If you attended or are currently attending Yale, Harvard, Princeton or Stanford...?

Question

I asked this questions yesterday,while many of the answers were helpful, I am hoping for more responses this time.

I am interested in attending a prestigious college in the United States. I have good grades, am taking rigorous classes(honors and AP), and am in a lot of academic extracurricular activites. If you have attended an extremely prestigious school I am curious to know what set you apart from other people who applied. I have heard that students who are getting into Harvard are those who are already publishing books. How true are statements like that one? Your helpful answers are greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

"I have heard that students who are getting into Harvard are those who are already publishing books."

Complete BS. Many of the students accepted this year at elite universities like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc are semi-normal kids who happen to have a combination of good grades, one or two obvious passions, impressive writing skills [for college essays], and a pinch of luck in the college admissions process.

To give you an idea, I will be attending Northwestern University this fall, and my senior schedule has consisted of AP courses with A's and B's. I have two passions: music and writing. I'm one of the top three flute players at my school and the Editor in Chief of my HS newspaper. I'm also on Math Team and in Spanish Club. I've done about 50+ hours of volunteer work, I'm in a few Honor Socieities, National Merit student, AP Scholar, awards for flute, etc. I consider myself a talented writer, and college recs were very positive. My ACT score was a 31, with perfect scores in English and in Writing. With those stats, I was accepted to Northwestern University, which had an admit rate this year of 24.9%.

The statement that many kids who attend elite schools are geniuses is just a myth. Yes, at Harvard or Yale you are going to have your Westinghouse science winners, international chess champions, olympic athletes, published authors, and music prodigies. But keep in mind that those students are in the minority - I would assume they make up 5% of the student body, if that much.

The key to getting accepted to a selective university (in my opinion, of course) is to demonstrate a passion for something. Universities love to see commitment - they trust that you will continue your hobbie(s) at their school and contribute to diversity there. Your passions are what make you unique and distinguish you from all of the other average applications with good grades and respectable test scores. While publishing a book at age 12 certainly does increase your odds of admission, for the many of us who don't quite have those capabilities, the next best thing is to demonstrate a serious interest in one or two areas (sports, music, writing, etc) and pursue it to the best of your ability. :)

Answer 2

It's evident that some of these kids are not very knowledgeable about elite schools. There is a huge difference between the very top schools such as HYP and the other Ivies, Stanford, Duke, MIT, vs. the next tier of top schools such as Emory, Washington and Northwestern.

For instance, Northwestern kids have average SAT of 1400/1600 while Princeton kids have 1500+/1600. That is a HUGE difference. About a quarter of all the kids at PRinceton got 800s. Princeton turned down about 800 valedictorians this year, as Northwestern accepted 124. The admit rate for NU was about 24 -28%. The admit rate at Princeton was about 9 -10% from a stronger applicant pool. Columbia's admit rate was less than 9% according to a recent NY Times article. And I'm not saying that NU is bad! On the contrary, it is very highly respected! But it is a step down from the top. The average HYP student would be at the top level of even other respected universities.

When you are Harvard and receive about 22,000 applications from the best students in the world, and can only accept 2000, then it is hard to say which tiny little detail of the resume or reference letter will sway the admissions office. But it is clear that very, very few kids get admitted to these elite schools who have anything less than outstanding credentials in any way. A seat at an elite school is a precious commodity -- the admissions officers give out only to those kids who their best judgment tells them will be able to take greatest advantage.

Answer 3

Sorry I have no longer attended any of the ones colleges, however at my college there was once this chick who had skipped a grade, who had i suppose superb GPA, 36!!! on her ACT, and was once prez of dialogue and band, and recieved 5s on practically all of her AP exams, however nonetheless acquired denied to Harvard. Anyone like the woman above is simply an ordinary shmoe at the ones faculties. Yeah, plenty of children who're authorized to these faculties have the ones credentials PLUS are founding charities, writing books, inventing new electronics, or have the loved ones identify repute.

Answer 4

I go to Pepperdine University, it's a private university. What set me apart from other applicants were slight at most. Everyone who applied was qualified academic-wise but i suppose what helped me get accepted was that my father is an Alumni. So my advise to you if your parents are not alumnis is to perhaps donate some money to the school. All of the schools that you've listed above very hard school to get into, only about 1200 are accepted per school per year. Don't feel bad if you don't get in.

Answer 5

Having attended a top university, I'd have to say that very little sets me apart from anyone else and almost nothing separates the students at this school from schools ranked a hundred back...

it's just that when you apply, you're either accepted as you are or not.

they're certainly not any different here than elsewhere, though they like to think so.