Ivy vs others

halcyonheather
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 08:35:45 +0000

What separates the top students (the ones that get into Ivy, Stanford, Duke, UChicago) from others(UVA, GATech, NYU, other “second-tier” colleges)?



If you’re referring to Ivies vs. the schools you consider second-tier, the difference between the accepted students almost isn’t there. Many more Ivy applicants are qualified than are accepted, so these people end up at slightly lower-ranked schools.

If you’re talking about Ivies vs. state schools that accept everyone, I think it’s mostly based on what the person has been taught to value since they were little (a lot of people don’t care about college admissions) and how much information they were given about the college admissions process. These people aren’t applying to top schools at all.

Remember the following:

1. A lot of people who might be able to get into Ivies don’t apply. They might not like top universities, they might be applying to top LACs, they might not be able to afford those schools, their family might not have been supportive, etc.

2. A lot of people who get into HYPSM don’t go there. It’s not just a game of going to the highest-ranked university on US News that accepts you.

3. People are accepted or rejected for lots of reasons other than their own merit. Consider legacy, first-generation, URM status, developmental admits, geographic diversity in some cases. (Most of these people are still very qualified, though.)