What colleges to aim for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have three in college and one who graduated from an SEC school last year. I've never been able to figure out the logic. My kids knew exactly where they wanted to go and none of the schools were difficult to get into. They all got academic scholorships which was wonderful! The process was easy for us, thankfully.

Here's an example of how bizarre the admissions process can be- My neighbor's son. 4.45 weighted. Great SAT scores. Senior Class President. Tons of service hours. Accepted to two Ivys. Wait listed at University of Florida, which was his dream school. Same year my daughter's best friend was accepted at University of Florida with a 3.4 and much weaker scores. Her only extra-curricular was chorus. The only thing I can think of is maybe the essay made the difference??? But I can't imagine my neighbor's son wrote a bad essay. He's brilliant.

My advise as someone who has had four kids go through the process- Encourage him to apply to schools he is interested in regardless of what you think his chances are. Just make sure you include some reach schools and some safe ones in the bunch. You just never know....

Wild guess re: UF. They didn't feel first choice and didn't want to be the kid's safety school. But I agree that kids should apply where they want and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have three in college and one who graduated from an SEC school last year. I've never been able to figure out the logic. My kids knew exactly where they wanted to go and none of the schools were difficult to get into. They all got academic scholorships which was wonderful! The process was easy for us, thankfully.

Here's an example of how bizarre the admissions process can be- My neighbor's son. 4.45 weighted. Great SAT scores. Senior Class President. Tons of service hours. Accepted to two Ivys. Wait listed at University of Florida, which was his dream school. Same year my daughter's best friend was accepted at University of Florida with a 3.4 and much weaker scores. Her only extra-curricular was chorus. The only thing I can think of is maybe the essay made the difference??? But I can't imagine my neighbor's son wrote a bad essay. He's brilliant.

My advise as someone who has had four kids go through the process- Encourage him to apply to schools he is interested in regardless of what you think his chances are. Just make sure you include some reach schools and some safe ones in the bunch. You just never know....

Wild guess re: UF. They didn't feel first choice and didn't want to be the kid's safety school. But I agree that kids should apply where they want and see what happens.

Maybe. I didn't even think about that. UF has become very competitive, but with his stats I would have thought he would have easily been admitted. He ended up at University of North Florida on a full ride (my daughter did the same) and is going to med school at UF so I guess it worked out.

[Anonymous]

Many liberal arts colleges are just looking to fill seats these days. They will gladly take your money.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Our child with over a 4.0 and similar SAT's was rejected from MacAlester, Emory, and Oberlin. Your child will not get into those schools.

And my 3.3. kid ('tho w/higher SATS -- above 2300) is at an Ivy. There are so many factors involved that you can't lay bets. At this point, OP and her DS are looking at schools and starting to put together a list, so it makes sense to cast the net broadly.

Your DC had no hooks?

No hooks.

I find that hard to believe since I know kids with perfect SATs and higher GPAs who didn't get into an Ivy. There had to be something about your child that made him/her stand out. A sport or special talent, maybe?

Well, SATs were close to perfect and he earned national recognition in a STEM-related competition, but, no, not a legacy, URM or recruited athlete.

That's still hard to believe with 3.3 GPA but... Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child with over a 4.0 and similar SAT's was rejected from MacAlester, Emory, and Oberlin. Your child will not get into those schools.

And my 3.3. kid ('tho w/higher SATS -- above 2300) is at an Ivy. There are so many factors involved that you can't lay bets. At this point, OP and her DS are looking at schools and starting to put together a list, so it makes sense to cast the net broadly.

Your DC had no hooks?

No hooks.

I find that hard to believe since I know kids with perfect SATs and higher GPAs who didn't get into an Ivy. There had to be something about your child that made him/her stand out. A sport or special talent, maybe?

Well, SATs were close to perfect and he earned national recognition in a STEM-related competition, but, no, not a legacy, URM or recruited athlete.

That's still hard to believe with 3.3 GPA but... Congrats!

Some Ivies are more competitive than others.

That said, a kid who has won a recognition in a national STEM-related competition might be desirable to an Ivy with a strong STEM focus, if he put on the application that he was planning to major in something STEM, or maybe to any Ivy that is looking to boost its STEM reputation (Brown?).

The "national" aspect of the recognition is helpful here too.

Finally, if that 3.3 is in AP classes, or in one of the most challenging privates, that's different from a 3.3 in public honors classes or in a 2nd-tier private. (From what I know about area magnet acceptances, a 3.3 wouldn't have made it into an Ivy from an area magnet.) The top colleges have their own proprietary weighting systems and they may have scored this kid at more than 3.3, also the regional reps will be familiar with rigor at various area high schools. Also, I'm guessing the lower grades were in things like English and US Gov, and not in the STEM classes.