My kid isn't getting in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are not alone. I wish DD who is also 1500, 4.4 and has math and science APs had concentrated on the state schools and tried to get merit. Results so far --UVA, no. Defers at Georgetown and Richmond. Yes from MD, Pitt, and Penn State. All good schools. Something will work out. I wish we had gone the Alabama, SC, etc. route. Hang in there.

A defer from Richmond??

Wow. That's rough. Maybe that's an example of the school not thinking your DD will really show up there.

They might seem too cookie cutter. Doing it all just for admissions. It shows.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP, thanks for not blaming the URM boogeyman like most of the grievance-,filled DCUM posters do when their DC doesn't get admitted to his/ her college of choice.

God damn it. Some of you act like admissions standards aren't quantifiably lower for URMs and first gens. The data is readily available: they are. And each of those acceptances means one fewer acceptance for students -- many of them sons and daughters of people who post here -- not in favored demographic groups but with much higher stats. It's bull crap. And just to preempt the response I'm sure is coming, yes, legacies have gotten the same favorable treatment for many years. That's bull crap too.

A poor brown kid did not steal your kid’s spot. Try harder next time.

You have no idea, do you?

Maybe it was a white athlete or a white legacy who stole the spot. Or maybe it was the white kid who had exactly the same stats and similar ec’s and is from the same school who stole it.

Or maybe the essay was meh and even of the admits were a class of 100% lilly-white upper class kids your kid still wouldn’t have gotten in.

+1

All of what to say could be true. Equally true is that dropping test scores, which led to an avalanche of applicants who would never be considered, combined with the stated desire to identify and give preference to minorities is leading to a less qualified applicant pool. Hence, the legal challenge brought against Harvard and UNC.

Says you. What is more impressive, a good score from a kid with no advantages or your privileged, prepped and supported student with a better score? It is very debatable.

Yes, I do say, as does multiple courts of law, which is why the issue is at SCOTUS. And what negates your position is the assumption that those who have the better stats are “privileged, prepped and supported”. It is not true. There is no debate.

DP

You've decided "qualified" means test scores. Colleges are free to define "qualified" in other ways.

Grit, determination, character, motivation, dedication, creativity, kindness, focus, special skills and talents. All of those things could make a student more "qualified" to join an incoming class than someone who scores less on those elements, especially if they are present in a situation where a student has faced tough odds.

Every trait you just listed is subjective as shit! And easily faked, too -- even the sleaziest among us could find a few sympathetic teachers or community members to write glowing recommendation letters attesting to our "character" or "kindness" or "creativity." And then you throw in meaningless terms like "dedication," what does that shit even mean? Fact is, test scores, class rank, GPA and course rigor are the only objective measures of smartness that colleges have, and the reason schools are doing away with them in favor of more arbitrary and subjective categories is to make it easier to meet cosmetic diversity benchmarks. The fact that it's politically incorrect don't make it untrue!

So are SATs (subjective).

Signed,
Former SAT prep teacher

No more than your hight or weight, signed former nutrition expert

DP: Very much more subjective than your height or weight. Those are direct measurements. SAT purports to measure something akin to knowledge/critical thinking/academic aptitude and there is mixed evidence on its ability to do so successfully.

Subjective means different people would put a different number on it. Creative? I give the kid a 5 and you give them a 2. SAT score? You answer x questions you get Y score no matter who grades it. We can argue if it is fair or if it is relevant but we know how to calculate the score

Yeah, PP doesn't seem to understand what the word "subjective" means and is confusing subjective with something more like meaningful or valuable.

[Anonymous]

DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

[Anonymous]

Different people put different answers but which is more valuable;. The prepped and pampered 1600 or the 1500 that could only be one hour late to work and not two so had to skip out of the test early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

Hard to say. Very impressive stats. Was this a more well rounded student or one with a stand out interest and passion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

It could be that the essays or recommendations weren’t compelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

It could be that the essays or recommendations weren’t compelling.

Or, more likely, the applicant was Asian American or Caucasian and not first-generation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

It could be that the essays or recommendations weren’t compelling.

Or, more likely, the applicant was Asian American or Caucasian and not first-generation

Or there were more rigorous courses available that the student did not take it they did not have one really exceptional talent as opposed to just bring generally excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

It could be that the essays or recommendations weren’t compelling.

Or, more likely, the applicant was Asian American or Caucasian and not first-generation

We don't actually know the student had anything beyond high numbers. Anyone these days can say they founded a national nonprofit by setting up a GoFundMe page for something. Without something compelling beyond the numbers, it's not likely you'll get into Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is rampant and the way to distinguish yourself is by submitting 4s and 5s on AP test. If you’re in public school and getting straight A’s, submitting the corresponding AP test score will show you’re an A student, otherwise you’re group in with a bunch of other 4.0-4.5 students who are benefitting from rampant grade inflation.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

It could be that the essays or recommendations weren’t compelling.

Or, more likely, the applicant was Asian American or Caucasian and not first-generation

Heard a boy from FCPS, nearly perfect score, kids from the same school considered him as one of the smartest students, club capitan, double legacy, rejected from Penn ED. I am confused and clueless. That kid was so smart and confident so he handled his application all by himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

I’d be interested in knowing exactly when the DC applied. I think kids like that are applying at the middle or the end, and the application readers at the top publics didn’t see the applications. Or, there’s some subtle coding problem that’s keeping those applications from being read properly, or a recommended was mean.

I could see the DC being rejected by Princeton, but the flat rejections even by very selective top publics are strange.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP, thanks for not blaming the URM boogeyman like most of the grievance-,filled DCUM posters do when their DC doesn't get admitted to his/ her college of choice.

God damn it. Some of you act like admissions standards aren't quantifiably lower for URMs and first gens. The data is readily available: they are. And each of those acceptances means one fewer acceptance for students -- many of them sons and daughters of people who post here -- not in favored demographic groups but with much higher stats. It's bull crap. And just to preempt the response I'm sure is coming, yes, legacies have gotten the same favorable treatment for many years. That's bull crap too.

A poor brown kid did not steal your kid’s spot. Try harder next time.

You have no idea, do you?

Maybe it was a white athlete or a white legacy who stole the spot. Or maybe it was the white kid who had exactly the same stats and similar ec’s and is from the same school who stole it.

Or maybe the essay was meh and even of the admits were a class of 100% lilly-white upper class kids your kid still wouldn’t have gotten in.

+1

All of what to say could be true. Equally true is that dropping test scores, which led to an avalanche of applicants who would never be considered, combined with the stated desire to identify and give preference to minorities is leading to a less qualified applicant pool. Hence, the legal challenge brought against Harvard and UNC.

Says you. What is more impressive, a good score from a kid with no advantages or your privileged, prepped and supported student with a better score? It is very debatable.

Yes, I do say, as does multiple courts of law, which is why the issue is at SCOTUS. And what negates your position is the assumption that those who have the better stats are “privileged, prepped and supported”. It is not true. There is no debate.

DP

You've decided "qualified" means test scores. Colleges are free to define "qualified" in other ways.

Grit, determination, character, motivation, dedication, creativity, kindness, focus, special skills and talents. All of those things could make a student more "qualified" to join an incoming class than someone who scores less on those elements, especially if they are present in a situation where a student has faced tough odds.

Every trait you just listed is subjective as shit! And easily faked, too -- even the sleaziest among us could find a few sympathetic teachers or community members to write glowing recommendation letters attesting to our "character" or "kindness" or "creativity." And then you throw in meaningless terms like "dedication," what does that shit even mean? Fact is, test scores, class rank, GPA and course rigor are the only objective measures of smartness that colleges have, and the reason schools are doing away with them in favor of more arbitrary and subjective categories is to make it easier to meet cosmetic diversity benchmarks. The fact that it's politically incorrect don't make it untrue!

So are SATs (subjective).

Signed,
Former SAT prep teacher

No more than your hight or weight, signed former nutrition expert

DP: Very much more subjective than your height or weight. Those are direct measurements. SAT purports to measure something akin to knowledge/critical thinking/academic aptitude and there is mixed evidence on its ability to do so successfully.

Subjective means different people would put a different number on it. Creative? I give the kid a 5 and you give them a 2. SAT score? You answer x questions you get Y score no matter who grades it. We can argue if it is fair or if it is relevant but we know how to calculate the score

Yeah, PP doesn't seem to understand what the word "subjective" means and is confusing subjective with something more like meaningful or valuable.

Subjective as an indicator of student quality, not in terms of evaluating the actual score. You are viewing too narrowly. I am the test prep teacher. These tests are very subjective in terms of types of problems and prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

It could be that the essays or recommendations weren’t compelling.

Or, more likely, the applicant was Asian American or Caucasian and not first-generation

Please stop making this about race. My white kid fits the above specs with talents, great ecs, leadership, national awards, and super rigorous classes at a top magnet. Got outright rejected scea. It happens. There are way more highly qualified kids than spots. She's rounded rather than pointy. Her essay could have been better (revised for rd apps, fingers crossed). They want to compile a class. They have many, many choices.

If we're jealous of anyone it's the connected legacy/private school people, but really, there are just so many high stats kids. Please don't blame this on race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC high stats from magnet, SAT 1600, GPA 4.0 UW, 4.78 W, 7 AP's with all 5's and one 4, school club leader, founder of a national non profit rejected from Princeton and top public schools, accepted into UMD honors.
What is wrong with this profile? Got deferred from a couple other top public schools. So far UMD is the only one in hand.

Those stats are not differentiators for HYP universities.