Wesleyan, Tufts, and Reed (and other schools)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do realize that most ED applications are due this week, right? If your DC truly is at a Big3, you might be better off talking with your school's counselors than throwing things open to dcum.

OP here. Yes Big 3 and we are well aware of 11/15 deadline. DC may pass on ED but still go EA. The counselors at the school refrain from being critical of colleges or suggesting one over the other or giving a more personal opinion beyond “here are colleges that may be a good fit for you”. DCUM offers something different and obviously more personal as folks may have attended a school or had a child or other family member/friend who did. That is more depth that the counselors can provide when they don’t have that level of knowledge for each and every college that students at their school consider.

If school counselors could answer all questions from every aspect then there wouldn’t be the need or desire for a forum like this where parents can reach out to other parents/families to get their experiences or insights. It offers supplemental and complementary info to what is given by the counselors.

Which big 3? It does not sound your DC's counselor is doing a good job. Hope not the big 3 my DC is at. He is a freshman, so we do not know if his school counselors are good or not yet.

I agree. Not my experience with a DC who just graduated from a Big 3. All counselors were available to all seniors and all parents literally all the time during this fall period. DC had an assigned counselor who was wonderful, but the other counselors were just as accessible and helpful.

And all of the Big 3s send lots of kids to these schools every year. For places like Wesleyan, Tufts, Haverford, the Claremont schools, and others, they visit them, keep up with alum who go they're, know the admissions staff, and sometimes even came from those admissions offices.

Why you want to listen to stories about Reed in the 90s or some neighbor's niece at Vassar is beyond me, when you have people who actually know your kid well (or certainly should!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do realize that most ED applications are due this week, right? If your DC truly is at a Big3, you might be better off talking with your school's counselors than throwing things open to dcum.

OP here. Yes Big 3 and we are well aware of 11/15 deadline. DC may pass on ED but still go EA. The counselors at the school refrain from being critical of colleges or suggesting one over the other or giving a more personal opinion beyond “here are colleges that may be a good fit for you”. DCUM offers something different and obviously more personal as folks may have attended a school or had a child or other family member/friend who did. That is more depth that the counselors can provide when they don’t have that level of knowledge for each and every college that students at their school consider.

If school counselors could answer all questions from every aspect then there wouldn’t be the need or desire for a forum like this where parents can reach out to other parents/families to get their experiences or insights. It offers supplemental and complementary info to what is given by the counselors.

Which big 3? It does not sound your DC's counselor is doing a good job. Hope not the big 3 my DC is at. He is a freshman, so we do not know if his school counselors are good or not yet.

I agree. Not my experience with a DC who just graduated from a Big 3. All counselors were available to all seniors and all parents literally all the time during this fall period. DC had an assigned counselor who was wonderful, but the other counselors were just as accessible and helpful.

And all of the Big 3s send lots of kids to these schools every year. For places like Wesleyan, Tufts, Haverford, the Claremont schools, and others, they visit them, keep up with alum who go they're, know the admissions staff, and sometimes even came from those admissions offices.

Why you want to listen to stories about Reed in the 90s or some neighbor's niece at Vassar is beyond me, when you have people who actually know your kid well (or certainly should!).

GDS posts matriculation data. Just went on their site. Over past four years for OP's list of top college choices, GDS has 13 matriculated at tufts, 12 at Brown, 6 at Wes, and 1 at Reed. I'm guessing the Cathedral schools and Sidwell have similar numbers. These counselors know these colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Male or female? Male has an admission advantage at SLACs

Coming from private or public? A public school kid with that GPA will have to lower his/her sights.

A progressive kid will be just fine at Tufts - no more or less than Brown or Wes. So don't use that to make a judgment.

Vassar? (a male has a huge admissions advantage here)
Lots of progressive kids at Bard & Sarah Lawrence

Yes, Reed is more rigorous than the other school.

Music makes me think of Oberlin, Lawrence and St Olaf

Thank you for the thoughtful info. DC attends one of the Big 3 in DC. Is GPA really viewed that differently between public and private?

FYI I’m the OP and that’s my response above.

Absolutely. A 3.6 at a Big 3 (especially with upward trend) is very good. (I've had kids in both public and private.) My DC graduated from a Big 3 last year and the counselor was very, very helpful in putting together a college list with DC.

Maybe look at Amherst too, as a reach. Lots of music kids there, the English department is great, it has a completely open curriculum, and its town is better than Middletown (although the kids I know at Wes don't complain about the town).

In lieu of being able to tour colleges, the Fiske College Guide is good for describing and comparing schools.

Yes, there is less grade inflation at the big three privates than there is in most public high schools and most colleges realize that. However, your kid's private school GPA may be more impressive given less grade inflation, but colleges still don't love it because it affects their US news and other rankings. So admissions offices intellectually realize it's an impressive gpa, but they may or may not be willing to take the stats hit to accept your kid, depending on what else your kid brings to the table.

You don't know what you're talking about.

Can you elaborate on the right information if PP does not know what he/she is talking about?