Do Colleges Just Send Information to *Anybody*??

[Anonymous]

My daughter received info in the mail from Carnegie Mellon, PSU and a few other schools in this tier.

While I love her and think she's brilliant, she doesn't quite have the "stuff" that these schools are looking for...I think.

Her GPA is in the 3.3-3.5 range; her SATs were in the mid 1500's (she's retaking). Am I missing something? Do they just email/send information to most prospective students? Or should she take a shot at applying?

[Anonymous]

The direct mail sent by colleges is completely absurd and seems designed to try to increase applications, even from students with no chance of admission, simply to decrease the % accepted" rate to look more selective. So I would absolutely disregard having received it, some schools send to every student who took the PSATS in a given year it seems. OR they use a very low cutoff. Those SATs are close to what is required at schools like Carnegie Mellon or PSU unless there is some very specific hook (or for instance great math scores and applying to engineering at a place like CMU but they would still want verbal and writing to be quite a bit higher than 500).

[Anonymous]

If your daughter checked a box on either the PSAT or the SAT about college search, all kinds of schools will send you all kinds of crap.

[Anonymous]

We have gotten stacks of postcards and mailings and my DCs 10th grade PSAT scores were abysmal (about a 175-180). Agree that they are trying to gin up their application numbers. We've also gotten some mailings for summer programs at the colleges, which are money making operations. No reason you can't look at the colleges, but I wouldn't assume that the mailings mean anything in terms of fit or acceptance.

[Anonymous]

So far DD has gotten 2 offers of financial aid at colleges we never heard of. As a rising senior, DD hasn't applied anywhere yet. Yet Philadelphia University sent a letter offering her $12K/year for all four years.

Yes, it's a game aimed at increasing their selectivity. A colleague says PU used to be the "Philadelphia College of Pharmacology" and they've recently decided to expand their program. I bet some of the rest of you got similar offers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have gotten stacks of postcards and mailings and my DCs 10th grade PSAT scores were abysmal (about a 175-180). Agree that they are trying to gin up their application numbers. We've also gotten some mailings for summer programs at the colleges, which are money making operations. No reason you can't look at the colleges, but I wouldn't assume that the mailings mean anything in terms of fit or acceptance.

This score is not abysmal. It's in the 80th percentile nationally.

Your poor child.

So what IS an acceptable percentage for your child to fall into?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have gotten stacks of postcards and mailings and my DCs 10th grade PSAT scores were abysmal (about a 175-180). Agree that they are trying to gin up their application numbers. We've also gotten some mailings for summer programs at the colleges, which are money making operations. No reason you can't look at the colleges, but I wouldn't assume that the mailings mean anything in terms of fit or acceptance.

This score is not abysmal. It's in the 80th percentile nationally.

Your poor child.

So what IS an acceptable percentage for your child to fall into?

SATs need to be in the 2100 range for the target schools. This just happens to be a really smart kid (4.0 GPA, 5s on AP tests) who does not take standardized tests that well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have gotten stacks of postcards and mailings and my DCs 10th grade PSAT scores were abysmal (about a 175-180). Agree that they are trying to gin up their application numbers. We've also gotten some mailings for summer programs at the colleges, which are money making operations. No reason you can't look at the colleges, but I wouldn't assume that the mailings mean anything in terms of fit or acceptance.

This score is not abysmal. It's in the 80th percentile nationally.

Your poor child.

So what IS an acceptable percentage for your child to fall into?

SATs need to be in the 2100 range for the target schools. This just happens to be a really smart kid (4.0 GPA, 5s on AP tests) who does not take standardized tests that well.

Uh, APs are standardized tests, so the standardized test methodology is probably not the problem. 5s are good, although meaningless for admissions. Not everybody gets 2100s but most kids do improve a bit between their first SAT and their retake. Is your DC a junior? Juniors haven't taken the real PSATs yet. Or is DC a senior, in which case DC should have taken the SAT last spring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Uh, APs are standardized tests, so the standardized test methodology is probably not the problem. 5s are good, although meaningless for admissions. Not everybody gets 2100s but most kids do improve a bit between their first SAT and their retake. Is your DC a junior? Juniors haven't taken the real PSATs yet. Or is DC a senior, in which case DC should have taken the SAT last spring?

First, please stop with the "Uh." Thank you.

Not that PP, but APs can help with college admissions if you get 5s and send them in. We know kids who have done this, including one who was accepted at Yale last spring. That's what DD plans to do. In fact, DD is applying to some elite colleges DD where the APs probably won't get her out of any classes, so the point of taking AP classes is (a) to show the colleges you're taking the toughest classes, and (b) to send in your 5s.

[Anonymous]

I've heard the same thing. Top colleges look at APs -- they have so many virtually identical students that APs serve as one more data point to use to differentiate students. If your kid tests well on APs, make sure they take those classes in high school and send in the scores. DD is going to apply to some top schools and she's gotten seven 5s on APs. You can be sure we will send them in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the same thing. Top colleges look at APs -- they have so many virtually identical students that APs serve as one more data point to use to differentiate students. If your kid tests well on APs, make sure they take those classes in high school and send in the scores. DD is going to apply to some top schools and she's gotten seven 5s on APs. You can be sure we will send them in.

VBA

[Anonymous]

Guilty as charged. I'm certainly not trumpeting this info anywhere other than an anonymous forum! Nevertheless, we are very proud of her and hope her hard work will pay off in at least a couple of good college options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guilty as charged. I'm certainly not trumpeting this info anywhere other than an anonymous forum! Nevertheless, we are very proud of her and hope her hard work will pay off in at least a couple of good college options.

I guess I'll do a gentle (I hope) public service announcement. See, the thing is, your DD and mine could have been separated at birth. My DD looks just like this -- also in a magnet (not RM IB), also lots of 5s on APs, great SATs and GPA and leadership. My feeling is, we're totally justified to feel proud of our DDs' hard work, and we should definitely tell them so. But boasting to anonymous strangers looks gross. It's hard to think of a legitimate purpose behind it, apart from making make other readers feel bad.

Also, sadly, DDs like ours are a dime a dozen in this area. I cringe when I see the new DCUM parent posting, "DS got a 99th pctile on the WPSSI, is Sidwell to slow for him?" Our DD's stats are by no means guaranteed to pay off in admissions to an elite college (despite the cue for me to start in on DD's great leadership and extra curriculars). We all need to learn a little humility, and praise hard work without making our DDs or other posters feel bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard the same thing. Top colleges look at APs -- they have so many virtually identical students that APs serve as one more data point to use to differentiate students. If your kid tests well on APs, make sure they take those classes in high school and send in the scores. DD is going to apply to some top schools and she's gotten seven 5s on APs. You can be sure we will send them in.

This type of info ("bragging" as pp calls it) is good for this forum. My junior DD is so not in this league. I appreciate seeing some "reality" from other pps before we go down the totally wrong college tour route. E.g., there really is no reason to visit Vandy or Wake or Duke. With her average stats and hooklessness, my DD, as wonderful as she is, is no way getting into those colleges. Not a chance. But other threads have suggested some colleges I never would have thought about. So I always appreciate honest info!

[Anonymous]

There are hundreds of kids like this in the area, in Whitman, Churchill, Potomac, and even in regular RM and regular Blair. That's without even looking at DC and VA.

PP could have made her point, and PP with the second daughter would have understood it, just by saying that the top students send in their APs. It doesn't add anything to say my DD has X 5s. I'm struggling with this, and I guess I have to admit that my main objection is that boasting like this seems trashy. Another thing that irks me, and I'll be honest, is the obvious attitude among the RM IB moms here that their kids are somehow the cream of the cream, and shouldn't throw themselves away on things like teaching (recent thread). News flash: check out the great kids to the west of the county who didn't even apply to RM. I guess I'm a snob in a different way....