Do normal smart kids get into ivy and T30 schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My unhooked 1520 SAT public school kid is normal smart and was admitted to one of HYPSM early. Fairly well rounded with a lot of leadership, and submitted arts portfolio with some related awards- but nothing major like Young Arts.

What major?

They applied psychology and their art form.

Art seems to be the new trick this year for undersubscribed majors!

How do schools verify whether the artwork submitted was indeed done by the applicant? For music, at lease you could submit a video.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full pay and ED will help

Not this cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a junior who has straight As, highest rigor, 1500+ SAT, 2 varsity sports that he should be captain senior year, summer internships, academic clubs and competitions but no national or international recognition in anything.

He is such a hard working kid. I thought a 1500 would be good enough but he is trying to get 1550 on his SAT. Not sure how big of a difference 1510 or 1550 is.

I have seen some superstar kids get rejected from all the top schools and making me nervous.

Full pay? Willingness to ED and you are likely to be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People here are so out of touch. I know plenty of standard smart kids who can’t get into state flagships. A lot are lucky to get into the mid tier UCs let alone Berkeley or UCLA. College admissions are just that hard

OP said straight As, highest rigor, and 1500+SAT. If all three things are actually true, then the odds of getting into UVA, michigan, UNC, and UCB for those who are in-state in those places are exceeding high. When you hear of people who don't, this is what they mean: "4.0 gpa"--they mean weighted, they do not understand that in Virginia and many states 4.0 weighted is in the bottom half of the graduating class.
"All As" they mean mix of A and A-, which is barely above average in many schools.
"highest rigor" they mean 10+ APs or a mix of DE and AP or all DE. They have no concept that almost half the students at some high schools takes 10 AP and/or DE. The top students are on entirely different tracks and have an AP list and transcript that shows true highest rigor, no extra sudy halls, no skipped hard-grading teacher.

I have been in the field for years and have never seen one single student anywhere in the region that has a true 4.0 unweighted in the absolute highest rigor, with a 1500+ who did not get into UVA in state. It does not happen.

UVA, yes! UMich and UNC probably. But not UCB from the DMV area. Those who got into UCB/UCLA here were also accepted by some top or mid-tier Ivies (not Cornell).

Not from our average public DMV high school. The UCB acceptances are usually on par with UNC or UMich which are lower part of top 10% maybe top 15%, and mid range SATs. By no means are they ivy or plus material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My unhooked 1520 SAT public school kid is normal smart and was admitted to one of HYPSM early. Fairly well rounded with a lot of leadership, and submitted arts portfolio with some related awards- but nothing major like Young Arts.

What major?

They applied psychology and their art form.

Art seems to be the new trick this year for undersubscribed majors!

You generally need to have ample transcript and extracurricular evidence for art. Along with hopefully entering into scholastic art, and getting at least an honorable mention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My unhooked 1520 SAT public school kid is normal smart and was admitted to one of HYPSM early. Fairly well rounded with a lot of leadership, and submitted arts portfolio with some related awards- but nothing major like Young Arts.

What major?

They applied psychology and their art form.

Art seems to be the new trick this year for undersubscribed majors!

How do schools verify whether the artwork submitted was indeed done by the applicant? For music, at lease you could submit a video.

You need transcript and EC support.

Things like:
Interlochen Arts Camp/SCAD
Arts club at school - leadership
Scholastic Art awards
Working at art galleries/art non-profits

[Anonymous]

about 1 out of 100 non-recruited kid gets into HYPSM. for those 1500 vs 1550 doesn't matter. also, your kid isn't getting those.

for T25 schools outside those super elites, a 1540 vs 1500 does matter. you can pretty much guarantee a seat at, say, BC with full pay, great grades, 1540. and the healthiest thing to do is be *excited* about an option like that while also applying to a 4 or 5 schools like Rice, CMU, Penn (not Wharton), brown, Cornell, ND, Northwestern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a junior who has straight As, highest rigor, 1500+ SAT, 2 varsity sports that he should be captain senior year, summer internships, academic clubs and competitions but no national or international recognition in anything.

He is such a hard working kid. I thought a 1500 would be good enough but he is trying to get 1550 on his SAT. Not sure how big of a difference 1510 or 1550 is.

I have seen some superstar kids get rejected from all the top schools and making me nervous.

My nephew got into Yale (REA) and Harvard (RD) with a 1520. He had a very high (perfect) GPA and took most rigorous curriculum. I really don't think the SAT score going up 20 points here or there mattered. I think once you hit 1500, you clear a bar and it's about the rest of your application - GPA, recommendations, EC/activities, major, jobs, essay, full pay, etc.

I would put the additional energy into the rest of your son's profile, OP rather than wasting time trying to improve the SAT once you've already reached the 99th percentile.

+1

Perhaps get 1-1 tutoring (4-5 sessions) and that's it. Retake and see what happens. But beyond that, he already has the SAT he needs to be "looked at". Focus on the rest of the application and on having a happy kid for senior year. Oh, and on finding the best target and safety schools, because that is most likely where they will be choosing from come April Senior year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a junior who has straight As, highest rigor, 1500+ SAT, 2 varsity sports that he should be captain senior year, summer internships, academic clubs and competitions but no national or international recognition in anything.

He is such a hard working kid. I thought a 1500 would be good enough but he is trying to get 1550 on his SAT. Not sure how big of a difference 1510 or 1550 is.

I have seen some superstar kids get rejected from all the top schools and making me nervous.

My nephew got into Yale (REA) and Harvard (RD) with a 1520. He had a very high (perfect) GPA and took most rigorous curriculum. I really don't think the SAT score going up 20 points here or there mattered. I think once you hit 1500, you clear a bar and it's about the rest of your application - GPA, recommendations, EC/activities, major, jobs, essay, full pay, etc.

I would put the additional energy into the rest of your son's profile, OP rather than wasting time trying to improve the SAT once you've already reached the 99th percentile.

This. I don't know why people keep thinking that there is a distinction between 1500 and 1550. The Harvard lawsuit explained that a 1500+ got the same as a 1600. Getting rejected with a 1500 will not be the reason for the rejection...

+1

Once you cross that bar (1500) it simply doesn't matter.
Remember, 90-95% of applicants will be rejected. 90% of those are "highly qualified". It's a lottery unless you have other connections.