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

[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 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.

Seems like a outlier for admission to T10 and T20 and shouldn’t be taken as lessons learnt for others in general

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

For my doctor, I like to pick the kid with the stellar academics, please. If I want an entertainer or a business person, give me the rodeo kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

For my doctor, I like to pick the kid with the stellar academics, please. If I want an entertainer or a business person, give me the rodeo kid.

Your assumption - that it is one or the other - is a false dichotomy.

"Rodeo Kids" can be strong students and strong students can be good entertainers also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

At Toronto, they were selecting twice as many kids for CS for first year as could get into CS the second year (aka making POSt). The grades required to make the POSt cut for second year rose so high that students were incredibly stressed, and there were some suicides, including a student who jumped off the CS building. They changed it so now I believe that you needed to be accepted into CS from high school, but will still need very high grades. This is for the St George campus. It is probably easier to get into the Missassauga and Scarborough campuses.

https://thestrand.ca/new-requirement-changes-for-computer-science-post/

At Waterloo you have to apply to CS from high school. This covers grades, ECs etc and they strongly encourage applicants to enter their Euclid math competition. Admission is very competitive and many stellar students miss out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

For my doctor, I like to pick the kid with the stellar academics, please. If I want an entertainer or a business person, give me the rodeo kid.

Your assumption - that it is one or the other - is a false dichotomy.

"Rodeo Kids" can be strong students and strong students can be good entertainers also.

What if the student is a strong student, thoughtful, kind, ethical but introverted? It feels like the top 20 schools like a particular personality type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

What’s funnier to me is people who think they know better which students the colleges want then the colleges themselves.

If they like rodeo girl because she’s into nail polish and they think she can do the work, then what is the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

What’s funnier to me is people who think they know better which students the colleges want then the colleges themselves.

If they like rodeo girl because she’s into nail polish and they think she can do the work, then what is the problem?

They were two different kids.

What's frustrating is they make this poor high school kids jump through hoops to do the most demanding courses, then turn round and say "yeah, nah, we want the fun kids".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

What’s funnier to me is people who think they know better which students the colleges want then the colleges themselves.

If they like rodeo girl because she’s into nail polish and they think she can do the work, then what is the problem?

They were two different kids.

What's frustrating is they make this poor high school kids jump through hoops to do the most demanding courses, then turn round and say "yeah, nah, we want the fun kids".

So each kid needs to follow their own path and not stress about the comparison. And parents the same. Some kids can do and want to do all the APs. That’s great. Some kids don’t want to or can’t. That’s great too. No one, though, should be thinking that anything is a guarantee into a ‘top’ school unless you have major hooks.

Resist the notion that these “top” schools can make or break your life, people! They don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

What’s funnier to me is people who think they know better which students the colleges want then the colleges themselves.

If they like rodeo girl because she’s into nail polish and they think she can do the work, then what is the problem?

They were two different kids.

What's frustrating is they make this poor high school kids jump through hoops to do the most demanding courses, then turn round and say "yeah, nah, we want the fun kids".

So each kid needs to follow their own path and not stress about the comparison. And parents the same. Some kids can do and want to do all the APs. That’s great. Some kids don’t want to or can’t. That’s great too. No one, though, should be thinking that anything is a guarantee into a ‘top’ school unless you have major hooks.

Resist the notion that these “top” schools can make or break your life, people! They don’t.

+1. Also repeating that it is a false notion that the kids they admit are one or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d keep my mouth shut once the applications were out.

Kid needed to think it through in his own, instead of hearing me yammer on.

Yep. Upon reflection, I was anxious and wanted to talk about it and this made DD anxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

What’s funnier to me is people who think they know better which students the colleges want then the colleges themselves.

If they like rodeo girl because she’s into nail polish and they think she can do the work, then what is the problem?

They were two different kids.

What's frustrating is they make this poor high school kids jump through hoops to do the most demanding courses, then turn round and say "yeah, nah, we want the fun kids".

So each kid needs to follow their own path and not stress about the comparison. And parents the same. Some kids can do and want to do all the APs. That’s great. Some kids don’t want to or can’t. That’s great too. No one, though, should be thinking that anything is a guarantee into a ‘top’ school unless you have major hooks.

Resist the notion that these “top” schools can make or break your life, people! They don’t.

+2!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Aargh!
This is what is so frustrating and stressful about the process. It also feels a little like a personality contest - a bunch of people in college admissions deciding whether you are “cool” or “interesting “.

What’s funnier to me is people who think they know better which students the colleges want then the colleges themselves.

If they like rodeo girl because she’s into nail polish and they think she can do the work, then what is the problem?

They were two different kids.

What's frustrating is they make this poor high school kids jump through hoops to do the most demanding courses, then turn round and say "yeah, nah, we want the fun kids".

So each kid needs to follow their own path and not stress about the comparison. And parents the same. Some kids can do and want to do all the APs. That’s great. Some kids don’t want to or can’t. That’s great too. No one, though, should be thinking that anything is a guarantee into a ‘top’ school unless you have major hooks.

Resist the notion that these “top” schools can make or break your life, people! They don’t.

+2!

+3! I'm the PP with the "very demanding" 10 AP/IB kid. I think the idea of a transcript rating can be valuable for kids at a school that doesn't offer a lot of options, so they are not getting dinged for only taking 5 APs if t hey took everything available to them. But it does create a toxic arms race at these big, competitive HS's where you can fill your entire schedule with AP classes.

To be clear, my DS was a pretty laid back student early in HS but ramped up the last couple years (half of his AP/IB classes are in senior year). Also did not do a lot in ECs but spent time on things that were important to him but not impressive resume-builders, which is totally fine with me. Personality-wise, I absolutely never expected him to be competitive for nor a good fit for the T20 schools. The main impact probably was that he wasn't in the running for UVA. That was fine with me since I thought VT was a better fit anyway for what he wants to do and he did get in there (feeling very lucky in this crazy year). He did apply to UVA but it felt like he applied mainly because all his friends did and he just wanted to see.

I also have a 10th grader coming up who was much more of a focused student. But she also has inattentive ADHD and struggles to balance the workload so she will also not be a "most rigorous" student. She's opting out of some APs most kids take in order to focus on the things that she cares more about (sciences). We'll find the college that is right for who she is rather than fixate of making her look like the right candidate for some college just because of where it is on a publication's ranking.

[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.

So true!

[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.

So true!

Good points but honestly, if highest rigor isn’t of interest then maybe just let go of the “most elite” college goal. No one is commanding anyone to shoot for Princeton (except maybe the parents), but the kid with greater IB ambition, for instance, deserves credit for that. I’m quite sure the 10 IB/AP kid above will have plenty of excellent options but all things being equal if I were Princeton I’d give the full IB kid an edge.