Austin Scholar #106: How to have a 75% chance of getting into an Ivy League
March's free article :)
Hey, y'all!
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: Just an introduction :)
How to have a 75% chance of getting into an Ivy League
Scholar’s Sources: What I’ve been up to…
Austin’s Anecdote: Just an introduction :)
Y’all remember that 75% Chance of Getting Into an Ivy League workshop my friends and I put together in 48 hours? Well, it’s coming back.
On March 24th at 1:00 pm, we’re running a two-hour seminar at Alpha High!! My friend Peyton (Enlightened Life newsletter – accepted into Vanderbilt), Hope (Learn and Earn – accepted into Northeastern), Grace (Travelingenes on X – accepted into UATX), and I (Austin Scholar – accepted into Stanford) will be there to answer any questions.
(Yes, I understand the irony that we’re talking about getting into an Ivy League but none of us have gotten into Ivies. But “how to have a 75% chance of getting into a top 20 university” just doesn’t flow the same way.)
There will also be a celebrity guest, so check out the website for more information.
If you want to sign up, click here.
I hope to see y’all there!!
How to have a 75% chance of getting into an Ivy League
You might be wondering: what will we be talking about at this event?
My friends and I are creating a course to teach students how to have a 75% chance of getting into an Ivy League university.
It’s a topic we feel pretty strongly about.
College admissions rates are lower than ever, and hundreds of thousands of extremely hard-working applicants who have followed the “traditional” path are getting rejected from their top colleges. My friends and I think this is, in large part, because students are being misled.
College counselors are giving students bad advice (more on that in a minute), then telling their students "admission is completely random" to justify their rejection by top universities. But really students are being misdirected.
This course seeks to rectify that; to teach students that not only are college admissions not random, but they can have a 75% chance of getting into an Ivy League.
The truth is, college admissions are not random. And there are people who have a 75% chance of getting accepted.
Namely: Olympians who get a 1500+ SAT score.
Why? Olympians have proven they can become the best in the world at something and are passionate and dedicated – all qualities colleges want. And, of course, the SAT score proves the student will be able to succeed at their school.
If a student follows our workshop path, they can build a project that’s as impressive as being an Olympian and will get them the same 75% chance of acceptance at an Ivy League college.
For years, college counselors have advised students to be“well-rounded.” Of course, there are well-rounded students who get into Ivy Leagues – but they don’t have a 75% chance of acceptance. Most of the acceptances go to students who have a “spike” – who are world-class in one area, not “pretty good” in many areas.
Think about it this way. Let’s say there are 43,000 applications to Harvard, and 1,000 of those applications are “world-class” – students who demonstrate exceptional ability in one area. 900 of those applicants will receive an acceptance. That’s 90%.
On the other hand, 36,000 of the Harvard applicants are well-rounded students, and, but only 3% will be accepted. They might all have great SAT scores, but they don’t have a competitive advantage. Finally, of the 6,000 unqualified applicants, around 0.8% of them will receive an acceptance.
(Check Scholar’s Sources for more information on the data!!) It’s not random. Applicants who are exceptional in one area – not well-rounded applicants – clearly have a higher chance of acceptance.
College admissions officers are lying to students. They are potentially ruining their lives by pushing forward the narrative of “random” admissions and the “well-rounded applicant” idea.
Our workshop will reveal the truth behind college admissions – and will provide students with a clear pathway to get accepted into their dream school.
We’ll also give the students who attend a blueprint they can use to develop a spike and build an Olympic-level project, so they can have a 75% chance of getting into an Ivy League School.
In the workshop, students will…
Come up with their spike or unique point of view
Create an idea for their Olympic-level project (for non-athletes)
Ex: I am raising $350,000 to create Texas’ first world-class bike park.
Ex: I am transforming the way parents view education by creating a top 10 Substack newsletter that influences millions of moms and makes a million dollars a year.
Ex: I am finding the prevention and cure for breast cancer by researching the connection between food and epigenetics.
Create a plan for the next four years of high school
Calculate their admission chances
This workshop shows students that it is hard work to get into an Ivy League – but also that it’s possible.
Sign up here.
Scholar’s Sources: What I’ve been up to…
You know how before you go to college, you need to get a few Meningitis shots? Well, I got one of mine last week and my goodness, it did not agree with me. I had a terrible adverse reaction to the shot and had a high fever and was pretty sick for the entire night after. Not fun. On a lighter note, I’ve recently had a few calls with Stanford alumni to talk about writing and what life at Stanford would look like for me. Also, I finally finished my four years of foreign language requirements!! Es waren gute vier Jahre.
If you didn’t know, I’m a huge Ohtani fan – and I’m so intrigued by his mastery over both of the core aspects of baseball (pitching and hitting). So when I saw that someone posted a thread with the hook “I’m obsessed with Shohei Ohtani,” I knew I had to read it. Immediately.
And I wasn’t disappointed. If you want some great examples of grit, goal setting, and ambition, definitely check out the thread. You can also replicate some of the exercises for either you or your kid.
This is the massive article that a lot of the “75% Chance” stuff was based on. It has real data from these elite schools about their acceptance and some actionable steps you can take to help your kid. If you want to do a deeper dive into admissions, definitely check this article out.
One of my favorite activities I’ve done recently is blackout poetry!! I love it because you don’t actually have to write anything – you just repurpose someone else’s words. And it looks super cool. It’s a great place to start for beginner poets. I haven’t talked about poetry very much because I feel like it’s pretty niche, but if y’all want to hear about how poetry has helped me organize my thoughts and improve my mental health, please let me know!!
Thanks for reading. Go crush the week! See y'all on Sunday.