Help me figure out which schools are realistic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Build a balanced list of schools: reach, targets and safeties/likelies. That means recognizing that any school with less than 20% acceptance rate is a Reach for ANYONE. So NU/Duke/HYPSM etc are a major reach for everyone---think of them as highly rejective. So pick a few and apply and give it your all, but do not let your kid fall in love with them and make sure they know it's not likely to happen.

Pick targets where your kids scores are 50%+ and acceptance rates are 20-25%+.
Safeties are 50%+ acceptance rates and your kid's scores at/above 75%+
Likelies are 75%+ acceptance rates and kid's scores at/above 75+.

remember your kid must like all the schools and you must be able to afford them in order for them to be real and on your list. A safety your kid doesn't want to attend is NOT a safety.

Pick at least 3-4 in each category and your kid will be fine come March/April senior year. They will likely be in at 50% of their Targets and 50%+ of their safeties. Reaches who knows, they might win the lottery.

Based on the other post, no public university is a true safety for anyone because they do yield protection.

No, they are not a safety for specific majors and because their acceptance rates are too low for that. Sure Public U might have a 50% admit rate, but if you want CS/Eng/business the admit rates are 10-20%, so they are a Reach. It's not yield protection, it's understanding the numbers and what they mean. It also means knowing that you MUST do EA at UMD, it's not a choice---that is how they admit most students. UMD acceptance rate makes it a Target for many, but that is only for General entry. Want the elite/hard to get into majors and it is a REACH.

A lot of Public U don't even admit by major - unless it's Engineering. Just apply as an Art major and then declare CS in the College or apply to McIntire when the time comes. As a non-URM female, DD's friend applied to UVA as a Chemistry major (for the "female in STEM" narrative to go along with her AP classes and volunteer work as a math tutor). She did have awesome grades and stellar SAT scores. But ended up not majoring in STEM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

It largely depends on the major. I know many 4.0 kids with 1580+ SAT scores with great e.c.'s who were rejected at T20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

It largely depends on the major. I know many 4.0 kids with 1580+ SAT scores with great e.c.'s who were rejected at T20.

It’s the same lottery for all of them, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth buying a ticket

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

Yes if you are not a recruited athlete, ist gen, URM or ED, there are many kids who want T20 with similar stats.

[Anonymous]

Unhooked male from public school NOVA. CS major 3.96, 1560, Varsity athlete, club leadership, CS related internship, state award this admissions cycle:
Rejected Harvard and Penn
Waitlisted UVA and NEU
Accepted to 8 schools in 30-75 range. 6 offered merit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unhooked male from public school NOVA. CS major 3.96, 1560, Varsity athlete, club leadership, CS related internship, state award this admissions cycle:
Rejected Harvard and Penn
Waitlisted UVA and NEU
Accepted to 8 schools in 30-75 range. 6 offered merit

Would be helpful to see the list of 8 schools to which you were accepted for CS. Thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

You have no clue how common these grades are these days. More than 20 percent of the class will have similar grades.

Do you have any data to back up that claim?

my 2020 child had an unweighted 3.92 and a weighted 4.65 and was not in Top 25% of his class in Howard County. Also was rejected from Georgetown and Northwestern (not ED).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what would she like to study? Despite what people usually discuss an applicant's intended major is a huge part of it. Especially if the ECs support that.

If she is interested in CS then, frankly, there are a LOT of good CS programs and the school almost doesn't matter (almost). But if she is interested in something that isn't offered everywhere then that is a great reason to apply!

Yes! Not sure how everyone can just rattle off schools without knowing academic interests of the student. Silly.

I asked the same question about intended major. Folks responding--including me--just assume that the OP's daughter is undecided.

There is HUGE pile of undecided smart kids and there are several smaller piles of those that indicate their interests. If it is at all possible you should give the AOs something more than the basic stats. With the basic stats they can randomly select anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unhooked male from public school NOVA. CS major 3.96, 1560, Varsity athlete, club leadership, CS related internship, state award this admissions cycle:
Rejected Harvard and Penn
Waitlisted UVA and NEU
Accepted to 8 schools in 30-75 range. 6 offered merit

Would be helpful to see the list of 8 schools to which you were accepted for CS. Thank you in advance.

W&M, CWRU, BU, Lehigh, Pitt, UMD, Ohio St, UMN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After reading through the northwestern thread where multiple people said no one gets in…I’m just not sure where to encourage my kid to look. What would you all suggest for a white female, good public school, 3.95 UW with high rigor, 1550 SAT, several extracurriculars including leadership roles, volunteerism and awards — but nothing knock your socks off like those famous awards or started a non-profit or wrote a published book or whatever.

I’m assuming Harvard, Yale, Princeton and places like Amherst are unrealistic. What would be realistic? Kid does not want to go to the Sputh and isn’t super interested in California so we are primarily looking Northeast, mid Atlantic, or upper Midwest.

Thanks for any ideas.

The analogy that others used in this forum in years past is this...she has a good enough record to gain entry into the stadium, but from there, it is a lottery as to who gets on to the field. Others have provided advice about ED and tiers, and they are good points of reference. The other thing to keep in mind about ED...the reason there is a bump is because it is the opportunity for the colleges to take who *they* want as a priority, so that is the athletes, legacies, first gen with a story etc. For the average UMC white good student, ALL of these schools are a crap shoot.

So they way to look at it is, do you want a big or small school? Do you want an urban, suburban or rural school? Do you want a big city or small city? Do you want to be in the South? The North East? etc Once you answer those questions, the list narrows based on those factors, and you can tier them in terms of priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

You have no clue how common these grades are these days. More than 20 percent of the class will have similar grades.

Do you have any data to back up that claim?

There have been multiple threads on this forum about the topic, do a search.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unhooked male from public school NOVA. CS major 3.96, 1560, Varsity athlete, club leadership, CS related internship, state award this admissions cycle:
Rejected Harvard and Penn
Waitlisted UVA and NEU
Accepted to 8 schools in 30-75 range. 6 offered merit

Thank you, dp who has been trying to express how crazy hard admissions currently are. Your son’s experience are consistent with many of the graduating seniors I know.

Op’s student should consider schools in the 30 to 60 range targets. Anything lower ranked is a reach for all unhooked students. And I’ll say it again, harder for girls, there are more high stats girl applicants these days than boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

You have no clue how common these grades are these days. More than 20 percent of the class will have similar grades.

Do you have any data to back up that claim?

There have been multiple threads on this forum about the topic, do a search.

Usually it’s bitter parents of mediocre students in private school complaining about public school kids taking spots in colleges they view as belonging to their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading through the northwestern thread where multiple people said no one gets in…I’m just not sure where to encourage my kid to look. What would you all suggest for a white female, good public school, 3.95 UW with high rigor, 1550 SAT, several extracurriculars including leadership roles, volunteerism and awards — but nothing knock your socks off like those famous awards or started a non-profit or wrote a published book or whatever.

I’m assuming Harvard, Yale, Princeton and places like Amherst are unrealistic. What would be realistic? Kid does not want to go to the Sputh and isn’t super interested in California so we are primarily looking Northeast, mid Atlantic, or upper Midwest.

Thanks for any ideas.

I didn't read the other thread. But this describes my DD's friend who got in from a Tysons Corner (Vienna/Falls Church) HS in 2020. OF course this is just 1 person I know of personally. She applied ED to their music program.

2020 was an easier admit year because so many students deferred, across the board - MUCH more difficult in subsequent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public school grades have become so inflated it’s really hard to say. A target would be UVa, VaTech, William &Mary or Maryland CP, depending what state you are in. I think T20 will be unrealistic, but there is no harm applying if your dd understands it is an extreme long shot. It’s very hard for girls in particular right now.

A 3.95 UW gpa is near perfect. They have great SATs and ECs with leadership. If T20 is out of reach for this kid, then it's out of reach for any kid.

You have no clue how common these grades are these days. More than 20 percent of the class will have similar grades.

Do you have any data to back up that claim?

There have been multiple threads on this forum about the topic, do a search.

Usually it’s bitter parents of mediocre students in private school complaining about public school kids taking spots in colleges they view as belonging to their kids.

See the post above from the Howard county parent.