Dirty Little Secrets of College Admissions

As many students wait anxiously for early action and early decision letters from America’s elite colleges, the mystery lingers: “What are Jack or Jill’s chances of acceptance?” At the most competitive universities in the country, it is extremely difficult to predict. The average GPA and SAT ranges found in many college publications are deceiving. The reality is that thousands of candidates with stellar GPAs, nearly perfect SATs, and robust extra-curricular activities, will ultimately be rejected. The answer as to why lies in the numbers.

Who gets accepted?

Last year at Princeton, 37% of the entering freshmen seats went to minority students, 17% to athletes, 13% to legacy applicants and 11% to international students. Not published are the number of spots that were given to the children of faculty or staff, VIP development candidates (non-legacy, high-wealth individuals) and performing/visual arts students. These groups combined can amount to another 6-12% of accepted applicants at many institutions.

Athletes, but not just athletes

Obviously, the numbers vary from school to school. Athletes accounted for a whopping 31% of Dartmouth’s freshman class this year, 23% of Notre Dame is comprised of legacy kids, and performing/visual artists make up a high percentage of the NYU student body. While there is some amount of crossover (i.e. a soccer player may also be international), in the end, only a very small number of freshman seats are still open for the average applicant, and the competition is STEEP!

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What if you're not from South Dakota?

What are admissions committees looking for among the thousands of remaining candidates? Outstanding grades, great recommendations, and top notch SAT scores are rarely enough. Demographics often play a role, and admissions reps will joke that the best state to hail from is South Dakota. Economics are also a factor since most colleges today, no matter how well-endowed, have to take some full-paying candidates. But leadership, innovation and passion are the most sought after qualities by ultra-selective colleges. Students float to the top who have undertaken research, published articles, founded organizations, and/or motivated and led others in a very significant and creative way.

So, if you are one of the few who is accepted to an elite college on December 15, congratulations. For the rest who may be disappointed, remember that less than 10% of the Fortune 500 CEO’s in America went to an Ivy League college. Then, take comfort in the fact that you could still become a billionaire like Warren Buffet who graduated from the University of Nebraska or Oprah who went to Tennessee State. In the end, a big name college is not the ticket to happiness or success; finding a college that will empower you as an academic and an individual is what really matters.