Valedictorian With 1590 SAT Score Rejected From Every Ivy League School
A student with an astounding resume getting these rejections shows how ridiculous the college application process has become.
TikTok Getting accepted into a university is arguably the most challenging part of getting a college degree. It’s not as easy as it was even just ten years ago.
For the Ivy League schools, it’s a whole other ballpark for those trying to get accepted purely off merit. One high school student had a nearly perfect track record and still faced numerous rejections.
Every Ivy League school rejected a valedictorian with a 1590 SAT score.
With over 154,000 followers on TikTok, a user named Limmy has amassed quite a lot of support thanks to his videos about college applications. From reviews of other people's applications to funny skits about the entire process, Limmy does exactly what he sets out to do in his bio that reads, "making applying to college fun."
However, he also doesn't shy away from the less fun aspects of the maze that is college applications in the US including showing his results after applying to every Ivy League school.
He was the valedictorian at his high school and had a 1590 SAT score out of a possible 1600. He is, by any account, a shoo-in for any college. But, the schools themselves didn't agree.
So, out of the eight Ivies, he was waitlisted at two and rejected from the rest — Dartmouth deferred before rejecting him. Princeton and Brown University both waitlisted Limmy. But is getting waitlisted at a top college a death sentence? Or is there a solid chance that you could still get in?
In the Fall 2021 admissions, Princeton’s most recent admission statistics reported that 1,000 people accepted their position on the waitlist, and it admitted 150 of them. That makes the waitlist acceptance rate exactly 15%, which is low.
Brown University reported a Fall 2022 acceptance rate of roughly 5%. However, it didn’t report how many people it gave a place on its waitlist. But the prestigious Providence, Rhode Island university gave a total of 15 students acceptance off the waitlist.
Despite the rejections, he still got into a bunch of great colleges.
At first, seeing someone with a resume like Limmy’s can be nerve-racking for many people applying to college. But it’s important to note that he still got into a number of great colleges.
In a follow-up video, he shared the results and his final decision. Boston College, Georgetown University, Vanderbilt University and Duke University are the four colleges that accepted him.
Even though those colleges are not Ivy Leagues, they have Ivy-worthy acceptance rates ranging from Georgetown University’s 12% for Fall 2022 to Duke’s 5.9% for Fall 2023 — the class that Limmy was accepted into and chose to enroll in.
Even though Ivy League schools are classically known as the most prestigious colleges, many institutions surpass them with their acceptance rates. For example, Duke’s acceptance rate is lower than a number of Ivy League colleges, including Cornell and Dartmouth.
However, statistics do show that Ivy League grads make more than the average four-year college graduate. But if you’re a high school or college student, before you get worried, thinking that it’ll be the end of the world if you don’t get into an Ivy, ask yourself why making a few more grand a year matters to you. Well, most people look at more money, meaning more happiness.
What’s the goal of making more money if not to be happier? A Gallup poll shows that Ivy League grads are no happier in their jobs than the rest of us. According to the poll, what truly is the deciding factor of happiness in your job is your college experiences. So, if you’re in college or gearing up to go, don’t worry about where you go, worry about what you do there. A great and engaging class is a far greater factor in improving your work life than an Ivy League degree.
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. He writes on entertainment and news.