After all the drama, Big3 college admissions are really as strong as ever this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

Sounds like those white kids just need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and stop asking for a handout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

Sounds like those white kids just need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and stop asking for a handout.

Or - if you have been reading what many of us are saying - white kids/families should be sure to understand the landscape when going through the college application process for 2024.

Have you not seen all of the posts saying the new landscape isn't a bad thing (I think it's a GOOD thing) but the changes are real and they very much affect potential outcomes for families at competitive DMV private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

Agree

Eye-opener in that there have always been other students just as competitive but we dissuaded from applying because of artificial barriers to entry that had nothing to do with student ability or likelihood for success?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

Agree

Anyone who writes about this without mentioning legacy or athletic recruiting is either obtuse or race baiting.

[Anonymous]

Everyone admitted has a hook of some kind, yes, even the white and Asian applicants. It's only a "hook" when not applicable to your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone admitted has a hook of some kind, yes, even the white and Asian applicants. It's only a "hook" when not applicable to your child.

This is not true - families/students with hooks know they had a hook and most will own up to it. These kids know their classmates well - hooked kids see and acknowledge when non-hooked kids (as a group) place differently than the hooked kids. Even the school has admitted a marked change this year. This isn't about sour grapes - stop watering down the real information current senior families are trying to share with others.

[Anonymous]

Sorry the facts are inconvenient for you. In a time where acceptance rates at some schools are <5 percent, everyone who's admitted has a hook of some kind. It could be a 1600 SAT, but that's still a hook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry the facts are inconvenient for you. In a time where acceptance rates at some schools are <5 percent, everyone who's admitted has a hook of some kind. It could be a 1600 SAT, but that's still a hook.

You need to define hook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think everyone got where they really wanted you are wrong. There’s a lot of very disappointed family with awesome high achieving kids who were not urm or hooked that are sorely disappointed.

Welcome to 2023. It is what it is. The priorities given to UMC white kids that has permeated for the past two centuries is no longer. The sooner people adapt to that fact, the better.

NYC parent here. Not sure what’s going on but I was stunned to see that a top private girls school did not do so great based upon my anecdotal conversations. Like shockingly not great. Including URM’s.

Middle school parent here. When did college become so hard to get into?

It has become increasingly hard for upper middle class "regular" white kids because of the proliferation of international, first generation and under represented minority applicants.

Also, the Common Application and Test Optional has lowered barriers for applicants to toss in submissions to many more schools with the push of a button and no additional effort.

The general barriers to entry, writ large, is a good thing, but is an eye-opener for parents who went through the process before 2015 or so, and particularly since COVID.

I was responding to this. I’m the NYC parent. Bottom line, it’s harder for everyone to get into these schools. Speaking as an URM that is in a community with many other URM, I’m not seeing the results I would expect URM at top private schools to get after having attended private schools for so many years. Could be a recent trend. I don’t know. Something is different.

Which nyc school? This doesn’t seem to be true of dalton at all. Is it different at the other top Nyc schools?

I’m going to assume Trinity, Dalton , Brearley still have great outcomes. I am only speaking anecdotally based upon one school. However, I’ve noticed over the years that schools I remember as being safety schools are all of a sudden hard to get into. Just dropping my little bit of info here.

A good friend who is Asian has a child that was valedictorian from a great public school …did not get into a single Ivy. They did get into what I believe is a top 20 but I was shocked. The family is not hooked in any way. Seems so unfair.

Why?

Because granted, I graduated college in the late 80s, but being a valedictorian at a top school would get you into an Ivy League back then. So much has changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry the facts are inconvenient for you. In a time where acceptance rates at some schools are <5 percent, everyone who's admitted has a hook of some kind. It could be a 1600 SAT, but that's still a hook.

A 1600 SAT is not a hook. Once you’ve hit about a 1520, AO’s don’t care about your score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry the facts are inconvenient for you. In a time where acceptance rates at some schools are <5 percent, everyone who's admitted has a hook of some kind. It could be a 1600 SAT, but that's still a hook.

A 1600 SAT is not a hook. Once you’ve hit about a 1520, AO’s don’t care about your score.

They should though because only a certain kind of student can achieve scores that high. Getting a A in a class that the ADs have never taken or seen means nothing as much to me. Acing the SAT with a 1550 or above to me puts that student in a different bracket. I think they will start to put more weight on SATS in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry the facts are inconvenient for you. In a time where acceptance rates at some schools are <5 percent, everyone who's admitted has a hook of some kind. It could be a 1600 SAT, but that's still a hook.

A 1600 SAT is not a hook. Once you’ve hit about a 1520, AO’s don’t care about your score.

Agreed. Having great grades and high test scores helps but it certainly isn't a hook and you definitely need other parts of application to shine. But even so, if your classmates in the admission pile have hooks and you don't....you are not likely to get a spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having great grades and high test scores helps but it certainly isn't a hook and you definitely need other parts of application to shine.

Then how do so many Asian or Asian American applicants get admitted to HYPS, if they supposedly don't have "hooks"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having great grades and high test scores helps but it certainly isn't a hook and you definitely need other parts of application to shine.

Then how do so many Asian or Asian American applicants get admitted to HYPS, if they supposedly don't have "hooks"?

Why do you think Asian Americans don’t have hooks? There are lots of Asian American legacies, first gen, and athletes, and some donor class kids and faculty kids. If admissions were based on grades and test scores, the schools wouldn’t just admit more Asian American students, they would admit different Asian American students.