College admissions has become its own field of study over the years, forcing applicants to immerse themselves in an ocean of data or engage experts whose life work is to learn to sail those stormy seas. From this idiosyncratic corner of academia springs all kinds of new terms, the most euphemistic of which is highly selective.
Highly selective basically describes the colleges and universities that accept the smallest percentage of applicants. These institutions, mostly but not entirely private, can be found all across the United States. The 50 hardest colleges to get into include all the Ivies, plenty of public flagships, and even military service academies. What connects all of these schools is the existence of two competing trends:
1. More and more applications every year
2. A limited number of seats for new students
Thus, at many of the most highly selective schools, you see acceptance rates below 5%. Harvard University, at the top of the pyramid of prestige, comes in below 5%, but even those numbers don’t tell the true story of selectivity.
Harvard’s own student newspaper, The Crimson, recently reported that 1 in 11 Harvard students has come from just 21 US high schools since 2009:
Over the past 15 years, more than 7,000 secondary schools have sent at least one student to Harvard… For many of these schools, to send a student to Harvard is a blip, a rare anomaly in an obscure and lofty admissions process.
But for a handful of high schools, a Harvard acceptance is an expectation — not an aspiration.
Since 2009, 184 schools have sent one or more students to Harvard at least 10 times. These schools, by The Crimson’s count, are particularly represented in the College’s admitted classes. Of all schools that have sent students to Harvard, one in 11 students has come from just 21 high schools across the United States.
What should applicants who come from one of the tens of thousands of high schools that aren’t Harvard feeder schools do with this information?
KEEP BEING THE BEST VERSION OF YOU. Excel academically while cultivating the intellectual curiosity, integrity, and motivation to succeed at the next level. Explore every activity that beckons you, but be sure to choose at least one to exhibit your ability, leadership, and commitment over time. Prepare properly for important tests. Embrace opportunities to expand your social and professional networks.
Do those things and you’ll likely create a college application equal to those of students who get into the most selective schools, even if you don’t get into one of them.
We write often about college admissions on the Chariot Learning blog, and I discuss every aspect of that topic extensively on the Tests and the Rest podcast. Amidst all the angst about college selectivity, institutional priorities, and inscrutable acceptance rates, I’ve learned one essential truth for any applicant: much more important than where you go after high school is the person you become during high school.
Mike Bergin