Strong GPA at Big 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's silly. You don't get to read the personal essays or the teacher recs either.

That's not quite the same. I think the claim that a lot of people make on these boards is that all things being equal, most admits to top schools from area privates fall into some hooked category. So I can look at SCOIR (in the case of NCS) and see an encouraging number of green dots for a particular school or schools. But if 4 out of 5 of the green dots were legacies and my DD is not, and 4/5 of the red dots are not legacies, then that would be helpful to know, just to be realistic. My DD can make her own assessment of the likelihood that she will write a good essay or get good recommendations. But if the success that NCS or another top private has at certain colleges is heavily weighted towards legacies or some other group, then that would be a helpful data point. That's all. And besides, someone above made the point that in Naviance you can identify hooked status. I have no experience with Naviance, so could not say whether it is true. So I was drawing that distinction as well.

I take the point but people here vastly overestimate the effect of legacy status and legacy status may not impact admission in any event (i.e., the school doesn't say that is the reason for admission, except in very limited circumstances). Athletics might be more useful, but such identifying information is a bit over the top, particularly at smaller schools. And the broader point - that it could just be a good essay or recommendation that is the difference, still matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's silly. You don't get to read the personal essays or the teacher recs either.

That's not quite the same. I think the claim that a lot of people make on these boards is that all things being equal, most admits to top schools from area privates fall into some hooked category. So I can look at SCOIR (in the case of NCS) and see an encouraging number of green dots for a particular school or schools. But if 4 out of 5 of the green dots were legacies and my DD is not, and 4/5 of the red dots are not legacies, then that would be helpful to know, just to be realistic. My DD can make her own assessment of the likelihood that she will write a good essay or get good recommendations. But if the success that NCS or another top private has at certain colleges is heavily weighted towards legacies or some other group, then that would be a helpful data point. That's all. And besides, someone above made the point that in Naviance you can identify hooked status. I have no experience with Naviance, so could not say whether it is true. So I was drawing that distinction as well.

I take the point but people here vastly overestimate the effect of legacy status and legacy status may not impact admission in any event (i.e., the school doesn't say that is the reason for admission, except in very limited circumstances). Athletics might be more useful, but such identifying information is a bit over the top, particularly at smaller schools. And the broader point - that it could just be a good essay or recommendation that is the difference, still matters.

students should have no privacy at all. my kid needs to get into college, so i need to know every detail about every student that came before them (and how rich their parents are and where they went to school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I take the point but people here vastly overestimate the effect of legacy status and legacy status may not impact admission in any event (i.e., the school doesn't say that is the reason for admission, except in very limited circumstances). Athletics might be more useful, but such identifying information is a bit over the top, particularly at smaller schools. And the broader point - that it could just be a good essay or recommendation that is the difference, still matters.

It depends on the school. JHU? Zero consideration. Cornell? Huge impact.

[Anonymous]

Agreed - but I think most people think the Cornell approach is the rule rather than an exception. An exception that seems to be shrinking based on recent numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's silly. You don't get to read the personal essays or the teacher recs either.

That's not quite the same. I think the claim that a lot of people make on these boards is that all things being equal, most admits to top schools from area privates fall into some hooked category. So I can look at SCOIR (in the case of NCS) and see an encouraging number of green dots for a particular school or schools. But if 4 out of 5 of the green dots were legacies and my DD is not, and 4/5 of the red dots are not legacies, then that would be helpful to know, just to be realistic. My DD can make her own assessment of the likelihood that she will write a good essay or get good recommendations. But if the success that NCS or another top private has at certain colleges is heavily weighted towards legacies or some other group, then that would be a helpful data point. That's all. And besides, someone above made the point that in Naviance you can identify hooked status. I have no experience with Naviance, so could not say whether it is true. So I was drawing that distinction as well.

I take the point but people here vastly overestimate the effect of legacy status and legacy status may not impact admission in any event (i.e., the school doesn't say that is the reason for admission, except in very limited circumstances). Athletics might be more useful, but such identifying information is a bit over the top, particularly at smaller schools. And the broader point - that it could just be a good essay or recommendation that is the difference, still matters.

That’s fair, and I understand the need for privacy at smaller schools. I agree with your point about legacy status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a junior at a Big 3 school. Deep into thinking/discussion about college applications this fall. 3.7 GPA, 1530 SAT. Took many (but not all) of the "most rigorous" courses available until junior year. Clearly strong student, but we are genuinely unsure about where this places him in general -- your views, parents of junior/senior students or of students who have already graduated? Unhooked kid, so we realize that college applications, esp at the top end will be very challenging. Since school does not provide information on class rank etc, we are just curious about where a student like the stands in relation to peers on a GPA basis.

This was my DC’s profile couple years ago. Roughly 1/4 of the class likely had 3.7 and above. DC was told 3.8 was unofficial threshold for schools like MIT/Stanford/Ivies. Applied early anyway and got in (but it was a gamble and only 1 other unhooked peer got in during the early rounds).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a junior at a Big 3 school. Deep into thinking/discussion about college applications this fall. 3.7 GPA, 1530 SAT. Took many (but not all) of the "most rigorous" courses available until junior year. Clearly strong student, but we are genuinely unsure about where this places him in general -- your views, parents of junior/senior students or of students who have already graduated? Unhooked kid, so we realize that college applications, esp at the top end will be very challenging. Since school does not provide information on class rank etc, we are just curious about where a student like the stands in relation to peers on a GPA basis.

Connections connections connections - yup. Look at the parents and grandparents and there is your answer. Lots of back door connections being used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is a junior at a Big 3 school. Deep into thinking/discussion about college applications this fall. 3.7 GPA, 1530 SAT. Took many (but not all) of the "most rigorous" courses available until junior year. Clearly strong student, but we are genuinely unsure about where this places him in general -- your views, parents of junior/senior students or of students who have already graduated? Unhooked kid, so we realize that college applications, esp at the top end will be very challenging. Since school does not provide information on class rank etc, we are just curious about where a student like the stands in relation to peers on a GPA basis.

and you really think this is the best place to go for that kind of information?

Not OP, but the school and other parents are extremely private about this information. I have no idea where my kid’s grades put him as compared to his peers. This is really helpful to see some anonymous information.

Schedule a meeting with his advisor and/or his college counselor.