Is spike absolutely necessary for Stanford/Harvard/Ivys?

mtmind
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 22:00:44 +0000

If your kid’s school is sending a number of kids to Ivy+ schools then the school’s guidance counselors are probably your best source of accurate information on your kid’s chances. They should be able to tell you how similarly situated students have faired in the past, and IMO that is a fair question to ask.

One parent above suggested that “coming from a school that has a lot of Ivy admits certainly helps” but I am not so sure that is the case. Such HS’s tend to have an overabundance of not only highly qualified students but also students who are legacies to many of these tippy-top schools or who have other special admissions considerations (athletics, high level awards, etc.) and that makes the odds even longer for those without such advantages.

On the other hand, such schools tend to send a relatively high percentage of students to excellent, elite schools that aren’t considered Ivy+ but are comparable in every other way except for Ivy+ prestige. As others suggested, the trick is to try to set aside prestige and find such schools that are a good fit.

Good Luck!