It's a crapshoot! Got in stories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asian male
SAT 1560
unweighted GPA 4.0
weighted GPA 4.9
admitted to UMD honor CS & GeorgiaTech CS

Congrats and all, but that's not a crapshoot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know my kid has high scores and a good/unique EC but the GPA is not perfect - and I am worried about how they will stack up against kids with 4.8 from public AND the other high achievers at our school. My school recommended some reaches and I am worried its a waste of time. SO hearing it worked out for some kids is fantastic.

This is fascinating. Your school - which you said in an earlier post is GDS - has already had the CC office give juniors a list of recommended colleges, broken down by category ("reaches")? By February of JUNIOR year? Really??

I find that fascinating, because at DC's school down Wisconsin Ave, the CC office is very clear that they won't meet with juniors 1:1 in the winter. General pointers and access to resources, okay. But 1:1 meetings with juniors to formulate a targeted list, during a frantic period where many seniors are still working out admissions? Nope.

Do all 125 GDS juniors get these personalized meetings with CC before they have their 2nd semester grades? Do parents attend the meetings too?

Not GDS but similar school in another city. College counselors start meeting with juniors and parents in late January after seniors have submitted all apps and are now in the EA/ED2, waiting for RD phase. The counselors suggest a list of schools taking into account rural/urban, large/small, any geographic preference, etc as well as student's GPA, course rigor, and any available standardized testing scores. The best counselors tell parents what are the reaches/targets/likelies on the list, the less skilled ones don't remember to break it out that way (and if it is your first/only kid, you don't necessarily know to ask). This is one of two meetings counselors hold with both parents and student during the process - the second is in the fall to confirm the list, if that has not already happened, and discuss anything else. When possible, good to discuss ED/EA options.

And the college office remains very focused on any seniors who are not yet in, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean GT is a crapshoot? What does crapshoot even mean in admissions? TIA for the education.

GT doesn’t market to drive up their application numbers and artificially lower their acceptance rate. They are a tough engineering school and their pool of applicants is pretty self-selecting and highly qualified. Check out the GT thread on Reddit. They turned down lots of kids with very high stats (e.g., 1550+ SATs). I know an in-state legacy with a 3.9 UW and 34 ACT that got deferred.

Yeah, I can confirm this. My son was rejected with a 3.9/4.4 1560, tons of APs and impressive ECs. It was a surprise and makes us fear ivy day. My son is in the top 10 kids of a 3500 kid school and is having a hard time in admissions. It's unreal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean GT is a crapshoot? What does crapshoot even mean in admissions? TIA for the education.

All the Ivies are a crapshoot without a hook, national awards (including NMF), published research, etc. I want to see a run of the mill kid with excellent an excellent GPA with run of the mill EC's like tennis, track. No heavy community service. Just your every day run of the mill kid who is not an overachiever who gets into a reach school.

They don't get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asian girl
Upper Middle Class
solid EC, but nothing national and no major awards
No hooks
high GPA
strong SAT (NM semifinalist)
but very round, not pointy, so its such a rarity to get in.

Princeton, early.

What does "round, not pointy" mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asian girl
Upper Middle Class
solid EC, but nothing national and no major awards
No hooks
high GPA
strong SAT (NM semifinalist)
but very round, not pointy, so its such a rarity to get in.

Princeton, early.

What does "round, not pointy" mean?

NP
Well-rounded in a lot of interest and not specialist in specific interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean GT is a crapshoot? What does crapshoot even mean in admissions? TIA for the education.

GT doesn’t market to drive up their application numbers and artificially lower their acceptance rate. They are a tough engineering school and their pool of applicants is pretty self-selecting and highly qualified. Check out the GT thread on Reddit. They turned down lots of kids with very high stats (e.g., 1550+ SATs). I know an in-state legacy with a 3.9 UW and 34 ACT that got deferred.

Yeah, I can confirm this. My son was rejected with a 3.9/4.4 1560, tons of APs and impressive ECs. It was a surprise and makes us fear ivy day. My son is in the top 10 kids of a 3500 kid school and is having a hard time in admissions. It's unreal.

My biggest fear waiting for these letters. 😩

[Anonymous]

One got in. and one not (2021)

In state to VT ED: 4.2 something weighted GPA; 1400 SAT; lots of science classes good rigor; Varsity athlete; biological sciences

Last year: older sibling: 4.5 weighted GPA; 1450 SAT; lots of science classes but sequencing was off so AP Bio didn't happen until senior year; Varsity athlete; Biological sciences; Waitlisted. eventually withdrew application and went somewhere else.
Best friend with much higher stats but applying to Engineering never withdrew app and got a letter at the end of June saying they had no space for him.

Both are happy elsewhere And happy for our kid this year.

[Anonymous]

I am the immediate PP: Forgot to mention that our 2021 applicant applied EA; 2022 kid was ED.

And I think in spite of the stat differential, they are pretty comparable in their capabilities. COVID sunk the younger one more than the older one in school and in SATs/ACTs.

[Anonymous]

5 pages in this thread and maybe 2 real 'crapshoots'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean GT is a crapshoot? What does crapshoot even mean in admissions? TIA for the education.

All the Ivies are a crapshoot without a hook, national awards (including NMF), published research, etc. I want to see a run of the mill kid with excellent an excellent GPA with run of the mill EC's like tennis, track. No heavy community service. Just your every day run of the mill kid who is not an overachiever who gets into a reach school.

They don't get in.

Sure they do. DS is in at 2 reaches this cycle (T25 schools). 4.4W, test optional. Hasn't even completed all community service hours yet. Plays a sport and other run of the mill ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean GT is a crapshoot? What does crapshoot even mean in admissions? TIA for the education.

GT doesn’t market to drive up their application numbers and artificially lower their acceptance rate. They are a tough engineering school and their pool of applicants is pretty self-selecting and highly qualified. Check out the GT thread on Reddit. They turned down lots of kids with very high stats (e.g., 1550+ SATs). I know an in-state legacy with a 3.9 UW and 34 ACT that got deferred.

Yeah, I can confirm this. My son was rejected with a 3.9/4.4 1560, tons of APs and impressive ECs. It was a surprise and makes us fear ivy day. My son is in the top 10 kids of a 3500 kid school and is having a hard time in admissions. It's unreal.

Does your son have some acceptances in hand? Good luck on the upcoming decisions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know my kid has high scores and a good/unique EC but the GPA is not perfect - and I am worried about how they will stack up against kids with 4.8 from public AND the other high achievers at our school. My school recommended some reaches and I am worried its a waste of time. SO hearing it worked out for some kids is fantastic.

This is fascinating. Your school - which you said in an earlier post is GDS - has already had the CC office give juniors a list of recommended colleges, broken down by category ("reaches")? By February of JUNIOR year? Really??

I find that fascinating, because at DC's school down Wisconsin Ave, the CC office is very clear that they won't meet with juniors 1:1 in the winter. General pointers and access to resources, okay. But 1:1 meetings with juniors to formulate a targeted list, during a frantic period where many seniors are still working out admissions? Nope.

Do all 125 GDS juniors get these personalized meetings with CC before they have their 2nd semester grades? Do parents attend the meetings too?

I don’t think this is that unusual. DD has already had initial meeting with CC at NCS and our parent meeting is scheduled for March. The schedule is not really different than that at GDS. There is not much to do for the Seniors once Apps are in and they are waiting for decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know my kid has high scores and a good/unique EC but the GPA is not perfect - and I am worried about how they will stack up against kids with 4.8 from public AND the other high achievers at our school. My school recommended some reaches and I am worried its a waste of time. SO hearing it worked out for some kids is fantastic.

This is fascinating. Your school - which you said in an earlier post is GDS - has already had the CC office give juniors a list of recommended colleges, broken down by category ("reaches")? By February of JUNIOR year? Really??

I find that fascinating, because at DC's school down Wisconsin Ave, the CC office is very clear that they won't meet with juniors 1:1 in the winter. General pointers and access to resources, okay. But 1:1 meetings with juniors to formulate a targeted list, during a frantic period where many seniors are still working out admissions? Nope.

Do all 125 GDS juniors get these personalized meetings with CC before they have their 2nd semester grades? Do parents attend the meetings too?

I don’t think this is that unusual. DD has already had initial meeting with CC at NCS and our parent meeting is scheduled for March. The schedule is not really different than that at GDS. There is not much to do for the Seniors once Apps are in and they are waiting for decisions.

Agree. While they do meet with seniors, especially those unhappy with ED1/ED2 results along with those waiting on RDs, there is not much more to do. It makes the most sense to have meetings now if juniors/families may try to see schools over spring breaks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asian girl
Upper Middle Class
solid EC, but nothing national and no major awards
No hooks
high GPA
strong SAT (NM semifinalist)
but very round, not pointy, so its such a rarity to get in.

Princeton, early.

Thanks for sharing.