Anonymous wrote:Meaning none of these: legacy, athlete, FGLI/Questbridge, donor/celeb/VIP kids. What are they looking for? Do normal people get in with highest SAT, GPA, top rigor and not oversubscribed majors (not comp sci, engineering, business, eco, pre med)?

I did but it was back in the day so ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My (recruited athlete) son’s freshman roommate was a UMC Asian guy who was brilliant at math and had won state and maybe national competitions. He was also really funny and laid back—I imagine his application conveyed his personality well. There was a guy on their hall who was a white kid from Oregon, not first gen, whose primary EC was working as an assistant at the local morgue.

I'd think the math competitions, if they are prestigious ones (or the state is CA or NY and they're huge competitions) is a hook in and of itself. I know a kid with this profile that got into both Stanford and Harvard.

Sure, but “hook” is a term of art in the college admissions world and is used to refer to things that are not related to kids’ academic achievements. OP’s description is a good one “legacy, athlete, FGLI/Questbridge, donor/celeb/VIP kids”. The term in the past included URMs as well.

DS’s roommate was from Michigan, if I recall correctly.

My friend's kid - went to private school (grandparents paid), excellent grades and scores, and just really interesting combination of background/interests/activities. not the bs 'passion project' stuff or national awards or whatever this board will tell you is important. the schools know the kids they want - are a very large percentage of them legacy, donor, athlete, etc? sure, but then they have to fill out the rest of the spots with brilliant, interesting kids.

Our babysitter's mother's uncle's son's friend was admitted uncooked.

Not in DMV area, but someone from a local private school that serves kids with learning differences (dyslexia, ADHD etc) got into stanford this year.

Anonymous wrote:What about the "start a nonprofit" and "national-level awards in the performing arts?" I know kids who got in with those. So hooked kids, but not the hooks you mentioned.

Is this young arts?

Unhooked from our public, 1540 SAT, one B, but out of the 40-50 applicants, he was one of two accepted. No awards, but talented violin player and busked in his free time with friends. Really great kid. Loved by teachers.

My neighbor’s two kids got into both Stanford and Harvard for CS - Asian males/ UMC/ CT suburb public school kids. Tippy top grades and SAT of 1570/1600. Main ECs were major (but hyper local) impact to their community. One kid’s was school focused, the other kid did something for our regional town. Got a lot of local press but nothing national. Must have come through in recommendations. I know all this because the kids are genuinely kind and caring and were very open, humble and transparent with what they were doing.

Anonymous wrote:What about the "start a nonprofit" and "national-level awards in the performing arts?" I know kids who got in with those. So hooked kids, but not the hooks you mentioned.

Re: performing arts, I know someone who played an instrument incredibly well and ended up playing that instrument for the Stanford Band and Stanford Orchestra.

Anonymous wrote:My (recruited athlete) son’s freshman roommate was a UMC Asian guy who was brilliant at math and had won state and maybe national competitions. He was also really funny and laid back—I imagine his application conveyed his personality well. There was a guy on their hall who was a white kid from Oregon, not first gen, whose primary EC was working as an assistant at the local morgue.

I'd think the math competitions, if they are prestigious ones (or the state is CA or NY and they're huge competitions) is a hook in and of itself. I know a kid with this profile that got into both Stanford and Harvard.

My (recruited athlete) son’s freshman roommate was a UMC Asian guy who was brilliant at math and had won state and maybe national competitions. He was also really funny and laid back—I imagine his application conveyed his personality well. There was a guy on their hall who was a white kid from Oregon, not first gen, whose primary EC was working as an assistant at the local morgue.

Grinders.
People who focus on being productive and gaining accolades every minute of every hour of the day.
2 in DCs class got in REA that way.

What about the "start a nonprofit" and "national-level awards in the performing arts?" I know kids who got in with those. So hooked kids, but not the hooks you mentioned.

My friend's kid at TJ magnet got in unhooked. A super smart kid that stood out even with lots of super smart peers around him, and a nice one.

Meaning none of these: legacy, athlete, FGLI/Questbridge, donor/celeb/VIP kids. What are they looking for? Do normal people get in with highest SAT, GPA, top rigor and not oversubscribed majors (not comp sci, engineering, business, eco, pre med)?