Worst College Advice you have heard, that you know is untrue

[Anonymous]

“Your kid is smart, so he’ll get a scholarship”

“Your kid cant get into elite school unless they are URM, athlete, legacy, famous, nationally accomplished, or have big donations.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges will overlook some grades, but look for an upward trend. Sorry, it's called GPA, Not GPA for Freshman year, Sophomore year, Junior year et .

Myths like this are perpetuated by admissions departments to inflate apps. Ditto the emphasis on "holistic" and on quirky essays. Most colleges don't even read your essays. It's all bullshit. Their software filters out everyone with mediocre GPA and SAT - human eyes never see your app.

When a quirky essay is leaked by an Ivy or Stanford it's because they want plebs to think an essay makes a different. ex., the Black Lives Matter one last year was by a minority kid who had perfect stats!

[Anonymous]

That it "doesn't matter where you go to college". I call B.S. Some organizations only hire grads of certain schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges will overlook some grades, but look for an upward trend. Sorry, it's called GPA, Not GPA for Freshman year, Sophomore year, Junior year et .

Myths like this are perpetuated by admissions departments to inflate apps. Ditto the emphasis on "holistic" and on quirky essays. Most colleges don't even read your essays. It's all bullshit. Their software filters out everyone with mediocre GPA and SAT - human eyes never see your app.

When a quirky essay is leaked by an Ivy or Stanford it's because they want plebs to think an essay makes a different. ex., the Black Lives Matter one last year was by a minority kid who had perfect stats!

sure, a mediocre GPA and SAT isn't going to get your app read, but once you get over the first cut, your essay does become a factor. admissions committees typically assign 2-3 readers to each app (this is for the apps that make the first cut). they assign each factor (transcript, test scores, letters of rec, extracurriculars, essay) a score, based on how strong they think that factor is. your cumulative score puts you in either "recommend admit," "unsure," or "recommend denial" piles. then they all sit down and talk about the apps. the ones in that "unsure" pile are the ones they typically spend the most time on.

so while your essay is unlikely to make the difference, it becomes part of the mix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That it "doesn't matter where you go to college". I call B.S. Some organizations only hire grads of certain schools.

that's mostly true for consulting firms. otherwise it really doesn't matter a whole lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite colleges dont really require subject tests.

Elite colleges love well-rounded individuals.

I don't know if they love them, but they even still admit many of them. Problem is, many students who consider themselves well-rounded, aren't. A truly well-rounded kid excels in both math and foreign language, for example, which is rare. A lot of parents stick the "well-rounded" label on kids who don't necessarily shine in any given endeavor. Those kids may be rounded, but not well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That it "doesn't matter where you go to college". I call B.S. Some organizations only hire grads of certain schools.

that's mostly true for consulting firms. otherwise it really doesn't matter a whole lot.

They won't hire you no matter what jobs you've gotten after graduation, or they won't hire you straight out of college?

[Anonymous]

"It's a time to find yourself...study broadly. Don't rush to choose a major."

Nope. That's what high school is for, or a gap year if you need it. Go into college with a plan. Think about AFTER college when you enter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much 90% of everything in this entire forum, and 60% of everything on CC.

The most prolific posters on College Confidential are flyover state rubes with average ambition kids. It's a depressing place once you realize most of those nuts don't even have kids in high school or college (anymore), they just keep posting awful advice over and over and over.

Also, a lot of the smart "kids" are larping helicopter moms pretending to be their kid.

Weird site that hit its peak usefulness over a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
sure, a mediocre GPA and SAT isn't going to get your app read, but once you get over the first cut, your essay does become a factor. admissions committees typically assign 2-3 readers to each app (this is for the apps that make the first cut).

Yet more admissions bullshit they leak into the mainstream. This is fake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much 90% of everything in this entire forum, and 60% of everything on CC.

The most prolific posters on College Confidential are flyover state rubes with average ambition kids. It's a depressing place once you realize most of those nuts don't even have kids in high school or college (anymore), they just keep posting awful advice over and over and over.

Also, a lot of the smart "kids" are larping helicopter moms pretending to be their kid.

Weird site that hit its peak usefulness over a decade ago.

Are those the ones who think everyone should go to Bama?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter what you major in - NOT TRUE (unless you go to HYPS)

Went to an HYPS. Majored in obscure humanities subject. It still matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter what you major in - NOT TRUE (unless you go to HYPS)

False. There are other elite schools besides HYPS that afford students the opportunity to explore and have good career prospects regardless of major. Btw an engineering degree from Yale is as unimpressive as they come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
sure, a mediocre GPA and SAT isn't going to get your app read, but once you get over the first cut, your essay does become a factor. admissions committees typically assign 2-3 readers to each app (this is for the apps that make the first cut).

Yet more admissions bullshit they leak into the mainstream. This is fake.

umm, no it's not. I personally know people involved in undergrad and grad school admissions committees.

how else do you think go through the apps and make decisions after the initial cut is made?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
sure, a mediocre GPA and SAT isn't going to get your app read, but once you get over the first cut, your essay does become a factor. admissions committees typically assign 2-3 readers to each app (this is for the apps that make the first cut).

Yet more admissions bullshit they leak into the mainstream. This is fake.

umm, no it's not. I personally know people involved in undergrad and grad school admissions committees.

how else do you think go through the apps and make decisions after the initial cut is made?

sorry, that should say "how else do you think *they* ..."