My kid isn't getting in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The difference between one big public flagship university and another is not too great. The difference in experience between that and a small private is huge. It sounds like OP's kid wanted a small private and they didn't apply low enough on the selectivity scale. Leaving him stuck with a big public experience he was trying to avoid.

Lets be honest. Public school sucks compared to private school. (I went public through grad school and my kids are in public now). I'm sad because a kidlike that could have gotten decent merit at a lower ranked private like Macalester or Oberlin.

Funny, Oberlin produced 4 Nobel prize alums, one of whom turned Caltech from a local vocational school to what it is today.

Oh, it’s you again, Obie booster.

unless someone from Oberlin cures cancer plus negotiates the total destruction of the nuclear stockpile, they won't make up for producing lena Dunham who is basically an entitled humanoid toad. not a frog, or lizard but a toad, I feel a bit bad for mr. toad in frog and toad saying she's a toad actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The difference between one big public flagship university and another is not too great. The difference in experience between that and a small private is huge. It sounds like OP's kid wanted a small private and they didn't apply low enough on the selectivity scale. Leaving him stuck with a big public experience he was trying to avoid.

Lets be honest. Public school sucks compared to private school. (I went public through grad school and my kids are in public now). I'm sad because a kidlike that could have gotten decent merit at a lower ranked private like Macalester or Oberlin.

Funny, Oberlin produced 4 Nobel prize alums, one of whom turned Caltech from a local vocational school to what it is today.

Oh, it’s you again, Obie booster.

unless someone from Oberlin cures cancer plus negotiates the total destruction of the nuclear stockpile, they won't make up for producing lena Dunham who is basically an entitled humanoid toad. not a frog, or lizard but a toad, I feel a bit bad for mr. toad in frog and toad saying she's a toad actually.

Thank you for that last disclaimer. Toad is my favorite: "This is not my button! This button is square, my button was round!" Now that is quality.

Girls would be far more entertaining if it were like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njs7TFQ0b2s
I have OCD, Old Cow Disease, is why I have rubber hand. --Blerta

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, thanks for not blaming the URM boogeyman like most of the grievance-,filled DCUM posters do when their DC doesn't get admitted to his/ her college of choice.

God damn it. Some of you act like admissions standards aren't quantifiably lower for URMs and first gens. The data is readily available: they are. And each of those acceptances means one fewer acceptance for students -- many of them sons and daughters of people who post here -- not in favored demographic groups but with much higher stats. It's bull crap. And just to preempt the response I'm sure is coming, yes, legacies have gotten the same favorable treatment for many years. That's bull crap too.

A poor brown kid did not steal your kid’s spot. Try harder next time.

Exactly. The entitlement burns.

Look, I have no dog in this fight. But neither of the 2 immediate PPs are contributing anything constructive to the discussion raised. It's not "entitlement" to think that you work hard and excel = you get into a top school. That is how it has been -and some think it should be- forever. Why should those kids go to "lesser" schools when they've worked hard to get the top grades?

Answer the PPs question -and I'd like to know the answer- are the admit standards lower or not for certain demographics and groups?

I looked up Thurgood Marshall because I remembered reading that he wanted to go to University of Maryland but was not able to attend. From Wikipedia “ Marshall wanted to study in his hometown law school, the University of Maryland School of Law, but did not apply because of the school's policy of segregation… Marshall graduated from Howard Law in 1933 ranked first in his class with an LL.B. magna cum laude”. Per your argument that since the beginning of time people could expect if they worked hard they would get into the top school begs the question what people are you referring to? Do you really not have a dog, or dog whistle as it may be, in this fight?

Nice try. You would eat your words if you knew me personally or my politics. Dog whistle . . . maybe reserve that for situations you know something about.

[Anonymous]

It just needs to be reiterated that barring some extraordinary compensatory talent or achievements, no one is getting into "elite" schools without rigorous coursework across all fields, including math and science. I don't know why we need 27 pages to discuss why OP's kid isn't getting in when their lack of rigor in math and science was so obviously the issue with their application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No high school in America requires calculus based physics. Lol

Medical schools don't even require it. [/quot+1

Medical schools require algebra based calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK here's the brutal truth. My kid is a 90% kid who thinks he's a 99% kid. 1500 SAT. 4.5W GPA with a solid rigor- 11 APs but not in hard science or math. He got into Scholars but not Honors at college park. Rejected from UVA. Neither outcome was unexpected, but both still hurt.

We paid for test prep. We paid for a college counselor. We paid for editors for the essay. We did not pay for private K-12. So recs were from public school teachers and administrators who are overworked and can't really glow even if they want to. We filled out a FAFSA.

He's getting rejected or deferred from everywhere (elite publics and privates) except safety schools. I know, it happens. I know we should have been prepared for this. It has to happen to someone.

And as special as my kid is, being 90th percentile in a world of 99.9th percentile can be a crappy feeling. Add to that not being full pay, not being a legacy, and not being a recruited athlete. I wish I could undo the last two years. I wish I could reset as the goal getting admitted to the state flagship and other out of state publics that offer merit aid and call it a day. That's good enough and trying to shoot for more is a dream that is largely reserved for the extra-brilliant, or the upper crust.

If I could do it over I would have him apply to Miami of Ohio and Wisconsin and Pitt and the other public schools that take a lot of kids from this area instead of all these crazy expensive private schools with much smaller classes where kids like him applying are a dime a dozen. At the time he didn't want to because he knew College Park is a better school than all these options. So he'd rather cast a wide net with the more selective private schools. But now it's coming down to the wire and it really feels like he will literally have NO choices. I am regretting his whole strategy. I just hope similar parents out there can hear this and inform their own choices.

His stats are not far from my dc who is urm. Did not apply to Slacs. And pursued heavy math and science—most rigorous at high school. Results have been good. Also, my dc has really good ECs and good application. I think it boils down to understanding things and not being too proud/overconfident in this process. Again, we’re urm, had almost same profile (lower SAT), great ECs and chose colleges that were mainly safety and matches.

I hope you dc finds a great option also.