If you graduated college in the 90s/00s which schools shocked you with their change in status/competiveness?

[Anonymous]

Northwestern and BU were my safeties. Northwestern offered to hold a full-ride aid package for a year, which was nice.

[Anonymous]

My safeties were Northwestern and Wash U. But that was early 1990’s. Different times, different metrics, different expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern and BU were my safeties. Northwestern offered to hold a full-ride aid package for a year, which was nice.

Northwestern was much better than BU back then. Northwestern was an Ivy safety. BU was a Northwestern safety (or perhaps even worse).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan.

I graduated college in early 2000s

I had a 3.8, 2 AP classes, 32 ACT, was on one varsity sport (not captain). That’s it. I was in-state, but still. No way would I get in today.

Similar story, but UVA. Had a 3.75, 1390 SAT, had a number of ECs. But 100% not get into UVA with that profile now.

But a student with the same capabilities as you had back then would probably have a 4.6 and a 1500+. Grades and test scores are incredibly inflated now.

Where do your kids go to school that grades are inflated????? Not our experience at all.

It is everywhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan.

I graduated college in early 2000s

I had a 3.8, 2 AP classes, 32 ACT, was on one varsity sport (not captain). That’s it. I was in-state, but still. No way would I get in today.

Similar story, but UVA. Had a 3.75, 1390 SAT, had a number of ECs. But 100% not get into UVA with that profile now.

But a student with the same capabilities as you had back then would probably have a 4.6 and a 1500+. Grades and test scores are incredibly inflated now.

Where do your kids go to school that grades are inflated????? Not our experience at all.

It is everywhere

Yes, it’s inflated at all public schools. Not the top private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GWU- all they did was raise tuition and it became more popular.

GWU has always been relatively expensive. But no matter what they charge, they remain "couldn't get into Georgetown".

I live in Maryland. I also heard that if you were considering GW, you might as well go to UMD. Same or better quality school and far far cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BU and BC transitioned in the mid to late 80’s by John Silber and Doug Flutie. Silber was a dynamic President of BU and Flutie won the Heisman Trophy at BC in mid 80’s. Don’t know what accounts for NEU popularity?

This is how NEU grew in popularity: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2014/08/26/how...he-college-rankings/

Kudos to NEU. It basically says NEU played by the rules fair and square (and made vast improvements) while others were cheating.

"Meanwhile, other schools that couldn’t successfully game the system were trying to cheat their way to the top.
In 2008, Baylor University told newly admitted students that they’d receive a $300 campus-bookstore credit if they retook their SATs, and $1,000 a year in student aid if the scores improved by more than 50 points. In 2009, an administrator at Clemson University, whose president shared Freeland’s rankings fixation, admitted the school misrepresented financial information and purposefully rated institutions low on the peer assessments.

In 2011, Iona College officials admitted to misreporting acceptance rates, SAT scores, graduation rates, and alumni donation amounts over the course of a decade. In 2012, Claremont McKenna College copped to misreporting SAT scores for several years. Also in 2012, George Washington University admitted to inflating the percentage of students who graduated at the top of their high school classes, and Emory University said it had misreported high school GPAs for four years and SAT scores for nearly a dozen years."

UCBerkeley and Columbia are some of the recent high profile examples.
I almost think it's might be Emory haters who keep posting the article.

Probably a Northeastern or BC grad. They have a fixation against Emory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BU and BC transitioned in the mid to late 80’s by John Silber and Doug Flutie. Silber was a dynamic President of BU and Flutie won the Heisman Trophy at BC in mid 80’s. Don’t know what accounts for NEU popularity?

This is how NEU grew in popularity: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2014/08/26/how...he-college-rankings/

Kudos to NEU. It basically says NEU played by the rules fair and square (and made vast improvements) while others were cheating.

"Meanwhile, other schools that couldn’t successfully game the system were trying to cheat their way to the top.
In 2008, Baylor University told newly admitted students that they’d receive a $300 campus-bookstore credit if they retook their SATs, and $1,000 a year in student aid if the scores improved by more than 50 points. In 2009, an administrator at Clemson University, whose president shared Freeland’s rankings fixation, admitted the school misrepresented financial information and purposefully rated institutions low on the peer assessments.

In 2011, Iona College officials admitted to misreporting acceptance rates, SAT scores, graduation rates, and alumni donation amounts over the course of a decade. In 2012, Claremont McKenna College copped to misreporting SAT scores for several years. Also in 2012, George Washington University admitted to inflating the percentage of students who graduated at the top of their high school classes, and Emory University said it had misreported high school GPAs for four years and SAT scores for nearly a dozen years."

UCBerkeley and Columbia are some of the recent high profile examples.
I almost think it's might be Emory haters who keep posting the article.

Probably a Northeastern or BC grad. They have a fixation against Emory.

One of the biggest non-sense on DCURM has been Emory mom's attacking Northeastern for 'gaming'.
Then they learned abut Emory cheating and got devastated.

[Anonymous]

basically you needed a pulse and a functioning brainstem to get into Maryland late 80s/early 90s That changed pretty rapidly over the next decade.

[Anonymous]

VA TECH 100%. Was a safety school for many in FCPS, now it is hard!

[Anonymous]

Wash U was seen at my school as a safety for T-10 students in the late 90s.

I ED’d somewhere else and withdrew my Wash U app. But a classmate who got into RD to the same T-10 as me also got a free ride to Wash U and took it.

Both of us were very happy with our choices and both have had big, successful careers. Wash U is a great school that deserves to be as selective as it is now!

[Anonymous]

Northeastern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:basically you needed a pulse and a functioning brainstem to get into Maryland late 80s/early 90s That changed pretty rapidly over the next decade.

This is true. private school kids in late 80s DC called it “Ummmmmm”

[Anonymous]

UPenn and Cornell were not that hard to get into in the 1980's and 1990's. Northwestern wasn't that hard either.

Obviously Northeastern, BU and BC all kind of came out of nowhere from the 1980's, with Northeastern in the 1990's.

USC wasn't know as a serious academic school. UCLA was definitely behind Berkeley but now has caught up.

Georgia and Florida were not anywhere nearly competitive as today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern
Vanderbilt
Any of the SEC schools for OOS kids
NYU
USC (when I took the SATs they were doing the stuff Chicago does now- sending the biggest and most mailings of anyone and generally acting desperate)

Nope. Vanderbilt has been competitive and difficult to get into for a long time.

Vandy has gone from difficult to practically impossible.