How the hell is anyone supposed to get into college now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges are very easy to get into.

This. There are thousands of schools that most kids can get into.

Sure, but they’re schools at risk of closing. No thanks

Fine…so focus on the top 250 national schools. Heck, Michigan State is ranked #60 and has an 89% acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to a top private school. You can get into Yale or another top10 school without the nationally ranked extracurriculars. Just do extremely well in school (top 5-10%) and have ordinary extracurriculars (head of a few clubs, etc). It's extremely hard to be at or near the top of a class of very bright kids but it's a pretty reliable formula.

So easy. Just be top top top. Thanks.

Well it's more attainable than being a virtuoso violinist or a Regeneron science prize winner or whatever it takes to get into Yale (or similar) from public.
From a top private you can just be the head of the history club and a peer tutor and get in (if you have the top grades).

[Anonymous]

Parent of rising college freshman here. The best advice I’ve got is to get off DCUM. It creates extra anxiety about the process.

My child, who was top 25% of class with “only” 6 APs and “only” two activities, got into all the schools she applied to. She received merit from most. These weren’t unknown regional schools, either. Many were state flagships. She didn’t have a hook, no national recognitions, etc.

It’ll be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges are very easy to get into.

This. There are thousands of schools that most kids can get into.

Sure, but they’re schools at risk of closing. No thanks

Lol. Nope. DCUM is a bubble. Step out of it and you'll see the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full pay helps

Didn’t work for us

[Anonymous]

What does national level ECs (extra curriculars)” mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does national level ECs (extra curriculars)” mean?

Regeneron science winner
National chess champion
Top ranked national figure skater
National Debate finalist

There are many other examples…you compete against people from all over the country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting into the second tier schools like Mich really isn’t that hard. You just need the stats and scores. And you need to be strategic, know which regions and which schools the college likes the pull kids from. There are schools that have 3-4 kids accepted into Mich every year. This may not be where your HS sends kids. So figure out if they send kids to NYU or another school.

I disagree. Michigan routinely denies valedictorians

Michigan waitlisted my A Student IB Diploma DD. Has old time ECs like newspaper EIC and sports captain, plus a couple of good internships. Perhaps because TO. But going to a top 15 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of rising college freshman here. The best advice I’ve got is to get off DCUM. It creates extra anxiety about the process.

My child, who was top 25% of class with “only” 6 APs and “only” two activities, got into all the schools she applied to. She received merit from most. These weren’t unknown regional schools, either. Many were state flagships. She didn’t have a hook, no national recognitions, etc.

It’ll be okay.

Could you share your admit list? It might make me feel better.

[Anonymous]

DS is friendly with a kid who is one of the top 10 chess players in the country for his age. Near perfect GPA, SATs, and a boatload of other fairly impressive ECs. Advanced 3+ years in math, was taking college courses as a sophomore. Got rejected from Harvard. (Did get into Yale, but still - what else was Harvard looking for?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges are very easy to get into.

This. There are thousands of schools that most kids can get into.

And if all these hugely accomplished students are rejected from top schools and have to go to less competitive schools, they'll have plenty of classmates in the same situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like so many straight A students who were chief school newspaper editor, captain of a varsity sports team, volunteering, and more who can't even get to VA Tech. I don't know what people who get into schools like Michigan or the Ivy Leagues are doing in high school.

My daughter's friend who got into Yale was an Asian male with a very high wGPA who won Science Olympiad competitions and is an advanced string player.

Straight A doesn't mean anything, OP, you should know this. There is a world's difference between an A in a regular classs and an A in an AP class. Kids who get into the top colleges have 10+ APs, have a national level EC, etc. Your newpaper editing and team captainship worked a generation ago, but not today.

This is sounds exhausting. Kids have no time to be kids.

They have a ton of time. It's really not that unachievable. We have a ton of college options. If you don't want to be competitive for the top ones, tap out and go to a decent one.

If you go to school all day, play sports after school, eat dinner and have hours of homework, how the hell do you have a ton if time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay helps

Do you indicate full pay on the application? How does full pay help?

Yes. Common App asks if you will be seeking FA. You say yes or no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like so many straight A students who were chief school newspaper editor, captain of a varsity sports team, volunteering, and more who can't even get to VA Tech. I don't know what people who get into schools like Michigan or the Ivy Leagues are doing in high school.

Michigan's acceptance rate is 20%. 25% of the students who even bother to submit an SAT score, scored below a 1350. So you likely have 40% of Michigan's freshmen class who scored well below what DCUM thinks is a "good" score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like so many straight A students who were chief school newspaper editor, captain of a varsity sports team, volunteering, and more who can't even get to VA Tech. I don't know what people who get into schools like Michigan or the Ivy Leagues are doing in high school.

My daughter's friend who got into Yale was an Asian male with a very high wGPA who won Science Olympiad competitions and is an advanced string player.

Straight A doesn't mean anything, OP, you should know this. There is a world's difference between an A in a regular classs and an A in an AP class. Kids who get into the top colleges have 10+ APs, have a national level EC, etc. Your newpaper editing and team captainship worked a generation ago, but not today.

This is sounds exhausting. Kids have no time to be kids.

They have a ton of time. It's really not that unachievable. We have a ton of college options. If you don't want to be competitive for the top ones, tap out and go to a decent one.

If you go to school all day, play sports after school, eat dinner and have hours of homework, how the hell do you have a ton if time?

This.
Ds does this and has zero time for anything other than the above.

Ok, just about squeezes in shower time.