How is your top student doing with acceptances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denied at a high match that sibling was admitted to two yrs ago. Deferred at another. Submitted scores at 75th percentile. Accepted to one safety so far.

Wondering if this admission season is some sort of free-for-all. Feeling nauseated.

This is happening at our school too. So many deferrals. Do you think all these deferrals will eventually get in RD or even off the WL in June? With applications up 40%+ at most top schools, they are probably being cautious about over enrollment. Once kids start declining offers, I think it should shift. You can only go to one school and many kids on reddit are applying to 20+ schools this year.

That's all possible, but it'll be a long wait. Really wish I knew whether the deferral - and the direct denial! - were more along the lines of "we didn't think you really wanted to come badly enough" or whether it's "your grades aren't quite as good as your test-optional competitors, so you lose," two different situations.

When reports on early app numbers started to surface, with their huge increases, I was afraid this might happen. And we're not even talking tippy top schools, more like top 40s-60s.

Yes, this is my DC’s situation too. I do think test optional benefits public school kids with very high GPAs and no test scores. My kid has a high test score and lower GPA from a rigorous private that doesn’t weight grades or offer many APs anymore.

Exactly! Rigorous private here too, though plenty of APs (I think 7 or so, plus 8 honors). At least we're not alone, but boy oh boy does it seem like predictions have come to pass, GPA is now king. Our younger kids will not attend this high school, too much riding on grades. Younger is getting much better grades at a local charter, still rigorous, and no tuition. Maybe we should go whole hog, the huge suburban public...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My experience with "top students" is that there really are no match schools. There are either likelies or reaches. No matter how great a kid is, no one is a match for HYP and so applying there is a crap shoot even for the most highly qualified.

This creates stress, especially as the process wears on, as the top students see their classmates getting into some really good schools and they're left waiting all the way until Ivy Day to find out if they're getting into any of their top choices (which by definition are reaches) or will end up at a likely.

+1

Great post and this is so true. I have a "top" student and a "good" student. The top student doesn't really care about an atmosphere in college. He wants peers that are nerdy like him and looking to build things that matter. My good student works hard, is somewhat social, but is serious about school. She doesn't exactly know what she wants to do in life, but wants a school with spirit and a place to call home. She's only a sophomore, but so far, the schools she's interested in are safeties. She thinks her brother is amazing and watching him struggle with admissions is an eye opener for her.

This is an insightful post. One reason top students are interested in schools that are nearly impossible to get into (unless you have a hook) is because they are attracted to the peer group and/or intellectual community. They see some of these schools as the ideal “fit”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know you asked for responses from parent of top students, but my reply might also help.

(fyi I also have a top student...she's just not the one applying to college yet.)

My other kid, the senior, is not at the top; she would be the one that the kids might see as "very good but not quite as accomplished."

She was accepted ED into a top 10 school.

Because she's not "top" she applied ED. So that's the first thing.

Second, although she has no hooks at all, she has a compelling story.

Third, she selected a school that seems to really like kids from her school. High schools seem to have relationships with colleges--I don't know how it works, but I do know that, for instance, Wash U, U-M, Harvard, Brown historically seem to accept a lot of her high school's students, while Pomona and Princeton seem to be near impossible for even the "top" students. I noticed this by paying attention to the matriculation of the classes above my DC's class (but that only shows where kids decided to go, not where they were accepted), so then spoke with the HS dean to get a better picture.

DC's favorite school, seemed on target due to her stats, but historically the high school didn't seem to get many kids in there. Oddly, the much higher-ranking school seemed to be a good shot. DD made the call; she didn't want to roll the dice with the bad odds for her favorite school, and went with her second choice, the high-ranking school. And it worked out.

I told her that if she didn't like high-ranking school, she could transfer.

So just saying all this to say, it's complicated.

What is the compelling story for a less-than-top student to get ED to a top 10 school in a pandemic? I understand the HS connection for sure, but I know tons of top students and they aren't getting into top 10 schools, yet. Explain complicated...

I believe PP is saying that playing the admissions game is complicated, the compelling story is probably just private. I completely agree with the point that schools target individual high schools, my oldest took this approach and it worked (not a "top" student and it wasn't a top 10 school, but same logic applies). Schools return to the same well, because they want the word of mouth relationship, exactly what PP tapped into.

top PP here, and bottom PP is correct in that is what I was trying to convey. BTW we also avoided schools that are heavily in to legacy, because there are a lot of legacy kids at my DC's school and we didn't want to compete with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP lots of parents lie too. If kid is aiming for schools in the 50-100 range and is not getting in something is not adding up. Top 50 schools some have insanely low acceptance rates.

I agree that it seems many on this board lie. My child has only received acceptances so far, and I was surprised because his scores seem to be considered average or low on this board. DC is not trying for Ivies, but has a good mix of SLACs with a variety of selectiveness. One sport (his only EC), no hooks, weighted GPA above a 4, but probably a 3.5-3.7 unweighted. I didn't read his essay, so maybe it was out of the park. He is full IB, which many on this board pooh-pooh, but maybe schools care more about that than DCUM thinks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP lots of parents lie too. If kid is aiming for schools in the 50-100 range and is not getting in something is not adding up. Top 50 schools some have insanely low acceptance rates.

I agree that it seems many on this board lie. My child has only received acceptances so far, and I was surprised because his scores seem to be considered average or low on this board. DC is not trying for Ivies, but has a good mix of SLACs with a variety of selectiveness. One sport (his only EC), no hooks, weighted GPA above a 4, but probably a 3.5-3.7 unweighted. I didn't read his essay, so maybe it was out of the park. He is full IB, which many on this board pooh-pooh, but maybe schools care more about that than DCUM thinks.

Love the IB idea - thank you!

My friend's DD has over 1500 and over 4.0, so she is thinking they need to reassess, if anyone has BTDT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is my experience with college apps. Kids that are not “top students” are fine. They get in somewhere and they are happy.

Top students don’t do well ... they over estimate reach and likely schools.

Their reaches are “not a snowball’s chance in hell” and likely schools are actually reaches. They get into their safeties. But since “in their head” it’s a “safety” they hate their options feel dejected and “settle for their state school”, or Clemson, or Villanova, because they offer a fun atmosphere.

I think there is a lot of truth to this. And it’s useful to remember when considering, should my kid take AP class #10 and get little sleep or are a few more on level/honors classes okay.

What if they actually like the classes and do well in them? Your post makes no sense.

That is fine if they have something else, but if they are giving up "something else" to do all AP's they are an unbalanced applicant and not interesting from an admissions standpoint.... or

It's fine, because they enjoy their classes and they are not doing it to get into a top school so when they go to their state flagship they won't be disappointed and acting like their life was a waste.

So according to you, they should be at the state flagship if they have grit, are leaders, are interestinf, and have all APs and all As. Got it.

This is not about you so relax. It’s not according to me, it’s according to admissions at top schools.

If she has grit, she can show that... did she survive cancer while taking 10 APs?
If she is a leader, she can show that... did she lead a nationally recognized movement?
Is she interesting? Was she the janitor at the school she attends from 4-8 every morning before school to support her family?

You are the exact person who has a nervous breakdown during admissions, you check the boxes... you think your child is amazing... you look down on the state flagship and when they get into great schools they have built it up in their heads that those schools are not great and they end up dejected and depressed.

You are setting you kid up to feel like a failure even though they get accepted to a great college.

so basically lie, but in an unverifiable way, on your essay if you want to go to a top school and are unfortunate enough to be a healthy hard worker who does well

Wow! Um no.

Just ace money for therapy your kid is gonna need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know you asked for responses from parent of top students, but my reply might also help.

(fyi I also have a top student...she's just not the one applying to college yet.)

My other kid, the senior, is not at the top; she would be the one that the kids might see as "very good but not quite as accomplished."

She was accepted ED into a top 10 school.

Because she's not "top" she applied ED. So that's the first thing.

Second, although she has no hooks at all, she has a compelling story.

Third, she selected a school that seems to really like kids from her school. High schools seem to have relationships with colleges--I don't know how it works, but I do know that, for instance, Wash U, U-M, Harvard, Brown historically seem to accept a lot of her high school's students, while Pomona and Princeton seem to be near impossible for even the "top" students. I noticed this by paying attention to the matriculation of the classes above my DC's class (but that only shows where kids decided to go, not where they were accepted), so then spoke with the HS dean to get a better picture.

DC's favorite school, seemed on target due to her stats, but historically the high school didn't seem to get many kids in there. Oddly, the much higher-ranking school seemed to be a good shot. DD made the call; she didn't want to roll the dice with the bad odds for her favorite school, and went with her second choice, the high-ranking school. And it worked out.

I told her that if she didn't like high-ranking school, she could transfer.

So just saying all this to say, it's complicated.

What is the compelling story for a less-than-top student to get ED to a top 10 school in a pandemic? I understand the HS connection for sure, but I know tons of top students and they aren't getting into top 10 schools, yet. Explain complicated...

I believe PP is saying that playing the admissions game is complicated, the compelling story is probably just private. I completely agree with the point that schools target individual high schools, my oldest took this approach and it worked (not a "top" student and it wasn't a top 10 school, but same logic applies). Schools return to the same well, because they want the word of mouth relationship, exactly what PP tapped into.

top PP here, and bottom PP is correct in that is what I was trying to convey. BTW we also avoided schools that are heavily in to legacy, because there are a lot of legacy kids at my DC's school and we didn't want to compete with them.

But your kid is a unicorn - a kid who isn’t a top student rarely gets into top 10, even with a compelling story. It’s great for your kid, truly, but to say it was entirely due to strategy is disingenuous. Just look at the Michigan thread and those deferred ”top” stats kids.

To pp - the same logic doesn’t apply because you both have students who aren’t “top” but hers got into a top 10 and yours did not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is my experience with college apps. Kids that are not “top students” are fine. They get in somewhere and they are happy.

Top students don’t do well ... they over estimate reach and likely schools.

Their reaches are “not a snowball’s chance in hell” and likely schools are actually reaches. They get into their safeties. But since “in their head” it’s a “safety” they hate their options feel dejected and “settle for their state school”, or Clemson, or Villanova, because they offer a fun atmosphere.

I think there is a lot of truth to this. And it’s useful to remember when considering, should my kid take AP class #10 and get little sleep or are a few more on level/honors classes okay.

What if they actually like the classes and do well in them? Your post makes no sense.

That is fine if they have something else, but if they are giving up "something else" to do all AP's they are an unbalanced applicant and not interesting from an admissions standpoint.... or

It's fine, because they enjoy their classes and they are not doing it to get into a top school so when they go to their state flagship they won't be disappointed and acting like their life was a waste.

So according to you, they should be at the state flagship if they have grit, are leaders, are interestinf, and have all APs and all As. Got it.

This is not about you so relax. It’s not according to me, it’s according to admissions at top schools.

If she has grit, she can show that... did she survive cancer while taking 10 APs?
If she is a leader, she can show that... did she lead a nationally recognized movement?
Is she interesting? Was she the janitor at the school she attends from 4-8 every morning before school to support her family?

You are the exact person who has a nervous breakdown during admissions, you check the boxes... you think your child is amazing... you look down on the state flagship and when they get into great schools they have built it up in their heads that those schools are not great and they end up dejected and depressed.

You are setting you kid up to feel like a failure even though they get accepted to a great college.

so basically lie, but in an unverifiable way, on your essay if you want to go to a top school and are unfortunate enough to be a healthy hard worker who does well

Wow! Um no.

Just ace money for therapy your kid is gonna need it.

DP here. I think you are deliberately digging your heels in for your own agenda. There are plenty of top kids that are interesting, and all those things you mentioned, and more - and are getting left out in the cold. It's not ivy or state flagship - there are enough in between, at least there should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denied at a high match that sibling was admitted to two yrs ago. Deferred at another. Submitted scores at 75th percentile. Accepted to one safety so far.

Wondering if this admission season is some sort of free-for-all. Feeling nauseated.

This is happening at our school too. So many deferrals. Do you think all these deferrals will eventually get in RD or even off the WL in June? With applications up 40%+ at most top schools, they are probably being cautious about over enrollment. Once kids start declining offers, I think it should shift. You can only go to one school and many kids on reddit are applying to 20+ schools this year.

That's all possible, but it'll be a long wait. Really wish I knew whether the deferral - and the direct denial! - were more along the lines of "we didn't think you really wanted to come badly enough" or whether it's "your grades aren't quite as good as your test-optional competitors, so you lose," two different situations.

When reports on early app numbers started to surface, with their huge increases, I was afraid this might happen. And we're not even talking tippy top schools, more like top 40s-60s.

Yes, this is my DC’s situation too. I do think test optional benefits public school kids with very high GPAs and no test scores. My kid has a high test score and lower GPA from a rigorous private that doesn’t weight grades or offer many APs anymore.

The poor's get all the breaks! It ain't right!!

[Anonymous]

Amazing kid, high everything (tests and gpa), strong ECs and Leadership, it's tough going

In at 2 safety schools

3 targets, one admit, one deferral, one rejection (very painful)

3 reach schools now feeling very unlikely

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazing kid, high everything (tests and gpa), strong ECs and Leadership, it's tough going

In at 2 safety schools

3 targets, one admit, one deferral, one rejection (very painful)

3 reach schools now feeling very unlikely

Hang in there, you never know

[Anonymous]

Doing very well, seven for eight with a tough deferral. Merit aid okay but financial aid not so great

[Anonymous]

My daughter has not received a rejection yet (but that is coming, I'm sure). 3.96UW, 4.21W, no test, mediocre EC to include 1 sport, volunteer work thru school, NHS, school ambassador. Only 1 AP but several honors classes.

Accepted at: Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Baylor, Loyola Marymount Univ, ASU (our state school), and St. Mary's of CA with merit - a few have offered significant merit. Offered honors program at ASU, Baylor, and St. Mary's.

Still waiting on: USC (her reach), University of San Diego, Occidental, and Pitzer (she has lost interest in those 2 for some reason).

She went in expecting to get rejected from USC, and while she will be disappointed, she will not be devastated. Given that her list was very reasonable for her stats, I was confident she would have a few good choices. To be honest, I'm surprised that she has several and all with some merit and a few very generous merit. She's a lucky girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denied at a high match that sibling was admitted to two yrs ago. Deferred at another. Submitted scores at 75th percentile. Accepted to one safety so far.

Wondering if this admission season is some sort of free-for-all. Feeling nauseated.

This is happening at our school too. So many deferrals. Do you think all these deferrals will eventually get in RD or even off the WL in June? With applications up 40%+ at most top schools, they are probably being cautious about over enrollment. Once kids start declining offers, I think it should shift. You can only go to one school and many kids on reddit are applying to 20+ schools this year.

That's all possible, but it'll be a long wait. Really wish I knew whether the deferral - and the direct denial! - were more along the lines of "we didn't think you really wanted to come badly enough" or whether it's "your grades aren't quite as good as your test-optional competitors, so you lose," two different situations.

When reports on early app numbers started to surface, with their huge increases, I was afraid this might happen. And we're not even talking tippy top schools, more like top 40s-60s.

Yes, this is my DC’s situation too. I do think test optional benefits public school kids with very high GPAs and no test scores. My kid has a high test score and lower GPA from a rigorous private that doesn’t weight grades or offer many APs anymore.

The poor's get all the breaks! It ain't right!!

The schools have the profile from your's child's "rigorous private" so they can see the difference in rigor among schools. It's not as big of a dealbreaker as you may think.

[Anonymous]

DS was denied ED at Penn. In at ASU and University of Arizona. Waiting on RD at University of Virginia, University of Illinois, Vanderbilt, Emory and Rice.