Suggestions for Twins college applications

Parents Forum
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<p>I have junior twin boys (planning at this point to attend the same school) and as we prepare for the process I wanted to see if any of you (with or without twins) have any thoughts for me regarding:</p>

<li><p>Teacher Rec’s - The boys share almost all of their teachers with the exceptions of 2 that would both be “supplemental” rec’s. They have a close relationship with all of their teachers as their class sizes are small (10-20) and they are both very vocal. Do you think they should get 4 different rec’s ?Or do you think they could both use the 11th grade english teacher or should one ask the 10th grade teacher (one will have her for independent study Creative Writing next year)? There are 2 science teachers that they love so they could each choose one of them. Should we ask the teachers to make a note about having both boys in class? They have a few classes together and the teachers have traditional really enjoyed the way they feed off each other and get others involved. Any thoughts? Or do you think it just doesn’t matter and I am over-analyzing?</p></li>
<li><p>How do they go about letting the admin officers know that they plan to attend school together or do they even do that? They are very different and have very different extracurriculars for the most part and their summers are spent doing their own things- so I don’t think they would appear dependent upon one another. Both do have specific areas of interest but they also share many academic interests. Should the councelor address these issues in his rec’s? Or do the boys need to address it in some way?</p></li>
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<p>All of this is “down” the road, but they were planning to approach the teachers that they have now and won’t have next year and wanted some advice on who should ask who, when. I know the rec’s play a big part in this process and didn’t want it to look like only 2 teachers in the school were fond of them, but at the same time wanted them to be able to chose the teachers that they felt would write the best rec’s for them.</p>

<p>Any advice regarding this or any other 2 or more at the same time dilemmas would be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I have to run but wanted to respond quickly:</p>

<p>First, you’re very lucky that they’re so distinct. That will help a lot, as the trickiest twin issues come up with they’re eerily similar on paper and in person because colleges have a hard time distinguishing.</p>

<p>Recs: The most important thing is that the boys choose teachers they genuinely like. I used to be a college counselor at a prep school and would always tell kids to ask for recs from the teacher they’d choose to go on a road trip with if they had to. You want to have someone from the humanities and someone from math or science for each of the boys, preferably from junior or senior year. It’s okay if they choose the same person for one or both, although I’d recommend they overlap on only one if possible. It doesn’t matter if the writers are the same, but it does matter if what they write is the same, if that makes sense? Colleges are used to seeing multiple letters from one teacher in an application cycle–it’s just the nature of school groups. Either way, make sure that the boys give the rec writers enough info to help them write about them as individuals (resumes, a short paragraph about their interests or hopes for college, a quick chat w/ teacher to see if they have any questions or need any more info from them). </p>

<p>Going to college together: This question depends on their profiles. If one boy is significantly stronger than the other academically, or is a recruited athlete or something, then if the school knows they’re going as a package deal, it might help the weaker of the two get admitted when he might not otherwise. However, if they’re pretty comparable, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s probably best addressed by the counselor, and briefly at that. Just a quick sentence in each of their recs to the effect of “They’re looking to attend college together” will do the trick. Don’t belabor it or it will seem like they’re incapable of being apart. Colleges often like twins, though, because they are more likely to go to school together which increases the college’s potential yield.</p>

<p>I’ve helped a few sets of twins apply to schools and would be happy to talk more with you about any questions, tips, etc. You can e-mail me at collegocity AT gmail.com if you’d like. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>I have twins too :slight_smile: I don’t think I would make suggestions to the science teachers re. what to write unless they ask you. Also I would think that you would want to make sure their letters are as varied as possible since the rest of their apps sound like they will be very similar in other respects. It sounds like your boys have a lot of teachers who are familiar enough with them to write good letters so I would mix it up a bit.</p>

<p>teapot: thanks for the input. My girls aren’t sure if they will attend together but are considering applying to virtually all of the same schools. It will sure make life easier at my house if they both are accepted to the same ones.</p>

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<p>I am an identical twin, and my sister and I attended the same college. I am glad that we did. We used the same high school teachers to write our recommendations, etc, but our essays were quite different; she wrote an essay on the trials and tribulations of being a twin, while I never mentioned it at all. Our extra curriculars were also very different, hers centered on music and mine centered on art. </p>

<p>We asked as freshmen to room in the same dorm but not the same room. That worked out well, because with each of us living on a different hall, we each made new friends, so between us we got to meet twice as many people.</p>

<p>Twins make excellent study and lab partners, by the way. And it was also easier on our parents to visit both of us at one time. And after we graduated, it was fun to go to alumni events with her.</p>

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<p>My twins used only one of the same teachers for recs. They did not want to go to the same school and ultimately did not. They had an overlap of two schools that they both applied to and were both accepted. </p>

<p>Personally, I would not ask the adcoms to accept both or neither, but that’s just my opinion. Many times twins do get accepted together, but many times they do not. In fact, on one thread there’s a posting about twins who were accepted to the same school - one for fall and one for spring!</p>

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<p>UCLA band mom are you and your sister competitive w/ one another? I ask because I have one twin who is socially more dominant and the other is academically more dominant. I think that if my girls go to the same school that they will continue in this pattern even if they don’t room together. I think that after growing up being the “Historytwins” to everyone in our small town that they will blossom more out of the other’s shadow. Ideally, in my mind, they would be close enough to spend the occasional weekend together but far enough away that they would achieve more independence. Just curious if you think I am off my rocker or not :)</p>

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<p>Thank you so much teapot and historymom. I do tend to overthink things. I will probably encourage them to both use the english teacher. They are completely different students as far as the way they write and think so the teacher shouldn’t have a problem saying different things about them. </p>

<p>historymom: I am lucky that they are so different and still such good buddies. They did that on their own since they were 2 - one was superhero’s and one was dinosaur’s and never did they cross-over! I do agree that it will be so much easier if they end up together - especially if far from home!! Good Luck to your girls!</p>

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<p>UCLA Band Mom: Oh thanks- you are right I sometimes feel sorry for kids who don’t have a built in study partner my kids have utilized that benefit for a few years now. They always quiz each other before tests- though it is usually in the midst of playing with the dog, boxing one another or dropping food crumbs throughout the house- it must still work.</p>

<p>They will be apart for 6 weeks this summer so we’ll see how they manage, I secretly hope they do miss one another at least a little bit!</p>

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<p>you know we tried really to make sure they were independent: we didn’t give them rhyming names, didn’t dress them alike after infancy and allowed them separate experiences but they ended up loving the same sorts of things, reading, science, animals, outdoorsy stuff and soccer and being each others’ best friend. To clarify I do hope they are accepted to the same schools so that neither has their feelings hurt but I hope they attend different schools within a 3 hour drive or so from one another so that they will get the chance to be just themselves…not “the twins”</p>

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<p>I have identical twin sons who attend the same university. Although they both wanted to attend the same school, that decision was initially independent of wanting to go together. They did not decide that if they were not accepted to that particular school that they still wanted to be together until the summer before their senior year.
They applied early decision and were accepted to a school that specifically asked on the application if the student is a twin or multiple and where was the sibling(s) applying. They submitted recommendations from the same teachers, but each submitted a supplemental recommendation from different coaches (they were not recruited athletes).</p>

<p>Their essays were on completely different subjects and they were interviewed by different alumnus.</p>

<p>When visiting other schools, they asked the admissions officers how the schools would track that they were twins and were told to indicate it somewhere on the application (vague, but true), but that the schools would look at them independently.</p>

<p>We were very fortunate that everything has worked out. They enjoy being together, but do not room together. They are not in the same dorm either. Although they are both in engineering they have only been in a few of the same class sections.</p>

<p>I’d be glad to answer any questions. This is a subject near and dear to my heart!!!</p>

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<p>Yes, all twins are competitive with each other, but it is a FRIENDLY rivalry. Once we got to college we discovered that the real competition was not with each other, but rather with the other students in the class. That is why twins make such good study partners. Twins have a synergism that gets going, and one twin can help the other in each of the respective areas where they are strongest. This goes for social as well as academic areas. Having your twin on campus will not preclude you from making your own friends, instead, it will widen the circle of people that you meet and make friends with. And having twins in the same class is an opportunity for both of them to do their best compared to others in the class.</p>

<p>We did not attend the same college on purpose, but after we were accepted at the various colleges where we applied, we each decided to go to that particular college independently. It was a lot of fun, we were the only twins on campus. We ended up majoring in different areas, but for the first two years we were in nearly all the same prerequisite classes. We saved money on books as well, because we were able to share.</p>

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<p>Hi! Well, I am actually a triplet myself and my younger siblings, who are twins as HS Freshman, will be soon to follow for college applications. While my siblings and I won’t be attending the same college in the fall, we did find it as a VERY NICE plus to mention it to the colleges that we were triplets (since we toured each other’s colleges together.) From all of the colleges I’ve visited, they seem to be giving “two for the price of one deal.” This means, if one of us attended, then they would only make you pay the tuition and fees of one of the students. Granted - we visited a lot of the private liberal arts schools, but at the larger schools (such as Clemson, GT, VT, Duke, ect.), the admissions counselors were more excited than ever to possibly have twins enrolled in the same school. One college even lists the twins under “get to know the class” slide show they give to prospective students. At the larger ones, although you may not get the “two for the price of one deal,” they definitely looked at your application, or, I should say, payed greater attention to you. </p>

<p>As far as recommendations, my siblings and I have been in the same classes with each other since we were in Preschool. The fact is, being together made the teachers more apt to spot our differences, and focus on on our pluses (if you know what I mean.) We all received recommendations from the same teachers, and most of the time they were different. The focused on our attributed that made each one of us successful in a different way. One, however, choose to add in the triplet comment (linking it to competition, high achievement via sibling rivalry almost), and I know that drove more attention to it. My brother will be attending Princeton in the fall. Now, I will say this - his test scores were a 33 and he had the volunteer down, but there were plenty of kids out there -just like him - that were most likely MORE qualified. However, he wrote an essay on the growth of his being as a triplet, the tribulations and success, and how to he found out who he was by having me and my other brother there. He also choose to have a recommendation written that mentioned the size of our family at one point, but also elaborated greatly on his achievements. Combined, I think your twins have a GREAT advantage when applying to college – they should focus now on the “twin thing” more than ever in their lives. It can be a huge savor as far as financial aid, too (at least for my family it has been more of a blessing than a curse.) </p>

<p>But to reiterate, having the recc. done by the same teacher, even if they are going to the same school, is a plus - they know the strengths of each child, yet can make them entirely different. Plus, if both excelled with the same teacher - why not use it to their advantage. I’d have them at the end of the year to talk to them about potentially writing a recommendation. My friend, who is a current Junior, had her teachers write her a college application just because she felt that the teachers have got to know her already - and it would be more beneficial to have the recommendations done while you actually still have the teacher for class…</p>

<p>Hope this helps! Best of luck!</p>

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<p>IF you have any more questions, just let me know – I have had three times the college expierence for applications as most kids! Seeing my older brother (single birth) went about college applications when I was Sophomore. Let me know!</p>

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<p>RMS39- How wonderful you are! Thank you so much for all of the great ideas- I hadn’t thought about the interview. You have been such a great help already! I’ll let them know that now is the time to “be” twins. I always tried to play down the twin thing- one time when they were 5 they were dressed the same and said they were going to go to school and pretend they were each other…it was pretty funny since one is blonde, one brunette, one tall and slender, the other much broader, nobody who’d ever laid eyes on them once wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. I realized then that I better begin explaining the “twin” thing. I am so lucky they turned out to be such great friends. I’ll pm you if I come up with any other questions.</p>