Forum Index
»
College and University Discussion
College admission statistics
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| I interview for my college, a HYP, and I am amazed -- AMAZED -- at the kids who apply, obviously thinking they have a shot. |
Anonymous
| Honestly (I'm the PP who first brought this up), it's made me less willing to interview since often it really feels like a waste of everybody's time. Too small a sample to know for sure, but my initial sense is that it's more of a problem with MD students than DC students (not necessarily residents). |
Anonymous
|
15:02 here. I, too, feel as if my interviews are a waste of time in the all-too-frequent cases in which an applicant is obviously not qualified, judging from the scores, gpa, and extracurriculars. My college's policy is to interview every single applicant, regardless. . . . But then I remind myself that my role is also as a local ambassador for my college, and every applicant should come away with a positive experience and impression of the college even if he or she is rejected.
I interview only MD-school applicants, so I have no idea how the DC-school and VA-school applicants compare. Anyway, the plethora of unqualified applicants reassures me that, for the qualified appllicant, the odds of admission are not as low as the single-digit percentages that are publishedmake them seem. |
Anonymous
|
Through a genetic blessing -- some of these kids who are unqualified may indeed have children someday who are qualified. So, it is good if you leave a positive impression of the school. It's good karma. Plus, this is America -- it's fun to have big American Dreams.
I never applied to an Ivy -- nor did my husband. Neither one of us would have been smart enough or wealthy enough to attend. Somehow -- the genetic Gods and God himself (or herself) smiled on us and the kid is much smarter/blessed than we are. |
Anonymous
|
Sure, if you're going to do interviews, you want the interviewee to come away with a good impression of the school and, generally, the kids are nice people with whom it's easy to have a pleasant conversation. But in the cosmic scheme of things you'd want to spend your volunteering time doing, it rates comparatively low. And it doesn't make you feel connected to your old school since few (if any) of the kids you're talking to are headed there.
RE big dreams. I guess what unnerves me (and this goes to the comment someone made earlier about the emphasis on self-esteem) is that sometimes I get the impression that kids (well, ok, even a generation of adults younger than I am) have been taught that you just have to think big, visualize the life you want for yourself, dare to dream, etc. As if the only thing that stands between you and whatever you want is sufficient imagination and/or self-confidence. Means-ends rationality -- how do I get there from here -- just doesn't seem to enter into the picture So "I want to be a doctor" -- ok, have you done any volunteer work in medical or EMS settings, have you interned at NIH, what kind of doctor do you want to be and why? Nothing. I'm not saying that every HS student should have a clear career goal or that every HS student with a career goal should have some kind of relevant experience, but when you're an upper middle class kid in a resource-rich environment like this one, you have highly educated parents (often in the field you aspire to), you have a car (as well as access to great public transportation), you have a significant community service requirement to fulfill during HS, and you want to go to a top university, then it surprises me that you don't find a way to do something related to your chosen field. If you've spent your time doing something even more awesome, cool -- tell me about that. But, the one kid I've seen who fell in the something even more awesome category did that on top of the other stuff. |
Anonymous
|
One more thought....
A lot of the discussions here make me think that parents' search for some formula for college admission is detrimental to their kids. It's as if they focus on a few pieces (SAT, GPA, athletics) and then try to find a way for their kids do to the exact same things as everyone else, just better. I think that those private* schools that have a real luxury of choice tend to look at the whole person. Is this a special kid who looks like she may leave her mark on the world? Is she someone who will make the most of this opportunity? Who has something to contribute? I hope we as parents or as a society or our schools haven't gotten to the point where we are setting so many compulsories that our kids never get to freestyle, so to speak. *NB I keep qualifying these statements by saying "private" not because I think that private schools are inherently choosier than publics, but because publics face a very different set of political, legal, and often logistical constraints when it comes to admissions decisions. |
Anonymous
1,1/2,1/4,1/8, 1/16 underrepresented racial group. recruited athlete. I wonder if there is any common DR to some of the rather sketch extra time/accommodations students. DC VIP family or connected. Parent works at a school and colleagues give DD/DS preferential treatment on awards, positions, etc. College admission statistics are meaningless at some schools. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, I assumed it was clear from context, but maybe it wasn't. The private schools I was referring to are private universities (not secondary schools) and the admissions stats were those cited at the beginning of the thread (which aren't looking at which HS applicants come from). |
Anonymous
I know. Admission stats from HS's and beyond would be nice if this type of chart had legacy, underrep, VIP, athlete for each group: http://www.theivycoach.com/2014-ivy-league-admissions-statistics.html HS's should place lax/crew/min icons on the bogus charts parents and students are given. |
Anonymous
|
What would be the point? Race, legacy status, VIP are all things beyond the applicant's control. And applicants already know whether any of these factors might weigh in their favor.
GPA and scores charts at least give applicants a sense of which schools are beyond reach, which are "reach" schools, which are good prospects, which are safeties and in that way they have the potential to help families make better application decisions. |
Anonymous
|
Thanks, PP, for all the great articles. I will read them with interest.
A PP made an interesting point about the increasing availability of generous financial aid packages for lower income kids. Only in the past few years have Harvard and others started offering these very generous financial aid packages (thanks to Larry Summers, of all people). This may change the picture significantly for all applicants going forward. For example, many lower income minority kids, who are brilliant but previously wouldn't have been able to afford Ivies, may now start applying. This might lower than advantage for upper middle class minorities who now receive the admissions benefit. But probably all applicants will now face increased competition from this talented new group of kids, much as the entrance of women increased the competition for men. |
Anonymous
Curious about this - does having 1/8 of 1/16 of any racial group really help? DCs are 1/16 American Indian, but we've never thought of mentioning it in applications to private schools or colleges. In fact, it seems a bit, I don't know, sleazy to mention something that hasn't really been part of DCs' upbringing or culture, with the ancestor in question long dead, and DC living here in suburban DC. |
Anonymous
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/927219-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-8-a-3.html |
Anonymous
I understand that one has to be a registered member of a tribe. Lots of people in the US have some American Indian ancestors but are not considered American Indians. |