What was your UNHOOKED Big3 senior's GPA and what type of school are they attending in the fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for any information you can give! I have a rising junior.

Frankly, it doesn't matter what anyone else's experiences were. The sands of colleges admissions have been and are shifting dramatically and have since the 2021 cycle. Naviance and anyone else's records as they compare to your kid are basically meaningless.

15:44 again - This is also true - admissions keeps changing every year since COVID. All of DCs WL were very solid and reliable options according to historical Naviance (even when sub-setting to just 2021-2022). These schools had low admit rates, so we still considered them to be reaches and DC applied accordingly. But based on prior experience from students at our school - those WL colleges typically loved and accepted everyone in DCs stats range. Not this year (and it wasn't just our DC, it was others too).

What's an example of one of these schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the Big 3 *is* the hook.

You probably got that idea here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very good GPA for rigorous Big3 (3.7), strong (but not tippy top) SATs at 1490 and strong ECs. Did not have a great college outcomes. Got into one Top 50 school and several Top 100s. Waitlisted at many places - very few rejections. Chose one of the Top 100s.

Wow...sounds like a smart kid so I hope they weren't too disappointed and are excited for their chosen school! College admits have been brutal this year.

DP with a son with similar IMHO great results: once you have been through the process and actually look at schools, I hope you realize the rankings are pointless. There are so many great schools out there that are wonderful fits for all kinds of kids. Don't be narrow minded and you will be happy. DS did get into three schools ranked above 50 (30s and 40s), but chose one ranked below because it is a better school for what he wants academically and socially.

Also the list is quickly narrowed when a student decides things like: want to be in driving distance; do not want a large public university; do not want a cut throat vibe; do not want a party school; etc. etc. So many factors play into the final choice.

[Anonymous]

Accepted ED at Vassar with a 3.67 and 1510

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very good GPA for rigorous Big3 (3.7), strong (but not tippy top) SATs at 1490 and strong ECs. Did not have a great college outcomes. Got into one Top 50 school and several Top 100s. Waitlisted at many places - very few rejections. Chose one of the Top 100s.

Similar scores from a good MCPS public. Got into 2 top 20, WL at a few, and chose Berkeley!

MCPS will have an edge on UC schools because of reliance on AP for rigor....private schools offer far few APs (some offer none). Even if you take an AP exam, the course will not be weighted as such by UC system.

Exactly my point. My kid with a similar profile was denied Berkely from GDS. His best friend with similar level grades/ecs from Wilson got into Yale. We are happy with our outcome right before covid but I can't say it didn't burn.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean before Covid? Was it 2023 kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very good GPA for rigorous Big3 (3.7), strong (but not tippy top) SATs at 1490 and strong ECs. Did not have a great college outcomes. Got into one Top 50 school and several Top 100s. Waitlisted at many places - very few rejections. Chose one of the Top 100s.

Similar scores from a good MCPS public. Got into 2 top 20, WL at a few, and chose Berkeley!

MCPS will have an edge on UC schools because of reliance on AP for rigor....private schools offer far few APs (some offer none). Even if you take an AP exam, the course will not be weighted as such by UC system.

Exactly my point. My kid with a similar profile was denied Berkely from GDS. His best friend with similar level grades/ecs from Wilson got into Yale. We are happy with our outcome right before covid but I can't say it didn't burn.

You can't compare Yale to Berkeley. Did your child apply to Yale? Did the friend apply to Berkeley? They are such different schools with such different admissions policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very good GPA for rigorous Big3 (3.7), strong (but not tippy top) SATs at 1490 and strong ECs. Did not have a great college outcomes. Got into one Top 50 school and several Top 100s. Waitlisted at many places - very few rejections. Chose one of the Top 100s.

Wow...sounds like a smart kid so I hope they weren't too disappointed and are excited for their chosen school! College admits have been brutal this year.

Thanks! Kid is handling it very well and is super excited about the destination - so all good here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very good GPA for rigorous Big3 (3.7), strong (but not tippy top) SATs at 1490 and strong ECs. Did not have a great college outcomes. Got into one Top 50 school and several Top 100s. Waitlisted at many places - very few rejections. Chose one of the Top 100s.

Sounds like my kid--is there anything you would change? Maybe ED to a solid target vs a reach? My kid really likes one of her targets and it's tempting to ED there vs a reach.

[Anonymous]

There are so many hooked strong students at Big 3. It's a goldmine for T25 admissions offices because they have a slew hooked students to choose from who meet a variety of institutional priorities, who are well prepared from the strong curriculum, and are often full pay too. Many of the hooked students also have top rigor and top stats, but it's also true that unhooked kids are routinely passed over for hooked classmates with less rigor or similar rigor with lower stats. These hooked kids are still really strong students and will absolutely succeed in the T25, so no need to take that unhooked applicant if admissions can hit the trifecta by taking the hooked one. No complaints, but I think statements like "Big 3 is the hook" usually means that you don't understand these nuances. As others have posted above - there are many wonderful universities where students will succeed and be happy.

Bolded was the case at our Big3.

[Anonymous]

This "hooked" and "unhooked" lingo just shows you how out of touch we are with the 99% of the population.

Hopefully, upcoming developments in legal jurisprudence will give all students a fair shake at college admissions next year and beyond.

For the time being, non-Big Three "unhooked" senior:

Top 10: 2 rejected; 1 accepted
Top 20 (including the above): 2 rejected; 4 accepted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This "hooked" and "unhooked" lingo just shows you how out of touch we are with the 99% of the population.

Hopefully, upcoming developments in legal jurisprudence will give all students a fair shake at college admissions next year and beyond.

For the time being, non-Big Three "unhooked" senior:

Top 10: 2 rejected; 1 accepted
Top 20 (including the above): 2 rejected; 4 accepted

Was that 2023 admissions?

And what do you mean by "for the time being"?

And please elaborate on bold? Recruited athlete, legacy, VIP (often 2-3 of these!) and then huge push for diversity on campus (which I support even if it makes applications more complicated for our unhooked kids) - so add in URM, LGBTQ+. How is this out of touch?

[Anonymous]

Your kids all sound great. Those GPAs at a Big 3 are incredible and you should all be proud!

[Anonymous]

Cornell loves public school kids. Applied from both public and private. Public school kid less impressive academically at Jackson Reed vs. my private school kid. Cornell took the JR one Potomac. This happens too often.

[Anonymous]

I should add public kid was in an academy that has a lot of merit in itself and a great story for application if you participate all 4 years with a capstone project.