Hired by Google as L4 but rejected by top colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I'll take the bait.

I had opposite stats as this kid I got into EVERY college I applied to (including MIT) except Stanford. Why? Stanford accepted 3 boys from my high school during early binding admission so even though I had equal or better stats for at least 2 of the 3 I didn't get in because of how I applied (regular admission). I'm assuming this kid did the same and missed out for a variety of reasons including the competition at his own school. Really this isn't about race.

Maybe not, but shows how messed up the system is. That is still wrong the was penalized for being from a competitive HS. Unless this is a magnet school, he has no control over this.

[Anonymous]

It's not always school that helps you realise your potential. It is much more important to educate yourself and find a good mentor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There is nothing wrong with the kid. He’s just competing for spots against the other extremely well-qualified kids from his own HS. This isn’t rocket science, people.

Other than a lower gpa, I can't imagine how many other kids are better than this kid.

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

[Anonymous]

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.


True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

[Anonymous]

Most companies don’t require a college degree for entry level jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

Not if you are not dumb and unqualified to be at those schools. If you are actually intelligent and studios, then it will definitely help quite a bit in admissions to top universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

Not if you are not dumb and unqualified to be at those schools. If you are actually intelligent and studios, then it will definitely help quite a bit in admissions to top universities.

So this kid was too "dumb and unqualified" to be at his HS?

No, he's a bright kid surrounded by a lot of other bright kids. This kid may have been top 1-5% at most other HSs. Maybe even valedictorian.

You don't seem to understand how the admissions math works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

Not if you are not dumb and unqualified to be at those schools. If you are actually intelligent and studios, then it will definitely help quite a bit in admissions to top universities.

Um, this whole thread is about a kid who is actually intelligent and studious and went to a top-ranked high school but nevertheless was rejected at top universities. Therefore, attending a top high school will not "definitely" help you get into a top university even if you are intelligent and studious.

I would not subject my kid to the horror of attending Mount Vernon HS, but the strategy of being "the smartest kid at Mount Vernon HS" as a college entrance strategy is plausible now that colleges are evaluating kids based on the zip code of their HS.

[Anonymous]

Without naming names I know (chatted with at least) one family that is sending their kids to possible the worst HS in MCPS. They are wealthy. Their after-school and weekend activities are darn expensive. But for some reason the kids are attending a school they could easily avoid. I wonder if they are playing that angle?

That is my cynical side. It could also be that they are just making sure their kids understand that they don't have to fence themselves off and away from "the poors"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had opposite stats as this kid I got into EVERY college I applied to (including MIT) except Stanford. Why? Stanford accepted 3 boys from my high school during early binding admission so even though I had equal or better stats for at least 2 of the 3 I didn't get in because of how I applied (regular admission). I'm assuming this kid did the same and missed out for a variety of reasons including the competition at his own school. Really this isn't about race.


Maybe he did apply Regular decision instead of ED. But that is a problem with the system. Lots of kids aren't sure where they want to go by November 1st and a lot of families can't make a financial commitment because they need to compare prices. ED is a contributing factor that results in great kids like this kid getting shut out from numerous colleges. It is adding to the lottery like quality that admissions to top schools that now seems the norm. The college admission system is not working!

It is working! He got into 2 excellent schools for CS! That is a difficult admit at most top colleges, with limited spaces. You are not supposed to get into all 20 T20 schools. His rejections are all from highly rejective schools, then add in his CS major makes it even more rejective. Had he applied to more in the 25-60 range, he would have more acceptances---many excellent schools in that range that do NOT restrict majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I'll take the bait.

I had opposite stats as this kid I got into EVERY college I applied to (including MIT) except Stanford. Why? Stanford accepted 3 boys from my high school during early binding admission so even though I had equal or better stats for at least 2 of the 3 I didn't get in because of how I applied (regular admission). I'm assuming this kid did the same and missed out for a variety of reasons including the competition at his own school. Really this isn't about race.

Maybe not, but shows how messed up the system is. That is still wrong the was penalized for being from a competitive HS. Unless this is a magnet school, he has no control over this.

So what---fact is schools do not want to select 50 kids from the same HS. They are allowed to want kids from all states and all cities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.


True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

He got rejected because of his MAJOR! CS is a highly selective major at most Top schools. He got rejected from Washington OOS---their acceptance rate for CS for OOS is 3%, with the majority of applicants being Highly qualified. Had he applied for engineering or anything else he probably would have been admitted to many of those schools. And just like he applied to 20+ schools, so did most of his "higher ranked" classmates at his HS....many probably wanting to be CS majors as well. Fact is very few colleges take 40+ kids from the same HS for the same major. I'm willing to bet the HS counselor told his family this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had opposite stats as this kid I got into EVERY college I applied to (including MIT) except Stanford. Why? Stanford accepted 3 boys from my high school during early binding admission so even though I had equal or better stats for at least 2 of the 3 I didn't get in because of how I applied (regular admission). I'm assuming this kid did the same and missed out for a variety of reasons including the competition at his own school. Really this isn't about race.


Maybe he did apply Regular decision instead of ED. But that is a problem with the system. Lots of kids aren't sure where they want to go by November 1st and a lot of families can't make a financial commitment because they need to compare prices. ED is a contributing factor that results in great kids like this kid getting shut out from numerous colleges. It is adding to the lottery like quality that admissions to top schools that now seems the norm. The college admission system is not working!

It is working! He got into 2 excellent schools for CS! That is a difficult admit at most top colleges, with limited spaces. You are not supposed to get into all 20 T20 schools. His rejections are all from highly rejective schools, then add in his CS major makes it even more rejective. Had he applied to more in the 25-60 range, he would have more acceptances---many excellent schools in that range that do NOT restrict majors.

So, does that mean that he's actually not that high achieving to be rejected from T10 for CS? Or that it was a lottery, and he lost?

I say this as a parent of a CS major at UMD who also got rejected at those same schools with incredibly high stats (higher than this kid's) from a magnet program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

He attends a high-performing high school, ranked #1 in the SF area, so many of the kids will very competitive. Enough to grab acceptances.

If he’s 10% rank out of 460 kids, there are 45 kids with better GPAs. And the vast majority of those will have impressive applications as well. Potentially better essays and recommendations as well.

Top colleges aren’t typically accepting 40-50 kids from one high school.

True, he was competing with a lot of other accomplished kids but he applied and got rejected from a wide range of schools. There is a problem when a really bright, accomplished kid gets rejected from multiple simply because he attends a competitive high school. The college admission system is struggling since SAT became optional and grade inflation became common.

This is exactly why attending a private school or a magnet like TJ may decrease your chance of admissions at top schools.

We can't see this kid's application or the applications of the 40-50 other kids from his HS who were ranked higher.

And we can't read too much into this one kid's experience. It sucks, but no one is entitled to admission.

BINGO! Nobody is entitled to admissions. CS is a tough admit at most schools---schools with a 25% admission rate normally will often have 4-5% admit rate for CS. UC have plenty of highly qualified in-state applications for CS at the top schools---most of the 45-50 kids ranked higher than him at his HS likely applied to those same schools.
He had this experience because he applied to a highly rejective major at mostly highly rejective schools. Not hard to do the math and figure out this outcome can easily happen. He could have chosen many excellent schools that have a higher admit rate or do no restrict admission to CS/Eng/any majors. But he didn't. Had he it would look very different