Things are not harder - it’s the same as it always was.
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Anonymous
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Have friends with children at Big 3, FCPS and MCPS.
High GPA kids and/or high test kids all did great. Looks the same as 5, 10 and 15 years ago. More unqualified kids applying are making the acceptance rates plummet. But the kids with the goods are doing as well as ever. Sorry to burst your bubble. |
Anonymous
| That is not the case for high stat kids applying to in state schools. When most of the 4.4/1550s aren’t getting into UVA, WM, or VT, something is just bizarre. |
Anonymous
Bull crap. At numerous FCPS, people with these stats got into at least one of these. 100 percent. If you find one example, it’s an outlier. Perhaps an awful essay or some other factor that would have resulted in the same outcome 15 years ago. I agree with original poster. Great kids are getting into great schools. Just because the numerator changed, doesn’t mean it’s the same quality in those numbers. |
Anonymous
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Wrong. 35 ACT, NMS, varsity sports, leadership, same summer job since freshman year of HS, did not get in.
Keep telling yourself it is the same, but is is absolutely not. |
Anonymous
Which college specifically rejected this kid outright? Name the school. |
Anonymous
| High stats kids are getting rejected from VT and UVA, OP. Probably W&M, too. Results just aren’t out yet. |
Anonymous
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Disagree with OP.
At our school, the high performing kids are getting shut out at Ivys, NESCAC and other top tier private schools. They are lucky to get into flagships and "second tier" SLACs. That is pushing the next rung of kids "down" and so on. There are simply too many top GPA, top SAT/ACT high EC kids applying to the same 50-75 schools. The numbers bare this out. 14,000 kids applying to Amherst for the same 400 seats. 85,000 kids applying to Michigan for the same 8000 seats. If you are out of state wanting to go to Michigan, the percentage is about the same as many of the very elite schools. 10 years ago, Michigan was a 30% school OOS. 25 years ago, it was a 50% school OOS. |
Anonymous
UVA, VT, also UNC and UMI (we live in VA). Thought all of these were targets. Waitlisted at Vanderbilt, rejected at Ivys |
Anonymous
Doesn’t it tell you that there was something that wasn’t strong enough when all of those schools come to the same conclusion? |
Anonymous
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With over 25% more students graduating from US high schools than in the year 2000 and hundreds of thousands more international students applying than back then, it is IMPOSSIBLE that things are the same as they always were. This explains the US part of it well....
https://lesshighschoolstress.com/ |
Anonymous
| OP, clearly your own academic skills need some improvement. Application numbers have steadily increased over the past 20 years and the pandemic and test-optional applications have accelerated that trend. Perhaps you've heard the expression that anecdotes aren't data? Simply because you know "great kids" who got into "great schools" doesn't prove what you think it proves. And btw my great kid was one of the lucky ones, so this is not sour grapes. |
Anonymous
| Both things can be true. It can be true that for the most part high-stats kids are landing at top-tier schools, just as they did before, and also true that 15 years ago such kids applied to 6 schools and were admitted to 4, whereas this year they applied to 12 and are lucky to be admitted to 1. It may all look the same to their parents’ friends, but the process today is far more grueling. |
Anonymous
| It is harder now bc the top kids are doing so much more than in previous years. |
Anonymous
| Kids are absolutely doing more and becoming all more qualified candidate because everyone has learned what is needed at top school thanks to quick information sharing. I blame myself for not having googled, read blogs, went on YouTube. I thought info I learned a few years ago is still fresh. But no, things are changing very fast. Students are doing new things to stand out. And if you don’t keep up with the trend, you get behind, even if you have high stats. And this is compounding stress for high achieving HS students. Add to that, some schools are gaming ranks. What is an average middle class family going to do! |
Anonymous
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Just want to say that the original post is categorically untrue, as anyone who works in college counseling will tell you
Rationality and predictability are gone. ED at a match school is the only way to have a shot at predictable outcomes. And no school in the Top 15-20 is a match for anyone at this point - they’re all reaches |