My kid isn't getting in

[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.

It could also be that everyone in the industry has clued into the "founder of a national nonprofit" move at this point.

Half of my kid's class at Sidwell/NCS/GDS has "founded a nonprofit," and "national" just means they have a website with links to relevant things outside of your state.

Colleges know what you're doing here. think harder.

Plus, if you are founding a new nonprofit serving the same needs as existing one, you are diluting the pool when you should just be volunteering. It's a negative.

[Anonymous]

I am the poster who said her kud was rounded. Maybe I should have said polygonal? She would be considered pointy in a normal world -- performs professionally and has union status. Also state level in another ec. National writing award, and low tier national science award plus super advanced classes in magnet. Sports captain. All this to say, for public school kids, it has just gotten super pointy. It also is about how the university wants the makeup of the class to be. And, going over the app, some things could have been better, and essay could have been tighter.

Though, it certainly seems easier to be rounded or slightly lower stats when better connected (top private or legacy).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the poster who said her kud was rounded. Maybe I should have said polygonal? She would be considered pointy in a normal world -- performs professionally and has union status. Also state level in another ec. National writing award, and low tier national science award plus super advanced classes in magnet. Sports captain. All this to say, for public school kids, it has just gotten super pointy. It also is about how the university wants the makeup of the class to be. And, going over the app, some things could have been better, and essay could have been tighter.

Though, it certainly seems easier to be rounded or slightly lower stats when better connected (top private or legacy).

Sounds like a strong applicant. Did the application really stress the pointy aspect across several disciplines? Performing, continuing to advance skills, writing about that topic in particular, etc? The competition is very intense so no shame in any rejections. It sounds like DC is set up to thrive at whatever institution is lucky enough to have your student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Posters on this board seem oblivious to the fact that colleges will look at how they compare to peers at their high school. If a large percentage of kids have all As, grades aren’t going to be a distinguishing factor. All schools supply colleges with information sheets that allow colleges to put grades in context even if they no longer formally provide a student’s class rank.

That's true. That's why it is harder to get in top schools for regular TJ students who may have a chance in their base schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the poster who said her kud was rounded. Maybe I should have said polygonal? She would be considered pointy in a normal world -- performs professionally and has union status. Also state level in another ec. National writing award, and low tier national science award plus super advanced classes in magnet. Sports captain. All this to say, for public school kids, it has just gotten super pointy. It also is about how the university wants the makeup of the class to be. And, going over the app, some things could have been better, and essay could have been tighter.

Though, it certainly seems easier to be rounded or slightly lower stats when better connected (top private or legacy).

Sounds like a strong applicant. Did the application really stress the pointy aspect across several disciplines? Performing, continuing to advance skills, writing about that topic in particular, etc? The competition is very intense so no shame in any rejections. It sounds like DC is set up to thrive at whatever institution is lucky enough to have your student.

Aww, thanks. You are right that some of the pointiness did not really shine. It didn't make the most of a national level honor that wasn't technically an award, and I encouraged her elaborate on a few things. I didn't want to be hands on, but I should have reviewed it carefully and given feedback. Like she wasted an award spot w/ AP Scholar of Distinction when that is already implicit in her scores. And, the essay was a bit disjointed and had some cliches. So, she revised it, and it is much better. She already made a great connection w/ a chair in her pointy-ish area at a top LAC, and they offered to zoom meet with her and chatted with her for 40 minutes. So, that is really encouraging. And, she now has UMD honors and 2 other safeties talking scholarships. So, most importantly, the pressure has eased, and she has choices and really likes all her safeties. At this point, I'm like, take it easy and have some fun. Senior year needs more joy and less grind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It could also be that everyone in the industry has clued into the "founder of a national nonprofit" move at this point.

Half of my kid's class at Sidwell/NCS/GDS has "founded a nonprofit," and "national" just means they have a website with links to relevant things outside of your state.

Colleges know what you're doing here. think harder.

Plus, if you are founding a new nonprofit serving the same needs as existing one, you are diluting the pool when you should just be volunteering. It's a negative.

Schools have definitely become wiser towards “bought experiences” but they still have a ways to go. to me “founded a national nonprofit” should mean “I have a 501c3 chartered by my state and here’s my name and not my parents or uncles name on a 990.”

In other words almost nobody has legitimately done this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It could also be that everyone in the industry has clued into the "founder of a national nonprofit" move at this point.

Half of my kid's class at Sidwell/NCS/GDS has "founded a nonprofit," and "national" just means they have a website with links to relevant things outside of your state.

Colleges know what you're doing here. think harder.

Plus, if you are founding a new nonprofit serving the same needs as existing one, you are diluting the pool when you should just be volunteering. It's a negative.

Schools have definitely become wiser towards “bought experiences” but they still have a ways to go. to me “founded a national nonprofit” should mean “I have a 501c3 chartered by my state and here’s my name and not my parents or uncles name on a 990.”

In other words almost nobody has legitimately done this

I know a parent who runs a charity that claims it was founded and run by the kid. The parent isn't very subtle -- she signs the kid's name, but all the emails go to her, and she manages everything. She was probably savvy enough to put the charity paperwork in the kid's name, though. I really hope this is the anomaly. Also, FWIW, the kid does a lot and is a beacon of service, but her mom clearly runs the charity. There is a running joke amongst people who know this family what will happen to the charity after Larla gets accepted to Harvard. Though, in this climate, that is no longer a given.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It could also be that everyone in the industry has clued into the "founder of a national nonprofit" move at this point.

Half of my kid's class at Sidwell/NCS/GDS has "founded a nonprofit," and "national" just means they have a website with links to relevant things outside of your state.

Colleges know what you're doing here. think harder.

Plus, if you are founding a new nonprofit serving the same needs as existing one, you are diluting the pool when you should just be volunteering. It's a negative.

Great profile. I would say check the recs were strong. Also possible that essays were not well written or there could be something in there that upset AO's. A kid with such good stats should not be rejected by Princeton, more so not even deferred or rejected by top state schools

[Anonymous]

I hear you OP. My son has also hit way more walls than expected with a single attempt 1570 SAT, 4.4 GPA, 11 APs, super hard classes and tons of very significant ECs. He is loved by his teachers so we assume the LORs were good and were told the essay was "spectacular" when he took it to a writing workshop given by AOs.

Rejected at several "mid reach" schools like UVA while kids we know with lower scores who mostly sit around and play video games all day were accepted. Other friends are getting in with imaginary heritages and fake first time college attender attestations. But who is checking any of this? The bottom line is, there are not clear rules about kids who get in and the fact of the matter is, many of the best and brightest are getting shut out - which is anti American in my view. What happened to cause and effect? Work and rewards? It's a black box of admissions and people are lying and there is no accountability. Colleges are making what seem to be bizarre choices in many cases.

Yeah you can get a good education in many places but the reality is the outcomes differ - its in the data. So it is a real impact to a kid who knocked it out of the park and saw lessor effort end up winning the prize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear you OP. My son has also hit way more walls than expected with a single attempt 1570 SAT, 4.4 GPA, 11 APs, super hard classes and tons of very significant ECs. He is loved by his teachers so we assume the LORs were good and were told the essay was "spectacular" when he took it to a writing workshop given by AOs.

Rejected at several "mid reach" schools like UVA while kids we know with lower scores who mostly sit around and play video games all day were accepted. Other friends are getting in with imaginary heritages and fake first time college attender attestations. But who is checking any of this? The bottom line is, there are not clear rules about kids who get in and the fact of the matter is, many of the best and brightest are getting shut out - which is anti American in my view. What happened to cause and effect? Work and rewards? It's a black box of admissions and people are lying and there is no accountability. Colleges are making what seem to be bizarre choices in many cases.

Yeah you can get a good education in many places but the reality is the outcomes differ - its in the data. So it is a real impact to a kid who knocked it out of the park and saw lessor effort end up winning the prize.

Last year, the only kids we knew who got into UVA applied ED. Did your son apply ED?

[Anonymous]

Well that does make me feel better - no he didn't, but neither did the kids we knew who got in. In naviance everyone with my kids stats gets in with a very wide margin - I get that its not always updated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well that does make me feel better - no he didn't, but neither did the kids we knew who got in. In naviance everyone with my kids stats gets in with a very wide margin - I get that its not always updated.

Are you oos?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear you OP. My son has also hit way more walls than expected with a single attempt 1570 SAT, 4.4 GPA, 11 APs, super hard classes and tons of very significant ECs. He is loved by his teachers so we assume the LORs were good and were told the essay was "spectacular" when he took it to a writing workshop given by AOs.

Rejected at several "mid reach" schools like UVA while kids we know with lower scores who mostly sit around and play video games all day were accepted. Other friends are getting in with imaginary heritages and fake first time college attender attestations. But who is checking any of this? The bottom line is, there are not clear rules about kids who get in and the fact of the matter is, many of the best and brightest are getting shut out - which is anti American in my view. What happened to cause and effect? Work and rewards? It's a black box of admissions and people are lying and there is no accountability. Colleges are making what seem to be bizarre choices in many cases.

Yeah you can get a good education in many places but the reality is the outcomes differ - its in the data. So it is a real impact to a kid who knocked it out of the park and saw lessor effort end up winning the prize.

Sorry to hear about the outcome at UVa, which makes no sense if he's in-state but is not surprising if OOS.

You're mistaken about the data showing that the outcomes differ, though, so he will have the same opportunities wherever he lands. Here are two resources that show this.....

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1871566

https://lesshighschoolstress.com/page/3/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear you OP. My son has also hit way more walls than expected with a single attempt 1570 SAT, 4.4 GPA, 11 APs, super hard classes and tons of very significant ECs. He is loved by his teachers so we assume the LORs were good and were told the essay was "spectacular" when he took it to a writing workshop given by AOs.

Rejected at several "mid reach" schools like UVA while kids we know with lower scores who mostly sit around and play video games all day were accepted. Other friends are getting in with imaginary heritages and fake first time college attender attestations. But who is checking any of this? The bottom line is, there are not clear rules about kids who get in and the fact of the matter is, many of the best and brightest are getting shut out - which is anti American in my view. What happened to cause and effect? Work and rewards? It's a black box of admissions and people are lying and there is no accountability. Colleges are making what seem to be bizarre choices in many cases.

Yeah you can get a good education in many places but the reality is the outcomes differ - its in the data. So it is a real impact to a kid who knocked it out of the park and saw lessor effort end up winning the prize.

Are these kids lying about their parents' occupation, zip code and income on their applications, CSS Profile and/or FAFSA? I can believe some kids are lying about race/heritage but first gen requires a lot more work across several inputs/forms during the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear you OP. My son has also hit way more walls than expected with a single attempt 1570 SAT, 4.4 GPA, 11 APs, super hard classes and tons of very significant ECs. He is loved by his teachers so we assume the LORs were good and were told the essay was "spectacular" when he took it to a writing workshop given by AOs.

Rejected at several "mid reach" schools like UVA while kids we know with lower scores who mostly sit around and play video games all day were accepted. Other friends are getting in with imaginary heritages and fake first time college attender attestations. But who is checking any of this? The bottom line is, there are not clear rules about kids who get in and the fact of the matter is, many of the best and brightest are getting shut out - which is anti American in my view. What happened to cause and effect? Work and rewards? It's a black box of admissions and people are lying and there is no accountability. Colleges are making what seem to be bizarre choices in many cases.

Yeah you can get a good education in many places but the reality is the outcomes differ - its in the data. So it is a real impact to a kid who knocked it out of the park and saw lessor effort end up winning the prize.

Are these kids lying about their parents' occupation, zip code and income on their applications, CSS Profile and/or FAFSA? I can believe some kids are lying about race/heritage but first gen requires a lot more work across several inputs/forms during the admissions process.

My guess is that some people wildly make these charges w/o realizing how difficult it is to do or it really is true and they simply had no idea that the successful parents were not college grads.