What do you all think about twins applying “together” when one has better stats than the other? Specifically at the ivy league/ top 10 universities
We have both had impressive ECs, but my sister has a significantly lower GPA and SAT score than I have because of personal difficulties she had throughout the first couple years of HS. That being said, we have done some truly amazing things together because of how well we work as a team.
Shared attributes:
Varsity XC captains + ran 2 half marathons together
Started a nonprofit together to help underrepresented communities in Chicago, Miami, NYC, California (don’t want to go into specifics for privacy reasons, but this is connected to one of our shared passions)
Hispanic females
State Finalists for National History Fair (we did our project together and also got an award)
We are lucky to be from a very international family and are citizens of 4 different countries + permanent residents in the US. We have moved 6 times, speak 3 languages fluently, and have developed an enormous appreciation for other cultures; we are both SUPER passionate about this!
My stats:
1550 SAT
3.9 UW / 5.2 W
6 AP + 7 IB classes
4s on my AP tests, 6 on IB SL History
800 Spanish SAT II
730 French SAT II
TBD Math II , Chem
Speak Spanish, French, English fluently
Studied Latin, German, Arabic
Arabic summer program at a top 5 university on a full scholarship in summer 2016
Writing summer program at same top 5 university on a full scholarship in summer 2018
Her stats:
1450 SAT
3.2 UW / 4.4 W
5 AP + 6 IB classes
3-4s on APs, no IB scores yet
790 Spanish SAT II
780 French SAT II
TBD Math II, Bio
Speak Spanish, French, English fluently
Studied German, Arabic
No it is not a “hook” to apply to the same places with your twin. A hook would be if the XC coach really, really, really wanted you on the team and had enough pull with the admissions office so as to get you on a short list there.
Your sister’s application will be read separately from yours. It is entirely possible that the two applications will be read by different people in the admissions office. Each of you will be admitted, or rejected, on your own terms.
If your goal is to attend college together, you need to identify places where both of you are likely to get in. Start with your own high school guidance team. Where have students with stats like your sister’s been admitted in recent years?
Your applications will be evaluated independently even if you are a twin. There are no “package deals” especially at the top tier colleges. You each need to honestly asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. I imagine your application lists would have some overlap as well as some different schools. If you absolutely want to stay together in college you can have a couple of reaches but should focus on finding schools that would match your sister’s stats.
Hooks are few and far between. A hook is a reason why a college wants one particular student above others with similar qualifications. Common examples of hooks include a person being recruited to play football on the team, a child of a huge donor, a person who would bring positive press to the college (ex. Malala). You are a URM which can be helpful in the admissions process at many schools, but it isn’t the same as having a hook.
I should note that if you are a native speaker of Spanish the SAT II score won’t carry much if any weight as the score is not reflective of academics learned at the HS level. Same with the French SAT II since in another post you noted that you went through the French education system for middle school.
Congratulations on your accomplishments and best wishes in the college search.
The advice given is good, though I think Hispanic is definitely a hook, so you and your sister have that, the twin aspect may be tricky, you don’t want to give the impression that you and your sister need each other in college, that either of you can’t accomplish a lot without the other. You have to make both of applications stand on their own, while emphasizing the things you did together.
You really need to answer if you want to attend college together, branching out separately may be a good idea.
“There are no “package deals” especially at the top tier colleges.”
Actually, there are package deals, even at the top tier colleges.
I’m not going to lie, I was going to flat out reject the notion that being a twin applying to the same colleges would not be a factor like everyone else, but I remembered a case from my own high school where it may have been a factor. There were these twins from my high school who were both accepted to and attended Yale during their senior year. One was the valedictorian and the other was also very smart, but otherwise known more for his top-knotch athletic skills in both soccer and track. They were both highly qualified candidates, but given the selectivity of the school and rarity of Yale taking more than one student from our high school a year, it was heavily rumored at the time that being a twin was a slight factor for them accepting both candidates. In any case, you would have to be both really qualified candidates to be accepted to those schools anyway, so I wouldn’t say it would necessarily be a factor in your case.
@happy1 Thanks for such a thorough answer! We are definitely aware of how selective top10 universities are and have matches + safeties in our lists. Seeing as the acceptance rates are so ridiculously low, it seems that making your application stand out is half of the battle. I do think that being high achieving triplets/quadruplets has made the difference for some - specifically the CC famous yale quads - but I haven’t heard much about twins (granted it isnt as rare as being a quad)
@theloniusmonk Thanks for you feedback! I do think the fact that our ECs relate to being URMs will help, or at least I hope so in the face of a 5% admissions rate :-SS
Losing our individuality has been my biggest hesitation, but I think we are different enough that we would be able to pull it off as long as her interest in bio and mine in finance was emphasized through the ECs we’ve done individually.
If we were able to pitch ourselves as two independent individuals with separate passions (demonstrated through my finance ECs and her bio ECs) who are both driven and work hard/well together (demonstrated through shared projects) would that be enough of a hook??
@shawnspencer Thank you for the link, I’m going to go check it out right now!
That is an interesting case in that the two kids were very different; many of the threads made by twins on here are kids with virtually identical profiles. Do you remember how big of a deal those kids made about being twins on their apps? Did they write their essays about twin-hood (like the quads did) or did they simply both apply?
And I’m not sure that @happymomof1 is correct about twins’s files not being read together.
The regional admissions person for the geographic area (or sometimes specific high school in highly populated areas) does the first read. You are compared within your school and community, both of which the local rep should be familiar with. I’m sure twins/triplets/quadruplets are considered together and separately.
But, no, it’s certainly not a hook. It does make you interesting, though…Applying together will either work in your favor or not (concerns about yield protection may factor in differently when they are considering enrollment management). I haven’t read the other thread, so I don’t know, aside from what I’ve seen with people I know or on CC.
Thanks @LoveTheBard for your input I was thinking the same thing about the regional admissions person… I might reach out to Yale to ask about that
In terms of yield protection* I think twins could be helpful because the school would know we are more likely to go if both of us are admitted. Do you think it could get us both rejected (rather than waste an acceptance on a twin who wants to go where her sister is going) even though our stats are so different?
which at this point we have to accept is HYPS's priotity. Given they have access to some of the top applicants in the world, admissions counselors' jobs have become finding out which kids will accept an offer if they are given one
I don’t remember specifically, but it was said at the time that the kid with strong athletics (won regional state championships for track and soccer) was recruited first and may have been a contributing factor in his brother also being accepted. I don’t know them both personally very well, but they both did end up attending Yale.
OP - I would be concerned that your chances will be less at a place like Yale because you have a stronger resume than your sister. Very possible that yield protection would come into play and the adcoms could think that you would say ‘no’ because they denied your sister, so they may as well not take the risk in offering you a spot. Honestly, I don’t think your sister’s GPA makes her competitive at Yale (or the like).
My opinion is if you do want to go to school together, make a school list based more on her stats, not yours. You’ll have more admissions success.
I agree with previous posters that it’s not a good idea. Personally, it comes off a little childish and inappropriate for the situation given this is a time about independence and your essay should reflect your growth up to now. I don’t think writing or focusing on the fact that you and your sister were literally born together and you’re the one with “better stats”.
Applying to colleges isn’t a team sport. I don’t understand what you hope to achieve by coordinating your applications so they complement each other instead of standing on their own. Are you hoping that tying your sister’s app to yours will give you a better chance to get into an ivy than you’d have on your own? Or do you think it will drag her app through into a college her stats might not otherwise be competitive for? Some of both?
I don’t think this is a hook. I’d be concerned that adcoms might look at the way you present all the shared activities and wonder about your ability to work alone. If I were your parent I’d be worried both of your apps would suffer because your app isn’t wholly you, and I’d be really worried about your reactions to the results. Are you going to resent your sister if you get rejected from colleges you think you might have been able to get in on your own? Is your sister going to feel guilty if you don’t get into your dream schools? How are you going to feel if your sister’s story is compelling and she gets accepted to an ivy and you don’t?
I’d create your application lists separately and compile your applications individually. Make sure you devote time to finding solid matches and safeties you’d be happy to attend.
"do think that being high achieving triplets/quadruplets has made the difference for some - specifically the CC famous yale quads - but I haven’t heard much about twins (granted it isnt as rare as being a quad) "
Exactly, use the four quadruplets as inspiration, I think one of them still posts now and then, to update the cc community. Anyway they got the same, negative advice you’re getting, here’s a sample:
“I don’t think its a benefit to apply to the same top schools”
“Given the disparity in ACT scores, you need to be prepared to get different admission results, especially at the very competitive schools.” (btw their ACT scores were 29, 31, 33, 33)
They got in everywhere (I’m pretty sure) and as you indicated, are attending Yale.
“If we were able to pitch ourselves as two independent individuals with separate passions (demonstrated through my finance ECs and her bio ECs) who are both driven and work hard/well together (demonstrated through shared projects) would that be enough of a hook??”
Hook has certain connotations, I think the poster that mentioned you’d be interesting to adcoms is a better way to look at it. She will also have a second hook as a female applying to a stem major. If you both decide on a first choice, you can apply ED or SCEA to show interest. HYPS are not as concerned with yield protection as schools that use ED. Good luck!
Although there maybe a benefit to the lower stat twin, we have to be careful about making comparisons to the quads. The quads were heavily hooked. Not only are they quads, but they are also URMs (make AA). They made it on Good Morning America and the national news. The schools knew that they would get that type of publicity if accepted. That is a huge hook. Twins accepted to HYP may make the local news, but that isn’t a hook.
Yes, hispanics are URMs. However a larger hook is a hispanic URM US citizen with multi-generational roots from Puerto Rice, Mexico and DR.
A low income, first generation student who attends a low performing school that is a high performing student (despite all of this) is a bigger hook than a URM of privilege (those who much have been given, much is required).
And also URM males are the real the hook on the college landscape because AA and Hispanic females attend colleges at a higher rate than their male counterparts (black males are the lowest represented population on college campuses). In your case, being from Venezuela is not a hook.
Op and her sister need to do their own college list based based on their own interest and academics. It may be a challenge for both of them to be accepted to the same schools when on twin is an A student and the other twin is a solid B student (I agree with the poster who said that if you apply to schools that are in your sister’s range, they may think that you are using them as a safety and will not attend if your sister is not accepted) .
Actually, what your sisters record says is that on SAT day she shows up and shows out. However, her GPA, which is reflective of what she does when she walks into the classroom every day tells a different story (GPA still trumps test scores because it does show what you do every day).
One of the other challenges with twins is that you need to present your self as separate entities when in schools many times you are viewed as a singular entity - the twins (especially true if you are identical twins).
The more selective the school is, the more likely they are not using your weighted GPA because the majority of the students are bringing AP/IB to the table if their school offers it.
