So you want to know what the secret is to get that always-hoped for admission to elite Ivy University. To learn the secret to admissions success, we are going to turn the tables and examine the problem from another perspective. Imagine you are the Dean of Admissions at Ivy University. Your job is to figure out whom to admit, and whom to reject.
The first thing you do is create a point system, in which you make a grid which numerically weights the value of various admissions criteria, and then assigns each candidate points within that grid. In this system, numbers such as SAT scores and GPA, are converted into numerical values, say from 1 to 50, using a computer formula that makes the conversion.
The grid at Ivy University has the following numerical weights: up to 50 points for standardized test scores; up to 50 points for grades, with a bonus of up to 20 points measuring the quality of the school; up to 30 points for the Personal Statement; up to 50 extra points for recruited athletes; up to 30 extra points for overcoming personal hardships and/or having an underprivileged background; 50 extra points available to a member of a minority group which has been historically discriminated against; up to 50 extra points available for applicants with relatives closely associated with the school, members of prominent families, or applicants whose family members are significant donors to the school; up to 30 extra points for extracurricular activities other than athletics; up to 20 extra points for evidence of leadership; up to 30 points extra for volunteer work; up to 20 points for letters of recommendation; up to 10 extra points for intangibles; a box for deductions, with room for explanations; (assuming interviews, another 50 points would be thrown in) and finally, a box for disqualification, if applicable. The total theoretical points value in this system is 420 (470 with interviews included). An average applicant of all schools may have in the ballpark of 140 points, and the average accepted student at Ivy U may have a score in excess of 305.
Our ideal student, named Junior Chief Running Bull, is a pure-bred Apache who overcame orphanage and subsequent impoverishment at a young age, went on to attain a perfect 4.2 in all AP classes, a perfect 2400 SAT, who completed high school at Phillips Exeter Academy on a full merit scholarship while serving as the student body president, whose father, grandfather, and great grandfather all attended Ivy U, whose uncle donated a new wing to Ivy U, whose father was a U.S. Senator before his untimely death, who wrote a sterling Personal Statement, was a Rhodes scholar, a national debate champion and an All American in three varsity sports, a volunteer in Guatemala building homes for the destitute and habitats for humanity, a concertmaster and solo violinist for the New York Philharmonic, a commended Eagle scout, a research assistant in Molecular Genetics at Ivy Medical School, with first author publications in Science, Nature and Cell, a recipient of several sterling letters of recommendation from an archbishop, a rabbi, and several unindicted sitting U.S. Congressmen, an intangibly good candidate with no black marks on his record anywhere and whose interview was a clear and present grand slam. Junior Chief Running Bull, not surprisingly, was the first student admitted during his matriculation cycle.
But you can console yourself that there are not too many Junior Chief Running Bulls in the applicant pool, fortunately, so you will not have to deal with the running of the bulls. For the rest of us, there are still a number of slots still open after all the Junior Chief Running Bulls in the pool are seated. Each student has her own grid, and the Admission Committee’s first job is to fill in the grid for each applicant. A cutoff of 190 is established, with anyone falling below that being automatically rejected, and anyone attaining above 315 being offered automatic acceptance, while anyone falling in between being subject to further review by the committee. Students also may receive point deductions for taking too many easy courses, taking relatively lighter loads than other students, having weaknesses in particular subject areas, such as writing, being too narrowly focused on academics to the exclusions of extracurriculars, or having past disciplinary issues. Candidates may be subject to disqualification for plagiarism in the Personal Statement, criminal history, academic resume fraud (putting down particulars on an application which are false), or other matters that the committee deems sufficiently serious.
But now we are going to put you in the driver’s seat. You just got promoted from student to Dean of Admissions at Ivy U. You call the Admissions Committee to meet for a first review. Each committee member has already submitted their grids, and a computer database has analyzed the results, with students now listed in descending order from highest point total to lowest. After you call the meeting to order, you first propose that the candidate list be shortened from 16,000 to 3,200 by eliminating all candidates with scores below 200, and that the first group of students should be admitted, those with scores over 300. A vote is taken and unanimously approved, resulting in 12,000 candidates being summarily rejected, and 250 being granted admission. In addition, 300 students were disqualified. Thus, out of our original pool of 16,000, 12,800 were summarily rejected, 300 disqualified, 250 accepted, leaving 2,650 students competing for 1,350 spots. The remaining students are some of the best and brightest in the country. Of the remaining pool, 1300 will be rejected or wait-listed (placed on an alternate list), and 350 will be offered admission.
You send your list of students still in the pool to key decision-makers in the university: athletic coaches, department deans, tenured professors, and key administrators, and solicit their feedback. In committee meetings, the strengths and weaknesses of individual candidates are debated. The committee focuses on students who have stood out from the competition: published researchers, nationally-recognized debaters, Rhodes Scholars, National Merit Finalists, acclaimed athletes, outstanding artists, champion academic decathletes, outstanding student government leaders, grant winners, founders or leaders in community service organizations, and/or students who have overcome long odds or great adversity to achieve prominence. Also considered is whether the student seems to be a good fit for the school. As the process unfolds, more students are selected and sent out letters of acceptance, with big fat packets accompanying the letters, along with a deadline date for committing, and even more students are sent a paltry thin letter wishing the student good luck in the future. In the meantime, enough students are placed on the alternate list to cover accepted candidates who choose other schools.
Slowly, the freshman class starts to fill out. They are overachievers, the whole bunch of them, but with a slant toward achieving diversity. In fact, diversity is one of the hallmarks of Ivy U. There is room for not only those born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but also for those born impoverished, but ambitious and smart. Students with perfect 2400 SAT scores and perfect 4.0 GPAs are not slam dunk admits; in fact, without more, are not unlikely to be rejected. Having high test scores and grades are often considered threshold issues, meaning when compared to similarly situated candidates, the numbers serve as a way to eliminate a lot of candidates from the pool, but the numbers do not garner automatic acceptance. Acceptance requires more “stuff” going for the candidate than just high grades and test scores.
Having seen how the admissions process at Ivy U. works from the inside, you can begin to plan your future more effectively. Keep your grades high and shoot for competitive scores on standardized exams. If you require academic tutoring to help you achieve those goals, by all means, find a qualified academic tutoring firm such as Logos Tutoring to give you the academic assistance you need. But don’t forget about those extracurriculars, such as volunteer work, athletics, and/or playing a musical instrument. Volunteer work is an especially important component to admission in many programs. Colleges and professional programs are looking for well-rounded applicants even as much as they are looking for students with high grades and test scores. In addition, if you have the opportunity to go to a high school or college with great name recognition, this will definitely increase your chance of successful admission in the next phase of your education at a school such as Ivy U.
In addition, don’t forget that Ivy U is not the only game in town. For qualified students who might enjoy serving their country, the service academies offer outstanding value as well, with no tuition in exchange for a certain number of years of military service as an officer. (There are three service academies.) In addition, the honors colleges within state universities offer an Ivy education at a State U price. Finally, it bears mentioning that even more important than what college you attended is what you do once you get there. What you did in high school will probably have no bearing on your post-college options; however, what you do in college will have a definite impact on your post-college options. In any event, don’t be afraid to expand your horizons and think outside the box. Good luck on getting in to the school of your dreams!
Contact us with your comments.