Now that decisions are out.....where are the non-perfect kids getting accepted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get ready for a lot of craziness. My son was waitlisted at a school where he was above the 75th percentile range for SAT score ie one of his 2 safeties.

He did get accepted at 2 publics - wisconsin-madison and vermont. Since we are DC residents, this is good news.

Wisconsin 100% Ok i am biased, I went to Wisconsin but I also lived in Burlington for a year after college and thought it was a cute town but a much less engaged, vibrant campus. Both are FREEZING in the winter (that lake air) but I presume your DS knew that going in. PS Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

That seems crazy - in at Williams but not W&M?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid with strong ECs; 4.1 w GPA and 28 ACT got into several mid-level SLACs (Macalester, Franklin & Marshall and Northeastern) and UVM. Classmates with fewer ECs and higher test scores were offered a lot more money. So, even when schools that say test scores don't factor into admission, that might be true. Merit aid feels like is directly tied to standardized test scores.

I don't consider Franklin & Marshall and Macalester to be mid-level. I think both are very well respected, just not tippy top. I think both have admit rates at 30% or lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

That seems crazy - in at Williams but not W&M?

SLACs love that 4.0 GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

That seems crazy - in at Williams but not W&M?

SLACs love that 4.0 GPA.

Isn't W&M SLAC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low test scores can be a problem. Ds has a 3.5 uw gpa (4.2 w)and 1500 SAT and was accepted at Villanova, Lehigh, Bucknell, URochester, etc. His best friend has a 3.7 uw (4.2w) and an 1190 SAT and is a URM. He was rejected from a similar spread of schools, and only accepted at a state school with an 80% acceptance rate and Penn State. It doesn’t seem fair.

Did the 1190 kid prep for the SAT? I think that most kids should be able to break 1200 with prep. Undiagnosed learning disability? It's reading comprehension and algebra.

Isn't there precalc on the SAT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low test scores can be a problem. Ds has a 3.5 uw gpa (4.2 w)and 1500 SAT and was accepted at Villanova, Lehigh, Bucknell, URochester, etc. His best friend has a 3.7 uw (4.2w) and an 1190 SAT and is a URM. He was rejected from a similar spread of schools, and only accepted at a state school with an 80% acceptance rate and Penn State. It doesn’t seem fair.

Did the 1190 kid prep for the SAT? I think that most kids should be able to break 1200 with prep. Undiagnosed learning disability? It's reading comprehension and algebra.

I took the SATs in the early 90s and with test prep, I just broke 1000. I had a 3.3 GPA at a college prep school. I didn't test well. I now have 2 Master's degrees. My son is the opposite. Very intelligent and tests well but the day to day grades aren't so great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

No at UVA and W&M and in at Amherst and Williams? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

That seems crazy - in at Williams but not W&M?

And why would you omit UVA from that question? Standardized scores significantly higher at Williams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

That seems crazy - in at Williams but not W&M?

SLACs love that 4.0 GPA.

Isn't W&M SLAC?

It might be closer to an SLAC than big state schools, but there really aren't any 8,800 student SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

No at UVA and W&M and in at Amherst and Williams? Wow.

Yeah, that PP smells like a troll. I'm quite familiar with those schools and have kids at 3 out of 4 of them. No way that happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

No at UVA and W&M and in at Amherst and Williams? Wow.

Yeah, that PP smells like a troll. I'm quite familiar with those schools and have kids at 3 out of 4 of them. No way that happened.

Maybe a side door entrance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

No at UVA and W&M and in at Amherst and Williams? Wow.

Yeah, that PP smells like a troll. I'm quite familiar with those schools and have kids at 3 out of 4 of them. No way that happened.

Maybe a side door entrance?

Out of state admits to W&M and UVA are tough. Particularly if several strong students apply from the same out of state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

In all fairness, a 33 on the ACT isn't "slightly" better, it's equivalent to a 1460 on the SAT.

[Anonymous]

My DS: 3.9 W, 1520 SAT, EC's is that he's been working since he was 15. Well respected NOVA Public High School.

In at VCU, Loyola-Chicago (with merit), SMU (with merit), William & Mary, and NYU.

Didn't get into: Northwestern, Rice, UVA, Tulane, and BU. The latter one surprised us, but oh well. He's happy, we're happy.