Compared Against Peers - T20 Admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, the whole premise that AOs rank applicants from one school solely on the basis of stats is so troll- worthy.

I think folks here have said it’s true? Is it not?

Friend of ours at a Baltimore area private indicated their guidance office said to be prepared for UMD rejects, because UMD couldn’t let in too many from their school. Sounds like an excuse to deflect the fact that the parents paid big bucks and in the end can’t get into their excellent, but not crazy selective state flagship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused as to why this is more of an issue at private schools. At public schools, dozens of kids apply to the same competitive schools and the chips fall where they may. There isn’t the same level of ownership over the process. Everyone knows they have zero control and they have a “might as well try” attitude.

Another public school parent. I wish there were more of a mix here. So tired of wvery thread being dominated by a private school subset.

My guess is entitlement. There is a sense among some (not all of course) that the private school investment entitles their kid to a certain tier of college.

Or maybe private school parents love their children more than you and as a result are more willing to advocate for changes that help them rather than sit back and do nothing.

Await the country club carpet bombing. My suggestion? RUN!!!

[Anonymous]

I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

This makes sense to me. Based on what I’ve seen in privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

Yes, but I’d even say maybe covering schools like Wake and Tulane as well.

[Anonymous]

Haven’t read this whole thread but the cc at our private HS says you’re competing against your classmates. He never says this til senior year bcs it can be harmful, but he’ll let kids who are applying to A, B and C that, in this year, he’ll have a better chance at B if A and C are on the list of tip top kids, legacy, celebs etc. it’s helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

Yes, but I’d even say maybe covering schools like Wake and Tulane as well.

Private school unhooked targets: here’s your list…at least this is what we get from our (nonDMV) private CCO:

Duke
JHU
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
UChicago
Rice
Notre Dame
Wash U
Georgetown
Emory
USC
Tufts
BU
BC
Northeastern
Wake
Tulane

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

This makes sense to me. Based on what I’ve seen in privates.

No, not from my kid's Big3. The kids getting into these schools all have HYP stats (basically 3.9 and above).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

Yes, but I’d even say maybe covering schools like Wake and Tulane as well.

Private school unhooked targets: here’s your list…at least this is what we get from our (nonDMV) private CCO:

Duke
JHU
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
UChicago
Rice
Notre Dame
Wash U
Georgetown
Emory
USC
Tufts
BU
BC
Northeastern
Wake
Tulane

Hmmm.
My private school kid with 34 ACT 3.8 uw (but high rigor) and unconventional ECs applying to 8 of these schools….one ED. Need to figure out which for ED2.

Lots of state schools and safeties too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

This makes sense to me. Based on what I’ve seen in privates.

No, not from my kid's Big3. The kids getting into these schools all have HYP stats (basically 3.9 and above).

At end of day it depends on if your CCO is brokering or not….
Some will broker for spots.

Good private CCO will get 35-40% or more of class into these schools. That’s a sign of a great CCO!

[Anonymous]

Private school unhooked targets: here’s your list…at least this is what we get from our (nonDMV) private CCO:

Duke --no, need almost perfect stats from private, basically HYP
JHU ditto.
Northwestern ditto
Vanderbilt -ditto
UChicago --yes, major private advantage
Rice -no, need almost perfect stats (see Duke and JHU, etc)
Notre Dame -maybe a tiny private advantage
Wash U --private advantage
Georgetown --private advantage
Emory --maybe a tiny private advantage
USC --maybe a tiny private advantage
Tufts --maybe a tiny private advantage
BU --maybe a tiny private advantage
BC --private advantage
Northeastern --who knows, their admissions are so weird
Wake --used to be private advantage but now you need top stats so I'm not sure.
Tulane --major private advantage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

This makes sense to me. Based on what I’ve seen in privates.

No, not from my kid's Big3. The kids getting into these schools all have HYP stats (basically 3.9 and above).

At end of day it depends on if your CCO is brokering or not….
Some will broker for spots.

Good private CCO will get 35-40% or more of class into these schools. That’s a sign of a great CCO!

Non-DC private school parent. Agree with this.

Our college team definitely “brokers” to find/get spots. Doesn’t happen much at ivies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1 1/2 pages through this thread and not a single mention of test scores. Just GPA. Or rank, which is derivative of GPA. A little nod to rigor, which can be very subjective, too. But nothing about test scores.

How embarrassing. What a flawed system, regardless the type of class a college is trying to build through admissions.

Everybody’s got a 34; 35 or 36. That really does not make a difference to admissions officers. Hate to break it to you.

That’s not accurate. And who cares about 34 or 35 if we’re writing off 3.8 and 3.9 GPAs?

Less than 2,500 per year with a composite 1600 or 36 in their first and only administration. That’s your 4.0 unweighted equivalent.

My daughter has a friend who scored 36 in one sitting and was rejected from Princeton, Middlebury, Williams, and Wesleyan and waitlisted at Syracuse last spring. Excellent grades and rigor at a top 5 boarding school in Mass. That made me lose my faith in test scores mattering 😂

If all those schools reached the same decision - it’s not an accident

All those schools. All four of them, all with extremely low acceptance rates across the board. 😂🤣😭

Well I guess you can ignore being waitlisted at Syracuse with its 52% acceptance rate

It was a reply with anecdotal information and they didn’t provide context (exact GPA, unweighted and weighted, number of AP classes, etc.), so I technically ignored all of it. But felt compelled to comment on the lack of surprise re: the four schools that rejected the applicant.

Well first it’s five schools. Second the schools serve as a proxy for all the context you say is missing. They had all that information and didn’t admit. How much more do you need to know?

Well, no - it was four that rejected (reaching the same conclusion) the candidate. The fifth, Syracuse, waitlisted the candidate. That’s a different conclusion.

I’ll repeat - there is no detail beyond the ACT 36. Excellent grades - what is that? 4.00 unweighted? 3.90? 3.80?

And then nothing to help quantify all of the other parts on the package.

The mother of this student has posted at length on College Confidential about her daughter's experience. The daughter ended up at Hamilton, so she's fine. It sounds like the girl is a bit of an introvert and had only one significant EC, so the schools may have been concerned about what she would bring to the campus community. There's always more to the story than GPA and test score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got kids in public and private. Here’s what I’ve noticed in matriculations between the two. Obviously anecdotal regarding competitive admissions and just trends I’ve observed, not presenting this as universal truths.

- First hurdle for admissions are the peers from your school who also applied.

- Top public school students have access to ivies (hooked or unhooked). Same with top private students, although it appears a hook here is maybe more necessary because of the strong and privileged peer pool.

- Top SLACS appear to prefer private school kids.

- Top publics (particularly OOS) might edge toward public school kids.

- It looks like unhooked private school kids might have an edge with non-ivy privates. From my kid’s public, admissions to these schools appear mostly driven by sports (hooks).

What schools are these?
Duke? Vandy? northwestern? Rice?

This makes sense to me. Based on what I’ve seen in privates.

No, not from my kid's Big3. The kids getting into these schools all have HYP stats (basically 3.9 and above).

I'm the poster who shared my observations. Just to be clear, I didn't mean to suggest that you still don't have to have strong stats. My whole point was that between a top stat public student and a top stat private student unhooked private school students appear to have an edge at non-ivy privates. If you believe my first point, a kid's first level of "competition" is their same school peer group and your kid is at a highly selective private with lots of strong students (both hooked and unhooked) that can force an inflated admissions hurdle, but it appears those schools still prefer private school kids to public school kids on the whole.