This is getting ridiculous

[Anonymous]

Should have applied to Imperial or Waterloo

[Anonymous]

So do a hundred thousand other kids who want the same spots. What does your kid offer beyond the stats? THAT is what the colleges are looking at. Period.

Reality check:

There is absolutely nothing impressive about your son’s grade point average
1/4 to 1/3 of graduating high school classes (eg in fancy zip codes) attain this

There is absolutely nothing impressive about the essay scores ( and I don’t care whether your child has accommodations, had prep classes, or took the exam 5 times)
The academic level in math and English is at the middle school or junior high school level. No calculator required. Middle school students get perfect scores on the SAT

Now convince me why your son deserves a seat at Harvard or Podunk U because of this achievement?

I assure you academics and university school officials are no dummies. All this whining and fuss from average to low intelligence folk who swear by grade inflated meaningless grade point averages and a middle school level exam like the act/sat. This…the definition of qualified for MIT and Stanford or Amherst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like maybe part of this is admissions committees don’t understand some of the CS technology so can’t evaluate the applications well? I know my kid included maybe too many technical terms in describing their achievements.

That could be part of it. It could also be school selection. My son and a couple of his buddies were certain that they will get into t10s. They are all having a truly humbling experience. As somebody on Reddit put it - CS can make your safeties look like reach schools.

It's true. And just a warning I gave our son last year -- make sure your kid realizes that wherever they land, they will be surrounded by kids just as well prepared with stats just as high, all the way down the line in CS. So don't goof off thinking you'll have it easier than the rest. There may be lower stats kids in the school bringing down the school's average, which is what made kids think it was a safety, but they are not in CS.

[Anonymous]

In this generation

The College standard will become the new high school standard going forward.

As many elementary and middle school students historically carry “straight As”; so too, is this tendency creeping into our high schools. I’m afraid grade inflated high school grade point averages and moronic worshipping of SAT/ACT scores ( middle school academic standard for the 21st century) as some measure of high, university academic/ educational/ intellectual achievement will relegate college and undergraduate education to the new high school standard in this century.

[Anonymous]

In this generation

The College standard will become the new high school standard going forward.

As many elementary and middle school students historically carry “straight As”; so too, is this tendency creeping into our high schools. I’m afraid grade inflated high school grade point averages and moronic worshipping of SAT/ACT scores ( middle school academic standard for the 21st century) as some measure of high, university academic/ educational/ intellectual achievement will relegate college and undergraduate education to the new high school standard in this century.

Yup, the money you are paying for at Harvard or Yale College is not necessarily for a better education (this and better can be had at scores of other institutions) but for a social network assuming you belong and are accepted by that network when your undergraduate years are long over!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White UMC is the deal breaker. Read the news. That’s not what’s in right now.

Disagree. The trick is to be one of the 74 white UMC males in the entire United States who is not applying for CS.

-- a parent of one of those 74 guys, a freshman at a T15 studying poli sci, philosophy and econ.

I agree. Im thinking my son who wants to do CS and business should apply to most places as Business and plan to do second major or minor in CS if possible. For some liberal arts schools with CS, should he apply undecided? It might keep him from being lumped with a huge number of CS males..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White UMC is the deal breaker. Read the news. That’s not what’s in right now.

Disagree. The trick is to be one of the 74 white UMC males in the entire United States who is not applying for CS.

-- a parent of one of those 74 guys, a freshman at a T15 studying poli sci, philosophy and econ.

I agree. Im thinking my son who wants to do CS and business should apply to most places as Business and plan to do second major or minor in CS if possible. For some liberal arts schools with CS, should he apply undecided? It might keep him from being lumped with a huge number of CS males..

Very easy to change majors once you’re in at almost all LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White UMC is the deal breaker. Read the news. That’s not what’s in right now.

Disagree. The trick is to be one of the 74 white UMC males in the entire United States who is not applying for CS.

-- a parent of one of those 74 guys, a freshman at a T15 studying poli sci, philosophy and econ.

I agree. Im thinking my son who wants to do CS and business should apply to most places as Business and plan to do second major or minor in CS if possible. For some liberal arts schools with CS, should he apply undecided? It might keep him from being lumped with a huge number of CS males..

My son applied to mostly LAC's and I don't think he ever had to pre-declare a major. However, he has a 4.0, 1570 SAT and is captain of a varsity sports team, and this college app process has been very humbling for him too, so I wouldn't assume your son is going to have a walk in the park applying as a non-CS major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In this generation

The College standard will become the new high school standard going forward.

As many elementary and middle school students historically carry “straight As”; so too, is this tendency creeping into our high schools. I’m afraid grade inflated high school grade point averages and moronic worshipping of SAT/ACT scores ( middle school academic standard for the 21st century) as some measure of high, university academic/ educational/ intellectual achievement will relegate college and undergraduate education to the new high school standard in this century.

Yup, the money you are paying for at Harvard or Yale College is not necessarily for a better education (this and better can be had at scores of other institutions) but for a social network assuming you belong and are accepted by that network when your undergraduate years are long over![/quote]

But if the rich, legacy kids are not getting in who are you networking with? Other high GPA middle class kids whose parents are not CEOs, lawmakers, old money. Etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mainly just a venting post so bear with me but this is getting pretty ridiculous with the waitlists after the deferrals.. seems like so many of our kids are getting strung along. I, like many, have a kid hoping to major in CS. CS is his innate gift and he is truly gifted at it but these schools don’t seem to see that. He is accepted somewhere (definitely not top 50) so he is probably heading there but what on Earth is going on with all these deferrals and waitlists??? Who is getting in to these places?? He is a white male, 1580 SAT, UMC, straight A, multiple AP, highest rigor, multiple award winning, dedicated volunteer hours, write ups in magazines, articles in Wired… What else to they want?

I hope this is a troll post. Otherwise it is a great travesty.

This may be a lot of things, most likely a troll post but some rando UMC kid having to go a non top 50 college is anything but a travesty.

Did you look at that kids stats? Here is a snippet - "1580 SAT, UMC, straight A, multiple AP, highest rigor, multiple award winning"

Those are not easy to get. It takes a lot of commitment and hardwork. I know because I have seen my son go through it for similar stats.

No kidding and I’m sure the kids who were actually admitted would say the same about their own paths. Perhaps it’s harder to work a part time job, take several buses to school, take care of feeding and transporting siblings and relatives, and maintain a high gpa and play a competitor sport the list goes on. Is it harder to raise two kids, five, seven, ten? I don’t know and neither do you but I am more inclined to be believe that whoever is fortunate enough to be admitted to there schools earned the right to be there. And Varsity Blues has taught us that too many did not. Teach your kids that wherever they end up they will be great and stop telling them they are more deserving than anyone else when you don’t know their story. This why people love athletics because you learn that a Tom Brady can become a Tom Brady even when they weren’t a high draft pick. You learn a team can win all year and get taken out by a lower seeded team in the championships, it’s called life.

PP here - absolutely agree with you on not being a victim. That's so disempowering and sets you up for a life of perpetual discontent.

Your argument is a straw-man. I am not sure that many of the kids who got into CS had the kind of hardships you describe. Vast majority of them don't. I know because I have been tracking a lot of Reddit college forums lately and have seen the stats and EC's of many admitted kids. May be they did a better job telling their story. But admission to CS should not be based on story telling alone. These are hard skills which require lot of passion and drive. To be clear, I have benefited from this system. My own son got into a few t20s with similar stats and I am grateful for that. But I also think this process is messed up and we owe it to future generations to fix it.

The system is messed up because qualified kids are being rejected in favor of less qualified kids.

Define “qualified.”

Let me spell this out for you. If someone has the stats, they are qualified.

That’s so dumb. What stats? Say the stars for Harvard are 1400 SAT and 3.75 GPA. Then what?

Reading comprehension. Work on it.

Make an argument here. If Harvard thinks applicants with a 1400 and 3.7 can do the work then they look at other factors. How are those students not qualified?

LOL - you answered your own question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The system is messed up because qualified kids are being rejected in favor of less qualified kids

Defined “qualified”?

Be specific

Clue: Your progeny is not the correct answer.

I am speaking to OP's question. Can you not read??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say this is all because of diversity, for argument's sake.

Think about any movie with a business boardroom scene made before 1990. All white men. That's pretty much how it was. Do you want that to change, or not?

Consider that there are often factors that help privileged white males be more successful, that may not be present in other groups. For example, having many role models to look up to is a huge factor. It shows you from a young age, that is possible for me. And that mentality affects everything you do.

We are going to ignore this, and just go based on the top stats, forever?

NP here. I have to intervene in this BS. I am first generation, first in my family to have a college degree, and you would never know by looking at me, if you were biased against my kind.

So shove it with your bias and stereotyping.

What an idiotic post. You'd be the first in line to get an acceptance, even if others had better stats.

Tell me you know nothing about college admissions without telling me you know nothing about college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say this is all because of diversity, for argument's sake.

Think about any movie with a business boardroom scene made before 1990. All white men. That's pretty much how it was. Do you want that to change, or not?

Consider that there are often factors that help privileged white males be more successful, that may not be present in other groups. For example, having many role models to look up to is a huge factor. It shows you from a young age, that is possible for me. And that mentality affects everything you do.

We are going to ignore this, and just go based on the top stats, forever?

NP here. I have to intervene in this BS. I am first generation, first in my family to have a college degree, and you would never know by looking at me, if you were biased against my kind.

So shove it with your bias and stereotyping.

+1 First gen is the biggest hook there is demographically.

What an idiotic post. You'd be the first in line to get an acceptance, even if others had better stats.

Tell me you know nothing about college admissions without telling me you know nothing about college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say this is all because of diversity, for argument's sake.

Think about any movie with a business boardroom scene made before 1990. All white men. That's pretty much how it was. Do you want that to change, or not?

Consider that there are often factors that help privileged white males be more successful, that may not be present in other groups. For example, having many role models to look up to is a huge factor. It shows you from a young age, that is possible for me. And that mentality affects everything you do.

We are going to ignore this, and just go based on the top stats, forever?

NP here. I have to intervene in this BS. I am first generation, first in my family to have a college degree, and you would never know by looking at me, if you were biased against my kind.

So shove it with your bias and stereotyping.

What an idiotic post. You'd be the first in line to get an acceptance, even if others had better stats.

Tell me you know nothing about college admissions without telling me you know nothing about college admissions.

You, my dear, are the genuine, proven IDIOT.

You think everyone has the same privileges you have. How dare you.

[Anonymous]

Yup, the money you are paying for at Harvard or Yale College is not necessarily for a better education (this and better can be had at scores of other institutions) but for a social network assuming you belong and are accepted by that network when your undergraduate years are long over!

But if the rich, legacy kids are not getting in who are you networking with? Other high GPA middle class kids whose parents are not CEOs, lawmakers, old money. Etc.

The social network is a series of imaginative expanding circles not simply confined to those in your secret society/eating club, class, 4-year school era, 5-yr campus reunion cycles including all living graduates, regional “Harvard-like” clubs in NY, SF, DC, Boston, London, Abu Dai, Taiwan, and so on. The opportunities for networking vast for card carrying members/graduates.