People who went to college at least 10 years ago: what was your profile and where did you get in?
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Anonymous
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People always say it's way harder to get in now than it was years ago. I'm interested in the anecdotal data from this forum, to see if this holds true.
I was in college from 2005-2009. Graduated with honors (so top 20%; there were no rankings outside of that) from a top private HS. GPA was the equivalent of an A (but the scale included A+, so it wasn't equal to a 4.0). SAT score was 1400 on the old scale (low for my GPA, but I always underperformed on standardized tests). 800 on the SAT II writing and 700 on the SAT II Math subject test (whichever one is the easier one). I only took one AP course (Latin -- I got a 4 on the exam). I applied early to Georgetown School of Foreign Service and UChicago, and got into both. Since I liked those schools, I didn't apply anywhere else. My understanding is that 1400 is now around the 25th percentile for admits to UChicago, so I wonder if I would get in now. |
Anonymous
I was in college 1995-1999. Graduated with honors (rank #2) from a private school in Philly. GPA 3.8, SAT score low 1400s. My school didn't have AP classes, only honors. EC's: class president junior and senior year, theatre, student paper editor, interned at the mayor's office and a history museum my rising junior and senior years. Applied to NYU, Penn and Columbia. Got into NYU and Penn. |
Anonymous
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Gradated from high school 1992 (I'm now 43).
white female. SAT 1300, about #5 at christian high school of 35 kids Admitted to Penn |
Anonymous
| Graduated from high school in 1991 from a fancy boarding school. They didn't do class rank or calculate GPA, but I got a mix of As and Bs with an occasional C here and there. Serious two-sport athlete, student leader, semester abroad, good writer. SATs were (if I recall...) 750 verbal and 520 math. Rejected from Stanford and Cornell, waitlisted at Wesleyan, admitted to Tufts, Clark, Trinity. Went to Tufts. |
Anonymous
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Graduated high school in 1999
17 of 500 in regular ol' public school 5.1 weighted on a 5.0 scale, no idea unweighted...but it wasn't awesome. ACT of 29 Good ECs Admitted to Northwestern, Notre Dame, Illinois Attended Illinois engineering. No way I'd get in to any of those today. |
Anonymous
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HS class of '87
1100 SAT 3.6 GPA. No weighting. No APs. Some honors classes. Active on yearbook and drama club. That's about it. We moved a lot. Attendee three different high school. Accepted: NYU PSU out of state UConn in-state Waitlisted: Vanderbilt UWash Rejected: Florida |
Anonymous
| I'm impressed that you all remember this stuff. |
Anonymous
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Graduated HS 1994 from large public HS in large city in the South.
SAT 1520 (800 V, 720 M) Don't remember GPA, but mostly straight As (maybe an A- or a B?) with APs and honors. Was not valedictorian or even salutatorian (we had several for each). Active in some clubs (Literary mag, honor society), but no sports or leadership roles. Did have some extenuating family circumstances. Got into Harvard. I'm quite certain I would not get in today. |
Anonymous
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1990s HS grad here.
AA female attended local public HS, took many AP courses, got perfect ACT score, high-ish (but not stellar) SATs, right around 1300, and mostly 4s on AP exams. Lettered athlete and leader in JROTC and other well-established clubs. Did NOT get admitted to my 1st choice (VA Tech) or my reach school (Northwestern). Admitted to UMD, a variety of SLACs, one "lower ivy" as DCUM calls it, and a few other state flagship schools. Ended up attending an out-of-state HBCU that offered me a boatload of $$. It wasn't even on my radar, but I have no regrets. |
Anonymous
| Graduated from high school in 1995. Was top three in my class from a very competitive public high school, 6-7 APs (I can't remember exactly), 1540 SAT, strong extra-curriculars (worked part-time, volunteered and held a couple of leadership positions in student groups). Got into Amherst early (so didn't apply anywhere else), which my guidance counselor had assured me in advance was a sure thing. |
Anonymous
OP here. That's funny -- my college counselor basically told me I probably wasn't getting into the schools I ended up getting into. She thought my SAT score wasn't high enough. I stupidly was overly confident and didn't prep any regular decision apps. Luckily it ended up working out, but I could've been scrambling if I didn't get into the schools I did. |
Anonymous
I'm surprised Florida was that selective back in the 1980s. I was under the impression that it was easy up until the 1990s. I know both UF and FSU are much more difficult to get into now than they were a generation ago. |
Anonymous
PP here, I was the total opposite. Despite being told it was a sure thing, I prepped regular applications for 13 other schools before I got my acceptance. So many weekend hours I could never get back. |
Anonymous
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HS class of 96
White, female Public HS, small mid-western city ACT: 32 Weighted GPA; 4.2 ish Class rank: Probably top 5-10% Did not take the SAT or SAT IIs AP English, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Spanish, AP Gov (all APs that were offered at my HS except for Calculus and Physics) 2 sport varsity athlete, singer in competitve well known HS chorus Waitlisted at Georgetown Accepted: Univ Wisconsin (in-state), GWU (with substantial merit aid) |
Anonymous
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Early 80s. Top of my class. Straight As. Equivalent test scores. Painted. Took the only AP offered.
Got in to U of C, Northwestern and ultimately went to Columbia once they let girls in. |