I’ve been planning on applying to a number of top colleges (along with safer ones, so don’t worry), and though I am academically qualified for all of them, being rejected from most wouldn’t be surprising. I wouldn’t say my chances at any one of these places is especially good, but when taken collectively, I’m guessing that the chances of getting accepted into at least one is a bit better… How often do people applying to higher-end colleges get denied from EVERY choice?
For reference, the best colleges currently on my radar include Princeton, JHU, U Penn, Cornell, MIT, and Brown.
@Amduseus - I looked at your stats and I predict that with good essays you willl be accepted at Johns Hopkins, Penn, and Cornell RD. I would be shocked if you were shut out of your reach schools. My DD17 with similar stats was accepted at Hopkins, Penn, Yale, Columbia, and Stanford RD. Start working on your essays now. They are extremely time consuming. Also, apply to a few diversity flyins like the Penn Early Exploration Program. Good luck!
I don’t think it works like that. I think applying to several reach schools (especially colleges whose acceptance rates are very low) are related but independent events. They’re related because if your stats aren’t competitive, the chance of admission is slim to none. But they’re independent because each school determines whether or not a particular student meets one of their institutional needs. Apply, but don’t assume you’ll be accepted. Good luck.
From that tier of colleges and any college with sub20% acceptance rates, it’s actually the most common situation. If you include colleges with 30-35% acceptance rates it’s common to get into a few. This is assuming you don’t have a hook (lower income URM, first gen student, athlete, legacy, development) and haven’t won the international math Olympiads.
Not only would you need the customary 2 affordable safeties (which would be colleges with acceptance rates 40%+, including probably your state flagship’s honors college unless your flagship is UVA or UCB/UCLA etc) but also 5 well-chosen matches (because odds are, you’ll be attending one of these.) Look into LACs, check out what the Midwest and South have to offer, run the NPC s and make sure your parents are on board with costs at all of them.
As was stated above, admission at these schools is both related and independent. So matches become super important. Good luck!
I know several kids who were shut out of all their reaches. Valedictorians with cool EC achievements, kids with perfect test scores, etc. I didn’t read their apps, but for whatever reason, they didn’t jump out of the pile for any adcom. So yes, it happens. JhU and Cornell are slightly easier. You can’t get in if you don’t apply. And if you’re not accepted, you’re no less smart than if you were.
It’s very common. In fact, this past April there were a bunch of posts from people complaining that they didn’t get into any of their top choices and had to settle for lowly schools in the top fifty. I also had a couple of pm’s from students who got into none, or only one college and didn’t know why. I would completely ignore the advice in post 1. You do not increase your chances of getting into top schools by applying to more of them. It simply doesn’t work that way.
One of my S’s best friends had wonderful stats and while he wasn’t outright rejected from all of his reaches, he was waitlisted (and never admitted) at all of them. Fortunately he had a few other options.
I was surprised at the first response by @Testingearly, so I went and checked out your stats. I won’t be so bold as to predict specific schools, but I think it’s likely that you are accepted to a few of them. I agree with @TomSrOfBoston that FA has the potential to be noticeably different between the schools listed.
Specifics around your background that I thought/noted.
I would prioritize any leadership / elected positions. Class officer is an example of an activity that says a lot about your interactions with others and their view of you. If you have that type of example, use it early.
The NJ Governor’s school finalist is something I’m familiar with, as our HS has sent someone 3 of the last 4 years. Those students are now at Yale, UChicago and UVA, so being considered along with students who I know to be exceptional suggests you should be competitive at the schools on your list.
The OP appears to have a URM hook, and has strong stats which are positive and in their favor. That said, as others have pointed out, all of these are reach schools with low admission rates and each are independent of the other so the chances of getting into one does not affect chance of getting into any other.
The whole point of a reach school is to be a low percentage shot. It is very common to not get accepted to your reach schools. You need to have a blend. Reach, solids, safeties. Make sure these are all in line with you financially. That is the biggest hurdle.
I think that a “scattershot” approach to applying to colleges - either extremely or moderately competitive ones - shows a lack of insight into the admissions process and one’s own academic needs/wants. Colleges/universities want to be perceived by applicants as distinctive and different from one another, so it is extremely important that one’s applications not sound generic. If your essays and short answers sound like they can be used for any school, that will register with admissions officers as clueless or even lazy. So, I’m skeptical when a student claims to have perfect standardized test scores, outstanding extracurriculars and community service activities and yet fails to gain acceptance to any of their “reach schools.” The essays and short answers are a student’s opportunity to create a compelling narrative that ties together their academic, social and other interests. I think this is where most seemingly stellar students “drop the ball” out of fear that they will sound too different from their peers. But taking that leap is what will distinguish one student’s application from another’s. So go ahead. Be fearless!
Of course. They all want terrific, motivated students who will be engaged in their college communities. But those communities vary a lot. They have different cultures. And AOs want applicants to get that and want them to express that understanding on their applications.
The valedictorian from my D’s high school class was denied from all her reaches. She had a perfect SAT, very high grades and interesting ECs. She was double legacy at Stanford. She applied early action to Stanford and was deferred and later denied. She was denied at all her other reach schools, as well. She is currently attending a large public flagship.
I’'d recoommend applying to Princeton SCEA because you won’t have any regret. If you get into UPenn ED, you would always have that nagging thought of what if.
I have known of high stats and good ec students getting rejected from all their reaches. Typically they may be wait-listed in my experience but then not taken off of any waitlist. You have to remember that there are approximately 40,000 high schools in the U.S. so you have at least that many valedictorians. With the ivies on average getting between 25K to 35K applications and accepting around 2K of the applicants, it leaves a lot of high stats students in the reject pile. Like others have mentioned, applying to more reaches does not increase your chances since college admissions simply does not work that way (which a lot of students and parents do believe as we see every year here on CC.). A few years ago a salutorian from a local high school got locked out of reach schools so her family asked for my help to see where she went wrong. I looked at her application and saw that she left half of the activities/honors charts blank (e.g. failing to list her National Merit award) and that her essays didn’t really answer the questions asked. After reviewing her application, I then wasn’t surprised by her long list of rejections. Don’t make the same mistake-there are many organizations out there that can help you with your application.
As an aside, be sure to partake in as many diversity fly-ins as you possibly can and still keep your grades up. Applications for many of them are starting to be due now so you don’t want to miss those deadlines. My own children did them and it helped a lot with admissions and scholarships. You can find a list on the website “getmetocollege” and in the Hispanic Forum here on CC. Ask every college if they do diversity fly-ins since some school may not be on the list and participate in some type of fly-in. Also reach out to the admissions staff to find out who is responsible for Hispanic or AA recruitment. Introduce yourself to them and ask about any special programs or scholarship opportunities. I work with a lot of URM students and those contacts don’t guarantee admission but do help in the process. Here is the link to fly-in programs. http://getmetocollege.org/what-colleges-look-for/2017-fall-diversity-visit-programs
Also look at colleges that offer good scholarships for National Hispanic Scholar/Recognition Program students. This would be a good place to get an affordable safety or two. Again you can get more info in the Hispanic Forum. Be sure to work on your applications now and try to apply to as many schools early action. Witih schools that are SCEA, they will allow you to apply to other schools early action where you are trying to meet scholarship deadlines so you could apply to Princeton early and other colleges.
Look at the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship program because some of my high-achieving URM students have been selected and it has helped them tremendously. I know there is a new Gates Scholarship program starting this year but I don’t have the details. There is a big push these days for Latinos in STEM so try to capture some of those awards or scholarships dollars during your senior year. The Hispanic Heritage Foundation Youth Awards application is due Oct. 2, here is the link: http://hispanicheritage.org/programs/leadership/youth-awards/ Be sure to apply to that program-the scholarship is just for $1K but receiving that award is very prestigious and will open many more doors for you. My DD was selected in the fall of her senior year and it keeps on providing her with additional opportunites. Look at programs offered by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation like the Latino Coder Summit, ESA Fellowship etc. Also joing HHF’s L.O.F.T (Latinos on the Fast Track) lists serve since many opportunities are discussed there. Since you are in FRC- look at the scholarship list on the FIRST website and apply to a few of the colleges that give out really good scholarships for it. For example only 40 students apply to the ASME scholarship and they award 14 of them of $5K each.
Although you sound like you want the ivies-don’t overlook schools like WashU(which has the rodriguez scholarship which is full tuition (I may have the name wrong) or UMIch(which I understand just increased financial aid to OOS) or Georgia Tech (which has the Stamps Scholar program and I know of some Latinos who got it). Those schools are very good and may be “slightly” easier to get into than the ivies. Be sure to run the net price calculator for each of your schools. Two years ago one of my URM students who was very low income got into every UC but the financial aid wasn’t that great with her having to kick in between $8K to $11K (this was above loans and work-study). I was able to negoiate a bit more aid for her from Yale by pointing out things like she would need winter clothes and that the airfare allowance wasn’t enough for her so when applying always ask about financial aid. By the way Johns Hopkins has some great scholarships for URMs through the Bloomberg scholarships so JHU ended up giving this same student a full-ride of financial aid with no loans (which she unfortunately turned down).
Good luck. Feel free to PM if you have any questions.