When Things Appear to Just Easily Work Out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen selective college admissions “just work out” where it appears to happen by luck or easily for an apparently underwhelming candidate?

I keep hearing stories of lower Ivy admits (and other private T25) for seniors who had meh grades (3.75-3.85uw) and so-so scores (33-34) ending up at places like Cornell, WashU, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, USC - from private high schools.

How does this happen unexpectedly? Is the kid just a stealth achiever? Or did a pricey admissions counselor manufacture a story? Or a secret VIP?

Truly curious.

On what planet are those "meh grades"?? Honestly, DCUM never disappoints. The kids who were admitted with those grades and scores absolutely deserve to be there, whether they're from public or private schools. In fact, I always love to see the expressions of people like OP who are shocked to learn that the kids they underestimated made it into an Ivy or other top school.

I agree. These grades and scores —- 3.75-3.85uw) and so-so scores (33-34)[/b] Should end up at places like Cornell, WashU, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, USC - from private high schools. They are the top 5-10% of the class, why wouldn’t they go to these schools? They aren’t going to UMiami!

[Anonymous]

I think the schools have to take a number of full pay students to stay afloat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen selective college admissions “just work out” where it appears to happen by luck or easily for an apparently underwhelming candidate?

I keep hearing stories of lower Ivy admits (and other private T25) for seniors who had meh grades (3.75-3.85uw) and so-so scores (33-34) ending up at places like Cornell, WashU, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory, USC - from private high schools.

How does this happen unexpectedly? Is the kid just a stealth achiever? Or did a pricey admissions counselor manufacture a story? Or a secret VIP?

Truly curious.

Maybe their LOR highlighted their impeccable character. Maybe their essays showed their out of the box thinking. I would never resign a kid who managed to nab any of the Ivies as underwhelming or going through the backdoor of admissions. That's just sourgraping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is headed to an Ivy and other than a few recruited athletes, everyone else going to one had top grades/scores/activities like him and also were admitted to other T10s/20s.

Nobody with the credentials you mention- except 2 legacy and an athlete got into any of the schools you listed.

^ at his high school

Public high school though, right?
3.8uw is low at Public

[Anonymous]

How do you know their grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you “keep hearing” this? You have no idea what these kids’ scores actually are or what their applications look like. Admissions officers compare students’ scores and grades to other kids from the same school. Grades across schools are not a good comparison because grade inflation/deflation makes the comparison meaningless. A 3.75 at one school is not the same as a 3.75 at another school, although both kids are A students. A 33 is a strong enough score that it won’t hurt a student with other attributes.

THIS!!!

+1
And the idea that any person would know what *other* kids' GPA and test scores are is just...ludicrous. These busy bodies are so sure they know everything about all the other students at their kid's school, when in reality, they're just guessing - and usually those guesses are wrong. OP, stick to worrying about your own kid and stop assuming you know anything at all about other kids' qualifications.

Yep people were surprised as hell at my kid’s acceptances since we aren’t tiger parents or bragging about their academics, perfect scores or GT status since birth. We also are an athletic family- though he applied unhooked. Many very surprised responses on the Ivy.

I assume many people like op making completely incorrect assumptions -( uw 4.0 , all 5s APs, 36 act, etc. never mentioned ) and no private counselor or paid for academic summer things, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you “keep hearing” this? You have no idea what these kids’ scores actually are or what their applications look like. Admissions officers compare students’ scores and grades to other kids from the same school. Grades across schools are not a good comparison because grade inflation/deflation makes the comparison meaningless. A 3.75 at one school is not the same as a 3.75 at another school, although both kids are A students. A 33 is a strong enough score that it won’t hurt a student with other attributes.

THIS!!!

+1
And the idea that any person would know what *other* kids' GPA and test scores are is just...ludicrous. These busy bodies are so sure they know everything about all the other students at their kid's school, when in reality, they're just guessing - and usually those guesses are wrong. OP, stick to worrying about your own kid and stop assuming you know anything at all about other kids' qualifications.

Yep people were surprised as hell at my kid’s acceptances since we aren’t tiger parents or bragging about their academics, perfect scores or GT status since birth. We also are an athletic family- though he applied unhooked. Many very surprised responses on the Ivy.

I assume many people like op making completely incorrect assumptions -( uw 4.0 , all 5s APs, 36 act, etc. never mentioned ) and no private counselor or paid for academic summer things, etc

And this is why the only correct reaction towards a kid who got accepted by a college is "Congratulations!"
Trying to analyze why they did or did not deserve the acceptance is just trashy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is headed to an Ivy and other than a few recruited athletes, everyone else going to one had top grades/scores/activities like him and also were admitted to other T10s/20s.

Nobody with the credentials you mention- except 2 legacy and an athlete got into any of the schools you listed.

^ at his high school

Public high school though, right?
3.8uw is low at Public

No. It is not and saying that over and over is hilariously wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know their grades?

They don't. They just think they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you “keep hearing” this? You have no idea what these kids’ scores actually are or what their applications look like. Admissions officers compare students’ scores and grades to other kids from the same school. Grades across schools are not a good comparison because grade inflation/deflation makes the comparison meaningless. A 3.75 at one school is not the same as a 3.75 at another school, although both kids are A students. A 33 is a strong enough score that it won’t hurt a student with other attributes.

THIS!!!

+1
And the idea that any person would know what *other* kids' GPA and test scores are is just...ludicrous. These busy bodies are so sure they know everything about all the other students at their kid's school, when in reality, they're just guessing - and usually those guesses are wrong. OP, stick to worrying about your own kid and stop assuming you know anything at all about other kids' qualifications.

Yep people were surprised as hell at my kid’s acceptances since we aren’t tiger parents or bragging about their academics, perfect scores or GT status since birth. We also are an athletic family- though he applied unhooked. Many very surprised responses on the Ivy.

I assume many people like op making completely incorrect assumptions -( uw 4.0 , all 5s APs, 36 act, etc. never mentioned ) and no private counselor or paid for academic summer things, etc

And this is why the only correct reaction towards a kid who got accepted by a college is "Congratulations!"
Trying to analyze why they did or did not deserve the acceptance is just trashy.

I don’t think it’s trashy to analyze why they got in. For a sporty smart kid, I would assume it was the sport that gave them the extra edge. No matter what anyone says, it’s hard if your kid gets rejected when others are accepted if you think their stats are equal or better and rationalization in one’s mind is normal.

While we all want to claim we are too “good” to let jealousy get to us that’s really not the case for most people. It’s harder when kids are academic/athletic “peers”.

When my 13XX kid had a friend who got into multiple Ivies- we were thrilled for her. We knew there wasn’t a chance my daughter would get into any Ivy so there wasn’t any competition and we could be thrilled for her. However if my kid had similar stats /activities and my kid was rejected I’d like to think I’d be a better person and not be jealous but realistically I don’t think that would be the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you “keep hearing” this? You have no idea what these kids’ scores actually are or what their applications look like. Admissions officers compare students’ scores and grades to other kids from the same school. Grades across schools are not a good comparison because grade inflation/deflation makes the comparison meaningless. A 3.75 at one school is not the same as a 3.75 at another school, although both kids are A students. A 33 is a strong enough score that it won’t hurt a student with other attributes.

THIS!!!

+1
And the idea that any person would know what *other* kids' GPA and test scores are is just...ludicrous. These busy bodies are so sure they know everything about all the other students at their kid's school, when in reality, they're just guessing - and usually those guesses are wrong. OP, stick to worrying about your own kid and stop assuming you know anything at all about other kids' qualifications.

Yep people were surprised as hell at my kid’s acceptances since we aren’t tiger parents or bragging about their academics, perfect scores or GT status since birth. We also are an athletic family- though he applied unhooked. Many very surprised responses on the Ivy.

I assume many people like op making completely incorrect assumptions -( uw 4.0 , all 5s APs, 36 act, etc. never mentioned ) and no private counselor or paid for academic summer things, etc

And this is why the only correct reaction towards a kid who got accepted by a college is "Congratulations!"
Trying to analyze why they did or did not deserve the acceptance is just trashy.

I don’t think it’s trashy to analyze why they got in. For a sporty smart kid, I would assume it was the sport that gave them the extra edge. No matter what anyone says, it’s hard if your kid gets rejected when others are accepted if you think their stats are equal or better and rationalization in one’s mind is normal.

While we all want to claim we are too “good” to let jealousy get to us that’s really not the case for most people. It’s harder when kids are academic/athletic “peers”.

When my 13XX kid had a friend who got into multiple Ivies- we were thrilled for her. We knew there wasn’t a chance my daughter would get into any Ivy so there wasn’t any competition and we could be thrilled for her. However if my kid had similar stats /activities and my kid was rejected I’d like to think I’d be a better person and not be jealous but realistically I don’t think that would be the case.

You're right. stand corrected. I simplified it way too much. What I really think is trashy is the line of questioning wherein OP goes "pricey admissions officer manufacture a story or a VIP"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you “keep hearing” this? You have no idea what these kids’ scores actually are or what their applications look like. Admissions officers compare students’ scores and grades to other kids from the same school. Grades across schools are not a good comparison because grade inflation/deflation makes the comparison meaningless. A 3.75 at one school is not the same as a 3.75 at another school, although both kids are A students. A 33 is a strong enough score that it won’t hurt a student with other attributes.

THIS!!!

+1
And the idea that any person would know what *other* kids' GPA and test scores are is just...ludicrous. These busy bodies are so sure they know everything about all the other students at their kid's school, when in reality, they're just guessing - and usually those guesses are wrong. OP, stick to worrying about your own kid and stop assuming you know anything at all about other kids' qualifications.

Yep people were surprised as hell at my kid’s acceptances since we aren’t tiger parents or bragging about their academics, perfect scores or GT status since birth. We also are an athletic family- though he applied unhooked. Many very surprised responses on the Ivy.

I assume many people like op making completely incorrect assumptions -( uw 4.0 , all 5s APs, 36 act, etc. never mentioned ) and no private counselor or paid for academic summer things, etc

And this is why the only correct reaction towards a kid who got accepted by a college is "Congratulations!"
Trying to analyze why they did or did not deserve the acceptance is just trashy.

I don’t think it’s trashy to analyze why they got in. For a sporty smart kid, I would assume it was the sport that gave them the extra edge. No matter what anyone says, it’s hard if your kid gets rejected when others are accepted if you think their stats are equal or better and rationalization in one’s mind is normal.

While we all want to claim we are too “good” to let jealousy get to us that’s really not the case for most people. It’s harder when kids are academic/athletic “peers”.

When my 13XX kid had a friend who got into multiple Ivies- we were thrilled for her. We knew there wasn’t a chance my daughter would get into any Ivy so there wasn’t any competition and we could be thrilled for her. However if my kid had similar stats /activities and my kid was rejected I’d like to think I’d be a better person and not be jealous but realistically I don’t think that would be the case.

But you don’t know the amount of community service the sporty kid (non-recruited) did, or the college course he took or the job they held or what his essays were like and if he’s a fantastic writer. It’s easier for you to believe a kid is sporty and that is the difference- not that he actually might have had perfect test scores and perfect gpa. We received a lot of a-hole comments yet my kid did also have perfect scores/grades and at back to school nights several teachers mentioned how great their were in class—contributors and deep thinker, etc.

So it’s just a d@ck move, but I know why you do it. They won the gene pool - athletic, good looking and brilliant—-gotta tear them down, right?

[Anonymous]

The more grade inflation occurs in public schools, the more top schools will fall back on known private school with rich legacy parents and typically well rounded kids who know how to write prior to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The more grade inflation occurs in public schools, the more top schools will fall back on known private school with rich legacy parents and typically well rounded kids who know how to write prior to college.

This was definitely at play this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The more grade inflation occurs in public schools, the more top schools will fall back on known private school with rich legacy parents and typically well rounded kids who know how to write prior to college.

This was definitely at play this year.

So agree