LiveVol. III · No. 04Cycle 2026
Cohortly
HARV · admit rate 3.4% YALE · reader avg. 12 min/file MIT · apps 25–26 38,940 STAN · admit rate 3.7% PRIN · narrative-tier 1 admits 78% IVY+ · profiles benchmarked 14,302 T20 · features modeled 42 HYPSM · median admit GPA 3.96 IVY · median admit ECs 9.2 IL. · free reports run today 417 HARV · admit rate 3.4% YALE · reader avg. 12 min/file MIT · apps 25–26 38,940 STAN · admit rate 3.7% PRIN · narrative-tier 1 admits 78% IVY+ · profiles benchmarked 14,302 T20 · features modeled 42 HYPSM · median admit GPA 3.96 IVY · median admit ECs 9.2 IL. · free reports run today 417
The Admissions Quarterly · Sample Premium Report
Anonymized · Premium Tier
§ II · A real Premium output

The full file.
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A real anonymized Premium Report end-to-end — every category breakdown across all 42 features, ranked weaknesses, EC tiering, narrative spike map, school-by-school fit, essay angles, and a six-week roadmap. The sections below are exactly what your $15 file looks like.

Applicant ID
A-04471 · hashed at intake
Cohort
Class of 2030
Intended major
CS + Econ
Region
Northeast US
Demographic pool
High-density · adjusted
Report tier
Premium · per profile
Run
2026-01-14 · 14:02 EST
Methodology
v3.0 · Cycle 2026
Applicant #A-04471 · Composite Profile Read

Class of 2030 · CS + Econ · Northeast US

Premium Tier
73/100
Competitive · Reach Ivy
82nd percentile vs HYPSM admits

You read as a top-tier academic with conventional polish — and a missing narrative spike. Without a sharper through-line, your file blends with ~9,000 indistinguishable Ivy reaches. The roadmap on the right is the shortest path to closing that gap before submit.

Headline categories · 7 of 7
Academics
91
+13 vs cohort
Course Rigor
84
+8
Extracurriculars
64
−11
Awards · Honors
71
−1
Narrative · Spike
48
−26
Essays · Voice
69
−1
Context · Pool
55
−10

Two structural strengths

Top 3% in quantitative academics for this pool.
Unweighted GPA + course rigor in proof-based math sits in the 97th percentile of accepted MIT/Stanford CS applicants from comparable schools. This is your floor.
Evidence · 5 admit cohorts, 142 matched profiles · σ = 0.04
Recognizable "long game" in one EC.
Four-year continuity in your quant research lab signals a credible domain — admissions readers reward depth like this even when output is modest. Lean harder into it.
Evidence · matches Pattern E.07 (Sustained Domain Investment)
Cohort overlap · n = 142 matched profiles
You · 73
Admit median · 78
Admit interquartile band (n=142) Your composite Median admit
Demographic-pool adjustment · applied
Pre-adjustment composite
76 / 100
Pool-density factor
−2.3
Resource-access factor
−0.7
Final composite
73 / 100
§ II.i All 42 features

Detailed category breakdown.

Every modeled feature, scored against the matched-cohort distribution. Confidence flag shows how much data the score is built on (H = high, M = medium, L = low).

Academics · 8 features
Unweighted GPA
96
H
Weighted GPA
93
H
SAT / ACT composite
94
H
SAT II / AP score density
88
H
Math sequence depth
97
H
STEM rigor index
89
M
Humanities rigor index
71
M
Trajectory · 9–12
86
H
Extracurriculars · 9 features
Tier-1 activity count
38
H
Tier-2 activity count
71
H
Domain spike depth
81
M
Leadership concentration
54
M
Sustained-domain pattern
88
H
Output legibility
49
M
Service & community
41
L
Athletic / artistic spike
22
L
Independent project ev.
58
M
Narrative · 7 features
Through-line coherence
41
H
Voice distinctiveness
52
M
Domain-essay alignment
38
M
EC-essay alignment
47
M
Reader-friction signals
64
M
Spike legibility
33
H
Authenticity flags
71
M
Awards & honors · 5 features
National-tier awards
62
H
Regional-tier awards
78
H
Awards-in-domain density
72
M
Selectivity-weighted index
69
M
Recency profile
81
M
Context & pool · 7 features
School-of-origin density
38
H
Major-pool competition
41
H
Region-pool competition
44
H
Resource-access adjustment
62
M
First-gen signal
50
L
Demographic-pool factor
55
M
Cycle-shift adjustment
67
M
Essays & voice · 6 features
Common App essay quality
68
M
Supplement specificity
49
M
Why-school authenticity
55
M
Risk-taking / depth
60
M
Mechanical polish
88
H
Reader-room imagery
51
M
§ II.ii Narrative spike map

One spike, eight rounding-error activities.

The spike map shows the relative narrative weight of each activity in the reader's room. Quant research and open-source carry the file; everything below the dotted line is breadth, not signal.

Quant research
92
Open-source CS
71
Math team
64
Debate
38
Newspaper · opinion
28
NHS
12
Volunteering
9
Piano
22
Tutoring
18
Reader-signal threshold
§ II.iii Activity-by-activity ranking

EC tiers, activity by activity.

Tier 1–4 against the matched cohort. Tier 1 is rare, Tier 4 is filler. Where a reader would actually pause is annotated in the note column.

Tier
Activity
Years
Reader note
Tier 1
Quant research lab · independent project + co-author paper
9–12
Sustained-domain · Pattern E.07 · output legibility above pool median.
Tier 2
Math team · captain (12), state-level placements (10–12)
9–12
Continuity strong; selectivity pin median; domain alignment high.
Tier 2
Open-source contributor · 1 mid-traffic library, 230★
10–12
Verifiable output. Reader-legibility hurt by lack of summary write-up.
Tier 3
School newspaper · features writer, then opinion editor
9–12
Long tenure but off-domain; counts as breadth, not as a narrative spike.
Tier 3
Debate · varsity, regional semifinalist
9–11
Solid leadership signal; recency drop in Y12 reads as a pivot.
Tier 3
National Honor Society · officer (12)
11–12
Standard credentialing; near-zero marginal signal at this composite.
Tier 4
Volunteer · local food bank, ~40 hrs
10
Reads checklist-y at this profile tier.
Tier 4
Piano · ~7 yrs, no public-facing output
6–12
Long-tenure but private; recommend either a recital line or de-emphasize.
Tier 4
Part-time · tutoring (math)
11–12
Income/agency signal; not load-bearing in the narrative.
§ II.iv Weaknesses · ranked

Every weakness, by severity.

Five ranked weaknesses — Critical first, structural last. Severity is calibrated against this cohort, not a generic curve. Two of these are fixable in under six weeks; one is structural and is here for transparency.

#1
Critical

Through-line coherence sits in the 22nd percentile.

Eight of nine activities reduce to a generic "smart student doing smart-student things." Without an explicit unifying thesis tying quant research → open-source → math team into one domain, your file passes every numeric filter and loses at committee.

Severity · Critical · 2.4σ below admit median · score 33 · confidence H
Affects · 9 of 11 modeled schools · binding at HYPSM
#2
High

Tier-1 activity count is materially below admit pool.

Admit median for this profile shape is 2.1 Tier-1 activities; you have 1. The lab project is real Tier-1; nothing else clears the bar. This is the single highest-leverage fixable item before submit.

Severity · High · score 38 · confidence H · cohort n = 142
Affects · MIT, Stanford, CMU, UChicago
#3
High

Supplement specificity is below cohort median across all eight schools tested.

"Why X" supplements name the school, not the seminar. Readers describe this pattern as "could have been written for any T20." Specific course/lab references move this score 18+ points in revision.

Severity · High · score 49 · confidence M · 8/8 schools below median
Affects · all Ivy + UChicago + Northwestern
#4
Medium

School-of-origin density depresses your context score.

Your high school sends 6–9 admits to T20 each cycle. The pool-density adjustment is already applied; this is a baseline you cannot move, only narrate around. Mentioned for transparency.

Severity · Medium · score 38 · confidence H · structural · not actionable
Affects · all schools equally
#5
Medium

EC-essay alignment is weak.

Your Common App essay reads as a personal-growth narrative; your supplements describe a CS+Econ academic. Readers hold the file together for you, but the seam is visible. One revision pass aligning the two raises this 12–15 points.

Severity · Medium · score 47 · confidence M
Affects · all 11 schools, marginal at most
§ II.v School-by-school fit

All 21 modeled schools.

Directional fit across the full T20 + T5 European list. Percentage is overlap with admit distribution, not admit probability. Reader-note column flags the binding constraint per school — what's actually keeping you off the page.

School
Overlap
%
Tier
Binding constraint
Harvard
31%
Reach
Narrative spike binding · academics surplus.
Yale
27%
Reach
Reader-room imagery low · supplement specificity binding.
Princeton
29%
Reach
Quant fit strong · narrative coherence binding.
Stanford
28%
Reach
Tier-1 EC count binding · academics ceiling.
MIT
42%
Reach
Quant strongest fit · spike legibility binding.
Columbia
36%
Reach
Core-curriculum essay alignment binding.
UPenn (Wharton)
33%
Reach
Econ-side under-evidenced for the pool.
Cornell (CAS)
51%
Target
Domain-fit holds; supplement specificity drag.
Brown
44%
Reach
Open-curriculum thesis missing.
Dartmouth
47%
Reach
Voice distinctiveness below admit median.
UChicago
58%
Target
Quirk/voice could carry; supplement is generic.
Duke
53%
Target
Strong academic fit · EC breadth thin.
Northwestern
56%
Target
Specific-program fit holds · spike still binding.
CMU (SCS)
49%
Reach
SCS pool is brutal; Tier-1 EC count is the lever.
UC Berkeley
71%
Likely
OOS adjusted · academics carry.
UCLA
68%
Likely
OOS adjusted · narrative load lighter for UC.
Oxford (PPE/CS)
62%
Target
Subject-fit gap; PAT/admissions test load increases.
Cambridge (CS)
58%
Target
STEP requirement raises floor; academics positioned.
Imperial (CS)
64%
Target
Subject-test heavy fit; CS-only profile reads cleanly.
ETH Zürich
60%
Target
Math depth load-bearing; English supplement matters.
LSE (Econ)
55%
Target
Econ track under-evidenced versus pool.
§ II.vi Essay angles

What to actually write.

Reader-perspective recommendations across the four essay surfaces. Each angle is tied to a specific weakness above and quantified against revision-pass benchmarks.

Common App
Lead with the lab notebook, not the moment.
Open with one specific line of code or proof you fought with for weeks. Anchor the personal-growth arc inside the quant-research thesis. Solves the EC-essay alignment seam.
Why-school
Name a seminar, a professor, or a lab — twice.
Replace generic "vibrant intellectual community" language with two named courses or labs per school. Pulls supplement specificity from 49 → 67 in our revision-pass benchmark.
Activity essay
Show the open-source PR, not the GitHub stars.
150 words on one merged PR — what broke, what you proposed, who reviewed. Reader-room imagery score doubles when the activity essay is mechanical, not motivational.
Optional
Use the optional supplement to retire one weakness.
Where offered, use the optional space to address either the pivot away from debate or the EC-breadth gap — explicitly, briefly, no apology framing.
§ II.vii Six-week roadmap

What to do, week by week.

The corrective sequence. Each week retires either a weakness or a structural gap above. Order matters — the spike thesis in week 1 is the spine the supplement rewrites in weeks 4–5 hang on.

  1. Wk 1
    Spike thesis · one paragraph
    Write the unifying through-line in 90 words. Run it past two readers. This is the spine the rest of the file hangs on.
    01
  2. Wk 2
    Common App rewrite
    Re-open the personal essay against the spike thesis. Lead with a specific quant-research moment, anchor growth inside it.
    02
  3. Wk 3
    Tier-1 EC patch
    Convert the open-source contribution into a Tier-1 entry — write the project-summary doc, stage one merged PR review, link from EC list.
    03
  4. Wk 4
    Supplement pass · 4 schools
    Specificity rewrite on Stanford, MIT, UChicago, Princeton supplements. Two named seminars or labs per school. Cross-check against the spike.
    04
  5. Wk 5
    Supplement pass · remaining 7
    Same drill across the rest of the modeled list. Sequence the easier schools first; momentum compounds in week 6.
    05
  6. Wk 6
    Cohort re-run + final read
    Re-score on Cohortly against the same cohort (free re-run). Fix any new low-confidence flags. Final reader pass before submit.
    06

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