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I'm in the top ten of my class at a medium-sized (300 in the class of 2002) suburban high school. I really want to go to Princeton, but I suspect that the other nine in the top ten will be applying there too. Do admissions departments limit the number of students they accept from a single high school and, if so, how can I make myself stand out from the others enough to capture that spot?

By Dave Berry on Monday, August 13, 2001 - 07:56 pm: Edit

It's rather relative. The Ivies take a relatively large number of seniors (maybe three-to-four) from some private schools and magnets, and even some less-competitive publics sometimes. However, the diversity factor can work against you. They like to "spread the wealth," so to speak, across the geographic and cultural board, which definitely wasn't the case 40-50 years ago.

The bottom line for you is that you should take your best shot at a competitive application package, putting forth your best self-marketing image, essays, packaging, and recommendations (see: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_admissions/elite_colleges.htm).

That's the best way to stand out from the crowd. Our book, "America's Elite Colleges," will give you the inside track on all of that.

If you put your heart and soul into the process and have a carefully constructed candidate list, you'll be guaranteed a quality result--maybe not Princeton, but a school that can deliver an outstanding education and experience for you. Best wishes on your college process, Deidre. If you get a chance, stop back and let us know what happens, will you?

By lena on Friday, August 17, 2001 - 09:59 am: Edit

My school doesn't have class rankings. Will this effect me in any way?

By Roger (Roger) on Sunday, September 02, 2001 - 07:16 pm: Edit

Iena, some schools simply refuse to provide ranking information. In this case, colleges will use other tools or attempt to compute a very approximate ranking from your GPA and whatever information the school provides about GPA distributions. You shouldn't find this to be a big disadvantage, unless you are going to miss out on bragging rights for being valedictorian. Even then, your record will speak for itself from an admissions standpoint.

By Nico Tedesco on Saturday, April 27, 2002 - 09:39 pm: Edit

I have been accepted to several universities. New York University and Florida State University are the ones that I'm considering. The differences between them are as follow:
1) My contribution for NYU will be around $18000 out of $38000 and for FSU (since housing is full and I'll have to rent an apartment) will be between $2000 & $4000 out of $18000, but if I wouldn't have to rent one; it would be "free" due to scholarships and grants that I have been awarded from the university.
2) NYU is ranked #32 in the top 50 national universities and FSU #48 in top 50 public universities.
Since money is a burden; FSU might be a possibility with the option to transfer later and thus save some money the first years. However, my fear is whether I'll get accepted or not. Which one should I go for?

By Rosebud on Saturday, April 27, 2002 - 11:45 pm: Edit

Do you mean accepted to NYU as a transfer? If you compile a good record, it shouldn't be a problem. Some schools, Cornell is one, have programs guaranteeing acceptances under certain circumstances. Why not ask and see if NYU has any such policy?

Understand that your financial aid award is negotiable. You should explain your situation to NYU's financial aid office. The desire to protect their yield might be enough incentive for NYU to improve its offer.

By Nico on Sunday, April 28, 2002 - 09:57 am: Edit

Hi again. No, I'm a high school senior and I'll be a college freshman next school year 2002-03. Also, I would like to know how hard would it be to transfer from Florida State University (FSU) to one of the Ivies such as Cornell or Princeton, and if tranferring from NYU would make it any easier. Obviously the education and the experience I would get from NYU has no comparison to the ones from FSU. Nevertheless, if money wasn't a problem, I'd go to NYU without a doubt.
I wanted to go to Cornell, but unfortunately I was rejected. However, I will try again either next year or after my sophomore year.
Oh, and one more. What type of credentials do I have to have in order to get accepted into any of the Ivy Leagues being a college student? for example, 3.8-4.0 GPA, ECs? do they look at your high school record also? SAT I & II, etc...?

By Feath17 (Feath17) on Thursday, May 29, 2003 - 05:58 pm: Edit

Hello -

I was just wondering where you got the list of the top 50 national universities and the top 50 public universities so that I could check out the other schools on the lists.