Disappointment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yikes. Bad personality maybe. But also just a very competitive cycle.

I'm definitely biased but she's a very motivated, hardworking girl... Always willing to help someone out. Watching decisions crush a lot of her confidence is so painful. I told her that she shouldn't compare herself to her peers, but idk how most people wouldn't be incredibly upset if a classmate w/ lower stats and less effort made it in instead of you.

You need to stop this part, the comparing. Neither you or your daughter know what the entire application packet of her peers with "lower stats" actually looks like. You think that you know the stats but you quite possibly do not. And, you don't know what the rest of the application looks like.

Your daughter looks like a great student and she had the academics to get over the bar and into the game which is a great accomplishment but comparing to others only leads to frustration because you don't really know yet you assume. Don't let that kind of angst consume your daughter. She has some great options and it is time to work on loving one of those options.

Agree you need to stop comparing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy, but personally, I think schools see kids with 15 APs (all 5s) and think "she'll graduate early so that's a year less of tuition." It's a business.

Hmm, this does make quite a bit of sense. I actually thought that all her APs would give her a boost, especially with her scores.

This actually makes no sense because most of these schools are privates won't allow more than a couple of courses for credit so she would be going all 4 years anyway. The APs are only useful for demonstrating rigor and for course placement.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry. It was tough for my DD this year going into engineering as well. Many of her friends got into schools DD was WL or rejected from but none of them were STEM. Engineering seems to take a big hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I smell a 🧌

Do you think her profile is too "basic"? She says she regrets not picking more creative ECs, although I think her ECs were perfectly suited for her major + demonstrated her passion.

Yeah, I agree there is nothing that stands out in her ECs.

ECs:
not impressive: - A few regional awards (STEM)
Actually good: - 200+ volunteer hours @ local hospital
everyone has one: - Founder of non-profit
this year AOs don't like research for some reason: - Research w/ prof at T30
everyone has one: - Competitive summer program for BME
everyone has this: - Lots of community service

This year I heard Stanford retracted an acceptance because the applicant lied about volunteer hours.
Are those 200 volunteer hours @ local hospital registered with the school?

Yes, she made sure that everything was registered. I'm assuming the more "basic" ECs were the factor harming her application?

You would think so, but Cornell would be thrilled to take in this applicant (without great ECs). WL from Cornell seems to suggest there is something wrong.

[Anonymous]

Competitive major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has to be fake. People cannot be this naive.

I wish it was - We live in a pretty competitive area and this cycle was very tough, but definitely didn't expect it to be this bad.

[Anonymous]

You guys are crazy with the "everyone has those ECs" critiques. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who finds HS founders of non-profits to be borderline insulting? I worked in the non-profit world, so did dh. These are serious places and it takes as much (if not more) work than a business to be a really successful one. I know bc we now own a successful business. It's not some vanity project to be started by a 17 year old. So annoying. Change my mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy, but personally, I think schools see kids with 15 APs (all 5s) and think "she'll graduate early so that's a year less of tuition." It's a business.

Hmm, this does make quite a bit of sense. I actually thought that all her APs would give her a boost, especially with her scores.

This actually makes no sense because most of these schools are privates won't allow more than a couple of courses for credit so she would be going all 4 years anyway. The APs are only useful for demonstrating rigor and for course placement.

Yes, but UVA accepts AP credits - We were the most surprised with this WL. Did not expect it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Competitive major

Yes at my dd's school (private, all girls in the DMV), the college counselor advised more than one student last year to say "undecided" as their intended area of study instead of, for example, "computer science."

[Anonymous]

How many threads like this do we need?

[Anonymous]

It’s not just the DMV. We live in a mid-size city in another region and kids here are going through the same thing during the past few cycles. Our kids just happened to be coming into the admissions process during a very unpredictable time when a lot of old assumptions went out the window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yikes. Bad personality maybe. But also just a very competitive cycle.

I'm definitely biased but she's a very motivated, hardworking girl... Always willing to help someone out. Watching decisions crush a lot of her confidence is so painful. I told her that she shouldn't compare herself to her peers, but idk how most people wouldn't be incredibly upset if a classmate w/ lower stats and less effort made it in instead of you.

There was something wrong with her application, most likely. Sometimes an "off vibe" is the actual cited reason for a rejection. Reflect and re-evaluate.

No! This is not true. She does not have a bad personality ( srsly, WTF) and there was nothing off about her application! Come on DCUM- Admissions is a lottery pure and simple and your DD sounds amazing and this suuuuccckkksss for her and I’m sorry. She will end up happy at one of the schools that accepted her and you’ll end up feeling ok. But right now it stings and that’s ok. Sit with it and realize that those schools aren’t the right place for her. She might end up at Cornell for grad school or something. She might even get in off the WL. But now? Go to Pitt and Williamsburg and Blacksburg and find stuff to love about them. Hang in there, Mama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has to be fake. People cannot be this naive.

+100
How utterly ridiculous - she "thought she had it in the bag."

[Anonymous]

I agree, ecs seem a bit lacking. No sports or school clubs? What did she do after school every day?

She's not athletic, doesn't do any sports. Member of many honor societies, president of an honor society, + president of 2 clubs (STEM-related).