I was wondering if among the top schools (like ivies and the like) have specifics in what they’re looking for in a incoming freshman class. For example: It is common that a person gets rejected from an Ivy but gets in somewhere else. Is it because one college is looking for a particular quality more than another college? Is it because they want something in a freshman class that another college does not look for as carefully?
Does anyone have any experience with this and have any examples?
These institution seek a “well rounded freshman class,” which is not synonymous with several thousand well rounded individuals. Therefore, it’s entirely possible to be denied by (for example) Yale but to be admitted by Columbia or to be accepted by Chicago but rejected by Northwestern.
With this said, all the most-competitive LACs and National Research Universities have quite common FUNDAMENTAL requirements (almost always necessary for admission): high GPA, curricular rigor, standardized test results, meaningful essays and recommendations, leadership EC, and so forth. There are literally thousands of sources where you can ascertain generally what is required to meet these schools’ THRESHOLDS (reviewing the Common Data Set for each would be good beginning).
Furthermore, the most-competitive universities are NOT monolithic (and your posts appears, to me, as if you’re largely viewing them in that way). You’d be wise to develop an understanding of what each institution seeks, beyond distinguished secondary school performance and outstanding “numbers.” While asking CC participants for specific advice s fine, first YOU really need to do this critical HOMEWORK independently.