a 4.0 unweighted, a really top prospect and a great all around kid.
He has tremendous drive so even without the sport, I think he would have ended up at an Ivy (and probably would have done better on his SAT's with the extra time he would have had by not playing a sport) I think the drive and quest to succeed is what separates "regular" kids from those who aspire and/or end up in Ivies. |
Anonymous
Yes. These are my kids. Rigorous academics, not perfect gpa, not recruited athlete, not legacy not urm. Very smart, hardworking and interesting. |
Anonymous
| Agree that in our experience at two local top schools, maybe 50% are unhooked. For the really difficult schools to get into at least from this area (the obvious HYPS, plus Brown and Columbia, less so Penn and Dartmouth and Cornell), there are the kids that are just truly brilliant, very top students who teachers even at competitive schools can say honestly are in the top few % of kids they have ever taught, intellectually in one are or another. These kids are few and far between, but they are obvious, and sometimes obvious even at a national or international level (math olympiads, Intel, published writers etc). And clearly the schools/teachers convey their intellectual achievements, because they do seem to get in, even without hooks and even without much in the way of ECs sometimes. These are not simply kids with 2400 or close SATs and 5s on APs, those are a dime a dozen around here, but truly something special. Then there is a larger group of kids that are intellectually really tops, kids that any teacher enjoys speaking to and reading or seeing their work, who have a real spark of interest in the world around them and who are leaders on campus both in the classroom and out. These are the kids that the ECs are really important for, showing leadership and persistence and some talent, but really the first two characteristics seem even more important. In our experience these kids are socially very adept as well. These kids seem to have more random admissions results, and here is where the less than 10% admit rate shows up the most. One kid can get lucky and have readers with "good" vibes when their folder was read and get into almost everywhere, and others shut out from their top choices. |
Anonymous
Not sure it matters but this is not what most people think of when someone speaks of being published. To be "published" in the Congressional record all it takes is for one member to move that something be published. There's all sorts of garbage in there. And by "chosen" as a speaker, thats not nothing but it just means his Senator promoted him for whatever reason, not necessarily the merits of his writing. Which is all to say that if he's going around saying he's been published based on that, you're right, he has a huge ego. |
Anonymous
| Ivy Grad (undergrad + grad) One big difference between now and 20 years ago is there is general grade and SAT score inflation - which actually makes it harder for kids who are not presidential scholars or have legacy connections or whatever stand out talent they had before applying or have high caliber scores but can also compete on a sports team at the school giving them that edge (this is what people mean by 'recruiting' for athletics at Ivies, anyone who went to a second tier Ivy gets the lacrosse jokes and they are funny and real - the epitome of over privilege). Even back in the day, I had strong scores, won a couple national level prizes, semi-competitive athlete, and legacy. |
Anonymous
No. Harvard, Yale and Princeton require this sort of exceptionalism. Penn, Dartmouth, and Cornell, less so. Esp Penn. |
Anonymous
Penn has a lower acceptance rate than Cornell. Both are great schools, but I quibble with your characterizations here. |
Anonymous
(An Ivy grad here): Most of the 'recruited' Ivy athletes are still pretty good (or decent) students just not the best -- it's rarely like schools that recruit students who did poorly in high school and 'used and abused' -- most of them do fine with 'gentlemen' (or ladies) Bs and Cs - and they often have an advantage of a strong network of friends and legacies at the end of the path. (a bunch of former athletes who were all in a particularly fraternity - none of whom you would label as stand out top scholars for their school performance - all just gave the school $1 mil each at a reunion, thinking it was funny). Only knew of one football player who dropped out after getting injured. |
Anonymous
Penn grad here - they basically require kids from this area (who go to strong high schools) to apply early b/c they got sick of being seen as a fall back for HYP - so you do have a chance of getting in if you are more top 10% of class and then they also tend to accept/recruit stand out 'athlete scholars' (who can hack it academically but also stand out athletes) |
Anonymous
Concord Review for the student I know. |