<p>The kids who go to the ivies are the kids who are most saavy about college admissions and start planning far ahead of time by building a resume, also kids who get pros to write their essays. IMO those are not necessarily the smartest kids, which is why so many breakthroughs come out of schools like UMich and Penn State. maybe in the past the smart kids generally went to the Ivies but today I see little correlation between intelligence and ivy admissions.</p>
<p>Uhh… no. There is not a perfect correlation because there are other factors that determine where people go, such as cost, but that does not mean that the the Ivy League schools don’t get some of the top tier students.</p>
<p>are you kiddin me, the kids at ivies are way smarter than the kids in the past (on average). i mean if you went to the ivies back in the 60s and 70s and told them that they would have acceptance rates in the low teens or single digits, they would have laughed their off. i mean princeton accepted like 1/2 of their applicants 30 years ago. also, people didnt go far away for college, and now the ivies have kids from all over the world, 30 years, the vast majority of their kids were from the east coast. maybe you can plan to do a bunch of activities, but you cant plan getting straight As or super-high SATs (you can prepare for that, but that doesnt always translate into results)</p>
<p>The smartest kids don’t even go to the Ivies…they got to MIT!</p>
<p>nice 10chars</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For the class of 1979, it was 25%.</p>
<p>i agree with the OP sort of. there are smart kids at every school. however, i would say that the kids at the ivy league schools are arguably the most competitive and motivated though.</p>
<p>I think there is a large degree of self-selection at the Ivies. the truly brilliant are often overshadowed by these kids</p>
<p>i know a kid with a 4.6 wgpa and 3.9 uwgpa and 1580/1600 sat and he wants to go to a state school. school intelligence is not the only intelligence there is, there is social intelligence, business intelligence, art intelligence, etc… people told Albert Einstein’s mom that her son was going to be a failure and Albert didnt even do that well in school. There is more to intelligence than just getting straight A’s.</p>
<p>^^^ Good job using ONE person as anecdotal evidence… we are all absolutely convinced! I’ll find you ten more people with 4.6 wgpa 3.9 uwgpa and 1580/1600 sat who want to go to the ivies. Albert einstein… oh god, here we go again! He’s always brought up in these kinds of debates. Can’t everybody understand that he represents a polar extreme?</p>
<p>^what the im just saying that not all smart kids go to top schools and that it doesnt mean that you are going to be successful if you go to ivy school, i know a bunch of alcoholics and drug addicts that go to ivys. this isnt even a debate lOl? you need to chill ok? CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL you think all kids that get out of ivys become zillionaires and are ballers? no. kids that go to ivys are mainly good at school and grades and, there is also street smarts and knowledge of how people work and how the world works, like i said you need to chill, yo.</p>
<p>Hmm. Well I’m not nearly as smart as most of the kids on CC, (3rd in my class 3.9 uw GPA, haven’t taken the SATs but bombed the PSAT) but I have no interest in the ivies, even if I had better things to offer them… I have never had any desire to try to get into any of them… But that’s just me!</p>
<p>This is a overgeneralization that ANYONE with a brain can immediatly discredit.</p>
<p>I’m sure that one of the ‘smartest kids’ goes to any ivy. Not everyone who gets into an ivy is a college-resume building nutball ok? A decent portion of ivy leaguers are really truly amazing people who are going to change the world. </p>
<p>I’m sure you’re only saying this because you screwed up.</p>
<p>The reason why acceptance rates at Ivies have gone down is because with student loans, many more students have the means to afford the education. Paying off the loan is an entirely different matter though.</p>
<p>I think at any good school you will find smart people and dumb ones. Look at George Bush. He got a 1206/1600 on the SAT and still went to Yale. The Ivies will accept less than qualified candidates if they have connections. So will most colleges.</p>
<p>Being smart doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I know plenty of people who have near perfect ACT and SAT scores who are very immature and don’t have the social and interview skills needed to land a good job.</p>
<p>Thanks for wasting some time out of my life.</p>
<p>The reasons acceptance rates are so LOW at the Ivy League is because it enhances PRESTIGE. These schools are PURPOSE DRIVEN, exist to profit, and do not care if you are intelligent. </p>
<p>If you have the right scores, demonstrate commitment in e.c, and a solid essay…you have a pretty good chance. But remember, the arbitrary admissions selection is not ACCIDENTAL. They intentionally throw out x % of applicants regardless of quality just to keep the status quo.</p>
<p>The Ivy League is awesome, but in terms of ACADEMIC QUALITY, there are a billion others school who meet or beat their peak ability. </p>
<p>OP, you are right on one thing though. The Ivy League is overwhelming inhabited by the academically groomed, over-privileged, cronistic/nepotistic legacies, etc…etc… Only the very very very best “normal” students get in. </p>
<p>I think ~30% of all Ivy accepted are legacy. Factor in the “donators” and URM, and that leaves a very small pool for the rest to complete in.</p>
<p>There are more “Smart kids” at ivys then any other 10 schools combined …right?..wrong? IDK :(</p>
<p>i think the difference is that, generally, youll find plenty of smart kids at any school, but the concentration of smart kids at ivies is higher…and thats why they have the reputation and accept rates they have. you can’t plan freshman year to have a good GPA or SATS or be a great writer or be a well-rounded person who will interview well.</p>
<p>There are smart people at every school. I know several who got into either Stanford or an Ivy, and turned it down in favor of Berkeley, Michigan, UNC, etc. Ivy’s aren’t for everyone, many people are turned off by their preppy environment, and there are tons of good schools out there that can attract top-notch candidates.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>False, on several accounts. It is NOT true that 30% of Ivy accepteds are legacies. I mean, think about it. Legacy supposedly only helps if you apply ED. Ivies fill about 1/2 of their class ED. Are 3/5 of those accepted ED legacies? I don’t think so. I’d set it at more like 10%, or maybe even less. Second of all, you’re assuming here that legacies and URMs CAN’T be brilliant as well… also false. Either way, though, URMs make up maybe another 15%. Let’s say developmental admits are another 5%; that makes 30%. The other 70% are left to the best and the brightest, or the most interesting, or the most creative.</p>
<p>Now, OP, I can sort of maybe a little bit see this argument if you mean Ivies as STRICTLY the Ivy 8, but if you expand that to mean all really good schools (MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Top LACs, UChicago, etc.) then I think it’s terribly untrue…</p>