Do you know a kid who was screwed in the college process in last few years?

[Anonymous]

My kid! Waitlisted at UVA and NEU. 3.98/4.5, 1560. 9 APs/2 DE. CS major. He did NOT take AP lang/lit. I'm sure that was the killer. Really hoping that 760V and A's in honors would have helped. Oh well. Kid is happy
Direct admit to UMD with Honors placement and merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ending up at a state flagship is far from being screwed.

Being a kid growing up in Ukraine is getting screwed.

Get some perspective.

Exactly. Shame on you, OP. You are perpetuating a very unhealthy set of expectations.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Rejected by two in-state more "selective" schools that should be serving the state but are instead being run like criminal enterprises. It's sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid! Waitlisted at UVA and NEU. 3.98/4.5, 1560. 9 APs/2 DE. CS major. He did NOT take AP lang/lit. I'm sure that was the killer. Really hoping that 760V and A's in honors would have helped. Oh well. Kid is happy
Direct admit to UMD with Honors placement and merit.

You mentioned nothing about ECs, job, leadership, etc. maybe that was the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid! Waitlisted at UVA and NEU. 3.98/4.5, 1560. 9 APs/2 DE. CS major. He did NOT take AP lang/lit. I'm sure that was the killer. Really hoping that 760V and A's in honors would have helped. Oh well. Kid is happy
Direct admit to UMD with Honors placement and merit.

You mentioned nothing about ECs, job, leadership, etc. maybe that was the problem.

You're right, I didn't go into his entire resume
NMSF, Varsity athlete, founded/led school club, CS related internship with small non profit, Github project, PT employment Jr/Sr year and summer, self taught musician

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any kids get "screwed" in the college application process. What a peculiar way of looking at things.

If you are the #1 kid in your school, aiming for T10/T20, and you end up at the flagship or worse (and not for financial reasons), then yeah, I think you were screwed since kids ranked FAR below you got into the schools you were aiming for?
Maybe it was your application? Your major? Your story?

I think you should consider that your idea of "#1 kid" (which honestly is kind of a ridiculous thing to even say about any kid in any school) is different than what a college may be looking for - the whole point of holistic admissions is that schools aren't looking for the combination of highest GPA and highest SAT/ACT score - many many kids have that, and the difference between the highest GPA and the kid with the 20th highest GPA in any given school is minute. Nobody cares about those gradations any more than they care about a 1600 SAT vs a 1560. Parents care and they make their kids crazy over such things. Colleges - highly selective or otherwise - are also looking for kids who will be valuable community members. When I think of kids who got "screwed over," it is not the 4.0 who didn't get into HYP (the vast vast majority of kids do not get into those schools - and from our HS at least, with Harvard and Yale specifically, the average GPA getting into those schools is lower than the average GPA going to, for example, Cornell Engineering or Williams. The kids who are "screwed over" are the ones without access to excellent educations, resources, college counseling - the ones who are FGLI who do not have parents who can help them navigate the process. Do a small number of those kids get lucky because they have a helpful mentor, test into a magnet school, or had a college recruiter find them? Sure, but those are the exceptions, not the rule. In my experience, the people who seem most concerned about kids who get "screwed over" tend to be speaking from a place of privilege and entitlement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top of class, 1590 sat, 36 ACT, great EC's, national awards, 15 AP's, denied everywhere, even UChicago EDII and now at Michigan. Could have been that the letter of recommendations were not the greatest. That's the problem with holisitic admissions. Everything could be perfect but the schools are just looking for something else.

Denied everywhere, then names two very selective schools.

As stated before, a basic understanding probability might have helped with creating a reasonable list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top of class, 1590 sat, 36 ACT, great EC's, national awards, 15 AP's, denied everywhere, even UChicago EDII and now at Michigan. Could have been that the letter of recommendations were not the greatest. That's the problem with holisitic admissions. Everything could be perfect but the schools are just looking for something else.

Go Blue! Happy to have your great kid.

[Anonymous]

It is all relative. A kid can is screwed if someone with lower stats gets accepted and you don't. But is has be significantly lower stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is all relative. A kid can is screwed if someone with lower stats gets accepted and you don't. But is has be significantly lower stats.

1000+. My unhooked kid didn't do as well as we had hoped and his peers, similarly situated in terms of gpa, sat, and ecs, placed T10s. The whole process sucks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any kids get "screwed" in the college application process. What a peculiar way of looking at things.

If you are the #1 kid in your school, aiming for T10/T20, and you end up at the flagship or worse (and not for financial reasons), then yeah, I think you were screwed since kids ranked FAR below you got into the schools you were aiming for?
Maybe it was your application? Your major? Your story?

“Flagship or worse.” seriously go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ending up at a state flagship is far from being screwed.

Being a kid growing up in Ukraine is getting screwed.

Get some perspective.

Exactly. Shame on you, OP. You are perpetuating a very unhealthy set of expectations.

Not really. Why can't we have an honest discussion here?
Get your "judgment" out of a parents' forum where the goal is to share honestly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is all relative. A kid can is screwed if someone with lower stats gets accepted and you don't. But is has be significantly lower stats.

Agree. That is what I think of as "screwed". But how often does this actually happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Ha Ha🤣

My kid was a top student, top grades, magnet rigor, cracked SAT, very good EC, research work, tons of accolades etc. Doing CS in flagship public university for free. Getting top internships and opportunities. Earning money and growing investment portfolio.

Not going to the top private school for full pay has saved us 400K which has enriched his inheritance significantly. At worst, he does not have to look after us for retirement.

Getting into a prestigious college is not the end game.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid! Waitlisted at UVA and NEU. 3.98/4.5, 1560. 9 APs/2 DE. CS major. He did NOT take AP lang/lit. I'm sure that was the killer. Really hoping that 760V and A's in honors would have helped. Oh well. Kid is happy
Direct admit to UMD with Honors placement and merit.

You mentioned nothing about ECs, job, leadership, etc. maybe that was the problem.

You're right, I didn't go into his entire resume
NMSF, Varsity athlete, founded/led school club, CS related internship with small non profit, Github project, PT employment Jr/Sr year and summer, self taught musician

Wow. Impressive. Was your kid applying as CS from a large public HS with a lot of other similarly situated kids?