In Search of the Holy Grail:
Highly Selective College Admissions
Sue Biemeret
Bob Foltin
Amy Grove
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
What is a Holy Grail?
 The focus of all our national attention
 The best of what higher ed has to offer
 Typically admits fewer than 10 - 25% of
applicants
 Modern-day version of the knight’s search
for ultimate truth
The Holy Grail, Round One
Amherst
Brown
Caltech
Univ. of
Chicago
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Duke
Georgetown
Harvard
Harvey
Mudd
Univ. of
Illinois
MIT
Michigan
Northwestern
U North
Carolina
The Holy Grail, Round Two
Notre Dame
Penn
Pomona
Princeton
Rice
Stanford
Swarthmore
Virginia
Wash U.
Wellesley
Williams
Yale
How The Grail Admits Students Course Selection
 Single most important factor in process
 Looking for most rigorous courses
available at SHS
 AP/Honors classes expected
 Most common AP classes: English, Math,
Science
 Senior courses are important!
 Looking for rigor and balance
How the Grail Admits Students Grade Trends
 Not just the course rigor, but also excellence in
classes
 Expectation: All A’s in all APs!!
 Reality: Taking most challenging courses and
earning top grades
 Most HGs expect 4.3+ weighted gpa
 Grade trends from freshman through junior year
really examined
 Some HGs recalculate gpa to include only
academic units
How the Grail Admits Students Test Scores
 Which tests to take? ACT+Writing or SAT
Reasoning Test with SAT Subject Tests?
 Check each school’s requirements!!
 SHS policy on reporting test scores
 Common scores: ACT 33+, SAT 1500+
[not including Writing score]
 Sometimes used as eliminator to remove
applicant from pool
 Explain poor test history in personal
statement
Some Testing Requirements
 Harvard: either ACT + Writing or SAT AND 3
SAT Subject Tests of the student’s choosing
 Yale: ACT + Writing or SAT AND 2 SAT
Subject Tests
 Brown: ACT+Writing or SAT AND 2 SAT
Subject Tests
 Duke: ACT+Writing OR SAT and 2 Subject
Tests
 Stanford: SAT or ACT + Writing; 2 SAT Subject
Tests recommended
How the Grail Admits Students:
Co-Curricular Activities
 Answer the question: What do you do
besides study? What is your passion?
 Well-roundedness or Well-lopsidedness
 Depth over breadth
 Begin chart in 10th grade and update it; use
Resume feature on Naviance!
 Don’t join just to look involved!
How The Grail Admits Students:
Essays
 Single scariest part of process for most students
 Deliberately ambiguous writing prompts to elicit
how you think, define your passion[s],
determine your intellectual curiosity
 No right or wrong answer
 Be sure to answer the question!!
 Secret: develop your voice!
How the Grail Admits Students:
Letters of Recommendation
 Two types: teacher and counselor
 Teacher: How did your presence in class change
the class? What did you add?
 Counselor: How did you navigate Stevenson?
More global view
 Get teachers who know you well [not just who
grade you well…]
 Don’t overstock your app with letters
 Get to know your counselor now!
How the Grail Admits Students:
High School Experience
 This is our job: to tell the Stevenson Story
of excellence to colleges
 High school visits, high school profile,
professional development contacts
 Let’s not rank high schools [!!], but know
that Stevenson’s history of academic
excellence is well known to HG schools
How the Grail Admits Students:
Geographic Distribution
 All HG schools want national student body,
at least one student from each state [except
public HGs]
 No quotas of high schools or states
 Consider our competition….
 Increase the odds? Move to North Dakota
[and be first chair French horn….]
How the Grail Admits Students:
Special Talents/Considerations
 Athletic, Musical, Artistic Talent can add
weight to application
 What’s your “hook?”
 Alumni Legacy sometimes considered [but
not always….]
 “Knowing someone” isn’t going to affect
decision [unless that someone has a
building named after him on campus….]
How the Grail Admits Students:
Demonstrated Interest
 The newest piece of the puzzle.
 Did the student visit the campus, come to
local presentations [at SHS or at local
hotels], email the admission office with
legitimate questions???
 Some colleges utilize data to help make
decisions about candidates.
 Early application is the ultimate example!
Importance of “Safety” Schools
 What is a safety school?
 NO ONE wants to be known as a safety
 Just who is/isn’t safe these days is a
moveable feast
 Real safety: much more than a place you
can get in, but also a place where you can
grow, learn, become the best you can be
--Should resemble your “reach” schools
in location, size, opportunities
Early Admission Plans
 May 1st is Universal Candidate Reply Date
 Two Ways of Signaling Your Interest [and Maybe
Even Enhancing Chance for Admission]:
 Early Action: not binding [can wait til May 1]
 Early Decision: binding [must say yes if admitted,
can’t wait til May lst]
– Real commitment to school [like getting engaged…]
– Must withdraw all other applications if admitted
– May only apply to one school ED
ED: The Financial Issue
 Need to have a realistic view of your financial
need [as opposed to want]
 Can’t compare aid awards from other schools
when applying ED
 Estimate? Go to www.finaid.org and look for
estimator page
 Can only refuse ED offer if college does not
match your need [as opposed to your want]
Other Financial Considerations
 Difference between “ability to pay” and
“willingness to pay” [difference between
need and want] - confusing difference to
many families
 Most Holy Grail schools do not offer merit
[no-need] aid, only offer need-based aid
 Parents: You may have to pay the full cost
of a Holy Grail education!
Some Scary Statistics
[from 2009]
Brown: 24,988 apps Princeton: 21,964
--10.8% admitted
--9.8% admitted
Harvard: 29,112 apps Stanford: 30,428 apps
--7% admitted
--7.6% admitted
Penn: 22,939 apps
Yale: 26,000 apps
--17.1% admitted
--7.5% admitted
Even More Scary Stats…
27,000+ high schools in the U.S.
Each school has a “top twenty” list of students
540,000 superstars all applying to the same schools!
Even perfect test takers don’t always get the brass
ring!
Our “best” student can become “typical” in the Holy
Grail applicant pool
We do not control this situation!
Lucky/Unlucky Students
 85-90% of applicants to HG schools meet
academic requirements, but
 7-25% of applicants are admitted
 Importance of personal factors, both about the
student and by the college
 Some students are lucky to be admitted
 And others are unlucky not to be admitted
 Not a matter of better/best, but of lucky/unlucky
Strategies for Students There Are No Guarantees
 No one is entitled to admission to a Holy
Grail!
 This is not science, this is an art.
 Some of our best students are not admitted
 Realize your local, state, and national
competition
Strategies for Students Do Your Homework!
 Know everything you can about the Holy
Grail schools!
 Research, read, check web sites, meet with
reps
 Visit, visit, visit!
 Level of interest becoming key factor at
some HG schools
 Know more than a school’s US News
ranking: know why you want to attend it!
Strategies for Students:
Develop a “Split Personality”
 Important to balance confidence in your
abilities with reality of admission odds
 As you complete your application, be 100%
convinced of your ability to succeed
 After you turn your app in, go back to being
100% convinced that you might not get in!
 Importance of confidence in application
process, reality in admission process
The Stress Factor
 Applying to college already stressful; HG
apps hike up the stress to “full throttle”
 Student stress
 Parent stress
 Dealing with stress
Keeping Your Perspective…
 Don’t ever forget your talents, your
wisdom, your unique strengths
 Don’t also forget that there are thousands of
equally talented students across the world
who also seek admission to the Holy Grail
 Instead of admit/deny, think about
lucky/unlucky
 There IS a right place for each of you!!!
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
 6,013 undergrads
 No core curriculum [so admissions looks
for independent thinkers and risk-takers]
 Brown Curriculum: students must pass 30
courses with no req’ts [must show writing
competency plus a Capstone experience]
 Self-designed majors are commonplace
 Frosh live together in halls; then, housing
done by lottery
Columbia University
New York City
 7,584 undergrads
 The ultimate urban campus experience!
 “Core curriculum” coined at Columbia!
 Students have intellectual persona
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
 13,846 undergrads
 Largest Ivy
 Both public and private, depending upon major
[“One foot planted in the Big Ten, the other foot
in the Ivy League”]
 “Easiest Ivy to get into, hardest to get out of”
 All Frosh take required seminar
 70” of snow every year….
Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire
 4,196 undergrads
 “Dartmouth Plan”: school year divides into 4 10-
week terms, 3 courses per term. Most students
take 3 terms/year.
 Must remain on campus summer after sophomore
year, so have “leave time” during soph or junior
year. Students may take up to 3 terms off campus.
 “Most intimate of Ivies”
 Housing crunches common
 “Work hard, play hard” place
 Rural location - outdoor activities very popular
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
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6,655 undergrads
Highest yield rate in nation: 79%
World-renowned faculty in every department
Students need to complete a core of 6 “modes of
inquiry” courses
 Soph and Junior tutorials common
 Largest university library system in world
 All frosh live in Harvard Yard which skirts
campus
 No Greek Life
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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10,337 undergrads
Founded by Ben Franklin: theory + practice
Strong liberal arts core
Most students live on campus [surrounding area
very urban]
 20% Greek
 Students are politically active and involved
 Athletics is big here
 Campus like “the Secret Garden”: Gothic beauty
surrounded by bustling urban Philly.
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey
 5,047 undergrads
 The “Ivory Tower” Ivy: deep traditions, more
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conservative academically and devoted to undergrad
experience
Classes taught in seminar or preceptorial format
[discussion groups of 15]
Senior thesis required
Honor code
Housing broken into 5 residential colleges, many looking
like Gothic cathedrals
Upperclass “Eating Clubs” are Princeton version of Greek
life
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
 5,247 undergrads
 Great rival with Harvard
 Academically liberal; no strict core
curriculum; 36 courses required for
graduation
 Students assigned to 1 of 12 residential
colleges but don’t live there til soph year;
all frosh live on Old Campus - each college
has own dean, faculty, dining hall, etc.
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
 6,400 undergrads
 Two undergrad schools: Engineering and Trinity College
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of Liberal Arts
Flexible core requirements, but all students must take
Small Group Learning Experience
East and West Campuses; all frosh live on East; most
students live on campus all 4 years
“Work hard, play hard” place: intense study, but great
support for athletics [“Tent City”]
Campus sits in 8,000-acre forest
Forms Research Triangle with UNC and NC State
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
 7,038 undergrads
 Known for Foreign Service and Public
Service programs [location…]
 Frosh and sophs live on campus; housing
guaranteed 3/4 years on campus
 Kids use DC for social life and really
support their Hoyas!
 Jesuit school [only 50% Catholic]
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
 8,476 undergrads
 Operates on quarter system
 Medill School of Journalism and Music/Theatre programs
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world-renowned
Housing either in residence hall or one of 11 residential
colleges
Least “rah rah” of Big Ten schools [not always much to
cheer about!]
Beautiful suburban campus hugging Lake Michigan
Apps up 25%+ over past three years
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana
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8,371 undergrads
Catholic school; about 85% Catholic
Freshman Year of Studies all students take
85% of students live on campus
No Greek; halls function as hub of student social
life; many kids stay in same hall all 4 years
 Athletics is HUGE! [sometimes even with good
reason!]
 Kids rely on campus for social life; South Bend
not very attractive to ND kids [and vice versa!]
 Beautiful campus with golf course, lakes and the
famed Grotto
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California
 6,878 undergrads
 Strong commitment to liberal arts
 90+% of kids live on-campus, with many frosh in
frosh-only housing
 Athletics are a big deal at Stanford
 Very small Greek life; kids use Sierra Nevada
Mtns and San Francisco for social life
 8,000-acre campus [“The Farm”] was estate of
Leland Stanford