If you graduated college in the 90s/00s which schools shocked you with their change in status/competiveness?

[Anonymous]

SEC trend is unmistakable and Holy Cross is benefiting from its remarkable alumni network and a dynamic Ivy League grad non Jesuit President. Based on outcomes HC should be a top 12 LAC. Lots of full pay families also going south to Vandy, Tulane and with SMU in the ACC now expect that school to rise in popularity.

[Anonymous]

UTK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SAT was different in the 80s. Harder. You rarely heard people hitting 1400+ SAT.

I remember 1200-1300 was a solid SAT score in the 80s (put you in play anywhere). So the score report doesn't mean much...BUT--yes it is much more selective everywhere due to common app, number of applicants (not as many people went onto 4-year colleges), holistic approach and test optional.

I don’t think it was necessarily harder but the verbal section was more difficult to prep for if you didn’t have the vocabulary. It’s almost as if the college board intentionally created something that would align with test prep and test cram type services.

[Anonymous]

Let’s not kid ourselves, outside of Harvard, Yale, MIT and Princeton most schools were accessible to the top 25% of the class. And none had <20% admit rates.

[Anonymous]

Northeastern and Boston University. Back then, these were safety schools that everyone applied to and got in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Case Western
U of Wisconsin

Chemistry major. They really slipped a lot. A lot.

Wisconsin was always a flagship, highly rated state school even back in the 80's. Signed international student who went to an Ivy, but surely couldn't get into today.

[Anonymous]

In the early 90s multiple mid to lower tier students at my private went to USC, Vandy, BC, BU and UCSB. Six kids from my class went to Stanford, different times for sure.

[Anonymous]

Don’t get appeal of BU or Northeastern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Title pretty much sums it up, but when you first started paying attention to college rankings as a parent did you have any moments of shock when once a safety (for many) is now a reach (for many)…off the top of my head Northeastern and UofF come to mind.

Any others?

Isn't his just about every college? Duke used to admit 25% back when I was applying. But yes, Northeastern was the biggest surprise. I think they did really well in their marketing and at gaming the system. They are a success story, despite what any naysayers say.

[Anonymous]

Everywhere is much harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern and Boston University. Back then, these were safety schools that everyone applied to and got in

BC too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech.

I had a 3.5 1250 SAT (1310 now) and VERY few ECs. I moved a lot and didn't play sports.

I'm old enough to recall that if you had a 2.0 and graduated from a VA HS, you were let into VaTech (for everyting except engineering I believe)

[Anonymous]

BU, BC, and NEU were all in the same boat in the 90’s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Auburn,
Georgia, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida.

Penn State is HUGE at our highly ranked public with the top stat kids. Two chose it over another top 20 school they got in to (Cornell and Duke). Maybe it's just at our school, but the trend seems to be that they go to Penn State because their APs transfer and they start out as sophomores. Most of these kids are getting an integrated masters in four years. It's spreading like wildfire seemingly.

How much merit aid did they get?

For the kids that got into Schreyers Honors College, they get 5K per year. Some of them are also merit finalists so an additional 2500 a year. Tuition is 17K and room and board about the same (we are in state). So that brings tuition down to about 10K per year for in state students. Also once you live off campus sophomore year the room and board goes way down. Our counselor seems to make sure that all of those top stat kids apply to the honors college (it's a TON of essays).

Our son chose Penn State over Cornell because he has 15 APs and he will start as a second semester sophomore. This will allow him to double major AND get an integrated masters at the "normal" pace. He is really excited about it.

The price point on in-state schools is tough to beat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan.

I graduated college in early 2000s

I had a 3.8, 2 AP classes, 32 ACT, was on one varsity sport (not captain). That’s it. I was in-state, but still. No way would I get in today.

Similar story, but UVA. Had a 3.75, 1390 SAT, had a number of ECs. But 100% not get into UVA with that profile now.

But take that with a grain of salt. There has been massive high school grade inflation and a recentering upward of standardized test scores. Plus, test optional is now an option.

UVA PP here. I do not understand the point of weighted grades.