Insider Perspectives from a Highly Selective Admissions Office

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are just making up stuff about extra curricular and community activities. Do you make any attempt to verify these outrageous claims of "I started a new non profit.."

I'd like to know the answer to this one too! The non-profit one would be easy enough to verify (but do they care enough to do so?) but I feel like it would be so easy to embellish leadership, community service, etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOR = Letters of recommendation, URM=under-represented minorities, UMC=upper middle class.

What about HYPMS?

HYPS: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Standford

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOR = Letters of recommendation, URM=under-represented minorities, UMC=upper middle class.

What about HYPMS?

HYPS: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Standford

you missed the "M." MIT

[Anonymous]

I'd like OP to better define "rigorous course load" - we hear this a lot on tours but no real guidelines. Is this determined by comparison to classmates or is there a "top tier" list of rigorous APs that fit the bill? Just wondering what this means to an admissions counselor. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

To add to the confusion on the old 1600 sat, if you took it before 1995 you were scored using a tougher statistical model than if you took it after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOR = Letters of recommendation, URM=under-represented minorities, UMC=upper middle class.

What about HYPMS?

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford. Could add a C for CalTech, Columbia, Chicago. Schools with single digit admissions and very high median test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like OP to better define "rigorous course load" - we hear this a lot on tours but no real guidelines. Is this determined by comparison to classmates or is there a "top tier" list of rigorous APs that fit the bill? Just wondering what this means to an admissions counselor. Thanks!

Compared to classmates -- it's HS-specific and it's not a collect 'em all scenario so much as an expectation that kids should be taking challenging courses in the area(s) that interest(s) them most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, thank you for taking the time to post this Q&A, it has been extremely informative. I'm wondering what advice would you give to the parents of a kid who has extremely strong academic credentials, but does not show a demonstrated passion? My daughter is in 7th grade, and from how she is doing so far, I would expect she would be near valedictorian and have very high SAT scores. However, she is interested in everything. She is equally strong in STEM as she is in humanities/social sciences. When asked what she wants to do as a career, she'll say she doesn't know, so many things are interesting to her. Her activities are all over the place - soccer, theater, art, computers. I can easily see where she will be the dreaded "well-rounded" applicant who doesn't stand out to admission offers. And we can't be comforted by the notion that she will be accepted to a strong school somewhere as long as she casts her net wide enough. Our budget only allows for instate colleges. So basically if she doesn't get into the two top schools, she will have to settle for a school that is academically far beneath what she theoretically "should" be able to attend. From a purely strategic perspective, should we try to encourage her to "specialize" in a certain area, so she will stand a greater chance of standing out to the admission officers?

My honest advice for you is to to close the college and university forum and not open it again until your DD is midway through freshman year. Bye.

Says the person whose budget probably doesn't limit them to only in state publics.

No, in fact our budget limits our kids to in state publics or privates with merit aid. My DC1 is at a non-elite SLAC with a large scholarship, which was chosen over W&M. We will strongly encourage DC2 (now a freshman) to stay in state because we have 3 prepaid semesters that we would like to get top value for.

My advice remains the same. Step away from the college forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, thank you for taking the time to post this Q&A, it has been extremely informative. I'm wondering what advice would you give to the parents of a kid who has extremely strong academic credentials, but does not show a demonstrated passion? My daughter is in 7th grade, and from how she is doing so far, I would expect she would be near valedictorian and have very high SAT scores. However, she is interested in everything. She is equally strong in STEM as she is in humanities/social sciences. When asked what she wants to do as a career, she'll say she doesn't know, so many things are interesting to her. Her activities are all over the place - soccer, theater, art, computers. I can easily see where she will be the dreaded "well-rounded" applicant who doesn't stand out to admission offers. And we can't be comforted by the notion that she will be accepted to a strong school somewhere as long as she casts her net wide enough. Our budget only allows for instate colleges. So basically if she doesn't get into the two top schools, she will have to settle for a school that is academically far beneath what she theoretically "should" be able to attend. From a purely strategic perspective, should we try to encourage her to "specialize" in a certain area, so she will stand a greater chance of standing out to the admission officers?

My honest advice for you is to to close the college and university forum and not open it again until your DD is midway through freshman year. Bye.

Says the person whose budget probably doesn't limit them to only in state publics.

Or says the person who knows many graduates of VA universities other than UVA and W&M who are thriving. The Harvard PhD economist in the office next to mine got his undergrad degree at JMU. My neighbor's kid who just graduated from UVA law got her undergrad degree from Mary Washington. Our successful business owner friend went to GMU. I don't think all will be lost if PP's DD doesn't get in to UVA and had to "squander" her talents at a lesser state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, thank you for taking the time to post this Q&A, it has been extremely informative. I'm wondering what advice would you give to the parents of a kid who has extremely strong academic credentials, but does not show a demonstrated passion? My daughter is in 7th grade, and from how she is doing so far, I would expect she would be near valedictorian and have very high SAT scores. However, she is interested in everything. She is equally strong in STEM as she is in humanities/social sciences. When asked what she wants to do as a career, she'll say she doesn't know, so many things are interesting to her. Her activities are all over the place - soccer, theater, art, computers. I can easily see where she will be the dreaded "well-rounded" applicant who doesn't stand out to admission offers. And we can't be comforted by the notion that she will be accepted to a strong school somewhere as long as she casts her net wide enough. Our budget only allows for instate colleges. So basically if she doesn't get into the two top schools, she will have to settle for a school that is academically far beneath what she theoretically "should" be able to attend. From a purely strategic perspective, should we try to encourage her to "specialize" in a certain area, so she will stand a greater chance of standing out to the admission officers?

My honest advice for you is to to close the college and university forum and not open it again until your DD is midway through freshman year. Bye.

+1 from a mom to a senior in college at a SLAC on a merit scholarship that reduces costs to the same as VA in-state, a second year at UVA who was well rounded and did not specialize in high school, a high school senior awaiting decisions but also has been offered merit scholarships at 2 highly selective SLACs so that tne costs will be the same or less than in-state and a 7th grade DD whose college admissions we aren't even thinking about. I sure hope your DD isn't aware of the concerns you're discussing on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of kids are just making up stuff about extra curricular and community activities. Do you make any attempt to verify these outrageous claims of "I started a new non profit.."

I'd like to know the answer to this one too! The non-profit one would be easy enough to verify (but do they care enough to do so?) but I feel like it would be so easy to embellish leadership, community service, etc...

+1
And in the Stanford video example, the one student says he "taught himself German over a summer." How does one prove that? Anyone could say they taught themselves a language (not taken in school). The admissions officer seemed impressed by that. But do they ever verify those claims that have no documentation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting confused with this old SAT, new SAT stuff. If your kid is taking the SAT this year does he/she get to choose which they want to take?
If not, what difference does it make?

I see no discussion of the ACT in this thread. Isn't it the more popular of the two exams, and didn't the College Board change the SAT because it was losing market share to the ACT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting confused with this old SAT, new SAT stuff. If your kid is taking the SAT this year does he/she get to choose which they want to take?
If not, what difference does it make?

I see no discussion of the ACT in this thread. Isn't it the more popular of the two exams, and didn't the College Board change the SAT because it was losing market share to the ACT?

The two are interchangeable these days. All schools that require a test will accept either And I don't think the ACT is more popular -- in the Midwest, yes. Not so much around here. My kid will take both and submit the best score.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are still responding to this thread, I would like to kindly request that you identify yourself at the beginning of the posts. I can't tell if some of these responses were written by you or someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, thank you for taking the time to post this Q&A, it has been extremely informative. I'm wondering what advice would you give to the parents of a kid who has extremely strong academic credentials, but does not show a demonstrated passion? My daughter is in 7th grade, and from how she is doing so far, I would expect she would be near valedictorian and have very high SAT scores. However, she is interested in everything. She is equally strong in STEM as she is in humanities/social sciences. When asked what she wants to do as a career, she'll say she doesn't know, so many things are interesting to her. Her activities are all over the place - soccer, theater, art, computers. I can easily see where she will be the dreaded "well-rounded" applicant who doesn't stand out to admission offers. And we can't be comforted by the notion that she will be accepted to a strong school somewhere as long as she casts her net wide enough. Our budget only allows for instate colleges. So basically if she doesn't get into the two top schools, she will have to settle for a school that is academically far beneath what she theoretically "should" be able to attend. From a purely strategic perspective, should we try to encourage her to "specialize" in a certain area, so she will stand a greater chance of standing out to the admission officers?

My honest advice for you is to to close the college and university forum and not open it again until your DD is midway through freshman year. Bye.

Says the person whose budget probably doesn't limit them to only in state publics.

Or says the person who knows many graduates of VA universities other than UVA and W&M who are thriving. The Harvard PhD economist in the office next to mine got his undergrad degree at JMU. My neighbor's kid who just graduated from UVA law got her undergrad degree from Mary Washington. Our successful business owner friend went to GMU. I don't think all will be lost if PP's DD doesn't get in to UVA and had to "squander" her talents at a lesser state school.

Of course it's possible to thrive if one does not attend a top college. But seriously, if college status didn't matter at all, why would anyone even care? Why do so many families strain their budgets to pay for elite colleges instead of choosing from the plethora of schools that are more affordable? Obviously, all else being equal most kids would prefer to attend the highest ranking school they are capable of getting in to. Is it really so unreasonable that the parents of a high achieving kid, are dismayed to know that there is a very good chance that their child might attend Average State U, because of finances that extremely limit their options?