<p>I am a rising senior with a 4.0 GPA (unweighted - 5 APs, 4 honors altogether after senior yr) & a 2200-2300 SAT score. I have quite a bit of extracurriculars (tutor, work as a ballet teacher, do dance, & volunteer). I am president of a language honor society & have received 2 academic awards at my school. Is there a good chance that I will get into the top schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Georgetown, etc.? </p>
<p>The reason I’m asking is because at my school, we use naviance which gives me the stats of the students in the last 2 years who have gotten accepted into a college. I go to an extremely geeky school with kids who take 10 APs & get 2400s but for some reason, out of the 50 top students that applied to Columbia, none got accepted. On the other hand, Harvard accepted 2/2 of the kids who applied (both of which got 2400s). So I’m confused as to what these schools want and whether I have a chance of actually getting in.</p>
<p>Columbia may have felt those students (out of tens of thousands of applicants) were not the best fit. When you get to top tier universities there is an abundance of applicants who are fully qualified. It is the adcoms job to take the applications and build the class they feel is the best fit for their school. Perhaps some of those students simply didn’t convey themselves in their essays as a good fit for Columbia. On the other hand, the students at Harvard could have had ‘hooks’, unique ECs, who knows? Each application is looked at individually so it’s impossible to answer. Admissions are subjective. Naviance is a wonderful tool, however it ONLY tells you scores and GPA. That’s it. Those are two in a multitude of factors considered. When you are not talking about your typical state flagship these are rarely the two deciding factors.</p>
<p>What are these schools looking for? Each school is looking for something different. Start with the Common Data Set and you will see how much importance is placed on factors, academic and non-academic. Another way to get a feeling for this is to visit the school if at all possible. Attend the admissions session (even if you think they are boring, you may honestly get a feeling for what they find important). Don’t hi-jack the session, but ask afterwards if there are things that jump out at an adcom, or if there is a certain ‘something’ they are looking for. Take the student led tour and at the end pick the brain of the student who was your guide. A couple of questions are certainly reasonable.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, there are schools that are simply a better fit for students. It’s a complicated equation. The adcoms select each student to build a class that they feel will continue the unique nature of their school. That does not mean they were ‘better’ students.</p>
<p>Having said this, there are unique differences between schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Georgetown, and certainly ‘etc.’. Spend some time finding out what you think is a good fit for YOU.</p>