The Secrets of Getting Accepted to Elite Colleges

The vast majority of colleges accept at least half of their applicants.  Some accept many more.  In fact, U.S. News & World Report lists scores of colleges and universities that, in recent years, have accepted between 95% and 100% of applicants.  
 
The difficulty arises when students seek acceptance to the world-famous institutions that, each year, collectively reject hundreds of thousands of students.  According to U.S. News & World Report, the acceptance rate for the Fall 2022 freshman class was 9% at Cornell University and lower at all the other Ivy League schools with Harvard and Princeton at 4%, Yale at 5%, and Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, at University of Pennsylvania at 6%.  Similar one digit acceptance rates were reported for Stanford, M.I.T., University of Chicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, California Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt, and Rice.
 
What college bound students need to do, therefore, is be aware of the criteria that college admissions officers are taking under careful consideration. Some of these benchmarks are outside a student’s control.  Many of the top colleges favor “legacy” students – those with an alumni parent.  Many colleges give preference to “first generation” students – those whose parents do not have a college education.  Many colleges value geographical diversity – seeking a freshmen class that represents all 50 states and as many foreign countries as possible.  If students can use any of these criteria to their benefit, they should highlight the information on their applications.

The Ivy League College Degree Advantage

Many students with high academic credentials seek admission to an Ivy League institution, aware of the prestige, job opportunities, and increased earnings that a degree from one of these eight elite institutions is likely to impart. The Ivy League is comprised of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.  

U.S. News & World Report reviewed recent data from PayScale and concluded that Ivy League graduates earn substantially more than do graduates from more than 1,500 other four-year universities. Early career median pay in 2022 was reportedly $86,025 for Ivy League graduates, compared to $58,643 for graduates of other universities. That gap grew wider when considering mid-career median pay, with Ivy League graduates earning $161,888 compared to $101,777 for graduates of other institutions – a difference of more than $50,000 per year.  

 

Not only do Ivy League students have greater potential earnings, but they typically enjoy a lower cost of education.  All the Ivy League schools (with the exception of Columbia which declined to share information) are in the Top 20 on the U.S. News Best Value Schools list.  For the most part, they have a “no loans” policy, which means they meet the full financial need of all students without requiring them to take out loans.

True vs. False Benefits of College Summer Programs

The vast majority of elite colleges and universities “invite” thousands of high school students – and sometimes even middle school students – to spend a portion of their summer living on campus, attending classes, and experiencing the life of an undergraduate.

Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, The University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UCLA, NYU, Duke, Boston College, and scores of other colleges and universities open their campus each summer to teens who later dream of returning for their college experience.

 

The problem is that the admission process for most summer programs can barely be considered competitive, while the admission process for undergraduate acceptance is truly daunting at many of these same institutions.  Often students, and their parents, are under the false impression that attending a summer program for high school students at an elite school will ultimately help them gain acceptance for college.  A Washington Monthly article, titled “The Pre-College Racket,” reported that, according to professional admissions consultants, attending a pre-college program seldom offers a special benefit or is particularly prestigious on college applications.  

Leadership is a Key Factor to College Acceptance

It’s notable when college admissions officers are all in agreement.  At a gathering of high school guidance counselors, organized by the New Jersey Association for College Admission Counseling, a question was posed to a group of college admissions officers. “What quality do you most seek in the students you choose to admit?” Each admissions representative responded with the same word: Leadership.

 

Walk the campus of an elite university and ask any student, “What helped you get accepted to this amazing school?” You will quickly find that each student has a story to tell.  It usually revolves around leadership.

 

Leadership takes on many forms.  Some students serve as the founder, president, or other officer, of a highly respected club or organization at their high school.  Others are the captain of a varsity team.  Still others take on leadership roles within their community.  The unifying quality is that they are developing leadership skills which will impress college admissions officers and later serve their college community. 

 

It’s ideal when students acquire leadership skills that simultaneously help them gain more knowledge and experience in a field they intend to pursue in college. Future doctors can serve their communities by getting certified and working as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). Future business executives can take on a leadership role with DECA, a non-profit student organization, in existence since 1946, that helps student members develop financial, management, and leadership skills.  If a student’s high school doesn’t host this club, it’s the perfect opportunity to launch it! 

The Best Questions to Ask on College Visits

Asking questions is vital to getting information in so many areas of life – including the most suitable colleges.  The key to truly finding out what your college experience would be like at any given school is to carefully research the answers that are readily available, and then seek out the answers that may not be so obvious.

A good place to start is the website bigfuture.collegeboard.org, which allows students to indicate the criteria that are important to them -- such as a particular major, availability of a specific sport or activity, environment (urban, suburban, or rural), geographic location – and the site provides a list of colleges that fit the bill.  

Students can then go the website of each of these schools and find details regarding the size and diversity of the student body, the percent of students that live on campus, the most popular majors, the sticker price to attend, the average SAT scores of accepted students, and much more.

Once this information is gathered, students should create a list of colleges that seem ideal –- on paper.  The next step is to find answers to the more elusive questions.  A college tour is typically the easiest and most productive way for potential students to get answers to the questions that will greatly impact the happiness and success of their college experience.

Include Safety Schools on Potential College List

College-bound students, in New Jersey and across the country, are finding that gaining admission to the most desirable colleges has grown increasingly competitive in recent years.  Even students with near-perfect SAT scores, weighted GPA’s exceeding 4.0, and a multitude of Advanced Placement (AP) courses, are finding it extremely challenging to secure a “You’re Accepted” email from the top echelon of schools.   

 

Recent statistics from U.S. News & World Report indicate that the acceptance rate at many of the most selective colleges is below 15%. Included are such popular schools as New York University (NYU), Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duke University.  Not surprisingly, the Ivy League schools reported single digit acceptance rates, with the exception of Cornell University at 10.3%. 

 

The lesson to be learned from these grim statistics is that high school students need to include “safety schools” on their list of potential colleges.  These are colleges to which a student would expect to be accepted, based on a comparison of his/her GPA and SAT scores with those of accepted students in previous years.  High school students should utilize Naviance, or whatever software their school is utilizing, to compare their academic statistics with those of previous students from their high school who applied to the particular college. It will show the number of students who were accepted and rejected, and how their SAT scores and GPA compared.

Are Advanced Placement Courses Really Necessary?

If last year’s numbers are any indication, between two and three million students will be taking close to five million Advanced Placement (AP) exams this spring.  These exams, offered in May of each year, mark the culmination of college-level courses offered to high school students. Currently, there are 38 AP courses in the Arts, English, History & Social Science, Math & Computer Science, Science, and World Languages & Cultures, although not all are offered at every high school. The curriculum for each of these courses is written by The College Board – the same folks who bring you the SAT exam.  Students who score 3 or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) are offered college credits by many of the nation’s colleges and universities.  

Parents and students often ask, “Are AP courses really necessary?”  The answer is both yes and no –- depending on the student’s ambitions and college goals. When students apply to college, they are basically in competition with their peers.  Most colleges want a geographically well-rounded student body.  So, college admissions officers compare all applicants from the same high school and favor those with the most impressive academic record based on SAT and AP scores, GPA, and competitive course load.  While there is no college in the country that outwardly states a requirement for AP courses, students are well aware that these higher-level courses, which indicate an ability to successfully complete college-level work, are viewed most favorably by college admission staff.