This is getting ridiculous

[Anonymous]

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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.

No I posed a hypothetical - but if you’re accepting my standard then I’ll set it at 800 SAT and 2.0 GPA.

[Anonymous]

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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.

No. You do not declare a major. But they look at the transcript and the ECs and the essay and the short answers. If you have a lot of data in there indicating you are committed to doing science research in physics...they will weight in towards a possible student for a major from the physics department. If you are all about trumpet.....they will weight it towards a possible band member, and so on.

[Anonymous]

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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.

The rich kids are getting in in droves.

[Anonymous]

OP,

If s/he doesn't like where s/he ends up this year, consider a transfer application to U. St Andrews (Scotland). They actually have a very good, if smallish, School of Computer Science. Their curriculum is very sound, teaching is solid, and both StA and CS @ StA score highly in the UK newspaper "Good University Guide" analyses each year. They are particularly strong in systems/networking.

If one gets a good set of grades from CS @ StA, one can either go for an MS or PhD there, or apply to a different top US/UK/CA graduate school for an MS or PhD.

FYI: In the job market of today, a BSCS will get one a good initial software job, but there is glass ceiling to promotions after a while -- unless one either is truly stellar or has an MSCS/MSCompE/MSEE. It is simplest to go straight through to at least a MSCS (although if a school has a non-thesis MS degree then that is good enough).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High stat DC also swimming in rejections.

High sats are not unique. Grade inflation, test prep, tutoring etc. have made it so parents and kids think they are smarter and more special than they actually are.

The % of really smart kids hasn’t changed in the last 30 years. The number of parents and kids who think they fall into that bucket has increased astronomically.

+1
I would say AAP kids/parents (FCPS) especially, are convinced that their kids will get into any college they want. AAP is such a crock of BS, it's too bad these parents don't realize that it means nothing at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suggest all the downtrodden UMC white males out there stage a revolution

They tried that on Jan 6th.

[Anonymous]

Touché

The crux of why the US is so divided.

Generational Entitlement Mentality (GEM) of genocide and aboriginal holocaust, slavery, racism, apartheid, Jim Crow, is the base explicit/implicit reason — the color divide was the bane of the US in the 20th century …. And this century moving forward. It explains why a desperate white man (like former leaders in Rhodesia and South Africa) who openly and vainly brag about grabbing women in the crotch, shooting people in the street, stealing, lying, and cheating ad nauseam, is revered by so many fellow Americans who display this corrupt criminal as the white role model for their sons and daughters, partners and wives!
History is a fine lesson. Someone should read to the yellow eunuch books on the history of Rhodesia and South Africa (in 4 min installments). Things are going to end badly for him and his sheep in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Parent of Class of 2022 HS grad here — kid is CS major and admitted to 2 of the top 3 universities. I know most people do not listen to free advice, but for the ones who do, here it is….Focus your perfect stats kids HS years and application on two things. (1) What has your kid done to help others in their community? (2) How will they use the elite school education to help others in their community. It’s not about the perfect stats or the awards, although those help. It’s NOT about how well the essays are written — it’s about the HS experience affecting your kid in some way that they ended up genuinely helping others (not racking up hours at a food pantry), and what are they going to do beyond getting a good job that will change the world for the better?? Without the desire and evidence of having a positive impact on their community, my kid would have been at a safety school (which is really not as bad as some make it out to be!) Oh and leadership “titles” do not count as much as actual leadership — can your kid lead others without a formal title? I’m not saying that being President of a club is bad, just that the kid needs to do something after they get the title….or do lead others without a title. Make sure to have documentation — news articles etc.

Or “When others zig, your kid should zag.” Do something different. For CS, do not do robotics or build apps that no one uses. I cannot say what my kid did without doxxing, but this is also important. Why should a college pick your perfect stats kid who was President of their Robotics Club over the 100’s of other similar kids? What sets them apart?

I hope that makes sense!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Class of 2022 HS grad here — kid is CS major and admitted to 2 of the top 3 universities. I know most people do not listen to free advice, but for the ones who do, here it is….Focus your perfect stats kids HS years and application on two things. (1) What has your kid done to help others in their community? (2) How will they use the elite school education to help others in their community. It’s not about the perfect stats or the awards, although those help. It’s NOT about how well the essays are written — it’s about the HS experience affecting your kid in some way that they ended up genuinely helping others (not racking up hours at a food pantry), and what are they going to do beyond getting a good job that will change the world for the better?? Without the desire and evidence of having a positive impact on their community, my kid would have been at a safety school (which is really not as bad as some make it out to be!) Oh and leadership “titles” do not count as much as actual leadership — can your kid lead others without a formal title? I’m not saying that being President of a club is bad, just that the kid needs to do something after they get the title….or do lead others without a title. Make sure to have documentation — news articles etc.

Or “When others zig, your kid should zag.” Do something different. For CS, do not do robotics or build apps that no one uses. I cannot say what my kid did without doxxing, but this is also important. Why should a college pick your perfect stats kid who was President of their Robotics Club over the 100’s of other similar kids? What sets them apart?

I hope that makes sense!

It’s quite the phenomenon where your kid’s success somehow makes you the expert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

If s/he doesn't like where s/he ends up this year, consider a transfer application to U. St Andrews (Scotland). They actually have a very good, if smallish, School of Computer Science. Their curriculum is very sound, teaching is solid, and both StA and CS @ StA score highly in the UK newspaper "Good University Guide" analyses each year. They are particularly strong in systems/networking.

If one gets a good set of grades from CS @ StA, one can either go for an MS or PhD there, or apply to a different top US/UK/CA graduate school for an MS or PhD.

FYI: In the job market of today, a BSCS will get one a good initial software job, but there is glass ceiling to promotions after a while -- unless one either is truly stellar or has an MSCS/MSCompE/MSEE. It is simplest to go straight through to at least a MSCS (although if a school has a non-thesis MS degree then that is good enough).

I thought the consensus was that St. Andrews is just a T30-40 US reject school that’s hungry for intl fees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Class of 2022 HS grad here — kid is CS major and admitted to 2 of the top 3 universities. I know most people do not listen to free advice, but for the ones who do, here it is….Focus your perfect stats kids HS years and application on two things. (1) What has your kid done to help others in their community? (2) How will they use the elite school education to help others in their community. It’s not about the perfect stats or the awards, although those help. It’s NOT about how well the essays are written — it’s about the HS experience affecting your kid in some way that they ended up genuinely helping others (not racking up hours at a food pantry), and what are they going to do beyond getting a good job that will change the world for the better?? Without the desire and evidence of having a positive impact on their community, my kid would have been at a safety school (which is really not as bad as some make it out to be!) Oh and leadership “titles” do not count as much as actual leadership — can your kid lead others without a formal title? I’m not saying that being President of a club is bad, just that the kid needs to do something after they get the title….or do lead others without a title. Make sure to have documentation — news articles etc.

Or “When others zig, your kid should zag.” Do something different. For CS, do not do robotics or build apps that no one uses. I cannot say what my kid did without doxxing, but this is also important. Why should a college pick your perfect stats kid who was President of their Robotics Club over the 100’s of other similar kids? What sets them apart?

I hope that makes sense!

It’s quite the phenomenon where your kid’s success somehow makes you the expert.

Considering that I took it upon myself to learn about college admissions during the pandemic when I had to quit my job, and my kid was in 10th grade….I’d say my strategies worked!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:High stat DC also swimming in rejections.

High sats are not unique. Grade inflation, test prep, tutoring etc. have made it so parents and kids think they are smarter and more special than they actually are.

The % of really smart kids hasn’t changed in the last 30 years. The number of parents and kids who think they fall into that bucket has increased astronomically.

+1
I would say AAP kids/parents (FCPS) especially, are convinced that their kids will get into any college they want. AAP is such a crock of BS, it's too bad these parents don't realize that it means nothing at all.

As a parent of two in HS, I've tried explaining that very thing on multiple occasions in the FCPS thread. The only "leg up" may be in math. Otherwise in HS most kids start out in the same core subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Class of 2022 HS grad here — kid is CS major and admitted to 2 of the top 3 universities. I know most people do not listen to free advice, but for the ones who do, here it is….Focus your perfect stats kids HS years and application on two things. (1) What has your kid done to help others in their community? (2) How will they use the elite school education to help others in their community. It’s not about the perfect stats or the awards, although those help. It’s NOT about how well the essays are written — it’s about the HS experience affecting your kid in some way that they ended up genuinely helping others (not racking up hours at a food pantry), and what are they going to do beyond getting a good job that will change the world for the better?? Without the desire and evidence of having a positive impact on their community, my kid would have been at a safety school (which is really not as bad as some make it out to be!) Oh and leadership “titles” do not count as much as actual leadership — can your kid lead others without a formal title? I’m not saying that being President of a club is bad, just that the kid needs to do something after they get the title….or do lead others without a title. Make sure to have documentation — news articles etc.

Or “When others zig, your kid should zag.” Do something different. For CS, do not do robotics or build apps that no one uses. I cannot say what my kid did without doxxing, but this is also important. Why should a college pick your perfect stats kid who was President of their Robotics Club over the 100’s of other similar kids? What sets them apart?

I hope that makes sense!

I believe this was why my son was accepted test optional for computer science to 2 top 50 schools. They mentioned his commitment to community in the acceptance letters.

[Anonymous]

Forget this preoccupation with trying to predict what top colleges want but simply focus on being the best unique authentic you possible. I think the latter approach will bring you the most success and happiness in college and life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Class of 2022 HS grad here — kid is CS major and admitted to 2 of the top 3 universities. I know most people do not listen to free advice, but for the ones who do, here it is….Focus your perfect stats kids HS years and application on two things. (1) What has your kid done to help others in their community? (2) How will they use the elite school education to help others in their community. It’s not about the perfect stats or the awards, although those help. It’s NOT about how well the essays are written — it’s about the HS experience affecting your kid in some way that they ended up genuinely helping others (not racking up hours at a food pantry), and what are they going to do beyond getting a good job that will change the world for the better?? Without the desire and evidence of having a positive impact on their community, my kid would have been at a safety school (which is really not as bad as some make it out to be!) Oh and leadership “titles” do not count as much as actual leadership — can your kid lead others without a formal title? I’m not saying that being President of a club is bad, just that the kid needs to do something after they get the title….or do lead others without a title. Make sure to have documentation — news articles etc.

Or “When others zig, your kid should zag.” Do something different. For CS, do not do robotics or build apps that no one uses. I cannot say what my kid did without doxxing, but this is also important. Why should a college pick your perfect stats kid who was President of their Robotics Club over the 100’s of other similar kids? What sets them apart?

I hope that makes sense!

PP, it does make sense! Thank you for taking the time to share this