How did your super high stats kid fare (1550 plus and 4.5 plus with max rigor)
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
This past cycle was a lot easier than the peak of the madness that was 2022 and 2023: the worst years for unhooked white and ORM kids at T10/ivy who had top stats. TO combined with URM goals the schools knew would be ending ruled those two cycles. |
Anonymous
What major for both? |
Anonymous
Congrats! Rice is a very strong school. |
Anonymous
I agree with you to some extent. I hardly knew what my kid was up to in high school. Got into Harvard from a public school that does not send kids to Harvard. Friends are all from NYC/Boston area privates, double Harvard legacies (multiple have both parents that attended Harvard undergrad and/or grad school), some have parents on faculty — these are all kids who have been raised to be successful from birth. They have been educated on what is important to the careers they want to pursue. It is simply not the kind of information that we can provide. So while my kid is doing great, friends are doing better simply because of their parents’ involvement. Yeah they’re not here posting because they are using that time telling their kids what they should do to get ahead. My kid’s friends have said that they are doing X because their parents have asked them to. You don’t know it until you hear from the kids just how involved their parents are, and these kids are going to be successful because of their connections AND their qualifications. Their parents have made sure they will be. |
Anonymous
Unbelievable that your kid had those stats and did not get into CMU/Cornell. CMU loooks for Math-y kids and Cornell loves student-athletes which is why I am surprised by your kid’s outcomes. Just shows that so much more goes into decisions — including institutional priorities — than just stats. |
Anonymous
Econ |
Anonymous
🤔 I think it shows what we hear all the time: once you have minimum stats based on your profile (geographic area, etc), the whole package comes into play. Kid def had the stats: perfect GPA, good testing, high rigor, CS aWards are great. But: varsity athlete is essentially a tiny EC + part time job Those were the listed ECs. That’s nothing. Leadership? Impact? The kid was denied most places bc ECs were very weak. |
Anonymous
Yes the ECs were weak. Likely not enough passsion in essays or intellectual curiosity. Kid probably wasn’t memorable? Remember the stats get you through the door. Then no one cares. It’s about everything else. Too many ppl (on this board and in life) imagine the stats are part of the discussion in the T25 admissions room. They are not. It’s just the minimum requirement and then it becomes everything else. It’s always a question of being able to forcefully answer: Why this kid? And the answer is never grades or test scores. Remind your kids to try new things, add texture to their applications with unusual activities and interests. Don’t be one-dimensional. |
Anonymous
NP. My kid's headed to Rice too. Perhaps their paths will cross at O Week. 
|
Anonymous
|
Agree with the others. Stats get you in the door or in the conversation and nothing more.
I spent way too much time reading on Reddit this year. Pretty much anyone with a 3.8 unweighted (from any school--not just the grade deflated privates ) and a 1480 (or 1400 from a rough school) are in the conversation for top20 schools. Then the other stuff comes into play: geographic diversity, FGLI, academic rigor, awards, extracurriculars, major choice, etc. etc. etc. The list is a mile long from shoe-in stuff like the FGLI to more lottery (i.e. maybe any one school take the bate cause they need you, maybe they don't) stuff like a particular hobby or major etc. |
Anonymous
This is how my older kids got into Ivy and T10 in last 3 years. Neither had higher than a 33 ACT from a private school. Both had near 3.8uw. But both had very deep, unusual interests that tied into their academic majors. Long duration ECs that showed intellectual curiosity/initiative/grit, not easily repeatable without many years of involvement. And very true to themselves, their interests and their passions. I know everyone thinks it’s about the numbers. At the margins it is. But at the end of the day they want interesting passionate students who have a deep history of doing what they love and explaining why they love it. Find something unusual and go deep. Look for Seminar style (300/400) classes at universities in their areas of interest; that’s the level of niche we’re talking about. And not some fake manufactured passion project with some third-party. There’s a lot of ways to do this on your own. I suggest doing research online like Reddit as suggested, or even on Facebook to get EC and other suggestions. This place does not seem to be as helpful as it was three or so years ago with the type of detailed advice parents used to share. Now it just seems to be dominated by trolls complaining. Go to other sources where the information is ripe to help guide you in the process. |
Anonymous
This. |
Anonymous
| If folks stuck to the original question this forum could be useful. OP asked how your high stats + high rigor kids fared. It was very useful in correcting the expectations while people were posting where their kids were denied, waitlisted, accepted and admitted. Over analyzing of what AOs may or may look for is useless. Don’t suck up the oxygen and just let people provide their data! |
Anonymous
No one cares |
Anonymous
Agree 💯 I see it with all of the finance internships that the ivy kids get even after freshman year. Yes, there are internships to be had that early, based on who you know. |