How did your super high stats kid fare (1550 plus and 4.5 plus with max rigor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two had similar stats from a high performing public. Additionally, they both had outstanding ECs, internships, school leadership, and both were athletes, with one being actively recruited by D3 schools. One had a significant national award in a STEM field. They were also good writers and made the most of their essays. I didn't read their LOCs, but I'm sure they were very good. They are both very outgoing and fun to be around.

Both kids knew the realities of college admissions today. It really is a crapshoot for top students from high performing public schools. Stats-wise - I think they both got Bs in Spanish in 8th grade, but otherwise straight As in the most difficult classes, and one had a 35 and the other a 1520. But that doesn't really distinguish them from a lot of their classmates. The competition is fierce at good publics in the DMV, Bay Area, Tri-State area, and Chicago. There are a lot of great students out there at high performing publics.

I think the ECs and the leadership are what mattered in the end, plus the essays, particularly one of them, which was hilarious and would definitely bring any admissions reader to champion them at the table where they decide these things. Being charming and funny is very helpful, both in college admissions and life. We also visited about 10 schools all together, dragging the younger sibling along to be efficient. That was very enlightening. A parent brings their 90s biases, but things have changed a lot since then. All the people shooting for Ivies - visit them before applying.

Ultimately, they played the ED game. I think one might have wanted to take a shot at Stanford. And the other, MIT. But they both really connected with a couple of T20 schools where applying ED makes a difference. Both got in to their schools in the ED round. One and done with the both of them. Didn't get a chance to apply anywhere else. And they are both very happy with their college experience. So it all worked out.

ED is the key.

I noticed many posters didn't ED anywhere. Yes, I understand they all wanted HYPMS, the results could be very different if high stats kids settle for ED at a T20 school.

Very few can ED.

These posters obviously can. You can tell because they all participated in very expensive ECs.

MIT does not have ED. What is the poster talking about?

[Anonymous]

We only applied EA to all 7 schools. The reach was only MIT.

[Anonymous]

DS had similar stats, 12 APs (but not all 5s), quality ECs, although I'm not sure whether they qualify as national-level, and great intangibles (well liked by peers and teachers). Accepted at Brown, Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Pomona, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, and a few more. Denied at Williams and waitlisted at Penn and Skidmore. Now at Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
1560 SAT
4.0 Unweighted, 4.57 weighted
14 APs with all fives on the 9 tests taken before applying
Took Calc 3 junior summer, got an A (he LOVES math and will major in it)
Merit Finalist
Captain and MVP of his rowing team (4 years on the team)
3 years juried music with awards
Helped run the family business (with demonstrated financial impact!)

Applied to Yale (legacy AND rowing official visit with pre-read), Princeton, Penn, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Cornell, Uchicago. Waitlisted at Northwestern and Cornell and rejected at the rest.

He going to Penn State, which he was actually happy with from the beginning of the process, thankfully, which is why he only applied to a few top schools.

He is starting out with 66 credits and can graduate in three years with a double major OR in four with an integrated masters (applied math and applied statistic).

Sidebar: We invested the additional money we saved for college which will have a dramatic impact on his financial future. He is thrilled! And he joked about hoping it happened because he is pretty sure the social life is going to be so much better and is convinced he can get a great education pretty much anywhere.

Our CCO could never approve a college list like this. Very head heavy, no ED, no EA.
T15-T40 schools are completely missing from the list. It's either super reach or safeties.

PP said her kid would be/ is happy with Penn State (perhaps in state for them?). If you apply early, Penn State sends out early acceptances.

Why would it make sense to apply to any T10-T30 schools, which would all be more expensive? Not everyone is determined to go to the highest prestige place at all costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It appears that it is harder to get into college than when we all applied. But what about for the very high stats kids?

Can some of you please share how it went for your child who went through the process if your kid was max rigor, 1550 plus, top grades, great but not national award winning extracurricular.

My child is having trouble finishing up their college lists and part of the reason is we really just have no idea how it will all go with the reach schools. We also don't know what school is "worth" taking your shot early. This child will be happiest with an intense, highly academic crowd.

This was my kid. He’s attending UMDCP. No luck at any of the highly ranked privates but in the end I think he wound up right where he’s supposed to be. Good luck!

For the PP who wanted majors with stats:

MCPS
1560
All 5s
1 B in a non magnet class (dk GPA, but I guess really high)
Physics major

Didn’t ED anywhere

[Anonymous]

My kids was denied at every Ivy+ he applied to. Accepted at Oxford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS had similar stats, 12 APs (but not all 5s), quality ECs, although I'm not sure whether they qualify as national-level, and great intangibles (well liked by peers and teachers). Accepted at Brown, Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Pomona, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, and a few more. Denied at Williams and waitlisted at Penn and Skidmore. Now at Pomona.

What did you have against Amherst?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS had similar stats, 12 APs (but not all 5s), quality ECs, although I'm not sure whether they qualify as national-level, and great intangibles (well liked by peers and teachers). Accepted at Brown, Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Pomona, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, and a few more. Denied at Williams and waitlisted at Penn and Skidmore. Now at Pomona.

What did you have against Amherst?

Nothing at all. It's a great school. For reasons all his own though, DS was just less enamored with Amherst than other schools and didn't want to apply to more than a dozen schools total. As application deadlines approached, DS was cutting excellent schools left and right from his longer list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.98uw/1560 (760v/790m), 11 APs, male, full pay, poli sci/IR. All apps were RD.

Attending a T10 where he was admitted off the waitlist in June. Previously planned to attend a low target w/merit

Rejected: Brown, Columbia, Georgetown, UCLA/UCB/UCSD, USC, Vandy

Waitlisted: Michigan, Northeastern (admitted late April but not for Boston), NYU, Tufts, and the T10 (admitted in June)

Accepted: state flagship, other in-state safety, two low targets (T60s)

Hindsight is 20/20. My kid did not have his app ready to apply early - the UCs were the first apps submitted. Didn't finalize Common App essay until Jan 1. If he had to do it over again, he would have applied early somewhere, at least EA. Ultimately it worked out, I think the school he's attending will be a good fit, but it's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

My advice is to have multiple targets and safeties that your kid would be glad to attend if not admitted anywhere else. This is not a predictable process from the student perspective. As someone mentioned above, some high-stats students will get into many top schools, some will get into none, and it may not be clear from the outside why that happened, except that top schools are largely looking for the same things.

Just so incredibly stupid not to name the school already. It’s not helpful otherwise.

Point is the uncertainty, to look at the denials and waitlists for a high stats kid. The single top school acceptance involved a stroke of luck.

If it's the school I think it is, it probably costs $85,000 plus per year. Luck is relative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two had similar stats from a high performing public. Additionally, they both had outstanding ECs, internships, school leadership, and both were athletes, with one being actively recruited by D3 schools. One had a significant national award in a STEM field. They were also good writers and made the most of their essays. I didn't read their LOCs, but I'm sure they were very good. They are both very outgoing and fun to be around.

Both kids knew the realities of college admissions today. It really is a crapshoot for top students from high performing public schools. Stats-wise - I think they both got Bs in Spanish in 8th grade, but otherwise straight As in the most difficult classes, and one had a 35 and the other a 1520. But that doesn't really distinguish them from a lot of their classmates. The competition is fierce at good publics in the DMV, Bay Area, Tri-State area, and Chicago. There are a lot of great students out there at high performing publics.

I think the ECs and the leadership are what mattered in the end, plus the essays, particularly one of them, which was hilarious and would definitely bring any admissions reader to champion them at the table where they decide these things. Being charming and funny is very helpful, both in college admissions and life. We also visited about 10 schools all together, dragging the younger sibling along to be efficient. That was very enlightening. A parent brings their 90s biases, but things have changed a lot since then. All the people shooting for Ivies - visit them before applying.

Ultimately, they played the ED game. I think one might have wanted to take a shot at Stanford. And the other, MIT. But they both really connected with a couple of T20 schools where applying ED makes a difference. Both got in to their schools in the ED round. One and done with the both of them. Didn't get a chance to apply anywhere else. And they are both very happy with their college experience. So it all worked out.

ED is the key.

I noticed many posters didn't ED anywhere. Yes, I understand they all wanted HYPMS, the results could be very different if high stats kids settle for ED at a T20 school.

100% and go down a notch from HYPSM.......
It's definitely doable.
Moreso if not CS or Engineering or Business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It appears that it is harder to get into college than when we all applied. But what about for the very high stats kids?

Can some of you please share how it went for your child who went through the process if your kid was max rigor, 1550 plus, top grades, great but not national award winning extracurricular.

My child is having trouble finishing up their college lists and part of the reason is we really just have no idea how it will all go with the reach schools. We also don't know what school is "worth" taking your shot early. This child will be happiest with an intense, highly academic crowd.

Higher SAT than that, not superscored, top of class, max rigor, no national but state and regional awards, into five top15/ivy unhooked and other T25s

[Anonymous]

^no ED was done, all RD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It appears that it is harder to get into college than when we all applied. But what about for the very high stats kids?

Can some of you please share how it went for your child who went through the process if your kid was max rigor, 1550 plus, top grades, great but not national award winning extracurricular.

My child is having trouble finishing up their college lists and part of the reason is we really just have no idea how it will all go with the reach schools. We also don't know what school is "worth" taking your shot early. This child will be happiest with an intense, highly academic crowd.

Top public magnet school
URM
1530 SAT (one try, no prep -- didn't need/want to take it again)
4.3 GPA
16 APs (5s on all)
NMF
National level prestigious internship
Usual volunteering, job, etc., a few regional awards

Reach:
Vanderbilt - Accepter regular decision ($6k total merit for NMF)

Target:
UT Austin (in-state, not top %5 auto admit) - Accepted, no merit
University of Georgia - Accepted, early action, $10k-ish merit
USC (Southern California) - WL, then denied

Safety, accepted to all:
Alabama -- Full ride
Auburn -- Top merit (1/2 off out of state tuition ... $17k/yr)
Arkansas -- Full Tuition scholarship
Miami Ohio -- can't recall initial merit offer, but remember they called us closer to May and offered more scholarship money
University of Oklahoma - Full Tuition Scholarship plus some additional $ for NMF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My two had similar stats from a high performing public. Additionally, they both had outstanding ECs, internships, school leadership, and both were athletes, with one being actively recruited by D3 schools. One had a significant national award in a STEM field. They were also good writers and made the most of their essays. I didn't read their LOCs, but I'm sure they were very good. They are both very outgoing and fun to be around.

Both kids knew the realities of college admissions today. It really is a crapshoot for top students from high performing public schools. Stats-wise - I think they both got Bs in Spanish in 8th grade, but otherwise straight As in the most difficult classes, and one had a 35 and the other a 1520. But that doesn't really distinguish them from a lot of their classmates. The competition is fierce at good publics in the DMV, Bay Area, Tri-State area, and Chicago. There are a lot of great students out there at high performing publics.

I think the ECs and the leadership are what mattered in the end, plus the essays, particularly one of them, which was hilarious and would definitely bring any admissions reader to champion them at the table where they decide these things. Being charming and funny is very helpful, both in college admissions and life. We also visited about 10 schools all together, dragging the younger sibling along to be efficient. That was very enlightening. A parent brings their 90s biases, but things have changed a lot since then. All the people shooting for Ivies - visit them before applying.

Ultimately, they played the ED game. I think one might have wanted to take a shot at Stanford. And the other, MIT. But they both really connected with a couple of T20 schools where applying ED makes a difference. Both got in to their schools in the ED round. One and done with the both of them. Didn't get a chance to apply anywhere else. And they are both very happy with their college experience. So it all worked out.

ED is the key.

I noticed many posters didn't ED anywhere. Yes, I understand they all wanted HYPMS, the results could be very different if high stats kids settle for ED at a T20 school.

100% and go down a notch from HYPSM.......
It's definitely doable.
Moreso if not CS or Engineering or Business.

NP, not to hijak, but would love opinions on this..... Let's say your kid is a legacy and a "lower Ivy" type school, and is very high stats. Would be happy at that school, knows it's a great school...but very interested in 1-2 HYPSM schools.

Would you ED and (hopefully - but these days who the hell knows) be done with it? Or try for HYPSM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS 2024, 3.98/4.5, 1540
Accepted w/merit: UNC, UMD, Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan

OOS merit at Michigan? That’s very unusual. Did you have need, as well?