Now that decisions are out.....where are the non-perfect kids getting accepted

[Anonymous]

"I took the SATs in the early 90s and with test prep, I just broke 1000. I had a 3.3 GPA at a college prep school. I didn't test well. I now have 2 Master's degrees. My son is the opposite. Very intelligent and tests well but the day to day grades aren't so great."

Just to be keep things comparing apples to apples, there were changes to the SAT in 1994, scores were re-centered in 1995, in 2005 it went to a 2400 point scale and, of course, back to the 1600 point scale in 2016.

The test you took in the early 1990s was quite different from today's test. The prep available in the early 90s was rudimentary compared to today, although I guess if you paid enough there might have been quality prep somewhere.

In addition, every change made it easier to get a higher score in one way or another. Some changes just brought the median up, others dropped parts of the test that students didn't see often, some just made the questions about things that more people were likely to encounter in their day to day lives. That doesn't mean there is a simple relationship that say a 1000 then is a 1200 now but roughly that is the order of magnitude change that should be considered.

So I would say that it is likely that your prepped 1000 from the early 90s supports the idea that if you grew up at the same time as your son, you would have gotten something like a 1200.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Low test scores can be a problem. Ds has a 3.5 uw gpa (4.2 w)and 1500 SAT and was accepted at Villanova, Lehigh, Bucknell, URochester, etc. His best friend has a 3.7 uw (4.2w) and an 1190 SAT and is a URM. He was rejected from a similar spread of schools, and only accepted at a state school with an 80% acceptance rate and Penn State. It doesn’t seem fair.

Given different unweighted GPAs and same weighted it seems that DS took a course load of higher rigor than DSs friend that in addition to the test scores could have been a factor.

[Anonymous]

It is a wide gulf between 1190 and 1500. Of course that’s going to matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a college for everyone but the ability to pay astronomical costs for private schools may be the challenge.

Or the advantage!

Or quite frankly, the out of state tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS: 3.9 W, 1520 SAT, EC's is that he's been working since he was 15. Well respected NOVA Public High School.

In at VCU, Loyola-Chicago (with merit), SMU (with merit), William & Mary, and NYU.

Didn't get into: Northwestern, Rice, UVA, Tulane, and BU. The latter one surprised us, but oh well. He's happy, we're happy.

Your child isn't a non-perfect child. Congrats, but you're posting on the wrong thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has a 4.0 uw, all honors and AP classes, student government plus other EC clubs, and was terrible at SAT but slightly better at ACT (1190 vs 33).

She’s in at JMU, Penn State, Amherst, Williams, and Boston College.

Was a no at UVA and W&M.

In all fairness, a 33 on the ACT isn't "slightly" better, it's equivalent to a 1460 on the SAT.

You all are too tough on your children.

4.0 UNWEIGHTED in all honors AND AP classes, 33 ACT - and this is on the "non-perfect kids" thread? this is sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS: 3.9 W, 1520 SAT, EC's is that he's been working since he was 15. Well respected NOVA Public High School.

In at VCU, Loyola-Chicago (with merit), SMU (with merit), William & Mary, and NYU.

Didn't get into: Northwestern, Rice, UVA, Tulane, and BU. The latter one surprised us, but oh well. He's happy, we're happy.

Congrats to your son. I can’t even believe a boy with stats like your son’s falls into “non-perfect.” I am getting a better sense as to why there is a crisis of anxiety among our HS

[Anonymous]

I have dozens of high schoolers who work for me, so I'm always keeping track of where my seniors end up. They are great, hard-working kids but many aren't "perfect" students. This year I'm seeing ODU, CNU, Gettysburg (there is clearly some counselor in FCPS who is pushing this place, because like 5 of my kids applied this year and I had never heard of it before), Bradley (I'm seeing this one more and more every year), and VCU. A bunch of them were waitlisted at JMU, way more than I remember in the past. Lots of Mary Washington and W&M rejections. Most of them didn't even try for UVA or Tech.

[Anonymous]

In VA - ODU, CNU, and VCU seem to be the popular ones along with WVU. Plus, lots of kids going out of state. I remember when I graduated from a HS in the NOVA area, around 5% of graduates went to a school out of state. Now, it seems each year it edges up more and more to be 50/50 split.

I've only seen a few UVA admits and around a dozen VT admits on social media from parents. Much less than in the past years. A LOT of JMU admits, though. My son said most of his friends who are seniors didn't even apply to UVA or Tech because they just saw it as nearly impossible to get in without perfect grades + a hook.

I've seen some interesting admits/rejects lists floating around this year.

Mom of a kid in a FB group I'm part of posted her son was rejected at UVA and W&L, waitlisted at Tech, but got into UPenn and Tufts! Both of which were his reach schools.

Rejected at W&M but admitted to Smith. Rejected at Tech but accepted at GA Tech. Rejected at GMU but accepted at Univ. of Richmond.

Crazy year!

I have a freshmen in college this year and a Jr in HS, so I'm gearing up to go through the process again. Uggggggh.

[Anonymous]

You're right. Honestly what I considered "non perfect" was the fact that he has none of the more traditional ECs as in sports clubs etc.

I'm very proud of him. Thank you for the congrats. He's been way cooler about this process than I have. But I was still pretty laid back and let him handle it. Now he just has to make a decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I took the SATs in the early 90s and with test prep, I just broke 1000. I had a 3.3 GPA at a college prep school. I didn't test well. I now have 2 Master's degrees. My son is the opposite. Very intelligent and tests well but the day to day grades aren't so great."

Just to be keep things comparing apples to apples, there were changes to the SAT in 1994, scores were re-centered in 1995, in 2005 it went to a 2400 point scale and, of course, back to the 1600 point scale in 2016.

The test you took in the early 1990s was quite different from today's test. The prep available in the early 90s was rudimentary compared to today, although I guess if you paid enough there might have been quality prep somewhere.

In addition, every change made it easier to get a higher score in one way or another. Some changes just brought the median up, others dropped parts of the test that students didn't see often, some just made the questions about things that more people were likely to encounter in their day to day lives. That doesn't mean there is a simple relationship that say a 1000 then is a 1200 now but roughly that is the order of magnitude change that should be considered.

So I would say that it is likely that your prepped 1000 from the early 90s supports the idea that if you grew up at the same time as your son, you would have gotten something like a 1200.

Both the differences in SAT from 1990s to now and the amount prep can reliably add to your score are both wildly overblown. Studies not funded by prep places show average 0-40 points gain depending on type and extent of prep. Yes, tests were renormed over time but average scores have stayed very close the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have a junior who is super smart but not very high standardized testing and not saving the world, curing cancer or winning national awards.

Have a similar kid? What are your kids general stats and where did they get accepted/rejected from this year? (general info, not identifying info since folks on DCUM seem to think their kids are stalking this board).

Help a Junior parent out

You mean you have a NORMAL child? Say it ain't so OP!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a college for everyone but the ability to pay astronomical costs for private schools may be the challenge.

Or the advantage!

I had a kid in a private expensive college. My eldest got (in my opinion) a better - and more realistic - education at GMU. The private college was all about pushing soft social sciences and shaping social warriors, than educating the kids. GMU was about the coursework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"I took the SATs in the early 90s and with test prep, I just broke 1000. I had a 3.3 GPA at a college prep school. I didn't test well. I now have 2 Master's degrees. My son is the opposite. Very intelligent and tests well but the day to day grades aren't so great."

Just to be keep things comparing apples to apples, there were changes to the SAT in 1994, scores were re-centered in 1995, in 2005 it went to a 2400 point scale and, of course, back to the 1600 point scale in 2016.

The test you took in the early 1990s was quite different from today's test. The prep available in the early 90s was rudimentary compared to today, although I guess if you paid enough there might have been quality prep somewhere.

In addition, every change made it easier to get a higher score in one way or another. Some changes just brought the median up, others dropped parts of the test that students didn't see often, some just made the questions about things that more people were likely to encounter in their day to day lives. That doesn't mean there is a simple relationship that say a 1000 then is a 1200 now but roughly that is the order of magnitude change that should be considered.

So I would say that it is likely that your prepped 1000 from the early 90s supports the idea that if you grew up at the same time as your son, you would have gotten something like a 1200.

Both the differences in SAT from 1990s to now and the amount prep can reliably add to your score are both wildly overblown. Studies not funded by prep places show average 0-40 points gain depending on type and extent of prep. Yes, tests were renormed over time but average scores have stayed very close the same.

I took my SATs in 92/93 (pre-recentered). I took it twice w/o prep fall and spring junior year and got different combos of the the same total score. My english teacher had 4 books by ETS of "10 real SATs" on her bookshelf. At the end of the year I asked her to borrow them and she agreed as long as I didnt mark them up. Over that summer I did all 40 practice SATs and bumped my score 160 points from 1270 to 1430. I think in some ways those older tests were more responsive to prep -- vocab in the antonyms and analogies questions, seeing every version of math questions just using diff numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS: 3.9 W, 1520 SAT, EC's is that he's been working since he was 15. Well respected NOVA Public High School.

In at VCU, Loyola-Chicago (with merit), SMU (with merit), William & Mary, and NYU.

Didn't get into: Northwestern, Rice, UVA, Tulane, and BU. The latter one surprised us, but oh well. He's happy, we're happy.

Where is he going?