Top Stats students that had difficult admissions last year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Lots of people who are delusional about the importance of essays and recommendations. They aren’t difference makers unless they are really bad.

Ultimately it is important your kid do a good job on the application so as to not wind up on the bad category, but the difference makers are mostly out of your child’s control at this point. They’re going to be compared to their class mates and kids from similar local schools. The school may want kids looking for a certain major or that have a certain talent (e.g. a harpist). But mostly it’s just a numbers game.

Hard disagree. If you are applying to T20 colleges - where every single applicant is going to have stellar academics - the essays and the letters of recommendation are hugely important. This is where you have a chance to get the reader on your side so they argue for you at the table. It's important. The essay is the one place on an application where the student can really show who they are. And personalized letters of recommendation from teachers who know the students help schools feel confident in extending an acceptance. It's foolish to ignore essays and letters of recommendation. They are very often the difference makers at highly selective schools that accept fewer than 10 percent of all applicants.

I have two kids at T20 universities presently. Both spent a lot of time on their essays. Very unique. Very funny. Very well written. I'm convinced the essays and really good letters of rec - plus exceptionally good ECs - are what distinguished them from all the other unhooked applicants with outstanding GPAs and test scores.

I have 2 kids at T10 universities and I am guessing their essays were good. I have no idea if that helped or not. How can anyone? In sheer number- it seems impossible that the admissions staff can read the volume of essays which are in the 10s of thousands. I truly don’t believe every essay gets read. 3-4 mins per application, correct?

I think the letters of recommendation have some weight. Best of the best stuff helps, I think. That, IMO, is why my kids were accepted. Their objective stats are similar to many, many applicants.

Since your kids were admitted, if they wish they can see their admissions file. They can't take it with them or make copies, but they can see it, if you are truly interested.

I don't recommend that.

There are you tube videos of a few kids that did if you want to see them.

They would have absolutely no interest in that. I’m not sure why anyone would.

Ummm, you asked how could anyone know? Well, you know know how.

[Anonymous]

Gotcha. Fair point.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:white male 1580 SAT (800 math) 4.7W GPA (4.0UW) Eagle, national CS awards, patent for a product he designed, leadership roles and volunteer roles. APs in all core subjects with 5s on exams. Math through multivariable calc. Teachers proofed essays and loved them. CS major
No: CMU, Stanford, Wisconsin, Washington, Boulder (offered exploratory studies not CS)
Deferred then WL: Ga Tech, Rice, UT Austin

Yes to all "safeties" but I don't believe in safeties for CS

Attending and happy at Purdue.

Wow!! Your boy looks amazing!! Don't know what else can the "no" schools asked for? Purdue is great! Congratulations!!

Not the PP but parent of a similarly accomplished kid with similar results. There are just way too many kids for too few spots. Kids with bad scores just go TO so high scores are just one other data point. Unique interests seem to help as well as obviously being having a hook or from an under-represented group. No one really knows. Have you kid apply and see what happens. Trying to guess what your kids results will be is not helpful.

I wish there is a TO equivalence for GPA. My kid has really high SAT/ACT, but not stellar GPA from TJ due to the tough Math department ... No hooks and no place to hide ...

NP. I understand. In theory, the context of the high school is considered. But, in practice, I don't think this happens at many colleges across the country.

I agree, and even within one high school the grading can vary a lot due to different approaches by different teachers. Frustrated that the one test that is graded the same for every applicant is now the thing that is optional. ?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Somewhat surprisingly, my black daughter with a 4.0 and 35 ACT (one sitting) didn't get into Berkeley OOS for engineering, albeit the ACT score wasn't submitted.

They stopped practising AA years ago.

Shouldn't matter for those stats, right?

One would think but you will always have racist a$$holes who still just assume every black kid on these campuses are there because of affirmative action. Yet all the other kids who get a boost (athletes, faculty kids, donor kids, etc.) don't have the joy of experiencing such BS...

dp.. they don't experience the side eye because you can't see who's a donor or faculty kid. But, you can see the skin color of a person without knowing their background.

It's not fair, I agree, but that's what happens when colleges play the DEI game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS Teacher

My top students with multiple waitlists/rejections were all asian males. They ended up at (good) state schools but by and large were rejected by privates.

raise hand.. that was my CS Asian male. Very high stats. Now at a state flagship with merit.

They would have probably gotten amazing merit at second tier privates.

My Asian kid did, because they seek diversity.

maybe..but they didn't want second tier privates. UMDCP is T20 for CS, and it's super cheap with merit. Why would they go to second tier private for CS over UMDCP? And UMDCP is very very diverse. #1 college for lgbtq+, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS Teacher

My top students with multiple waitlists/rejections were all asian males. They ended up at (good) state schools but by and large were rejected by privates.

raise hand.. that was my CS Asian male. Very high stats. Now at a state flagship with merit.

They would have probably gotten amazing merit at second tier privates.

My Asian kid did, because they seek diversity.

? the flagship is very diverse.

Flagships are usually HS 2.0

yes, that is the case for the vast majority of college kids in this country since most go to in state colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS Teacher

My top students with multiple waitlists/rejections were all asian males. They ended up at (good) state schools but by and large were rejected by privates.

raise hand.. that was my CS Asian male. Very high stats. Now at a state flagship with merit.

They would have probably gotten amazing merit at second tier privates.

My Asian kid did, because they seek diversity.

? the flagship is very diverse.

Flagships are usually HS 2.0

yes, that is the case for the vast majority of college kids in this country since most go to in state colleges.

What an ignorant observation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Among by dd’s friends, kids with top stats that were shut out wound up at Georgetown and Boston College. Another with incredible extracurriculars (won the school service award) and great grades shut out everywhere but Maryland.

So much of college admissions to the top colleges appear to be a lottery.

It’s a lottery because the kids are all the same.

UMC, suburban, 1450+, 3.8+, classical instruments (piano/violin NEVER accordion or blaster beam), Key Club, Shadow a Doctor (parent or parents friend), STEM (NEVER classics or poetry or basket weaving), essay is about dead grandma/dog or trip abroad opened my eyes, Model UN (France, NEVER Papua New Guinea) there are only four future professions: law, medicine, engineering or finance.

You’re the AO at an T25 and you get 25k applications that look like this-100 alone from TJ.

Now what?

+1
Have 2 unhooked DCs admitted to their 1st choice (ivy and top ranked SLAC) in past several years. Prob admitted due to unique EC/hobbies that aligned to their intended course of study (not STEM related). One is now majoring in CS now. Other looks to be going into Finance/Consulting after graduating. Every dept has profs that needs students to major in the subjects they teach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS Teacher

My top students with multiple waitlists/rejections were all asian males. They ended up at (good) state schools but by and large were rejected by privates.

raise hand.. that was my CS Asian male. Very high stats. Now at a state flagship with merit.

They would have probably gotten amazing merit at second tier privates.

My Asian kid did, because they seek diversity.

? the flagship is very diverse.

Flagships are usually HS 2.0

yes, that is the case for the vast majority of college kids in this country since most go to in state colleges.

What an ignorant observation!

+1
These are the dolts who make that claim about state schools all the time. Meanwhile, their own kids were probably rejected from them so they had to send them to an expensive OOS school or private. It's kind of amusing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat surprisingly, my black daughter with a 4.0 and 35 ACT (one sitting) didn't get into Berkeley OOS for engineering, albeit the ACT score wasn't submitted.

Curious why you did not submit the ACT. I thought the guidance was for any TO to submit an ACT of 34 or higher - otherwise they will assume it is lower than a 34.

[Anonymous]

UC schools are TEST BLIND so she could not submit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS Teacher

My top students with multiple waitlists/rejections were all asian males. They ended up at (good) state schools but by and large were rejected by privates.

raise hand.. that was my CS Asian male. Very high stats. Now at a state flagship with merit.

They would have probably gotten amazing merit at second tier privates.

My Asian kid did, because they seek diversity.

? the flagship is very diverse.

Flagships are usually HS 2.0

yes, that is the case for the vast majority of college kids in this country since most go to in state colleges.

What an ignorant observation!

+1
These are the dolts who make that claim about state schools all the time. Meanwhile, their own kids were probably rejected from them so they had to send them to an expensive OOS school or private. It's kind of amusing.

? I am the PP who stated that most kids go to colleges in state. Mine does, as well. That is the normal college experience. I don't really care if someone wants to call it HS 2.0. In some ways, it's great that they know some kids going in, rather than knowing no one. They do still make new friends. Most in states are so large that they meet new people, and can easily avoid the HS 2.0 if they want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HS Teacher

My top students with multiple waitlists/rejections were all asian males. They ended up at (good) state schools but by and large were rejected by privates.

raise hand.. that was my CS Asian male. Very high stats. Now at a state flagship with merit.

They would have probably gotten amazing merit at second tier privates.

My Asian kid did, because they seek diversity.

? the flagship is very diverse.

Flagships are usually HS 2.0

Only for those who cling to their HS friends.
Flagships can be diverse, international, and a blast of fresh air. Students whose lives haven’t been curated to perfection bring innovative thinking and mind-opening perspectives.

State schools are usually less resourced than schools with high endowments. That’s not a plus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat surprisingly, my black daughter with a 4.0 and 35 ACT (one sitting) didn't get into Berkeley OOS for engineering, albeit the ACT score wasn't submitted.

They stopped practising AA years ago.

Shouldn't matter for those stats, right?

One would think but you will always have racist a$$holes who still just assume every black kid on these campuses are there because of affirmative action. Yet all the other kids who get a boost (athletes, faculty kids, donor kids, etc.) don't have the joy of experiencing such BS...

dp.. they don't experience the side eye because you can't see who's a donor or faculty kid. But, you can see the skin color of a person without knowing their background.

It's not fair, I agree, but that's what happens when colleges play the DEI game.

Or when racist people make false assumptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Among by dd’s friends, kids with top stats that were shut out wound up at Georgetown and Boston College. Another with incredible extracurriculars (won the school service award) and great grades shut out everywhere but Maryland.

So much of college admissions to the top colleges appear to be a lottery.

It’s a lottery because the kids are all the same.

UMC, suburban, 1450+, 3.8+, classical instruments (piano/violin NEVER accordion or blaster beam), Key Club, Shadow a Doctor (parent or parents friend), STEM (NEVER classics or poetry or basket weaving), essay is about dead grandma/dog or trip abroad opened my eyes, Model UN (France, NEVER Papua New Guinea) there are only four future professions: law, medicine, engineering or finance.

You’re the AO at an T25 and you get 25k applications that look like this-100 alone from TJ.

Now what?

+1
Have 2 unhooked DCs admitted to their 1st choice (ivy and top ranked SLAC) in past several years. Prob admitted due to unique EC/hobbies that aligned to their intended course of study (not STEM related). One is now majoring in CS now. Other looks to be going into Finance/Consulting after graduating. Every dept has profs that needs students to major in the subjects they teach.

My DS could have done that, but he decided to be honest and say he wanted to study CS, which is what he is doing and minoring in the unique area. To each his own.