Triplets to attend MIT. What are the odds?

Christopher, Claire, and Edward Goul of Newport Beach, Calif. are triplets, and have all been admitted to MIT. 

|
ABC News

Christopher, Claire, and Edward Goul of Newport Beach, Calif., have all been admitted to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a rare accomplishment for one family member, much less so for three siblings.

Even rarer still is they are triplets.

What are the odds? Not very high say statistics. 

There were 17.5 million students enrolled at undergraduate institutions in the US in the fall of 2013, a number that will stay steady for the entirety of 2015 according to the National Center for Education Statistics

MIT reports that 18,306 students applied for a spot in MIT's class of 2019, and that the university admitted 1,467, or eight percent. 

Triplets have been jointly admitted to selective universities before, but it isn't a common occurrence. 

In 2004, triplets Lil, Helen, and Kate Armstrong were all admitted to Cambridge University, a first for the historic institution. 

According to a report by the Boston Globe, "School officials say triplets have attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology together before, but it is very rare."

The college admissions process can be especially difficult for high-achieving multiples, says a triplets-focused New York Times article. Siblings feel an obligation to each other, and may even give up applying to some Ivy League schools to ensure that their brother or sister gets a spot.

But research suggests that multiples should be bolder about applying to the same selective schools. 

An article published by University of Chicago's "Core" Magazine reveals that the competitive university had 16 sets of twins enrolled during the 2013-2014 academic year. That's a high number for a college with a 10 percent acceptance rate.

The Goul siblings are already forging distinct paths in their college careers. Christopher plans on studying electrical engineering, while Claire and Edward will take classes in biology, math, and physics, notes the Boston Globe

The triplets look forward to spending time together at MIT, just not too much time. 

The odds are they'll see each other "once every few months or so," Claire tells ABC News before quickly adding, "or a week...we'll see each other." 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Triplets to attend MIT. What are the odds?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2015/0528/Triplets-to-attend-MIT.-What-are-the-odds
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe