When Things Appear to Just Easily Work Out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

How is what I wrote tearing down your kid? I’m sorry that people made snide remarks but people did that as a coping mechanism to deal with own child’s rejections or insecurities. That’s not fair but the college application process evokes emotions in many of us that aren’t the best look. As I mentioned before, I was not one of those catty parents because my kids were 13XX scorers with average AP scores and no amazing ECs. We were never deluded into thinking a top tier school was on the table and they didn’t apply there but were happy for friends that got it. Mine got into flagship state schools and that’s what they wanted.

[Anonymous]

You don't know always know if a fellow kid spent the summer at RSI or went to ISEF. There's a kid in my DC's class who is a nationally ranked athlete (within top 5 in the country) and competes outside of school. I found out by happenstance. Back when I was in HS, a kid got into an Ivy who turned out to be homeless. We had no clue because of how well he hid it. I can only imagine what his essays were like. I'm sure they were more interesting and compelling than mine.