What does Harvard University do when faced with well-connected applicants — children of major donors or other highly influential people — who have less-than-ideal SAT scores and GPAs?
They put them on the Z-List, according to college admissions coaches.
This means students are advised to matriculate after taking a gap year, making them so-called “data ghosts” – meaning their lackluster academic statistics are not reported in the incoming freshman class.
That way Harvard doesn’t take a hit to its stellar academic average — or institutional ranking.
“If Harvard doesn’t want the student to affect their US News and World Report rankings with their GPA and test scores, they admit them through the Z list,” Brian Taylor, managing partner of Manhattan-based college admissions firm Ivy Coach, told The Post . (Although Harvard Law and Medicine Schools withdrew from the US News and World Report college rankings, the university in general did not.)
“It often means that the student is completely ineligible for admission on his own.”
Harvard has a secret tool to allow underqualified but highly connected kids into their school without compromising their reputation: the Z-List. Shutterstock experts say Harvard uses this Z list to protect its ranking alliance.picture via Getty Images
According to the Ivy Coach website, about 60 students earn a spot on the Z list each year, and are sent a letter that effectively says “we would be happy to consider your admission in one year.”
“They didn’t reapply,” Taylor explained. “They’re admitted, and they’re guaranteed a place within a year.”
In his practice, Taylor says he sees clients put on the Z List about every year — though he estimates they account for a single-digit percentage of the students he works with who get into Harvard.
“It’s for the important people,” he said. “We have clients who have been included on the Z list who are close friends or family of major world leaders or major donors.”
When the Z-List letter arrived, college admissions coach Brian Taylor said, it was “never a surprise.” Corbis via Getty Images
When the Z-List letter arrived, Taylor said it was “never a surprise.”
Inevitably, he said, it was for the students he told at the start of the admissions process: “I don’t know if you’re going to get into Harvard, but that list is your only hope.”
He added that there were some clear signs that students were on the list.
“When students take a gap year between their high school and college years, it’s a good indication that they may have been put on the Z list,” Taylor explained.
A Harvard spokesman did not return a request for comment.
While Harvard is the only school with a so-called “Z-List,” Taylor said other elite schools exploit the same loophole to get students with troubling statistics in the door.
Ivy Coach admissions consultant Brian Taylor says he sees Z-Listed students about every year at his firm.Brian Taylor
The most common way is to exploit the transfer process.
Because US News and World Report do not count student transfer statistics in their ranking calculations, some schools channel low-performing students that way.
According to Taylor, Cornell exploits a “guaranteed transfer” system in which applicants with sub-par test scores or GPAs are told to do their first year of college elsewhere then reapply.
If they maintain a certain grade point average during their first year — usually a B-average — they are guaranteed admission to Cornell as a sophomore transfer.
“I don’t think it’s right for Cornell to do that. It’s unfair to their peer institutions,” Taylor said.
Columbia University uses its School of General Studies to admit more veterans whose GPAs and test scores do not affect the institution’s standing. Christopher Sadowski
“These students go elsewhere and don’t invest in that first year of college because they know if they only get A’s and B’s they’ll go to Cornell the next year.”
A representative for Cornell declined to comment.
But it’s not often that very special students get backdoor entry as data ghosts. According to Taylor, some schools use this loophole to admit qualified students — especially veterans.
Two schools he says are notable for doing this are Princeton, which recently began accepting transfer students, and Columbia University, where the Center for General Studies was established to accept veterans in exchange.
“I applaud them for using the transfer process to accommodate more veterans,” Taylor said. “They may have a 3.0 GPA, but these young men and women are mature, they have served their country. They often get good grades at community colleges.
“This gives men and women a chance to wear uniforms at this elite school.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
