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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I might have misread the group, but from what I learned from DCUM it made it seem like there is little hope for well rounded kids at T20. My well rounded DS got into Duke without any hook or some niche factor. So did his best friend to an Ivy.

Sample size of two, but my son almost did not apply as it seemed pointless to write the essays.  If you have a well rounded kid, do apply.
 [/quote]

Yeah, this is an old DCUM canard. In fact, well-rounded, average-excellent kids get into top 20 schools all the time. Our DMV public school (not a magnet or top-ranked) has kids getting into most if not all Ivies, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Michigan, etc. most years, and these kids are almost without exception well-rounded and average-excellent.

My kid who falls in this category is in to Michigan and waiting on three more top 20 schools, including an Ivy. I wouldn’t be surprised by admission to none of them or all of them based on historical results.[/quote]

[b]For every kid with these stats and activities that are in, there are dozens who are not.[/b]  The exception doesn’t disprove the rule.[/quote]

Right, because these schools have single-digit acceptance rates. By definition, for every kid who gets in, 10-20 don’t. That doesn’t change the fact that the kids who do get in are often well-rounded and average-excellent; they’re not all or even mostly hooked or pointy or exceptional.[/quote]

[b]I fell for the "need to be pointy to get into T20" thing last year and it is probably the most prevalent fallacy on DCUM. DS is in at one of HYPSM and from what we hear about his suitemates all except one are genuinely well rounded bright kids[/b]. The one exception is a recruited athlete which obviously is a hook.

[/quote]

Are you saying a kid who wants to major in Bio or Chem could have as good a chance getting into HYPMS just by getting top grades at a good HS, taking rigorous science classes, having no crazy national awards/published research paper/internship at NASA as any so-called pointy kids?[/quote]

Not PP but it’s unlikely without a hook or attending a feeder school. [/quote]

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