To those who have kids at T20s

[Anonymous]

What did they do during high school. Stats?

[Anonymous]

DS was a recruited athlete so not a perfect example. Dedicated most of his time to his sport and DECA (2 x ICDC qualifier).

As for stats, 4.4 W GPA and a 1510 SAT

[Anonymous]

DD is a student at Johns Hopkins where she studies neuroscience. She didn't have any hooks. She's just a normal kid from a NOVA high school.

Quick Summary:
*Recognized nationally for TSA, writing, piano, and student ambassadors program.
*Did a lot of community service (about 500 hours) that had real impact in the community and won a President's Service Award (But did NOT start a nonprofit/club, she just invested in what was already existing and helped make it better)
*Researched with UMD and went to Gov School during the summers.
*Played sports just for fun/community, worked a part-time job (surprisingly her part-time job took up the most time out of all her activities).

She had a 34 ACT and a 3.98 UW GPA (took 9 AP's in high school)

Most importantly, she is a kind individual. In her letters of rec, her ability to empathize and lift people up was her no.1 trait, and as a parent that made me so proud. She showed that she is committed to doing what she does because it's the right thing to do, nothing more, nothing less. I guess colleges liked that.

[Anonymous]

Stats 4.8 weighted GPA and 1580 SAT.

Math/science magnet high school.

Played/plays musical instrument at a high-level including winning regional competitions. A few hundred hours of community service, involvement in various orchestras, one extracurricular sport.

[Anonymous]

DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

Does anyone who isn't at Princeton use HYP this way? It seems like a way to pretend to not disclose a school while actually doing the exact opposite? Because who gets into Harvard and doesn't just say Harvard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

Does anyone who isn't at Princeton use HYP this way? It seems like a way to pretend to not disclose a school while actually doing the exact opposite? Because who gets into Harvard and doesn't just say Harvard?

I'm the PP - so I thought it was totally weird too when I used to see parents do this, but have come to realize on anonymous boards it feels a little better than being specific about the school because I don't want my kid identified or recognized. I have no idea if other parents use this for same reason. In any case, the schools have nearly identical admission rates so for discussions like these reasonable to group them. And the message I was trying to convey, more than a specific thing about where my kid is going to school, is that the highly selective schools that use holistic admissions really do seem to care about more than just stats. Trying to figure out how to get your kid in based on someone else's application is probably not particularly fruitful because I really do believe that the kid who has been self directed and pursued things they really care about stands a better chance than the kid who has been pushed by a parent to achieve certain stats or pursue high visibility ECs.

[Anonymous]

You can also look up each college's Common Data Set, section C9, for some admission stats. A subset of that data is also posted at https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

Does anyone who isn't at Princeton use HYP this way? It seems like a way to pretend to not disclose a school while actually doing the exact opposite? Because who gets into Harvard and doesn't just say Harvard?

I'm the PP - so I thought it was totally weird too when I used to see parents do this, but have come to realize on anonymous boards it feels a little better than being specific about the school because I don't want my kid identified or recognized. I have no idea if other parents use this for same reason. In any case, the schools have nearly identical admission rates so for discussions like these reasonable to group them. And the message I was trying to convey, more than a specific thing about where my kid is going to school, is that the highly selective schools that use holistic admissions really do seem to care about more than just stats. Trying to figure out how to get your kid in based on someone else's application is probably not particularly fruitful because I really do believe that the kid who has been self directed and pursued things they really care about stands a better chance than the kid who has been pushed by a parent to achieve certain stats or pursue high visibility ECs.

The PP was actually kind enough to provide some thoughtful information to the OPs question. Why would you even make a comment about HYP? Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Just call it luck because it always seems a little random among the strong students. DC didn't start up a charity, create an app, or win a national competition. DC had a relatively typical profile from a strong independent school -- 1500+ SATs, post AP-level in the core academic subjects (English, history, foreign language, math, science), a couple A-s on the transcript -- and normal ECs (school paper, drama). If I were to guess, the differential were the teacher recs that emphasized DC's "intellectual leadership" and "best in career" descriptions. DC also attended a competitive free summer program that is well perceived by some admissions offices. DC was confident about the college list but I wouldn't have been surprised if DC got rejected by the reaches. And DC would have been happy at any of the schools.

[Anonymous]

DS got accepted into a top 10 school and plans to enter as a freshman in fall 2021. He is doing a gap year abroad this year, planned long before coronavirus. Totally unhooked.

Stats and some details: Private school, 4.5 weighted, took all hard classes, aced his SATs, leadership roles in several extracurriculars. Great summer internships that he lucked into. Tons of community service.

It was mostly luck. There are tons of kids with similar resumes who don't get in. He knows it and appreciates the opportunity he has been given.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

Does anyone who isn't at Princeton use HYP this way? It seems like a way to pretend to not disclose a school while actually doing the exact opposite? Because who gets into Harvard and doesn't just say Harvard?

I actually thought Cornell, not HYP. HYPs take top 1-2% students. Cornell, top 10%.

[Anonymous]

DS is in one. From a magnet school, had high GPA and high test scores but not NM. Also took lots of APs, so think rigorous course load. I think that's just a baseline though and expected. Involved in a variety of clubs with some leadership and did a time consuming sport at a relatively high level. Honestly, I think it was bc he's book smart as evidenced by grades/test scores and well rounded in doing things that he enjoyed and stuck with. I discount the LoRs though as one teacher didn't bother to submit (that was a disaster!) and the one that did was probably meh. We also suspect that the counselor letter was basically what we sent in. So smart, well rounded and committed...............but I truly believe a crap shoot. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

Does anyone who isn't at Princeton use HYP this way? It seems like a way to pretend to not disclose a school while actually doing the exact opposite? Because who gets into Harvard and doesn't just say Harvard?

I actually thought Cornell, not HYP. HYPs take top 1-2% students. Cornell, top 10%.

PP again - hmm this may be true at your kids' school. Our school tends to have kids getting admitted to the most selective schools from across the top decile (and sometimes 2nd decile.) They report by decile only so I don't know where my kid or anybody else's kid fell in that range. However, based on what I have gleaned from this experience I think that these parent boards tend to overestimate the importance of perfect stats (I believe this is what you mean by the top 1-2%.) These schools turn away kids with perfect GPA/SATs all the time, we know this. The school my daughter is going to turned down our valedictorian the year before. The stats are just the starting point and beyond a certain point of high achievement there's a diminishing rate of return on going for perfect. My understanding is that they much prefer the kid with strong but slightly less than perfect stats who has shown themselves to be a passionate and committed learner. When I think of the kids I know who have gone to the Ivies, MIT, etc etc that is what they have in common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD entering freshman at HYP. No hooks - white UMC girl from northeast who is not an athlete or legacy and needs financial aid. Top 10% of her class - one of the top 3 publics in our state. Grades not perfect but strong throughout and she took the full "challenging" courseload. SAT strong but also not perfect, just at the average for her school. In general I think for most selective schools the stats piece is the first hoop to jump through, not what gets people in. What really distinguished her was all the "holistic admissions" stuff - she dedicated herself to an interesting range of ECs and was able to tie them together in her app via the essays in interesting and thoughtful ways. She was a bit of a unicorn in her school and that worked to her advantage. Her LORs were strong I believe, although I didn't read them I believe at least one of them was along the lines of "one of top students in my career" stuff. I don't know why she got in, but I would say that she demonstrated deep commitment to a few activities and interests in a way that came though as pretty authentic in her application.

Does anyone who isn't at Princeton use HYP this way? It seems like a way to pretend to not disclose a school while actually doing the exact opposite? Because who gets into Harvard and doesn't just say Harvard?

I actually thought Cornell, not HYP. HYPs take top 1-2% students. Cornell, top 10%.

PP again - hmm this may be true at your kids' school. Our school tends to have kids getting admitted to the most selective schools from across the top decile (and sometimes 2nd decile.) They report by decile only so I don't know where my kid or anybody else's kid fell in that range. However, based on what I have gleaned from this experience I think that these parent boards tend to overestimate the importance of perfect stats (I believe this is what you mean by the top 1-2%.) These schools turn away kids with perfect GPA/SATs all the time, we know this. The school my daughter is going to turned down our valedictorian the year before. The stats are just the starting point and beyond a certain point of high achievement there's a diminishing rate of return on going for perfect. My understanding is that they much prefer the kid with strong but slightly less than perfect stats who has shown themselves to be a passionate and committed learner. When I think of the kids I know who have gone to the Ivies, MIT, etc etc that is what they have in common.

MIT is a bit different from Ivies, though, IMO. They are looking for a more specific skill set and commitment to STEM.