People don’t understand how selective college admissions works

[Anonymous]

In reading the “two worlds” post, it’s clear people don’t understand (1) what selective colleges are looking for; (2) the scoring paradigms that selective college AOs use and (3) how certain students offer more to selective colleges than others., all of which leads to who is admitted.

I’m truly astonished that ppl that are in here are this out to lunch about the process….isn’t that the whole point of this forum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In reading the “two worlds” post, it’s clear people don’t understand (1) what selective colleges are looking for; (2) the scoring paradigms that selective college AOs use and (3) how certain students offer more to selective colleges than others., all of which leads to who is admitted.

I’m truly astonished that ppl that are in here are this out to lunch about the process….isn’t that the whole point of this forum?

So educate people instead of criticizing them.
What insights do you have? Provide details, evidence, intel. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Okay.

[Anonymous]

As someone here once said, “There is no way to game a system that has no rules and no referees.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone here once said, “There is no way to game a system that has no rules and no referees.”

Agree 100%!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone here once said, “There is no way to game a system that has no rules and no referees.”

^^^this. There is some truth to OP's post though. People on here opine codswallop about many a topic quite consistently>

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone here once said, “There is no way to game a system that has no rules and no referees.”

^^^this. There is some truth to OP's post though. People on here opine codswallop about many a topic quite consistently>

There’s so much info on this site.

Maybe ppl responding are new to the process? Lots of turnover from senior parents to junior parents this time of year.

Agree ppl are clueless tho.

[Anonymous]

Yep clueless.

You gave no advice so OP since you started the thread your points are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In reading the “two worlds” post, it’s clear people don’t understand (1) what selective colleges are looking for; (2) the scoring paradigms that selective college AOs use and (3) how certain students offer more to selective colleges than others., all of which leads to who is admitted.

I’m truly astonished that ppl that are in here are this out to lunch about the process….isn’t that the whole point of this forum?

OP: Your post is rude, condescending, unhelpful, and--in large part--inaccurate.

[Anonymous]

Well then enlighten the public, OP.

[Anonymous]

Np.

Some old posts to read - wish there was a way to sticky them at the top!

Important to understand how an application is reviewed, what points are assigned and what a college values (check CDS):
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1170230.page

Major dictates a lot. A CS major has the highest hurdle....a humanities (English, Philosophy, Gender Studies) will have extraordinarily different outcomes at the same college and the humanities major may have MUCH lower stats. Understand how a school admits. Sometimes by college, sometimes by major.

Competition. Your competition is your school/classmates, then others in your city/town, then region. Ex. If Dartmouth has a lot of applications from Atlanta (as an example), they will first look by school (take top 1-5 applications to move on), then aggregate all of those applications by region (some do all public schools together and private schools together, others just merge them all), then they do a cut off the top from that group. Later, its either brought straight to admiss committee or sometimes to a larger regional cut if the region is particularlly big or there are a large number of remaining applications (e.g., SE region)....so these are all steps in the process......being a unique distinctive applicant with a spike can help you stand out in this very crowded field. For many schools if you don't meet the minimum stats threshold (GPA and scores), the application is not even read..... without a HOOK, you cannot compensate for a suspicious, low or lowish GPA. EVER.

Public v. Private High Schools. There are some differences. Its really important to see where your HS typically does well with students with similar stats....that will dictate a fair amount....

Will post more later. I have some good, saved threads that I can post that have been very helpful.

My senior son will be attending an Ivy, unique major/interests (non-STEM, non-CS, non-Business).....lots of the info here helped me this winter.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

There are different GPA rules depending on your HS, historic matriculation and sometimes even how a college freshman from your HS does at the college (I know Dartmouth used to do this).

From the other post.....I found this to be extremely accurate for our private HS this cycle, but your exp may differ.
Ask your college counselor. Every school is different.

Remember: Public HS have a very different scoring regime for GPAs etc...

Its not one size fits all.

__________________________

There’s a bit of private HS reputational variation but here’s the general overview:
3.9+ = competitive for T10+
3.8+ = competitive for T11-20/25+
3.7+ = competitive for T25/30+

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In reading the “two worlds” post, it’s clear people don’t understand (1) what selective colleges are looking for; (2) the scoring paradigms that selective college AOs use and (3) how certain students offer more to selective colleges than others., all of which leads to who is admitted.

I’m truly astonished that ppl that are in here are this out to lunch about the process….isn’t that the whole point of this forum?

Okay. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Np.

Some old posts to read - wish there was a way to sticky them at the top!

Important to understand how an application is reviewed, what points are assigned and what a college values (check CDS):
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1170230.page

Major dictates a lot. A CS major has the highest hurdle....a humanities (English, Philosophy, Gender Studies) will have extraordinarily different outcomes at the same college and the humanities major may have MUCH lower stats. Understand how a school admits. Sometimes by college, sometimes by major.

Competition. Your competition is your school/classmates, then others in your city/town, then region. Ex. If Dartmouth has a lot of applications from Atlanta (as an example), they will first look by school (take top 1-5 applications to move on), then aggregate all of those applications by region (some do all public schools together and private schools together, others just merge them all), then they do a cut off the top from that group. Later, its either brought straight to admiss committee or sometimes to a larger regional cut if the region is particularlly big or there are a large number of remaining applications (e.g., SE region)....so these are all steps in the process......being a unique distinctive applicant with a spike can help you stand out in this very crowded field. For many schools if you don't meet the minimum stats threshold (GPA and scores), the application is not even read..... without a HOOK, you cannot compensate for a suspicious, low or lowish GPA. EVER.

Public v. Private High Schools. There are some differences. Its really important to see where your HS typically does well with students with similar stats....that will dictate a fair amount....

Will post more later. I have some good, saved threads that I can post that have been very helpful.

My senior son will be attending an Ivy, unique major/interests (non-STEM, non-CS, non-Business).....lots of the info here helped me this winter.

Good luck!

I appreciate this, but I see so many students get accepted to good colleges despite not being one of the most competitive students. I do agree that major matters a lot.

I think there are so many soft qualities that matter more - essays, personal qualities, extracurriculars, “brand” (ugh). Playing the system matters. Getting in your AP classes, but doing the easier ones. Avoiding hard teachers. Taking DE classes if colleges like that. Above all else, get A’s. Something may change down the line, but for now colleges reward A’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Np.

Some old posts to read - wish there was a way to sticky them at the top!

Important to understand how an application is reviewed, what points are assigned and what a college values (check CDS):
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1170230.page

Major dictates a lot. A CS major has the highest hurdle....a humanities (English, Philosophy, Gender Studies) will have extraordinarily different outcomes at the same college and the humanities major may have MUCH lower stats. Understand how a school admits. Sometimes by college, sometimes by major.

Competition. Your competition is your school/classmates, then others in your city/town, then region. Ex. If Dartmouth has a lot of applications from Atlanta (as an example), they will first look by school (take top 1-5 applications to move on), then aggregate all of those applications by region (some do all public schools together and private schools together, others just merge them all), then they do a cut off the top from that group. Later, its either brought straight to admiss committee or sometimes to a larger regional cut if the region is particularlly big or there are a large number of remaining applications (e.g., SE region)....so these are all steps in the process......being a unique distinctive applicant with a spike can help you stand out in this very crowded field. For many schools if you don't meet the minimum stats threshold (GPA and scores), the application is not even read..... without a HOOK, you cannot compensate for a suspicious, low or lowish GPA. EVER.

Public v. Private High Schools. There are some differences. Its really important to see where your HS typically does well with students with similar stats....that will dictate a fair amount....

Will post more later. I have some good, saved threads that I can post that have been very helpful.

My senior son will be attending an Ivy, unique major/interests (non-STEM, non-CS, non-Business).....lots of the info here helped me this winter.

Good luck!

The link has some good YouTube videos from AO which are super helpful. I’ve seen them before.