What were YOUR Stats and where did you get accepted/denied

[Anonymous]

1980’s. 1350 SAT. Third in class at a private school. First gen on scholarship. Well connected college counselor (I think). Accepted Harvard Yale Princeton Brown Williams Amherst. Things are very very different now for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2000
4.4 GPA/1350 SAT
Rank: 7/450, public school in California
6 APs: five 5's, one 4
Extra curriculars: Eagle Scout, varsity letters in track & cross-country for two years, sleepaway camp counselor, part-time jobs afterschool and weekends during school year

NYU: accepted with $10K scholarship, attended
Columbia: waitlisted, then rejected
UC Berkeley: waitlisted, then rejected
Boston Univ: accepted
Syracuse: accepted
UC Santa Barbara: accepted
UCLA: accepted
UC Santa Cruz: accepted
UC San Diego: accepted

In hindsight, I should've applied to more Ivies. I was the first in my family to attend college and I didn't know my head from my ass. The guidance counselor at my large HS didn't know much about East Coast universities as probably only 30% of my class would go to a 4-year college right out of high school and pretty much everyone else just stayed in the California public system. I'm pretty sure more kids sat for the ASVAB test than the SAT at my high school.

I did amazing on the ASVAB, which I took to get out of classes one day. Kept getting calls about it. Only about 10% of my school went directly to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2000
4.4 GPA/1350 SAT
Rank: 7/450, public school in California
6 APs: five 5's, one 4
Extra curriculars: Eagle Scout, varsity letters in track & cross-country for two years, sleepaway camp counselor, part-time jobs afterschool and weekends during school year

NYU: accepted with $10K scholarship, attended
Columbia: waitlisted, then rejected
UC Berkeley: waitlisted, then rejected
Boston Univ: accepted
Syracuse: accepted
UC Santa Barbara: accepted
UCLA: accepted
UC Santa Cruz: accepted
UC San Diego: accepted

In hindsight, I should've applied to more Ivies. I was the first in my family to attend college and I didn't know my head from my ass. The guidance counselor at my large HS didn't know much about East Coast universities as probably only 30% of my class would go to a 4-year college right out of high school and pretty much everyone else just stayed in the California public system. I'm pretty sure more kids sat for the ASVAB test than the SAT at my high school.

I did amazing on the ASVAB, which I took to get out of classes one day. Kept getting calls about it. Only about 10% of my school went directly to college.

I took the ASVAB too to get out of class. My history teacher pulled me out and yelled at me because she didn't think I was seriously considering joining the military. ...I wasn't, but I did pay for that by having recruiters literally turn up at my house for months. We had to turn out the lights and hide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kinda interesting both in terms of what was needed for admittance then vs now, and also how some colleges have changed. (Several posters from 1980s were accepted to uva but denied/WL at William and Mary!) it also shows that the system was pretty random in the past, too.

Things started changing in the 1990s, especially the late 1990s. Population of US is much bigger now but the same number of colleges and universities. The past was much more regionally focused while schools today are much more national. The Ivy Leagues and elite LACs didn't carry the same mystique they currently do; it was a much more self-selective pool of applicants largely drawn from the upper middle classes and especially those whose families had a tradition of going to private colleges. Most of the country, especially outside the east coast, viewed getting into the flagship state university as all was needed for a great education. SAT scores themselves have been reweighted several times. The change to electronic applications rather than hand written essays made it much easier to apply to multiple colleges. It snowballed from there.

+1

The system needs to get away from prep and culled information, but it will never happen. There are simply too many applicants.

This. Your kids are now competing with tens of thousands of wealthy foreign applicants each year. That really didn't start to ramp up until after 2000 or thereabouts. There was so much less competition prior to 2000.

Agreed. My Ivy had a few international students in the late 1990s but today it has far more. Student body is still the same size. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it means for domestic applicants without major hooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kinda interesting both in terms of what was needed for admittance then vs now, and also how some colleges have changed. (Several posters from 1980s were accepted to uva but denied/WL at William and Mary!) it also shows that the system was pretty random in the past, too.

Things started changing in the 1990s, especially the late 1990s. Population of US is much bigger now but the same number of colleges and universities. The past was much more regionally focused while schools today are much more national. The Ivy Leagues and elite LACs didn't carry the same mystique they currently do; it was a much more self-selective pool of applicants largely drawn from the upper middle classes and especially those whose families had a tradition of going to private colleges. Most of the country, especially outside the east coast, viewed getting into the flagship state university as all was needed for a great education. SAT scores themselves have been reweighted several times. The change to electronic applications rather than hand written essays made it much easier to apply to multiple colleges. It snowballed from there.

+1

The system needs to get away from prep and culled information, but it will never happen. There are simply too many applicants.

This. Your kids are now competing with tens of thousands of wealthy foreign applicants each year. That really didn't start to ramp up until after 2000 or thereabouts. There was so much less competition prior to 2000.

Agreed. My Ivy had a few international students in the late 1990s but today it has far more. Student body is still the same size. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it means for domestic applicants without major hooks.

I wouldn't be surprised if federal grant funding ends up getting tied to a domestic student ratio, similar to what some state schools are now doing.

Harvard will soon be at 20% foreign students for their freshman class.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/941523/ivy-league-international-students-class/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kinda interesting both in terms of what was needed for admittance then vs now, and also how some colleges have changed. (Several posters from 1980s were accepted to uva but denied/WL at William and Mary!) it also shows that the system was pretty random in the past, too.

Things started changing in the 1990s, especially the late 1990s. Population of US is much bigger now but the same number of colleges and universities. The past was much more regionally focused while schools today are much more national. The Ivy Leagues and elite LACs didn't carry the same mystique they currently do; it was a much more self-selective pool of applicants largely drawn from the upper middle classes and especially those whose families had a tradition of going to private colleges. Most of the country, especially outside the east coast, viewed getting into the flagship state university as all was needed for a great education. SAT scores themselves have been reweighted several times. The change to electronic applications rather than hand written essays made it much easier to apply to multiple colleges. It snowballed from there.

+1

The system needs to get away from prep and culled information, but it will never happen. There are simply too many applicants.

This. Your kids are now competing with tens of thousands of wealthy foreign applicants each year. That really didn't start to ramp up until after 2000 or thereabouts. There was so much less competition prior to 2000.

Agreed. My Ivy had a few international students in the late 1990s but today it has far more. Student body is still the same size. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it means for domestic applicants without major hooks.

Bullshit. It's still only 5% overseas students at Ivies, collectively.

[Anonymous]

800M/690L
Upper 700s on SAT IIs
National awards
Leadership
IB Diploma
3.98 GPA
Weighted rank #5
Strong alumni interview

Accepted to everywhere (MIT, Duke, Cornell, bunch of other places)
Rejected Stanford (I didn't apply early binding and 3 people from my hugh school were accepted in the binding round).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is kinda interesting both in terms of what was needed for admittance then vs now, and also how some colleges have changed. (Several posters from 1980s were accepted to uva but denied/WL at William and Mary!) it also shows that the system was pretty random in the past, too.

Things started changing in the 1990s, especially the late 1990s. Population of US is much bigger now but the same number of colleges and universities. The past was much more regionally focused while schools today are much more national. The Ivy Leagues and elite LACs didn't carry the same mystique they currently do; it was a much more self-selective pool of applicants largely drawn from the upper middle classes and especially those whose families had a tradition of going to private colleges. Most of the country, especially outside the east coast, viewed getting into the flagship state university as all was needed for a great education. SAT scores themselves have been reweighted several times. The change to electronic applications rather than hand written essays made it much easier to apply to multiple colleges. It snowballed from there.

+1

The system needs to get away from prep and culled information, but it will never happen. There are simply too many applicants.

This. Your kids are now competing with tens of thousands of wealthy foreign applicants each year. That really didn't start to ramp up until after 2000 or thereabouts. There was so much less competition prior to 2000.

Agreed. My Ivy had a few international students in the late 1990s but today it has far more. Student body is still the same size. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it means for domestic applicants without major hooks.

Bullshit. It's still only 5% overseas students at Ivies, collectively.

Um, did you see those stats from PP for Ivies’ c/o 2025? How do those %ages even out to 5%?

[Anonymous]

1998
LMC town on Eastern shore of MD
Can’t remember class rank but top 5%
SATs - 1220
Accepted to UMD, Pitt, NC State, Tulane, Salisbury, Towson. No rejections
Received merit aid at all of the schools except UMD but ultimately ended up attending College Park.

[Anonymous]

In 2000, accepted by Harvard, Brown, Duke, Colombia, and wait listed by Princeton based on 1580 SAT, 4.0+ weighted gpa (don’t remember the specific number), and 5s on a bunch of APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2000, accepted by Harvard, Brown, Duke, Colombia, and wait listed by Princeton based on 1580 SAT, 4.0+ weighted gpa (don’t remember the specific number), and 5s on a bunch of APs.

*Columbia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did you guys score so low on your SATs compared to what kids score today? Didn’t prep?

I had a prep book and studied on my own for a few hours on weekends.

1996
SAT: 1390
3.9 GPA

ED and accepted: W&M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I did amazing on the ASVAB, which I took to get out of classes one day. Kept getting calls about it.

My people! I did the same back in the late 80s. At one point, I was tired of getting called by the recruiter -- so I told him that my family didn't really like the military. (Which was untrue, they love the military.) We're probably on a list somewhere now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did you guys score so low on your SATs compared to what kids score today? Didn’t prep?

I had a prep book and studied on my own for a few hours on weekends.

1996
SAT: 1390
3.9 GPA

ED and accepted: W&M

Np - I begged my parents for a test prep class but they refused to pay for it. Might have had a book or at least the sample test. Took it once.

[Anonymous]

Early 90s - don’t remember my exact gpa but weighted it was over 4.0. I went to a NOVA public but was not in the top 10% of my class. 1200 SAT but 4s and 5s on AP exams and also did well on Achievement tests (remember those?) Wish I’d had some help or guidance doing college research but it thankfully turned out ok.

UVA - attended
William & Mary - waitlisted
UNC-CH - denied