Could my daughters consider Ivies or MIT?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I have two daughters–twins but very different–doing a college search right now.

We are pleased to say that they both just found out they received a 36 ACT score. This made us think…should they consider more challenging schools? And will they have less of a chance anyway because they are twins?

Stats-- D #1
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.3 W
AP: Calc B/C: 5; Psychology: 5; Chem: 5 (Taking 4 next year: AP Gov, Econ, Stats, Physics)
ACT: 36C; SAT II Math II 790, Chem 800; PSAT 720E/760M
Desired major(s): Applied Mathematics, Operations Research, Statistics
EC’s: Church (Head acolyte); Band (section leader); Girl Scout Gold Award; School clubs (1 President, 2 Treasurer positions); Quiz Bowl Nationals; Paid tutor for Math (set up own service); School Gold Award (Top Student) for Calc B/C; Johns Hopkins Data Science course distinction certificate; NHS and Spanish Honors Service clubs; Tae Kwon Do purple belt.
Demographics: white, female, at at top 75 high school in state, California resident.
Hooks: none.
Considering instate: UC Berkeley, Cal Poly, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego
Considering out of state: Rice, William & Mary, Emory, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, U Penn (reach)

Stats-- D #2
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.2 W
AP: Biology: 5; Psychology: 5 (Taking 4 next year: AP Gov, Econ, Lit and Calc B/C)
ACT: 36C; SAT II Bio 800, Math II not reported yet; PSAT 760E/740M
Desired major(s): Biology/Biological Sciences
EC’s: Yearbook (Editor in Chief); Girl Scout Gold Award; School clubs (2 Treasurer positions); Varsity Water Polo 4 years (Central Coast regionals junior year); Paid Yearbook camp counselor; Avid Cosplayer; Interact and NHS Service clubs.
Demographics: white, female, at top 75 high school in state, California resident.
Hooks: none.
Considering instate: UC Berkeley, Cal Poly, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego
Considering out of state: Emory, Columbia (reach), UPenn (reach), Tufts, Georgia Tech, Brown (reach)

2

Yes!

3

Their ec’s might be a little spread out and not focused enough for these schools, but they both have a 36 and a 4.0 uw so it doesn’t get any better than that. They can apply anywhere they want and have a chance of getting in though. And being twins won’t be held against them, unless they both want to go to the same school, in which case it’s just statistically less likely they both get into one of these schools.

4

Since so many have these high scores, chances are low, but clearly the scores are more than high enough. They should apply if they like the schools. Category admissions (e.g., California, Gold Award) could conceivably keep them out of the same school, but could even help them (twins!); the categories are unpredictable and unknowable, and maybe overstated (here).

5

Stats are definitely there. But just keep in mind that those schools reject more kids with those stats than they accept.

6

At the school I know best, high performing twins aren’t disadvantaged. So don’t think either should limit her list, based on that. I think top private adcoms are going to want to love them. But you haven’t shown any math-sci ECs (ex Quiz Bowl for #1.) Have they taken APUSH and either AP world or Euro? Did #1 get in any AP English related? Did they do comm service outside the hs club context (which is sometimes spotty/)

Look at the common app and supps, to understand how they can make the self presentation (more than a resume.) And the MIT admissions blogs, especially by MITChris, really, the best info out there about how they view.

7

Thank you for the advice. So much of this process is unknowable, that it is frustrating to me (an engineer).

I think what we have decided to do is to just add a couple of schools to the list, but not eliminate any. The two we are thinking of adding are Harvey Mudd and Stanford. Both instate, but fiendishly hard to get into, we have been told. Right now D#1 is thinking that she doesn’t fit the mold of an MIT or CalTech student (and the Ivies are still too much of a reach), and it also seems like D#2 is drifting toward preferring instate.

On a side note–to answer questions-- they have not taken an AP History class, though D#2 is taking AP Lit next year. D#1 has lots of extra community service (mostly a local food pantry) aside from her Gold Award and HS clubs.

8

I would also run some net price calculators. Top schools are generally more expensive for the upper middle class and up. However, they can be cheaper for actual median income and down.

If college costs are going to be a strain, your kids are excellent candidates for merit aid.

9

Still, read the MIT blogs.

10

@twinmom3000 Stanford actually has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard, or any of the Ivies. Not sure what they’re majoring in but they have just as much of a shot at HYPC as they do at Stanford. .

11

Twins are an interesting story. From what I understand if both twins apply to the same school then their chances are bound together.

In other words they’ll either be rejected together or accepted together. Since your twins look so similar on paper to avoid arguments on hair splitting the committee usually accepts or rejects both as a block.

I would say to shoot for the moon. You never really know. But work in refining their stories to make them appear a bit more distinct.

12

My daughter is currently a student at Rice. Based on what I’ve seen of news stories from the school and other anecdotes over the years, Rice has an appreciation for twins. Your daughters would certainly be good candidates for the school.

13

^^ Can’t generalize.

14

As a poster above commented, Stanford has a lower acceptance rate than HYP these days. The Ivies are no more out of reach than Stanford. Are your DDs interested in an east coast experience?

15

I think that D#1 is more interested in going out of state than D#2. Culturally, D#2 enjoys California more. Both would prefer to go to a “better” school out of state, then a lower-ranked in-state school. UC California schools are known to be very difficult to get into.

What would everyone think about adding WashU in St. Louis to the list for D#1?

16

Wash U would be well within her stats. But the location—St. Louis might be a disappointment, both culturally and weather-wise.

17

Have they thought about Princeton, Duke, Georgetown? With their stats, why not add some more tippy-tops?

Do they know what kind of neighborhood UPenn is in? If they like urban, Harvard has Boston/Cambridge, much safer and full of rich history and tons of college students.

Also, with their scores, I’d say for CA, they only need to apply to Berkeley, UCLA and UCSD–they should get in all three.

18

Another Stanford factor to consider - the difference between Early and RD acceptance rates is minimal. I don’t want to debate whether applying early really helps anywhere but it definitely doesn’t at Stanford. Some schools you might have not been thinking about Franklin W.Olin and Cooper Union

19

If daughter 1 likes the idea of a tech school I would absolutely apply to MIT. She looks like a plausible candidate to me, particularly for top techy schools that want to admit well-qualified women. I suspect she will have somewhat better chances than daughter 2 in general as well because I think colleges like to see females in under-represented areas and because she has more related ECs.

20

WUSTL is unpredicatble.