<p>So I have heard from semi-reliable sources (including my moron guidance counselor) that schools are reluctant/rarely take twins in the same year. Is this true? I am a twin and my sibling would pretty much outbeat me at any school, but would that make a difference? I’m talking about a variety of schools such as cornell, UVA, Mcgill, UPENN, rochester… big or small, ivy or non ivy where would it hurt my chances?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Really? I’ve actually heard that colleges usually take twins together, assuming they are somewhat to pretty close in terms of achievement.</p>
<p>I never heard of this from anyone else, but I wondered about it when I applied to schools (I’m a twin, too).</p>
<p>It wasn’t much of a worry for me because I applied to a lot of different schools from my brother. For the ones we did both apply to, I was interested in seeing what happened. My dad seemed to think it would be a good thing because he felt they would be pressured into taking one if they took the other haha. I wasn’t so confident.</p>
<p>It turned out we both got into UPenn (actually we got into all of the schools we both applied to, but they weren’t Ivies or any of the ones you listed, so I doubt anyone cares about them). </p>
<p>He wanted to go there, I didn’t. Now we go to different schools where nobody knows we’re a twin unless we go out of our way to tell them (that’s the high life!). It’s been a good experience, trying to make myself stand out for a reason other than being a twin. I would recommend not compromising your goals just to go to school where your twin does. You’ll still talk to each other and probably even see each other if you don’t go too far away, and you’ll get a taste of what being a non-twin is like.</p>
<p>Hope this helped! Don’t be too worried about applications - I think if schools like you they don’t let superficial things (like twins) get in the way of their decisions. I’m sure they’ve dealt with tons of twins over the years (which is a reason not to play it up in your application, even though I know no real twin would do that to him or herself).</p>
<p>Oh and me and my brother are not very much alike, in terms of academics (not that either of us were bad students) or interests.</p>
<p>“He wanted to go there, I didn’t. Now we go to different schools where nobody knows we’re a twin unless we go out of our way to tell them (that’s the high life!). It’s been a good experience, trying to make myself stand out for a reason other than being a twin. I would recommend not compromising your goals just to go to school where your twin does. You’ll still talk to each other and probably even see each other if you don’t go too far away, and you’ll get a taste of what being a non-twin is like.” </p>
<p>Yeah, not so much an issue, we don’t really get along… however we are both interested in similar schools</p>
<p>I’m a 3.3-3.4 student in all AP classes with a 1530/1600, shes a 4.0 student in the same classes as me with a 1510/1600 so she would have a HUGE edge over me. I’m worried that anywhere I apply where she applies she would be accepted and I would be denied.</p>
<p>It’s not only about your grades and test scores. Your personality and interests matter too. </p>
<p>I’m sure you guys aren’t interested in the same exact activities. Play that to your advantage. Talk about things that she didn’t do to show your own uniqueness. </p>
<p>ALSO, you could try applying to a few schools that she isn’t applying to assuage your worries.</p>
<p>At the admissions office where i worked (highly selective, national university) being a twin was advantageous</p>
<p>“At the admissions office where i worked (highly selective, national university) being a twin was advantageous”</p>
<p>Would they both have to gain that said advantage?</p>
<p>Stratocaster, my brother and I had similar discrepancies in GPA.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about this too much, really. Don’t forget that, besides your twin, there are a lot of other people applying to the school. Just because she’s related to you doesn’t mean she’s more of a competition than they are. College officials should be mature enough to understand that twins are individuals, even if a lot of kids expect us (and for some reason want us) to be exactly the same.</p>
<p>stratocaster, I have the same feeling because my twin and I have the same ACT scores, same AP score, and both have a 4.0. Also, we have a lot of the same ECs. I don’t think colleges would see it like that, I’d hope that they look at each application, regardless if someone has a twin…</p>
<p>I don’t know but am just thinking out loud with you. To me, it seems that your guidance counselor’s statement is too broad-brush, as you sensed. </p>
<p>My older brother and I are two years apart, but it made it much easier for me to get into the same LAC back-in-the-day. (In the top 25’s on USNWR.) </p>
<p>From that, I’d guess that some schools, particularly midsize unis or LAC’s just might like to take twins from a family because it will engender alumni loyalty for the future. Indeed I married someone from that same LAC; sent one kid there, and now have a future D-in-law from there. The college basically established great loyalty with our family, starting right with my brother and me, by taking us both. Nobody before us had ever set foot there! </p>
<p>So in that sense, your sister’s good record might be helpful, not hurtful to your admission if the school indicates it has a “family feel” as some LAC’s are proud to present.</p>
<p>The schools you listed are larger than that. Once on campus, I could see that as an advantage because you and she wouldn’t bump into each other as often. For the same reason of largeness, however, they might readily pick up one twin but not the other, since they’re not as attuned to family dynamics in that same way as smaller places. </p>
<p>What if you and your sister made a kind of Venn Diagram of some places to co-apply and others that could be only your territory or hers in application lists?</p>
<p>If something is your first choice and her fifth choice, maybe you should have a clear shot at it.</p>
<p>A set of twins from my school were in a similar situation to yours. One was the valedictorian, the other was very smart but not quite as exceptional of a student as her sister (as she openly admitted). They applied to several of the same schools and received the same results at each. They are both going to Cornell in the fall.</p>
<p>you could just apply to different schools. But yeah I doubt it will hurt you much, however it is likely that your twin will get into some places you won’t due to them having a higher gpa, would be the same if you two weren’t related at all. </p>
<p>Hell it could hurt your twin more than you, if a school that would have normally admitted them and not you was reluctant to only admit one of two twins. That it just speculation though, no basis for it.</p>
<p>“A set of twins from my school were in a similar situation to yours. One was the valedictorian, the other was very smart but not quite as exceptional of a student as her sister”</p>
<p>same thing happened at my school and both went to haverford… twinning is a big plus methinks</p>
<p>MIT accepted quintuplets this year. In fact, that was probably a hook for them.</p>