How did your super high stats kid fare (1550 plus and 4.5 plus with max rigor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It appears that it is harder to get into college than when we all applied. But what about for the very high stats kids?

Can some of you please share how it went for your child who went through the process if your kid was max rigor, 1550 plus, top grades, great but not national award winning extracurricular.

My child is having trouble finishing up their college lists and part of the reason is we really just have no idea how it will all go with the reach schools. We also don't know what school is "worth" taking your shot early. This child will be happiest with an intense, highly academic crowd.

Totally depends on the context of your high school.
How many 1550+ 4.5+ kids at your school? You are competing with them directly.

If your DC is at a high school having many high stats kids, 1550+ 4.5+ is merely a ceiling pusher. You might or might not get in a top school.

If your DC is at a high school having an average SAT of 1100, then 1550+ 4.5+ is a door opener. Ivies are possible, even HYP or particularly HYP.

[Anonymous]

OP here- the child also has great extracurriculars. Followed their passions even though they didn't go toward activities that have competitions and thus the lack of national level awards. But on the whole I'd say top 2 percent at a rigorous public school, max AP classes, all 5's and 1 4 on 9 AP'a through junior year.

But it is so unclear on how this will all shake out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It appears that it is harder to get into college than when we all applied. But what about for the very high stats kids?

Can some of you please share how it went for your child who went through the process if your kid was max rigor, 1550 plus, top grades, great but not national award winning extracurricular.

My child is having trouble finishing up their college lists and part of the reason is we really just have no idea how it will all go with the reach schools. We also don't know what school is "worth" taking your shot early. This child will be happiest with an intense, highly academic crowd.

This was my kid. He’s attending UMDCP. No luck at any of the highly ranked privates but in the end I think he wound up right where he’s supposed to be. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- the child also has great extracurriculars. Followed their passions even though they didn't go toward activities that have competitions and thus the lack of national level awards. But on the whole I'd say top 2 percent at a rigorous public school, max AP classes, all 5's and 1 4 on 9 AP'a through junior year.

But it is so unclear on how this will all shake out.

Public. That makes it much more difficult for Ivies/T10-20s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- the child also has great extracurriculars. Followed their passions even though they didn't go toward activities that have competitions and thus the lack of national level awards. But on the whole I'd say top 2 percent at a rigorous public school, max AP classes, all 5's and 1 4 on 9 AP'a through junior year.

But it is so unclear on how this will all shake out.

These are really great stats. Your kid will definitely get accepted into a good school. Just be prepared for the unexpected. As I stated, when you apply to schools that receive 50,000 - 60,000 plus applications with acceptance rates below 14% everyone has really good stats. My advice is to spread the application net wide and there will definitely be some unexpected wins and losses. Enjoy the ride! I'm glad we are done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It appears that it is harder to get into college than when we all applied. But what about for the very high stats kids?

Can some of you please share how it went for your child who went through the process if your kid was max rigor, 1550 plus, top grades, great but not national award winning extracurricular.

My child is having trouble finishing up their college lists and part of the reason is we really just have no idea how it will all go with the reach schools. We also don't know what school is "worth" taking your shot early. This child will be happiest with an intense, highly academic crowd.

It is going to be hard in cases where child is competitive for HYPSM but no T30 college is a sure shot.

We went through this and ended up at one of HYPSM and also had multiple T20 admits - one with a huge merit aid. But it could have easily been 0 T20 admits.

The only advice is to love your safety school. My most significant effort is to make sure child is happy with 1-2 safety schools that meet the criteria in every respect. Finding these schools is the tough part. But put your focus on it.

[Anonymous]

Also, based on our experience, be aware of the OOS Top Publics with single digit OOS acceptance rates with 60,000 and more applications. In addition to Ivies and other T20s, these are some of the most difficult gets. We found that out this last cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- the child also has great extracurriculars. Followed their passions even though they didn't go toward activities that have competitions and thus the lack of national level awards. But on the whole I'd say top 2 percent at a rigorous public school, max AP classes, all 5's and 1 4 on 9 AP'a through junior year.

But it is so unclear on how this will all shake out.

What major?

That matters almost as much as the LOR.

[Anonymous]

At my strong but not top public in NC, students got into Princeton, Stanford, Duke. The school's top 10 also went to UNC, NC State and some others i don't remember. There is an IB program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- the child also has great extracurriculars. Followed their passions even though they didn't go toward activities that have competitions and thus the lack of national level awards. But on the whole I'd say top 2 percent at a rigorous public school, max AP classes, all 5's and 1 4 on 9 AP'a through junior year.

But it is so unclear on how this will all shake out.

These are really great stats. Your kid will definitely get accepted into a good school. Just be prepared for the unexpected. As I stated, when you apply to schools that receive 50,000 - 60,000 plus applications with acceptance rates below 14% everyone has really good stats. My advice is to spread the application net wide and there will definitely be some unexpected wins and losses. Enjoy the ride! I'm glad we are done.

Agree with all this. For every kid like OR's who got multiple T10 acceptances with "nothing special" going on, we know 3 who had far worse results than expected give their stats + ECs. Some applications just hit with AOs - maybe something in the LORs, maybe clever packaging, maybe the kid just seems really nice...who knows? No one ever really knows. (PS every parent thinks their kid wrote the best essays ever and cried when they read them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Intense? Yikes My kid was that profile is at an Ivy. Not an intense kid but academically, motivated. Doesn’t like intense. He’s a kind, sweet kid. Didn’t ED or REA anywhere.

Nobody can tell you. My kid had the same grades and stats as other friends, but he was the only one in the group to get accepted to multiple T10/20 schools and I could not tell you why. Unhooked. Typical kid- job, sports, ecs. He usually has bad luck so it was a surprise.

It really becomes a lottery at the T10/20s. Every kid has those stats and similar activities.

He just applied where he thought he would like to go. He had no clear first choice so didn’t want to ED.

Humanities or social science major? That matters. Otherwise, probably just a likeable kid who wrote nice essays and had glowing recs. People tend to underestimate the value of plain old likability in the application process. Even elite colleges prefer to admit nice kids they think will be a positive presence on campus.

I think this is a bigger factor that people realize. These schools do actually care about building their community. A kid I know who got into Yale a couple of years ago was like this—strong academically, well-rounded, but also lovely, delightful, a ray of sunshine—and I’m guessing it was clear in his recommendations and essays.

[Anonymous]

W School with 4/4.9w, 1540 SAT (taken once)

Accepted: WashU (attending), Northwestern, Miami of Ohio, Haverford, and Lehigh

Waitlisted: Duke and Michigan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W School with 4/4.9w, 1540 SAT (taken once)

Accepted: WashU (attending), Northwestern, Miami of Ohio, Haverford, and Lehigh

Waitlisted: Duke and Michigan

Did DC not ED at any school?

[Anonymous]

The biggest predictor will be your particular high school. High stats, strong recs, impressive EC's and awards will help, but I think the differentiator is being able to show personal qualities that have been proven over time that you will be a large producer on campus and beyond. It does them no good to have a bunch of brains that never leave their dorm rooms, they want movers and shakers and contributors. It doesn't have to mean extroverted, it just means thoroughly engaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest predictor will be your particular high school. High stats, strong recs, impressive EC's and awards will help, but I think the differentiator is being able to show personal qualities that have been proven over time that you will be a large producer on campus and beyond. It does them no good to have a bunch of brains that never leave their dorm rooms, they want movers and shakers and contributors. It doesn't have to mean extroverted, it just means thoroughly engaged.

I think this is so understated on this board at times. Schools really do dig deep and want to see kids that will succeed in life not just in college. Is this kid gonna go out and the world and be a go getter? They know GPA and ACT alone don't tell this whole story. EC's are so important. That's why you see stats for admits all over the place.