3.65 unweighted GPA and a 1580 SAT from a BIG 3 - What should realistically be on the list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think some of the experienced private school parents posting in this thread had kids in HS more than a couple of years ago, and they don't understand how much more competitive college admissions has gotten in the last few years for UMC, unhooked kids in the DMV. My oldest DD graduated HS in 2015, had 3.5 UW GPA/35 ACT/NMF and got into schools like Duke and Swarthmore. My youngest is now a HS junior with a 3.87 UW GPA/1560 SAT and has been told both those schools are reaches and unlikely to admit her.

I think it’s wrong to say college admissions has gotten more competitive. The number of kids hasn’t increased that much and they haven’t gotten smarter. The difference is more kids have stats above what used to be high enough for top 25 schools. The stats are inflated due to easier tests and prepping. Your oldest’s 35 from 4 years ago is a much better score percentile-wise than your dd’s 1560 today.

The acceptance rates at the most elite institutions decreased steadily. The problem is, that in the DMV and particularly at elite privates in the DMV, these are the schools that every student wants to attend.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/09/a-majority-of-u-s-colleges-admit-most-students-who-apply/

[Excerpt]

Of the 1,364 four-year colleges and universities we looked at, 17 admitted fewer than 10% of applicants in 2017, the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available. That group includes such prestigious names as Stanford (4.7%), Harvard (5.2%), Yale (6.9%) and Northwestern (9.2%). Another 29 schools admitted between 10% and 20% of applicants, including Georgetown (15.7%), the University of Southern California (16%), UCLA (16.1%) and the University of California, Berkeley (17.1%). ...

The extremely competitive schools amounted to 3.4% of all the colleges and universities in this analysis, and they accounted for just 4.1% of total student enrollment. By contrast, more than half of the schools in our sample (53.3%) admitted two-thirds or more of their applicants in 2017, including such well-known names as St. John’s University in New York (67.7%), Virginia Tech (70.1%), Quinnipiac University (73.9%), the University of Missouri at Columbia (78.1%) and George Mason University (81.3%).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think some of the experienced private school parents posting in this thread had kids in HS more than a couple of years ago, and they don't understand how much more competitive college admissions has gotten in the last few years for UMC, unhooked kids in the DMV. My oldest DD graduated HS in 2015, had 3.5 UW GPA/35 ACT/NMF and got into schools like Duke and Swarthmore. My youngest is now a HS junior with a 3.87 UW GPA/1560 SAT and has been told both those schools are reaches and unlikely to admit her.

I think it’s wrong to say college admissions has gotten more competitive. The number of kids hasn’t increased that much and they haven’t gotten smarter. The difference is more kids have stats above what used to be high enough for top 25 schools. The stats are inflated due to easier tests and prepping. Your oldest’s 35 from 4 years ago is a much better score percentile-wise than your dd’s 1560 today.

The acceptance rates at the most elite institutions decreased steadily. The problem is, that in the DMV and particularly at elite privates in the DMV, these are the schools that every student wants to attend.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/09/a-majority-of-u-s-colleges-admit-most-students-who-apply/

[Excerpt]

Of the 1,364 four-year colleges and universities we looked at, 17 admitted fewer than 10% of applicants in 2017, the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available. That group includes such prestigious names as Stanford (4.7%), Harvard (5.2%), Yale (6.9%) and Northwestern (9.2%). Another 29 schools admitted between 10% and 20% of applicants, including Georgetown (15.7%), the University of Southern California (16%), UCLA (16.1%) and the University of California, Berkeley (17.1%). ...

The extremely competitive schools amounted to 3.4% of all the colleges and universities in this analysis, and they accounted for just 4.1% of total student enrollment. By contrast, more than half of the schools in our sample (53.3%) admitted two-thirds or more of their applicants in 2017, including such well-known names as St. John’s University in New York (67.7%), Virginia Tech (70.1%), Quinnipiac University (73.9%), the University of Missouri at Columbia (78.1%) and George Mason University (81.3%).

The bolded doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more competitive. Just because more kids are applying to top schools doesn’t make it more competitive. It just means more kids who probably shouldn’t be applying to top schools are applying to top schools. Like I said test scores are inflated. A 1450 used to be a great score for applying to an ivy. Kids are still thinking this probably because they’ve got parents who remembered doing well with those stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some of the experienced private school parents posting in this thread had kids in HS more than a couple of years ago, and they don't understand how much more competitive college admissions has gotten in the last few years for UMC, unhooked kids in the DMV. My oldest DD graduated HS in 2015, had 3.5 UW GPA/35 ACT/NMF and got into schools like Duke and Swarthmore. My youngest is now a HS junior with a 3.87 UW GPA/1560 SAT and has been told both those schools are reaches and unlikely to admit her.

Nope this year. Top 5 private. Those grades can still get you into great schools. A definite? No way. But yes, a decent chance for one.

No matter what your scores are, EVERY top college is a reach no matter what. You also have to watch out for yield protection for some top 50 schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone on College Confidential posted this yesterday:

This is what I did:
I have a 3.5 weighted. which is approx 2.9-3.1 UW(my school doesn't give UW GPA), and a 35 ACT
I got into: UMich+Bates College(top choice via ed)
advice:
a.) Have other parts of your application that really shines-- and start your essay rly early to show that.
b.) do well on ur ap exams
c.) apply to a wide range of schools---don't hang on one tree

And the OP's son has a 3.65 UNWEIGHTED at a top private school.


And honestly, why aren't high schools giving out unweighted grades? What a scam. My DC's school gives out literal number grades and does not weigh the for AP. So an 89 on an AP is reported as 89 out of a 100 on the transcript sent to colleges.

Wow. Your school is really screwing things up for its graduates.

Why is it? It is the honest score. They get a 0.5 bump in GPA, so it would come up as a 4.0 for that class, but many high caliber schools show 1-100 scale grades to differentiate the top kids. I personally like it and my child isn't even at the tippy top.

Would you want your your child to get a 98 all 4 quarters and another child gets 79.5, 89.5, 79.5, 89.5 and still get the same grade as you on a transcript sent to colleges? Because that is what MCPS does with it's grading system and I have seen high caliber kids get really screwed in college admissions, especially if they need FA and the 79/89 kids do not.

I personally think all final grades should be 1-100 based to be sent to colleges. The 4.0 GPA scale is a scam. Now people have 5.0 and even 6.0 scales. I mean these colleges SAY they can differentiate and plug them into their system, but they truly can not be accurate unless it is a number base scale.

[Anonymous]

Senior in private high school in DMV with better GPA, similar test scores and excellent ECs: admitted to safety, one match. WL at other matches and denied at reaches. Matches were those suggested on this thread.

I would suggest spending a good amount of time finding desirable safeties. Best of luck next year!!

[Anonymous]

Any school that admits fewer than 15% of applicants is a reach for all, except perhaps recruited athletes and very significant donor legacies. You can improve odds somewhat if you are full pay and apply binding ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Senior in private high school in DMV with better GPA, similar test scores and excellent ECs: admitted to safety, one match. WL at other matches and denied at reaches. Matches were those suggested on this thread.

I would suggest spending a good amount of time finding desirable safeties. Best of luck next year!!

Thank you for the info - can you give us the names of some of your DC's matches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Senior in private high school in DMV with better GPA, similar test scores and excellent ECs: admitted to safety, one match. WL at other matches and denied at reaches. Matches were those suggested on this thread.

I would suggest spending a good amount of time finding desirable safeties. Best of luck next year!!

Thank you for the info - can you give us the names of some of your DC's matches?

Would rather not- but every single one is listed in this thread as a match.

[Anonymous]

Not really helpful—there are a ton of schools listed on this thread—everything from JMU and the Colleges that Change Lives schools to UPenn and Cornell.

[Anonymous]

USNWR rankings between 35 and 70

[Anonymous]

OP--I would look broadly at USNWR schools in the 15 to 30 range and top 10 SLACs for targets. Do include schools in this range that are on your counselor’s list and schools with a higher acceptance rate (relatively speaking).

Reaches are probably non-HYPMS schools in the top 15. Does your counselor suggest any of these schools?

Make sure you have safeties that your DC likes and that have no known yield protection.

And yes, it is all over the map. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

The 3.65 from a top private is not an impediment. Apply from top to bottom, but only at schools that you think are a fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from one admissions person (not an elite school) that they are very cautious with kids who have strong test scores but lower grades. She said it means the kid can do better than they are. She said they try to find out what is holding the kid back (lack of motivation? effort? distractions?) I am not accusing your child of any of those things. Just saying this person said they considered that combination riskier than the alternative (i.e. high grades, low test scores). Because the latter kids has figured out some formula for succeeding academically.

I thought this kid was in the top 25% of his/her private school class. And the top 15% are probably going to Ivies, so this is just a notch below. Seems like this is hardly cause for concern and colleges should be familiar with the grading profile of the Big 3 schools.

OP you just need to listen to the college counselor.

I like this approach. Figure out his class rank or infer it. Take all of the matriculations from the past few years. Rank order them (use USNWR for simplicity). Take the schools that bracket his rank. That would be a conservative list, with the strong SAT for the rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Senior in private high school in DMV with better GPA, similar test scores and excellent ECs: admitted to safety, one match. WL at other matches and denied at reaches. Matches were those suggested on this thread.

I would suggest spending a good amount of time finding desirable safeties. Best of luck next year!!

Thank you for the info - can you give us the names of some of your DC's matches?

Would rather not- but every single one is listed in this thread as a match.

The USNWR ranking 35-70 comment above were his matches. Accepted by one. WL at 3.

[Anonymous]

Is he or she going to the one match he or she got in to?