colleges for gifted yet social kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gotta love the breezy “she should have no problem getting into most schools” line, lol. Ah, to be so innocent.

How about where we tell you where NOT to go. Schools where kids are very academic: Chicago, Swarthmore, Carleton, Reed, MIT, what else DCUM?

I fear what’s coming for OP….her kid is so basic and she has no idea…

I usually try to avoid that kind of shade in this forum, but, yeah, pretty much that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She’s not that gifted. My kids also scored 35 ACT and have straight As in APs/honors and they are extremely social kids. Two are total jocks too.

When I say gifted I mean it as an IQ of Gifted level, in Mensa etc... Not just a way to describe her.

My kid was a life member of Mensa when he applied to colleges. 36 ACT, valedictorian, Eagle Scout, etc. Deferred at Princeton, Harvard (legacy), Yale (legacy), Cornell, etc. went to my UVA (only 4200 students in incoming class -not as big as you may think!) and loved it but did not go Greek. Now at law school. OP, as others have unkindly pointed put it, you may be in for a shock. If your daughter is unhooked she may not get in everywhere even with a 35, as my DC did not with a 36. At UVA, for example, last year’s incoming class had a 34 ACT at UVA, meaning 25% were higher. The 75th percentile has a 4.53 gpa in the most rigorous courses offered by their high school. It’s tough out there. Talk to your high school counselor to get a realistic view of what us going on in the college admissions process and good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very unlikely to get into Duke or Vanderbilt without more. Would have a shot at UVA as others have said. Maybe Wake Forest for something smaller.

DD's HS '22 BFF pretty much same profile as OP's DD as described here. Rejected ED1 Vanderbilt, rejected RD at Duke, accepted EA @ UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know she won't get in everywhere for sure, just meant she is competitive for any school.


Thank you- very helpful replies.

OP, you appear to vastly underestimate how much college admissions has changed since you applied. Any one paying attention to admissions at the T20 schools over the last five years - especially the last three - would not say that your DD is "competitive for any school." To be considered competitive for that tier would include state/national level awards/ranking, legacy/hook, and, even then, a HUGE dollop of luck. You have not mentioned any of those.

[Anonymous]

definitely Tulane and Vanderbilts maybe Washington and lee and Davidson and Wake Forest.

Also consider college of Charleston and Florida state and U of Southern California. Maybe Loyola Marymount LA, southern Methodist, and Texas Christian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my DD is very smart and a very hard worker- straight A's, 35 ACT Score, great extracurricular activities etc... but not really the intellectual type. She is a social butterfly, loves sports, would rather talk about tik tok or go shopping than read etc... Once you get to know her you can tell she is smart and interested in the world, but it isn't her surface level personality. She would rather be at a party than studying on any weekend night.

She should have no problem getting into most schools. I am thinking because of her personality she would be happiest at a school like Duke,or Vanderbilt that seems to have a lot of student-life balance. UVA may be too big.

Any insight? Anyone have any experience with a kid like this at an ivy league or smaller school? Trying to help her guide her college search, and she didn't love the idea of many of the options her school college counselor gave her, but does want to go to a top school.

She wouldn't be happy at a SLAC. She would probably be happiest at a school like Duke or Vanderbilt (but expect her to not get in) or Northwestern or UVA or UCLA or USC or Boston College or Georgetown...you get the idea. Among the Ivies, look at Dartmouth and Penn.

[Anonymous]

Your dd can apply to any school as long as she understands that the top schools are highly rejective. She should try to find a school that has an acceptance rate of over 50% for which her statistics are in the top 75% that she would be happy to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your dd can apply to any school as long as she understands that the top schools are highly rejective. She should try to find a school that has an acceptance rate of over 50% for which her statistics are in the top 75% that she would be happy to attend.

OP, good guideline here. Even then, it is not a slam dunk. In my anecdata over 4 years, girls seem to get more cross-wise in the college admissions process than boys = more girls get deferred by top schools then rejected in RD, while some boys get deferred then accepted at a range of top schools in RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She’s not that gifted. My kids also scored 35 ACT and have straight As in APs/honors and they are extremely social kids. Two are total jocks too.

When I say gifted I mean it as an IQ of Gifted level, in Mensa etc... Not just a way to describe her.

Just stop. Gifted is a farce. Mensa is a moneymaker. And every kid is wildly capable and wildly different.

My youngest scored a 151 on the WISC IV. He had a 29 on the ACT, a 3.6 weighted in HS because he took the hardest classes and did the bare minimum and is now half-assing college because he’s spending all his time sleeping and re-programming his friends cars instead of going to class. Meanwhile, his 132 sister is graduating with highest honors, two bachelor’s degrees, took 4 masters level classes as electives because she was “bored” in undergrad and has a six figure job lined up already.

High IQ is no more of a factor in this than brown hair.

Your kid has high stats and is a hard worker. Congrats to her. She’ll be fine at any college. But please stop calling her gifted. It’s so embarrassing for both of you.

[Anonymous]

fwiw, every kid in fcps AAP qualifies for mensa. It’s not a high mark. 132 on cogat or 130 on NNAT. Please don’t put mensa membership on college applications. It’s a offputting to colleges and indicates think that your IQ should get you in. Colleges don’t care about IQ. They care about achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She’s not that gifted. My kids also scored 35 ACT and have straight As in APs/honors and they are extremely social kids. Two are total jocks too.

When I say gifted I mean it as an IQ of Gifted level, in Mensa etc... Not just a way to describe her.

Just stop. Gifted is a farce. Mensa is a moneymaker. And every kid is wildly capable and wildly different.

My youngest scored a 151 on the WISC IV. He had a 29 on the ACT, a 3.6 weighted in HS because he took the hardest classes and did the bare minimum and is now half-assing college because he’s spending all his time sleeping and re-programming his friends cars instead of going to class. Meanwhile, his 132 sister is graduating with highest honors, two bachelor’s degrees, took 4 masters level classes as electives because she was “bored” in undergrad and has a six figure job lined up already.

High IQ is no more of a factor in this than brown hair.

Your kid has high stats and is a hard worker. Congrats to her. She’ll be fine at any college. But please stop calling her gifted. It’s so embarrassing for both of you.

+ a million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my DD is very smart and a very hard worker- straight A's, 35 ACT Score, great extracurricular activities etc... but not really the intellectual type. She is a social butterfly, loves sports, would rather talk about tik tok or go shopping than read etc... Once you get to know her you can tell she is smart and interested in the world, but it isn't her surface level personality. She would rather be at a party than studying on any weekend night.

She should have no problem getting into most schools. I am thinking because of her personality she would be happiest at a school like Duke,or Vanderbilt that seems to have a lot of student-life balance. UVA may be too big.

Any insight? Anyone have any experience with a kid like this at an ivy league or smaller school? Trying to help her guide her college search, and she didn't love the idea of many of the options her school college counselor gave her, but does want to go to a top school.

Please brace yourself for this not coming true.... Still reach for the stars but be VERY prepared to find SOLID safety schools (50%+ acceptance) that she would be happy to attend - and SHOW interest to avoid yield protection.

[Anonymous]

Duke
Georgetown
Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

I think others are correct to avoid Chicago, Swarthmore, Princeton, MIT, Cal Tech type places.

Ivy is not all serious - hardest part is getting in
Duke and Vanderbilt are a good start - but I wouldn't expect admission by ANY means
Others with good spirit and life (trying to give a range of selectivity - but you will notice these all have a decent size): USC, Tulane, BC, Georgetown, Wake, Syracuse, Pitt
State schools too: Michigan, UVA, UCLA, VT, Wisconsin, UT-Austin, Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, Florida

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think others are correct to avoid Chicago, Swarthmore, Princeton, MIT, Cal Tech type places.

Ivy is not all serious - hardest part is getting in
Duke and Vanderbilt are a good start - but I wouldn't expect admission by ANY means
Others with good spirit and life (trying to give a range of selectivity - but you will notice these all have a decent size): USC, Tulane, BC, Georgetown, Wake, Syracuse, Pitt
State schools too: Michigan, UVA, UCLA, VT, Wisconsin, UT-Austin, Clemson, Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, Florida

This is a good list