Please suggest lower reach and target schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did she feel about Chicago?

No.

OP - that wasn’t me

So, yes?

You can do ED0, highly recommended. If rejected, you can still ED or REA to an Ivy. Sign her up for one of Chicago’s summer programs.

Or you can do EA. They will ask you to switch to ED2. If rejected by your ED school, yes ED2 Chicago is a good option.

Isn’t Chicago the polar opposite of Yale and Brown?

Frankly, it’s Brown and Yale that are an odd pair. And UChicago and Brown. (I can’t imagine a kid who likes Brown would like UChicago). But UChicago and Yale are an usual pairing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op never mentioned interest in all women’s colleges.

She should consider themM

Yes. I am against the idea of dream school. It’s four years of investment in education and your DC’s future. Fixation on certain schools or certain types of schools could only lead to disappointment down the road in the process. Be realistic, be open minded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts, Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, Rochester (in rough order of selectivity).

For OP, some of these are safeties.
Tufts yield protects RD so it’s a low reach, but schools like Rochester oberlin Wesleyan should be safeties.

Keep thinking Wes is a “safety” for anyone in RD. Good luck!

Wes is not what it once was. Sadly. Interest level is not very high. If you are at a competitive private school, yes it’s a safety. This is not 90’s anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts, Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, Rochester (in rough order of selectivity).

For OP, some of these are safeties.
Tufts yield protects RD so it’s a low reach, but schools like Rochester oberlin Wesleyan should be safeties.

Keep thinking Wes is a “safety” for anyone in RD. Good luck!

Wes is not what it once was. Sadly. Interest level is not very high. If you are at a competitive private school, yes it’s a safety. This is not 90’s anymore.

You love to repeat this exact comment when Wes comes up. The school had a record number of applicants and one of its largest freshman classes this year so you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t agree that interest isn’t very high. I should know better than engaging with this kind of trolling, but no, even for Groton or Harvard Westlake or whatever you want to say to is a competitive private, Wes is not a safety for anyone. Not in RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts, Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, Rochester (in rough order of selectivity).

For OP, some of these are safeties.
Tufts yield protects RD so it’s a low reach, but schools like Rochester oberlin Wesleyan should be safeties.

Keep thinking Wes is a “safety” for anyone in RD. Good luck!

Wes is not what it once was. Sadly. Interest level is not very high. If you are at a competitive private school, yes it’s a safety. This is not 90’s anymore.

You love to repeat this exact comment when Wes comes up. The school had a record number of applicants and one of its largest freshman classes this year so you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t agree that interest isn’t very high. I should know better than engaging with this kind of trolling, but no, even for Groton or Harvard Westlake or whatever you want to say to is a competitive private, Wes is not a safety for anyone. Not in RD.

+1

Our private school counselor put it firmly in the match (not safety by any stretch) category for our high performing student at a well known, extremely competitive private high school.

[Anonymous]

My Yale student liked UChicago and many classmates had Brown as their other top pick. Those are not unusual pairings. The tops schools have very similar student bodies these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Yale student liked UChicago and many classmates had Brown as their other top pick. Those are not unusual pairings. The tops schools have very similar student bodies these days.

Yes, my UChicago student liked Yale too. But Brown is the ultimate chill school (open curriculum, grade inflation), while UChicago is much more intense (the Core, grade deflation). That’s what I meant that those two seem like polar opposites.

[Anonymous]

I posted earlier my Brown had Yale as their other top choice. Brown isn’t nearly as chill as the Internet is led to believe. Maybe it used to be, not sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted earlier my Brown had Yale as their other top choice. Brown isn’t nearly as chill as the Internet is led to believe. Maybe it used to be, not sure.

That may very well be true. But the grade inflation is real, which is why it’s a popular choice for kids who want to do pre-med.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted earlier my Brown had Yale as their other top choice. Brown isn’t nearly as chill as the Internet is led to believe. Maybe it used to be, not sure.

That may very well be true. But the grade inflation is real, which is why it’s a popular choice for kids who want to do pre-med.

My premed would disagree, but I won’t take this post on a tangent for OP’s sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted earlier my Brown had Yale as their other top choice. Brown isn’t nearly as chill as the Internet is led to believe. Maybe it used to be, not sure.

That may very well be true. But the grade inflation is real, which is why it’s a popular choice for kids who want to do pre-med.

My premed would disagree, but I won’t take this post on a tangent for OP’s sake.

Let’s agree to disagree. It’s all relative anyway, though Brown’s grade inflation has been well covered, including by the Brown newspaper. See below (from 2022 and this month)

https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/04/brown-grade-inflation-continues-to-soar-data-shows

https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2024/12/is-brown-giving-out-too-many-as-professors-discuss-grading-practices-grade-inflation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High reaches are Yale and Brown; more realistic reach is Rice. DD’s school has near 100% acceptance rate to Rice in past 5-7 years in ED round with stats similar to DD’s but DD may not choose to ED there. Don’t know if those accepts include legacy (which we’re not); we know they were not athletes or Questbridge. If DD decide to ED Brown or SCEA Yale, will need target schools ready for RD round. This is for next year.

Safeties are EA early at Pitt and McGill, both also have 100% acceptance rate for DD’s stats and rank from her school.

Looking for suggestions for more attainable reaches and target colleges similar to Yale, Brown and Rice. DD most interested in interdisciplinary studies (science and language), want a research university with collaborative, learning for learning’s sake culture, not pre-professional. Full pay from well respected private HS known to elite colleges but otherwise an unhooked applicant, top 10% of class. Every year top 35% of class get into Ivy+ WASP but we don’t know how many are legacy (not many are athletes).

Thanks!

Is this a local private (not boarding) school ?

Are you located outside of the DMV ?

Be careful about labeling National Universities as pre-professional since that varies by school and by major. ALL National Universities have contingents of pre-professional students as do the very top ranked LACs (think Wall Street & major consulting firms). Equally true is that ALL National Universities also have contingents who exhibit and embrace a love of learning.

If your student wants to avoid pre-professional atmospheres, then do not major in engineering, business, nursing, or economics.

OP: Do you consider students heading to medical school or to law school as pre-professional students ?

OP: Rice University is pre-professional if you consider pre-med as pre-professional. Pre-med is typically not collaborative. Rice University recently opened an undergraduate business school--which is definitely pre-professional.

OP: While I understand your objective for your daughter, it is a bit naive. Students at Top 20 National Universities are hard-working and competitive.

If truly focused on a collaborative atmosphere,consider liberal arts colleges (LACs) with a low yield rate like Vassar, Oberlin, U Rochester.

OP: Did your daughter really achieve top 10% status at an elite private school which sends 35% of each graduating class to Ivy League, Ivy League Plus, and WASP by being collaborative and learning for the joy of learning ? Or is/was she competitive and aware of the stakes regarding college admissions ?

Elite National Universities labeled as pre-professional (think U Penn & Cornell) also have large groups of students outside of business & engineering & nursing who are less pre-professional & less competitive.

OP: Examine the yield rates at any school of interest and ask why is this school enrolling fewer than 20% of the students that it accepts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts, Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, Rochester (in rough order of selectivity).

For OP, some of these are safeties.
Tufts yield protects RD so it’s a low reach, but schools like Rochester oberlin Wesleyan should be safeties.

Keep thinking Wes is a “safety” for anyone in RD. Good luck!

Wes is not what it once was. Sadly. Interest level is not very high. If you are at a competitive private school, yes it’s a safety. This is not 90’s anymore.

You love to repeat this exact comment when Wes comes up. The school had a record number of applicants and one of its largest freshman classes this year so you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t agree that interest isn’t very high. I should know better than engaging with this kind of trolling, but no, even for Groton or Harvard Westlake or whatever you want to say to is a competitive private, Wes is not a safety for anyone. Not in RD.

+1

Our private school counselor put it firmly in the match (not safety by any stretch) category for our high performing student at a well known, extremely competitive private high school.

Looking at our Naviance, the acceptance rate for top 10% kids is 100% to Wes in the past five years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted earlier my Brown had Yale as their other top choice. Brown isn’t nearly as chill as the Internet is led to believe. Maybe it used to be, not sure.

That may very well be true. But the grade inflation is real, which is why it’s a popular choice for kids who want to do pre-med.

My premed would disagree, but I won’t take this post on a tangent for OP’s sake.

Individual perceptions can & do vary; your pre-med student is experiencing the pressure of being a pre-med student even though Brown is widely recognized as a school with grade inflation & a low pressure environment when considering the caliber of student accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted earlier my Brown had Yale as their other top choice. Brown isn’t nearly as chill as the Internet is led to believe. Maybe it used to be, not sure.

That may very well be true. But the grade inflation is real, which is why it’s a popular choice for kids who want to do pre-med.

My premed would disagree, but I won’t take this post on a tangent for OP’s sake.

Individual perceptions can & do vary; your pre-med student is experiencing the pressure of being a pre-med student even though Brown is widely recognized as a school with grade inflation & a low pressure environment when considering the caliber of student accepted.

The myth about grade inflation at Brown ...
It only appear to have grade inflation, but the reality is to get that A- or A, even these super high caliber Brown kids have to work their butts off, staying in library pass midnight and two days in the weekends. In other schools it may appear there is grade deflation, but it's eithe rbecause they don't work as hard or just mediocre kids to start with.