Where do low A- students from highly selective, rigorous, elite high schools get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Profile:

-Female
-White
-Won't qualify for need-based aid
-Not a first gen student
-Not interested in the schools to which she is a legacy
-Highly selective and rigorous high school with big-name recognition (a large %age of kids go on to Ives and TTs)
-Low A- average (pretty much a 90 on the dot), a mix of As and Bs (due to ADHD), nothing ever lower than a B-
-All honors courses
-D3 equivalent athlete (but not interested in too many D3 schools due to size)
-Leadership: Team captain, club president, peer leader
-Great extra-curriculars all with long-term commitment
-Volunteering
-1500 SAT (will take it again and try for higher)
-Very personable, mature, and well-liked by both peers and adults
-Humble and empathetic

She's used to a competitive environment, a tough workload, being surrounded by extremely bright peers, and the clout that's attached to attending a prestigious (nerd) school. Due to her grades, I fear the schools on her preliminary list are all reach schools, even though Naviance shows many of them as a match (I'm not convinced because many of the schools show NA for GPA). And her GC thinks it's too early to discuss. But we need to make plans to see schools this spring, and I don't want to waste time and money seeing the wrong schools.

Based on her profile and type of HS, what elite colleges are worth even trying for?

Michigan
Wisconsin
UMD
UNC instate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you know (or could guess) class rank? Top 5%?10%? 20%?

HS does not rank students because there are too many high performers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is she interested in studying?

Likely something in Liberal Arts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kids are a highly selective, rigorous high school, why aren’t you asking the school?

LOL - our highly selective, rigorous school would not have provided her with anything useful....so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ED Chicago or Cornell or Tulane, BC, Wake, UVA, Wisc, Colby, Bowdoin, Richmond, Sewanee

way too high - this would be a waste

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GC thinks it is too early? What her grade?

11th

They said spring, so it should be soon. But it's disappointing because it doesn't leave much time for tours before the end of this school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ED Chicago or Cornell or Tulane, BC, Wake, UVA, Wisc, Colby, Bowdoin, Richmond, Sewanee

Not ED Chicago and Cornell unfortunately with a 90.

May I suggest Grinnell, Bates, Denison, Davidson ED. My kid's friend with a similar academic profile and similarly talented got in ED at Davidson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This describes my child to a T (more As than Bs, but has a glaring C+ in APUSH from junior year.) No ADHD; just early onset senioritis. Counselors (school counselor and private counselor) advised him to cast a wide net because they believe that C+ may automatically take him out of the running at some schools. White male unhooked business major. Amazing ECs and a 1540 SAT.

So, his list (while we await results):

ED1: Villanova - denied

EA: Kelley/IU (accepted as direct admit); Providence (accepted); Fordham (accepted); Richmond (waiting to hear)

Regular Decision (we understand many are reaches):
Lehigh
Lafayette
Bucknell
Wake
Holy Cross
W&M
BC
BU

Your kid got denied Villanova with a 1500?

WITH A FREAKING 1540 AND FULL PAY. NOT THAT IT EVER BOTHERED ME. They are dead to me now.

How much of a difference does full pay make?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This describes my child to a T (more As than Bs, but has a glaring C+ in APUSH from junior year.) No ADHD; just early onset senioritis. Counselors (school counselor and private counselor) advised him to cast a wide net because they believe that C+ may automatically take him out of the running at some schools. White male unhooked business major. Amazing ECs and a 1540 SAT.

So, his list (while we await results):

ED1: Villanova - denied

EA: Kelley/IU (accepted as direct admit); Providence (accepted); Fordham (accepted); Richmond (waiting to hear)

Regular Decision (we understand many are reaches):
Lehigh
Lafayette
Bucknell
Wake
Holy Cross
W&M
BC
BU

Your kid got denied Villanova with a 1500?

They only have so many slots and unfortunately the Pope’s son applied this year AND he’s amazing at basketball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Profile:

-Female
-White
-Won't qualify for need-based aid
-Not a first gen student
-Not interested in the schools to which she is a legacy
-Highly selective and rigorous high school with big-name recognition (a large %age of kids go on to Ives and TTs)
-Low A- average (pretty much a 90 on the dot), a mix of As and Bs (due to ADHD), nothing ever lower than a B-
-All honors courses
-D3 equivalent athlete (but not interested in too many D3 schools due to size)
-Leadership: Team captain, club president, peer leader
-Great extra-curriculars all with long-term commitment
-Volunteering
-1500 SAT (will take it again and try for higher)
-Very personable, mature, and well-liked by both peers and adults
-Humble and empathetic

She's used to a competitive environment, a tough workload, being surrounded by extremely bright peers, and the clout that's attached to attending a prestigious (nerd) school. Due to her grades, I fear the schools on her preliminary list are all reach schools, even though Naviance shows many of them as a match (I'm not convinced because many of the schools show NA for GPA). And her GC thinks it's too early to discuss. But we need to make plans to see schools this spring, and I don't want to waste time and money seeing the wrong schools.

Based on her profile and type of HS, what elite colleges are worth even trying for?

My DD was eerily the same in every element that you described -- was accepted ED to Cornell. Granted this was 4 years ago. Good luck

That's great, does she love it? What do you think was her differentiator? My kid wants to apply ED to Cornell, but I fear it could be a waste of an ED

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VA Tech
U of Richmond
BU and BC
Wake Forest
Tulane
Denison
Mount Holyoke
Lafayette and Lehigh
Union
Ohio State
Pitt
UNH

Good list, one thing I would caution though is with regards to BU. If your daughter has any incling of potentially pursing further studies (be it JD, MBA, PhD) after undergrad, I would advice her to steer clear of BU. Unless things have changed in the last 5-10 years, BU was known as a GPA deflator (granted this is more anectodal, I don't have hard facts handy), meaning it is harder to get high grades at BU than at comparable institutions. Don't get me wrong it's a great school, but it lite tally being difficult to get high or good GPA here would make me worry.

No interest in BU, but that's an interesting point. Are there other schools known to be a GPA deflator to be aware of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Profile:

-Female
-White
-Won't qualify for need-based aid
-Not a first gen student
-Not interested in the schools to which she is a legacy
-Highly selective and rigorous high school with big-name recognition (a large %age of kids go on to Ives and TTs)
-Low A- average (pretty much a 90 on the dot), a mix of As and Bs (due to ADHD), nothing ever lower than a B-
-All honors courses
-D3 equivalent athlete (but not interested in too many D3 schools due to size)
-Leadership: Team captain, club president, peer leader
-Great extra-curriculars all with long-term commitment
-Volunteering
-1500 SAT (will take it again and try for higher)
-Very personable, mature, and well-liked by both peers and adults
-Humble and empathetic

She's used to a competitive environment, a tough workload, being surrounded by extremely bright peers, and the clout that's attached to attending a prestigious (nerd) school. Due to her grades, I fear the schools on her preliminary list are all reach schools, even though Naviance shows many of them as a match (I'm not convinced because many of the schools show NA for GPA). And her GC thinks it's too early to discuss. But we need to make plans to see schools this spring, and I don't want to waste time and money seeing the wrong schools.

Based on her profile and type of HS, what elite colleges are worth even trying for?

My DD was eerily the same in every element that you described -- was accepted ED to Cornell. Granted this was 4 years ago. Good luck

That's great, does she love it? What do you think was her differentiator? My kid wants to apply ED to Cornell, but I fear it could be a waste of an ED

Cornell does vary by College. Signficantly more competitive for COE and CAS and Dyson than the other colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This describes my child to a T (more As than Bs, but has a glaring C+ in APUSH from junior year.) No ADHD; just early onset senioritis. Counselors (school counselor and private counselor) advised him to cast a wide net because they believe that C+ may automatically take him out of the running at some schools. White male unhooked business major. Amazing ECs and a 1540 SAT.

So, his list (while we await results):

ED1: Villanova - denied

EA: Kelley/IU (accepted as direct admit); Providence (accepted); Fordham (accepted); Richmond (waiting to hear)

Regular Decision (we understand many are reaches):
Lehigh
Lafayette
Bucknell
Wake
Holy Cross
W&M
BC
BU

Your kid got denied Villanova with a 1500?

They only have so many slots and unfortunately the Pope’s son applied this year AND he’s amazing at basketball.

Does the pope even have a son?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GC thinks it is too early? What her grade?

11th

They said spring, so it should be soon. But it's disappointing because it doesn't leave much time for tours before the end of this school year.

The GC has to take care of the seniors first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about some of the women's college, like Smith or Bryn Mawr, that have close collaborations with nearby co-ed schools? They could be a bit easier admits, but still lots of rigor.

Not her her cup of tea