Anonymous
Post 03/30/2014 16:29     Subject: Ivy League admission rate for Class of 2018

http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/20/college-admission...the-myth-of-higher-selectivity

Attached is a Time magazine article about admission to the most selective colleges and universities. Among other things, the article makes the point that admissions to these top schools is so "selective" because the Common App allows an ever-increasing number of students to more easily apply to those schools. That increases the number of applicants to those schools for whom admission would truly be a "Hail Mary" stretch (e.g. student with gpas and test scores below the 25-50%ile ranges of admitted students). In other words, there are a lot of applicants who have very little chance but still apply because the common app makes it easier to do so, and everyone want to try for their "dream school".
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2014 15:11     Subject: Re:Ivy League admission rate for Class of 2018

Development cases? What percentage? I bet single digits. Legacy admits constitute a crazy amount -- 30% at Harvard as of 2011 (not sure it remained the same for more recent admissions cycles).
How could being a legacy hurt?


Most legacies get in because they have the grades, test scores, and accomplishments to independently achieve admission on their own merit, like the previous poster who provided their child's impressive stats. I have heard that, in some cases, it is actually more difficult for an independently accomplished and qualified legacy of one top-25 school to be admitted to another top-25 school, because the other school(s) (who want healthy yield stats) work under the assumption that the legacy will likely prefer the parent's alma mater over them.


I know, personally, one family legacy of the Ivies (three past family members went) who kid met all the criteria to get in, but he refused to pay the 150K donation (read extortion) to the legacy fund, so she went somewhere else.



I've never heard of a $150K "legacy fund," and I know several Harvard legacy kids, including in my own family. Sure, it's true that even Harvard, heck any college, looks more favorably on legacies where the family shows some kind of commitment to the school, like annual donations of a few hundred dollars or doing alumn interviews of applicants.

Snicker snicker....and maybe do a bake sale.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2014 14:28     Subject: Re:Ivy League admission rate for Class of 2018

Anonymous wrote:I bet if Harvard just one year admitted an entire class of normal students - A/B students with an occasional C, students that worked at the Dairy Queen,played a sport or belonged to a club or two, those students could thrive at a place like Harvard.


+100
Anonymous
Post 03/29/2014 17:21     Subject: Ivy League admission rate for Class of 2018

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Development cases? What percentage? I bet single digits. Legacy admits constitute a crazy amount -- 30% at Harvard as of 2011 (not sure it remained the same for more recent admissions cycles).
How could being a legacy hurt?


Most legacies get in because they have the grades, test scores, and accomplishments to independently achieve admission on their own merit, like the previous poster who provided their child's impressive stats. I have heard that, in some cases, it is actually more difficult for an independently accomplished and qualified legacy of one top-25 school to be admitted to another top-25 school, because the other school(s) (who want healthy yield stats) work under the assumption that the legacy will likely prefer the parent's alma mater over them.


I know, personally, one family legacy of the Ivies (three past family members went) who kid met all the criteria to get in, but he refused to pay the 150K donation (read extortion) to the legacy fund, so she went somewhere else.



I've never heard of a $150K "legacy fund," and I know several Harvard legacy kids, including in my own family. Sure, it's true that even Harvard, heck any college, looks more favorably on legacies where the family shows some kind of commitment to the school, like annual donations of a few hundred dollars or doing alumn interviews of applicants.