Big College Admissions Year at St. Albans
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
LOL! But so worth it considering their current general admission rate is around 6% (virtually impossible) vs 33% for legacies. |
Anonymous
You may have heard of Sewanee as The University of the South (I think that's older terminology -- "Sewanee" appears to the nickname that stuck, like calling the U.S. Military Academy "West Point"). Literati might associate it most with the Sewanee Review, one of the granddaddies of literary quarterlies in the US which published a lot of important writers (often Southern) like Flannery O'Connor and Robert Penn Warren. It is very good but very, very regional in its student body -- there's an increasing DC presence (which is mostly about as Northern as it gets) but it's still mainly Southern. Huge gorgeous campus on a Tennessee mountain top. Their current president was the former president of Middlebury so it looks like they are taking a run at increasing their national reach/recognition. |
Anonymous
Sewanee and the new president (the former Middlebury guy) got a fair amount of notice a couple years ago for cutting tuition by 10% (it's still pretty pricey) -- this has come up a fair amount in terms of the current dialogue in higher education (independent schools, please take notice!) of crazily escalating tuition costs. He's an interesting guy. |
Anonymous
No, the admissions rate for non-legacies is around 3%. The 5% general rate includes legacies, who are admitted at a rate of 30-35%. |
Anonymous
Good point. |
Anonymous
Thanks. I stand corrected. Had no idea it's gotten this hard/ridiculous. |
Anonymous
Interesting comment re: Sewanee. It is one of the top ranked liberal arts schools in the country -- Check it out. Being a legitimate Southern option has made it more attractive to NCS and STA students. Any unfamiliarity is likely because for years folks have looked to the Northeast for liberal arts colleges. If a student does not want that Northeast experience (certainly understandable), there are other options. There has been a trend of STA grads looking south over the last few years. At tonight's college meeting for the Class of 2014, one of the speakers will be the admissions director for Sewanee -- seems like STA is supportive of its grads going South. |
Anonymous
|
I've been impressed with the low-key, kind, and competent approach of the STA college counseling. They do a great job at combatting "Ivy target fixation" by helping kids/families consider a broad range of schools while still letting kids aim high if they want and not over-controlling the process. (If you really want to apply to a given school, nobody will stop you.)
I do think Southern schools are appearing more as a destination (for example, in addition to Sewanee, Wake Forest has become more popular in recent years and has garnered rave reviews from students/families), but they're pretty good about encouraging a very broad range of schools both geographically and in terms of type. So, STA students are applying and attending to small liberal arts colleges in the midwest (e.g. Macalester), far west (e.g., Pomona, Claremont-McKenna, Reed); large state universities (UCal system; UMichigan; Indiana U.); schools in the UK (St. Andrews, U. of Edinborough); and service academies (e.g., West Point, Annapolis). And sure, they still have a good amount attending Ivies/Stanford/MIT/Chicago and the Northeast SLACs. I think they really listen to the boys and do a good job at helping those who procrastinate and calming down those who are over-stressed. (And this is not to suggest otherwise about college counselors at other area independent schools, I'm sure there are a lot of talented professionals in that field in our area.) |
Anonymous
| Does being a secondary legacy - an aunt or uncle attended an ivy league help with admission? |
Anonymous
I don't think so. Sorry. It varies from school to school -- some places look at grandparents, others at just the parents. But I've never heard of legacy status conferred by an aunt or uncle, unless of course they're major donors, which is a different type of hook. |
Anonymous
|
Even a major donor does not confer a hook on a niece or nephew. Really, how many free rides are granted to relations because of a big gift to the school? Not that many. Just the children of the donor get a boost.
|
Anonymous
And may I add grandchildren as well if the gift was major. Point is, direct descendants. |
Anonymous
I'm a parent at another DC school, but our kids have many friends who went/go to STA. It's a great school -- wish we had looked at it more closely for our DSs. Just want to add that many southern schools are making a full-court press for applicants from the DC area, not only at STA, but at a wide range of public and private schools. In addition to Sewanee and WF, Davidson, and Vanderbilt are also drawing many students from this area. Re your comments on STA college counseling: you should know that not all counselors at other schools "do a good job at helping those who procrastinate and calming down those who are over-stressed." |
Anonymous
| Yes, agreed that Davidson and Vanderbilt are also increasingly big draws for kids from this area; Tulane still gets a solid number of applicants too (I think they offer some merit money, which helps). The college app process can be a little bumpy along the way but it seems to usually lead to a good destination. Good luck to all parents/families setting off down that road! |
Anonymous
I am a bit surprised at the 30-35% range for legacies. We know quite a few people (in a few cases, both parents are ex-Harvard) whose child/children have not been admitted, and it would be surprising if it is only our pool of acquaintances/friends who are legacies with a nearly 0% acceptance rate.... is this 30-35% something acknowledged by the AD? Or is it a guess? |