So Ivies and top colleges are ALWAYS REACH?

[Anonymous]

Yep it’s a troll posting a very ordinary kid trying to get a reaction.

[Anonymous]

I have one of those, too.

He is a dime a dozen at Ivies and similarly ranked schools.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Harvard interviewer, for an excellent and insightful post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am getting pissed now. High achieving Asian-American male student in magnet STEM program. 4.0 GPA, NMF, 10 APs, 1 state level EC, hundreds of hours of community service, member of a number of honor societies, started two clubs, research experience....and Ivies are just reach for him? FU%K IT!!!!!!!

I've been a Harvard interviewer for decades. In this area, a high GPA in the school's most rigorous courseload, several 5's on APs taken as a junior with several more in progress as a senior, and 1500 plus M+V SAT's, gets you into the top 30-40 percent of the applicant pool. The school has freshman dorm space for 4.5 percent of the applicant pool. So that top group still has to be reduced by 80%.

Once you have established that a student is academically prepared, what the universities like to see is that a student is getting off the sofa and doing things. They would rather have a 1500 SAT scorer who gets things done, than a 1600 whose hasn't contributed much. The 1500 who gets things done is far more likely to be successful, and either give a wad o' cash to the university, or make the university look good by creating something.

With a state level EC, lots of community service, and starting clubs, your son has demonstrated that he is proactive. If the research was designed by him and yielded some results that he wrote up, he will demonstrate original/scientific thinking (We see kids at the STEM magnets publishing in scientific journals every year). He will get in somewhere good. Can he count on a particular Ivy? No. This country has 330 million people. At this moment, a kid on Bainbridge Island off of Seattle with 1600 SATS is observing wildlife for the 330th day in a row, and is writing up the results or recording them for a research team at UW. A kid in the Berkshires is composing a concerto. A kid in Minnesota will be written up in the local rag for taking the most APs of anyone in the county. All of this is really good for us as a nation. It means we have a lot of centers of academic excellence around the country. Meeting these kids gives me hope, They, their scientific training, and their motivation will outlive Trump and his pile of old angry white guys.

I think what is a little frustrating is knowing that for many of the elite institutions, you start off with an significant handicap if you are not hooked in some way (legacy, athlete, URM). These are to a large extent personal characteristics that are determined at birth and out of the control of the individual. There aren't that many remaining slots for students who are simply excellent students with either well rounded interests or with a passion in one area that they have pursued for a long time. It starts to feel like no matter what they do or achieve the message seems to be "You are just not that special".
OP we will take our kid to tour a few of the Ivies and let him decide if it is worth buying a lottery ticket for one or two if he feels they would be a good fit but we have downplayed expectations. We have tried to expose him to a range of colleges that will provide him with a good education including UMD which has many students with the same stats as your kid in the honors program. 40% of the MCPS magnet kids (from Blair and RMIB) end up at UMD and I have not heard any complaints from them or their parents.

[Anonymous]

I was shocked too OP when I realized that even with top stats and EC's, all the top schools were considered a reach for her. Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

same with white athletes and white legacy applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

same with white athletes and white legacy applicants.

agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

same with white athletes and white legacy applicants.

Legacy is not the advantage that you think it is. I have twice had kids strike out at my alma mater despite scores within their middle 50%. Perhaps if I gave more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that there are plenty of great schools just under the tippy top schools.

For the love of god will you stop using “tippy top” in your posts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

same with white athletes and white legacy applicants.

Legacy is not the advantage that you think it is. I have twice had kids strike out at my alma mater despite scores within their middle 50%. Perhaps if I gave more.

+1. Legacy advantage is vastly overstated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

same with white athletes and white legacy applicants.

Legacy is not the advantage that you think it is. I have twice had kids strike out at my alma mater despite scores within their middle 50%. Perhaps if I gave more.

+1. Legacy advantage is vastly overstated.

Except at Harvard -- which accepts way more legacies as a percentage of admits than anyplace else.

However, they have so many alums, legacy is no guarantee.

[Anonymous]

We have friends whose Asian child got into every single Ivy League school. Middle income family, legacy at Princeton only, son played some sports (mostly average), did academic competitions, he was a top student. Not just a stats top student but one where his teachers raved about his abilities. Private school in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:black or Hispanic much better chance with those stats

Is it fair personally I don't think so but it is what it is

same with white athletes and white legacy applicants.

Legacy is not the advantage that you think it is. I have twice had kids strike out at my alma mater despite scores within their middle 50%. Perhaps if I gave more.

+1. Legacy advantage is vastly overstated.

Except at Harvard -- which accepts way more legacies as a percentage of admits than anyplace else.

However, they have so many alums, legacy is no guarantee.

Legacy as a percent of admissions is the wrong metric. It discounts that many legacy applicants are good candidates. It also discounts increased interest among legacies (e.g. a top applicant who grew up hearing about Harvard is more likely to choose Harvard than Yale). Average test score of legacy admissions vs. non-legacy is a much better metric.

[Anonymous]

My 36 ACT DS with Hispanic ethnicity did not apply to any Ivies (did not want to). He got into his first choice, but DH wanted bragging rights. Oh well.