My high stat kid’s experience with admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is up with the VA publics? They seem completely wacky this year.

They hate well-rounded high stats kids from rigorous NoVa public schools.

As opposed to “unrigorous” public high schools?

I’ve always found it interesting characterizing an entire 1,500+ kid public high school as “rigorous” or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

You lost me at non-spectacular 32 ACT - that’s 97th percentile you f-ing idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

You lost me at non-spectacular 32 ACT - that’s 97th percentile you f-ing idiot.

NP. It is indeed an excellent score, but the national percentiles factor in kids who aren’t even considering attending college. A lot of states use the SAT as their mandated state standardized test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

You lost me at non-spectacular 32 ACT - that’s 97th percentile you f-ing idiot.

Um… are you okay, PP? You seem a little overwrought. Why does this make you feel that you need to savagely attack someone?

Unfortunately, a 32 is unspectacular by the standards of elite schools. Sucks, but it’s true, as even most f-ing idiots know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

In what world is a 32 ACT "non-spectacular"? JFC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

Not submitting test scores told schools your kid (private = privileged regardless of HHI). didn’t have good scores. One weird thing about your post - Georgetown wasn’t TO. You had to submit them.

Our top dmv private AD told us colleges are not TO for private school kids. That was your mistake.

[Anonymous]

In the world of elite DC private schools and elite colleges, it is solid, but unspectacular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

Not submitting test scores told schools your kid (private = privileged regardless of HHI). didn’t have good scores. One weird thing about your post - Georgetown wasn’t TO. You had to submit them.

Our top dmv private AD told us colleges are not TO for private school kids. That was your mistake.

Sorry, you are correct. Had to submit them at Georgetown. Did not where DC had a choice. But we don’t feel like it was a “mistake.” DC is delighted about Georgetown. My point is: the results were a bit random. Rejected and waitlisted at schools that were safeties or targets; in at two reaches and waitlisted at a super reach. Just random.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always operated with the understanding that optional pretty much means required.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that applications from white/Asian UMC kids in the DMV without a test score can raise a red flag (i.e., why wouldn't they submit a score unless it was weak)? And a 32 ACT may not be stellar, but I think it's still the 97th percentile so why not submit to clear up any doubts?

The PPs kid got into Georgetown and Emory under test optional - and not a URM.

It can work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: my kid, whose GPA was strong from a rigorous private but who applied test optional everywhere due to non-spectacular ACT scores (32), applied to 14 schools-- accepted at Vermont, Dickinson, Lafayette, Denison, Emory and Georgetown; rejected at Duke, BC, Carnegie Mellon, and Vassar, and WL at UVa, VT, W&M, and Yale.

None of this makes any particular sense to me. DC had strong recs and essays, medium extra currics and sport, white, no hooks.

To me all this just illustrates how random all this is. DC leaning towards Georgetown and is happy, but still baffled about those WL schools! (Was expecting acceptance at at least W&M and VT, and rejection at Yale. Go figure).

Not submitting test scores told schools your kid (private = privileged regardless of HHI). didn’t have good scores. One weird thing about your post - Georgetown wasn’t TO. You had to submit them.

Our top dmv private AD told us colleges are not TO for private school kids. That was your mistake.

Sorry, you are correct. Had to submit them at Georgetown. Did not where DC had a choice. But we don’t feel like it was a “mistake.” DC is delighted about Georgetown. My point is: the results were a bit random. Rejected and waitlisted at schools that were safeties or targets; in at two reaches and waitlisted at a super reach. Just random.

Not so random if you consider that every school is trying to build a class and your DC fits into different schools in different ways.

No point in trying to figure out the black box. Your DC did well in casting the net - I assume for this very reason, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always operated with the understanding that optional pretty much means required.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that applications from white/Asian UMC kids in the DMV without a test score can raise a red flag (i.e., why wouldn't they submit a score unless it was weak)? And a 32 ACT may not be stellar, but I think it's still the 97th percentile so why not submit to clear up any doubts?

The PPs kid got into Georgetown and Emory under test optional - and not a URM.

It can work.

Just .Emory, Georgetown requires scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is up with the VA publics? They seem completely wacky this year.

They hate well-rounded high stats kids from rigorous NoVa public schools.

I'm the exact same way.

[Anonymous]

May I ask which Ivy?

[Anonymous]

DS has much higher SAT but otherwise similar, rejected by ivies, maybe being an asian played a factor. So congratulations to you! Life isn’t always fair but this is the work we live in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is up with the VA publics? They seem completely wacky this year.

They hate well-rounded high stats kids from rigorous NoVa public schools.

As opposed to “unrigorous” public high schools?

I’ve always found it interesting characterizing an entire 1,500+ kid public high school as “rigorous” or not.

When the norm is 12+ APs and even students in the 30% of the class have 4.3+, colleges seem to get bored with our kids. You have to be top 25 of 500 kids to stand out (4.7 and 16 APs) at a NoVa high school.