Compared Against Peers - T20 Admissions

[Anonymous]

Private school parent of senior here.

I understand at very selective schools for the first pass, AO for our region will compare all apps from region. What comes next? My question: do they then compare all the kids from one school?

If so, for t20 schools, do they create a spreadsheet or other AI to compare rigor /grades etc

I already know one AO will generally handle all applicants from the same school. Would they manually sort the files by rank/rigor even if the HS didn't calculate it?

Think this really comes in to play when 10+ kids applying ED to one school…

Wondering how it plays out. Anyone with inside knowledge?

[Anonymous]

Yes, they rank students by school. The college counselors at my daughter’s school are very frank about it so the kids know what they are up against and have all available information, especially when applying ED - for instance: if you apply to x you will be 7/10 from our school based on the way x ranks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private school parent of senior here.

I understand at very selective schools for the first pass, AO for our region will compare all apps from region. What comes next? My question: do they then compare all the kids from one school?

If so, for t20 schools, do they create a spreadsheet or other AI to compare rigor /grades etc

I already know one AO will generally handle all applicants from the same school. Would they manually sort the files by rank/rigor even if the HS didn't calculate it?

Think this really comes in to play when 10+ kids applying ED to one school…

Wondering how it plays out. Anyone with inside knowledge?

Your DC's school is on the AO's radar. The AO will know how to read the transcript, including rigor. A few years ago, 20 girls, including our DD, wanted to apply to a specific Ivy. Our DD was probably in the top 3 of the students applying. The CC, a former AO for an Ivy, made an off-hand comment to DD a week before apps were due, "you will be okay not getting in ED, right?" That finally made it real for DD. She went back to her original T20 not Ivy ED and was done.

Only 2/20 got in ED. One was in top 3, the other was not, but a steady first gen student with a compelling family story.

[Anonymous]

NP. I do believe they compare students from the same high school. What I'd like to know is what happens at other types of high schools when there are no other students applying to that university in that year. Sure they look at the high school's School Profile, but I wonder about the extent to which the regional AO compares the student to applicants from other high schools in the region, which have different grade weighting schemes and offerings.

[Anonymous]

It sure would be nice if the CC at our top DMV private would give kids an idea where they stand relative to their peers for specific colleges. This is where college counseling at a school could really make a difference in outcomes. Ours just makes sure you have a safety on your list and that’s the extent of it!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sure would be nice if the CC at our top DMV private would give kids an idea where they stand relative to their peers for specific colleges. This is where college counseling at a school could really make a difference in outcomes. Ours just makes sure you have a safety on your list and that’s the extent of it!!

Do you get access to the stats from last year?

[Anonymous]

Same thing seems to have happened at DC’s school for SLAC T5. Only top 2 accepted.

[Anonymous]

Yes, friend at top NYC private with top academics did not get into first choice Ivy because there were 2 kids with bigger hooks ahead in line.

[Anonymous]

Please specify your school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I do believe they compare students from the same high school. What I'd like to know is what happens at other types of high schools when there are no other students applying to that university in that year. Sure they look at the high school's School Profile, but I wonder about the extent to which the regional AO compares the student to applicants from other high schools in the region, which have different grade weighting schemes and offerings.

This happens often. They have a lot of data on schools so they can compare the student to PAST applicants. They can also compare the student to students from similar schools in the region. So much of what AOs discuss is personal qualities, voice, extracurriculars, demonstrated passions and interests, and these qualities can be compared to students across regions.

[Anonymous]

We were at a top uni and the Dir of Admissions said explicitly that the first group of students any applicant is up against is the other applicants from their school. They will not take all 15 applicants from Big Fancy Private. You have to beat your classmates first and then the others from your region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sure would be nice if the CC at our top DMV private would give kids an idea where they stand relative to their peers for specific colleges. This is where college counseling at a school could really make a difference in outcomes. Ours just makes sure you have a safety on your list and that’s the extent of it!!

Do you get access to the stats from last year?

Yes but it’s not showing me who is alumni, URM or 1st GEN….

[Anonymous]

They definitely compare kids from one school. I was looking through the SCIOR data for my kid's school and I think it's best for everyone when the academic outliers ED successfully.

In several recent years an academic superstar (4.0 or a hair below) has run the table during regular decision and basically shut everyone else out. The schools don't have quotas per say but an exceptionally strong kid can seemingly hurt the chances of the 3.8s or low 3.9s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They definitely compare kids from one school. I was looking through the SCIOR data for my kid's school and I think it's best for everyone when the academic outliers ED successfully.

In several recent years an academic superstar (4.0 or a hair below) has run the table during regular decision and basically shut everyone else out. The schools don't have quotas per say but an exceptionally strong kid can seemingly hurt the chances of the 3.8s or low 3.9s.

Especially true if non-White and non-Asian…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were at a top uni and the Dir of Admissions said explicitly that the first group of students any applicant is up against is the other applicants from their school. They will not take all 15 applicants from Big Fancy Private. You have to beat your classmates first and then the others from your region.

Which uni?