Is it really that hard to get into college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Our well regarded public sends a ton of students to UVA, VT, W&M as well as other OOS publics like Penn State, UMich, Pitt and other big state schools. The private colleges in the T50 don’t seem to be as popular. Of course there are some kids who will go to SLAC but it is definitely not the majority. I’m hoping this helps my kid who will likely choose a smaller private college and will be full pay.

It's not that they are not as popular- it's far more likely that kids at your well regarded top public aren't getting in to T50. It's a numbers game and it had frankly just gotten HARD to get in, well regarded school and great stats or not.

I'd also recheck your numbers for in state. You say "a ton" are going to UVA, VT and W&M? Even those schools are now super competitive for NOVA kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Our well regarded public sends a ton of students to UVA, VT, W&M as well as other OOS publics like Penn State, UMich, Pitt and other big state schools. The private colleges in the T50 don’t seem to be as popular. Of course there are some kids who will go to SLAC but it is definitely not the majority. I’m hoping this helps my kid who will likely choose a smaller private college and will be full pay.

It's not that they are not as popular- it's far more likely that kids at your well regarded top public aren't getting in to T50. It's a numbers game and it had frankly just gotten HARD to get in, well regarded school and great stats or not.

I'd also recheck your numbers for in state. You say "a ton" are going to UVA, VT and W&M? Even those schools are now super competitive for NOVA kids.

Yes my high stat kid got rejected from UVA EA (not ED), in at ultra competitive schools RD e.g. top 3 SLAC, Cornell, lower SLACs with merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Our well regarded public sends a ton of students to UVA, VT, W&M as well as other OOS publics like Penn State, UMich, Pitt and other big state schools. The private colleges in the T50 don’t seem to be as popular. Of course there are some kids who will go to SLAC but it is definitely not the majority. I’m hoping this helps my kid who will likely choose a smaller private college and will be full pay.

It's not that they are not as popular- it's far more likely that kids at your well regarded top public aren't getting in to T50. It's a numbers game and it had frankly just gotten HARD to get in, well regarded school and great stats or not.

I'd also recheck your numbers for in state. You say "a ton" are going to UVA, VT and W&M? Even those schools are now super competitive for NOVA kids.

If the kid is in public, T50 private may be out of the price range of the majority of the student population. For a family that has to care about finances, 60k a year for Brandeis may not be justifiable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never seen a wealthy full-pay teen with good stats get rejected from Wisconsin, Michigan, and USC. You're going to get into at least one, so absolute worst-case your kid is at a top 40-ish university.

The folks who complain on message boards have mediocre unmotivated kids who simply don't care as much as the parents do. And also, parents with a kid currently at a 20 to 50 ranked school who exaggerate how difficult it is to get in, in an effort to make their kid sound more accomplished than s/he is.

Outside of the super elite, all universities are hard-up for money. A rich kid who looks like s/he'll graduate on time, has parents who are paying cash and will very likely donate, is a highly sought after applicant.

I am here to tell you that my spiky full-pay kid with a 1500 SAT score, APs (4s and 5s) galore and a 3.95/4.64 (which means an A in every high school class except 1 btw) was rejected from Michigan and USC

How do you end up with a 3.95 out of 4.64 with only one grade that isn’t an A? Did s/he get a D or F in a class. A 3.95/4.00 would be like one B.

Why are you trying to calculate and correct when you can't read? Who grades on a 4.65 scale? PP said 3.95 weighted/4.65 unweighted, all As one B, that checks. Maybe don't waste time nitpicking self-reported, anonymous data.

Sorry, I misunderstood. I guess I didn’t think it was possible for someone with such a high score to get rejected for Mich or USC. I now see that she meant 3.95 unweighted or 4.64 weighted.

Parents on this thread need to wake up to the new admissions reality. Plenty of top students at my DD’s Big 3 were rejected from Michigan and USC. Just look at the admissions rates (approx 10%)and then adjust for athletes, URM, first gen, etc. you’re talking about a very small chance of admissions

Some of the most shocked families this year were ones who thought 1560+ SATs and A/A- at a Big 3 meant guarantee admission to desirable schools. It WAS a bloodbath this year. To parents: don’t say you weren’t warned.

Aren't you being overly dramatic? These kids (the A/A- 1560 kids at a Big3) ALL got into top 20 schools. I have teenagers at two different Big3 schools so I know many kids. Now, the top kids might not have gotten in to their number one choice but they did all get in somewhere very good and very selective (top 20 university or top 20 liberal arts).

Do you know other scenarios? Top Big3 kid who is stuck going to a school ranked 100?

This is my take. Kids might have had fewer choices/rejected at favorite but most are going to very highly raked schools. I think your info may be inaccurate.

[Anonymous]

At my DS’s small private, the middle 50% go to places like

UVA
NYU
W&M
UCSB
UC-Davis
BC
GaTech
Villanova
Northeastern
Purdue
UMD
Pitt
GW
VaTech
Clemson
RPI
Worcester Poly

And some SLACs like

Holy Cross
Lafayette
Haverford

Very few (if any) are recruited athletes. Maybe club level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my DS’s small private, the middle 50% go to places like

UVA
NYU
W&M
UCSB
UC-Davis
BC
GaTech
Villanova
Northeastern
Purdue
UMD
Pitt
GW
VaTech
Clemson
RPI
Worcester Poly

And some SLACs like

Holy Cross
Lafayette
Haverford

Very few (if any) are recruited athletes. Maybe club level.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you realize how difficult it is to get into UVA and W&M is. They want the top 6 percent of the class, not the mid 50 percent. Look at the SCHEV statistics.