Lessons Learned- College Admissions- If you had to do it all again.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember that what really matters is where they go to grad school

Exactly. Nobody cares if you go to Princeton if you end up at a 4th tier law school afterwords.

Yes they do. I went to a T10 undergrad and had to end up at a 2nd tier law school for financial reasons (couldn't turn down the full ride). I still got interviews and made connections through my undergrad alumni network. Now, have I been turned down for positions because I didn't graduate from Yale Law? Probably. But having a solid undergrad has certainly helped me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember that what really matters is where they go to grad school

Exactly. Nobody cares if you go to Princeton if you end up at a 4th tier law school afterwords.

Yes they do. I went to a T10 undergrad and had to end up at a 2nd tier law school for financial reasons (couldn't turn down the full ride). I still got interviews and made connections through my undergrad alumni network. Now, have I been turned down for positions because I didn't graduate from Yale Law? Probably. But having a solid undergrad has certainly helped me.

You can put the full ride to law school on your resume (cite the scholarship), and people will get it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

This is why you should try to resist the temptation of the rat race. It is unreasonable and unhealthy for teens to be spread this thin. Let your child do what works for him/her. Don’t sacrifice sleep, mental and physical well being just for a check box or just to make some AO happy. Having gone through this admission cycle, we are glad that DC followed his own path, worked hard on his passion and gave his best in school but maintained his sanity throughout. We gave up travel sport opportunities so he can focus on school work and part time job where he gets to pursue his passion. In the end having 5 APs instead of 10+ still landed him in T10 and T20 schools. He only had a handful of bedtimes that went pass midnight.

Just to be clear, he was prepared to be shut out given his 5 APs, but he also understands if a school can only focus on the nbr of APs or the perfect SAT, then it is not a good fit for him. He rather not spend $70K to be at a place where he is miserable.

[Anonymous]

When your kid starts a tech company in high school, grows it to a 20M valuation within 6 months, and says that he/she isn't going to college, they probably know more than you do about what they need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

I suspect this is an example of something that started with one purpose and morphed into another. For example, at DC's school, there are honors classes in a number of subjects but everyone takes the same English course each year. The "most rigorous" box was probably a way for the college to know that there was not a more advanced English course DC didn't take. But then parents started stressing about about what it takes to check that box and probably have overblown what it means to have that versus another category.

Still, it comes down to how colleges want to weight things. How does my DC's "most rigorous" with high grades but pedestrian extra curriculars compare to someone else's "very demanding" with strong, but not quite as high grades, and significant other attributes? It's going to vary from college to college and student to student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

This is funny and so true. I am so much more laid back about my 10th grader after seeing the grind my 2 older kids went through. DC just picked 11th grade classes and really didn’t want AP biology. Fine with me. DC will be plenty challenged at school without it. Life is too short and so what if DC ends up at Bucknell instead of Colgate or Indiana instead of Wisconsin. DC will be fine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

I suspect this is an example of something that started with one purpose and morphed into another. For example, at DC's school, there are honors classes in a number of subjects but everyone takes the same English course each year. The "most rigorous" box was probably a way for the college to know that there was not a more advanced English course DC didn't take. But then parents started stressing about about what it takes to check that box and probably have overblown what it means to have that versus another category.

Still, it comes down to how colleges want to weight things. How does my DC's "most rigorous" with high grades but pedestrian extra curriculars compare to someone else's "very demanding" with strong, but not quite as high grades, and significant other attributes? It's going to vary from college to college and student to student.

I wrote the "don't get this" bit. Both my kids got into good colleges so my comment was just a bit of PTSD. However it annoys me that 10 APs would have been good enough for "most rigorous" when my older one applied to colleges, but now is "very demanding". For current high school students, does that mean that a kid who wants to major in poetry and creative writing is doing AP Physics C because that is one of the "harder" subjects. And then it is annoying that after these kids work so hard, the colleges reject many of them because they are indistinguishable from each other, and admissions then go for the quirkier kid. My younger kid went to TJ - how do they even measure "most demanding" there with all the advanced post AP science and math courses? Further, some of the most spectacular math talents there struggled with classes like history deemed "easier". I think that they should get rid of the category.

[Anonymous]

Don’t bother applying to OOS states if you can’t afford them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wrote the "don't get this" bit. Both my kids got into good colleges so my comment was just a bit of PTSD. However it annoys me that 10 APs would have been good enough for "most rigorous" when my older one applied to colleges, but now is "very demanding". For current high school students, does that mean that a kid who wants to major in poetry and creative writing is doing AP Physics C because that is one of the "harder" subjects. And then it is annoying that after these kids work so hard, the colleges reject many of them because they are indistinguishable from each other, and admissions then go for the quirkier kid. My younger kid went to TJ - how do they even measure "most demanding" there with all the advanced post AP science and math courses? Further, some of the most spectacular math talents there struggled with classes like history deemed "easier". I think that they should get rid of the category.

It's definitely subjective and based on what is available at your HS and what was chosen when possible for each individual kid. It's not data-driven and akin to a recommendation level from the GC. Certainly a fair one as long as the GC is so, as well as quite a useful one for colleges looking to distinguish kids who otherwise look the same.

It also helps them compare students who attend schools that are unique, such as the schools with "advanced post AP science and math courses" and HS that don't offer any of that stuff, and maybe fewer AP than normal. It's not about what you took, but how you challenged yourself based on availability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

This is funny and so true. I am so much more laid back about my 10th grader after seeing the grind my 2 older kids went through. DC just picked 11th grade classes and really didn’t want AP biology. Fine with me. DC will be plenty challenged at school without it. Life is too short and so what if DC ends up at Bucknell instead of Colgate or Indiana instead of Wisconsin. DC will be fine!

Honestly, I would probably pick the kid that grew up on the rodeo circuit too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do the boxes say after most rigorous?

According to my child's HS counselor, the next box is "very demanding", which is what she gave his transcript. 10 AP/IB classes but didn't do the full IB Diploma.

I don't get this category. Are they going to keep escalating until 16 year olds are have to produce Ph.d thesis level work? At the same time, they want kids to "follow their passion", but how can they do that with 20 AP classes? And while showing commitment to band, foreign languages, service, sport etc etc. And then the colleges will turn around and chose the girl who grew up traveling on the rodeo circuit anyway.

This is funny and so true. I am so much more laid back about my 10th grader after seeing the grind my 2 older kids went through. DC just picked 11th grade classes and really didn’t want AP biology. Fine with me. DC will be plenty challenged at school without it. Life is too short and so what if DC ends up at Bucknell instead of Colgate or Indiana instead of Wisconsin. DC will be fine!

What's funnier is that I actually heard the rodeo thing from the admissions officer on a tour. They admitted the rodeo kid as well as a girl to chemical engineering who said that she was interested in nail polish. I think these admin people are bored out of their brains.

[Anonymous]

Early Action to your favorite and don’t fall in love with just one school. Drop 90% of your ECs. Schools don’t care unless it creates a good essay. Ivies and the like are extreme long shots for non URM, regardless of the stats. Don’t count on it. Focus the essay on why they NEED you and what you can do for them, not the other way around. Essay readers are sappy sentimentalist who value altruism and struggle over achievement.

[Anonymous]

A Winning essay is one that would make you seem an interesting party guest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours would have applied to Toronto. It has a really good CS program and has rolling admissions. Plus, tuition is in line with other out of state colleges

Getting into CS at Toronto or Waterloo is a big challenge.

Why I thought the Canadian colleges look at grade and test scores only and so admission is quite predictable