Interesting yield numbers. One has to wonder how long Caltech, Rice, JHU, and Georgetown will continue to “show” the love for this school’s applicants.
It also seems that the ED at this school might not be a dull weapon of choice.
Yup, lots of good schools in the midwest, south and west. And many kids choose to stay somewhat local- often for very good reasons, present and future.
Xiggi, you know you can look at an app and see who conveys spark. And yes, altruism or compassion expressed in action is one part. Most kids buy into hs titles and a few hours of some vol thing with friends. Or they think it’s fundraising or some trip. Worse, they think just saying “I want to help others” or “I want to change the world” is enough. You see their app…and they did little.
Ya know, flipped another way, if a kid does want a tippy top and does want to help others, the smart ones can figure out what to get involved in, not just be drawn into what the hs offers when the afternoon bell rings.
On the decline over the population as a whole?
Oh, I am not really qualified to offer an opinion about the overall population in this regard. All I wanted to add is that it might be a misconception to think Stanford only looks at the next genius coder who might create Snapadoodle. Inasmuch as some might decry it, the school also looks with moist eyes at the next Andrew Luck or Michael Tubbs.
Obviously, Stanford is not unique as landing the greatest class of freshmen is the ubiquitous objective of every school. The biggest issue remains that reading the tea leaves to discover the “secret sauce” remains an elusive process. There are no paint-by-the-numbers handouts floating around the GC’s offices. What worked a decade ago might not work anymore!
All one can really do is to stay true to him or herself and portray a fitting image. Easier said than done, but that is what it is! It should work for the brilliant coder just as well as for the activist who elevates his horrible neighborhood.
Yet, this is what those with no imagination or motivation are clamoring for. Tell me how. Is this enough? Look at the title of the thread.
What is “the” path?
I like your courageous use of the word ‘altruism’. The polish has gone off it as of late despite the fact it holds the key to well-being and survival.
“There are no paint-by-the-numbers handouts floating around the GC’s offices.”
“Yet, this is what those with no imagination or motivation are clamoring for. Tell me how. Is this enough? Look at the title of the thread.”
Bingo! Ironically, the elite schools LEAST want people who crafted their entire path only with the thought of / goal of getting into a particular school or set of schools. But, there are smart but unimaginative robots out there.
Agreed! My kids never had Ivy on the brain. Their path in high school was never with discussion about “what do I need to do to get into an Ivy?” They did things they wanted to do and achieved at these passions. I believe they would have done the very same activities (they loved them) and achieved the same grades (they like doing well) even if they never were going to go to college! They indeed did land at top colleges, but nothing they did in high school was really about thinking about college a whole lot.
“There are no paint-by-the-numbers handouts floating around the GC’s offices.”
Well, I think there’s one.
If you’re a reasonable candidate for Harvard/Stanford/etc., apply ED to Northwestern or WashU or Cornell or some other school at that selectivity level. Of course, this means you won’t go to Harvard, but it maximizes your chances of getting into a very good university.
Marian- of course. But the paint by the numbers crowd doesn’t want to hear about the world class opportunities at CMU or Rice. Tis a pity.
Actually it’s 14,000 ivy slots
Career fairs at less prestigious state colleges aren’t exactly just a bunch of empty tables. Some get 200+ employers, including many who typical grads find prestigious. For example, Apple ranks among the most desirable companies among tech grads. However, according to LinkedIn the college with the most Apple tech employees is not a prestigious ivy. It’s the nearby San Jose State. It’s quite common for SJS tech grads to land jobs with tech companies in Silicon Valley that many find desirable, and common for such companies to have a large presence at job/internship fairs, which often get 100+ companies. Similarly University of Washington ranks highest among Microsoft employees on LinkedIn. I’ve taken classes at UCSD that were notably geared towards the nearby desirable Qualcomm, including many connections and internships. There are many paths towards a successful career besides just attending a prestigious private college. Your daughter may have been equally or even more successful, had she attended a less prestigious college.
@Pizzagirl - Those figures are over the past four years, so divide 47 by 4 to get the average.
@tv4caster at UPenn during our info meeting he said every year they get kids w/ perfect stats and their letters of “recommendation” are terrible - the letters say that student is brilliant but demeaning to others, not a good team player, etc. This gave me pause b/c I think I’d rather learn from a jerk with new ideas than sit next to a very bright person who may be unoriginal but I understand what he was trying to say. I work with exceptionally bright students who are on the spectrum and hope they wouldn’t be discriminated against because they weren’t “team players”.
Perhaps, but the Ivy League offers more than 22,500 entry tickets to more than 310,000 candidates.
The number of bright students in nova outnumbers the 400 admission slots at TJHSST.
They simply don’t have room for all the qualified applicants. A good number of those applying have parents who have financially invested in making sure their kids ace the entrance exam. I know of training camps starting in 5 th grade to take the exam in 8th grade. Thousands of dollars are spent thinking if the child is admitted then it is a ticket to a top school. This year’s graduating class had about 80 students transfer to local schools. These kids are being groomed and packaged to apply to top schools. The ones left hanging are those who don’t have parents who can provide that kind of support. At the base schools you don’t get that type of support or access to special learning opportunities. Yes the TJ students are well prepared on the other hand you still have to be the top students (national merit) to shine at TJ when applying to college. Average at TJ won’t guarantee you admission at our va state schools. TJ kids take AP classes. Our local school offered the IB Diploma. Any student obtaining this diploma will tell you how rigorous it is. It is not meant for everybody.
Sure, but do Qualcomm and Microsoft recruit at San Jose State? Or does Apple only show up there because it’s local?
It makes sense for companies that primarily recruit at elite schools to make an exception and recruit at less prestigious local schools too. It’s good community relations, and it costs almost nothing to bring in those students for interviews. No airfare. No hotel room. You only have to reimburse them for local travel.
Incidentally, I would consider UW and UCSD to be elite enough that it would not surprise me to see an excellent selection of employers at their career fairs. My son got his master’s degree in computer science at UCSD, and he and his classmates have done well in terms of jobs. (He didn’t get his first post-masters’ job through on-campus recruiting, though.)
Actually Qualcomm and Microsoft do recruit at SJS. The article at http://blogs.sjsu.edu/today/2013/connecting-at-the-career-fair/ shows a picture of the Microsoft booth at the SJS career fair and talks about other new grad employment support offered by the career center. According to SJS career center report at the http://www.sjsu.edu/careercenter/employers/salary-data/sjsuHiringEmployersReport_2012-131.pdf , new SJS grads were employed by both Qualcomm and Microsoft.
What many kids may think is a hot endorsement LoR can actually read much less so. They don’t have to say “not a team player” to covey when they aren’t pushing for a kid. Lots of ways they can write what ends up a restrained LoR, even if the kid somehow thinks it’s a great letter. And remember it’s sized up against what the kid presents in the app.
There’s nothing wrong with a kid intelligently crafting his or her path-it can be a very good thing. But agree it’s nuts when the whole point is thinking they can game Harvard or Stanford.
“the letters say that student is brilliant but demeaning to others, not a good team player, etc. This gave me pause b/c I think I’d rather learn from a jerk with new ideas than sit next to a very bright person who may be unoriginal but I understand what he was trying to say. I work with exceptionally bright students who are on the spectrum and hope they wouldn’t be discriminated against because they weren’t “team players””
There’s a difference between someone who is a jerk / demeaning to others, and someone who just is uncomfortable communicating with others due to Asperger’s, etc. Either way, while any college will wind up with some of both, they can’t have too many of either type.