WSJ: the Secrets of Elite College Admissions

[Anonymous]

Not sure these are "secrets," but an interesting article that shows how much of a crapshoot it all is.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-secrets-of-elite-college-admissions-11598626784?mod=hp_lead_pos12

[Anonymous]

You need a subscription to access. Can you post the take aways?

[Anonymous]

In the middle of February, a student’s ability to pay begins to enter the admissions equation. From that moment until decisions are delivered near the end of March, Lafayette takes a much closer look at students with high financial need, a line that is recalibrated every year. In 2019, the line was drawn at $35,000, around half of the total cost of attending Lafayette for a year. To give you a sense of the task facing Lafayette’s admissions officers, consider this: Of Lafayette’s 8,500 U.S. applicants in 2018-19, about 2,200 needed more than $35,000 a year in financial aid. That was roughly the level of need for a family with two children and an annual income of up to $175,000.

As he eliminates students from the admit pool, Mr. Hyde is careful to choose applicants with varying levels of financial need. His models tell him that students who get huge financial-aid packages end up enrolling more often than those with smaller awards or no aid at all. It’s a balancing act in meeting enrollment and budget targets.

Among those who didn’t make it into Lafayette that year was an applicant from Pennsylvania who ranked fifth in his high school class of more than 600, with a 3.96 GPA and 1450 on the SAT. His financial need to attend Lafayette: $66,810 for his freshman year. Another student kept out of the admit pool was a girl from the West Coast with nine AP classes on her transcript and a 1430 on the SAT. Her financial need: $57,000. In the end, Lafayette rejected 200 students whom the admissions staff had tentatively accepted but then decided the school couldn’t afford.

got it- don't be poor

[Anonymous]

Fascinating. DD never made it off the Lafayette Waitlist; According to the NPC if she got it they would’ve needed to give her $42k+/yr to meet need as defined by them. It was an SAT reach though.

[Anonymous]

The original readers gave him a score of 2 out of 5 in that category, observing that he wanted to major in pre-med “but we don’t see activities to support that,” one of the admissions officers said.

other than taking all available bio and chem classes, how exactly does a high school kid demonstrate a love of premed?

[Anonymous]

What's shocking to me is the income breakpoint--$175,000 a year! Granted that's just one school and not a super-well-endowed one. But under 175K is hardly poor. I guess on the flip side, I'm also surprised that a family at that income level qualifies for $35,000 in need-based aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's shocking to me is the income breakpoint--$175,000 a year! Granted that's just one school and not a super-well-endowed one. But under 175K is hardly poor. I guess on the flip side, I'm also surprised that a family at that income level qualifies for $35,000 in need-based aid.

the cost to attention is 74k, after tax, that the majority of HHI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The original readers gave him a score of 2 out of 5 in that category, observing that he wanted to major in pre-med “but we don’t see activities to support that,” one of the admissions officers said.

other than taking all available bio and chem classes, how exactly does a high school kid demonstrate a love of premed?

Hospital shadowing and research (which is a whole other issue—not really acessible for kids in rural or suburban areas if they don’t have their own cars)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The original readers gave him a score of 2 out of 5 in that category, observing that he wanted to major in pre-med “but we don’t see activities to support that,” one of the admissions officers said.

other than taking all available bio and chem classes, how exactly does a high school kid demonstrate a love of premed?

So crazy. I know that my kid is free to opt out of the competition and go to a less selective school, but for god sakes they’re KIDS in high school. Ick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The original readers gave him a score of 2 out of 5 in that category, observing that he wanted to major in pre-med “but we don’t see activities to support that,” one of the admissions officers said.

other than taking all available bio and chem classes, how exactly does a high school kid demonstrate a love of premed?

Hospital shadowing and research (which is a whole other issue—not really acessible for kids in rural or suburban areas if they don’t have their own cars)

so being connected or going to a connected school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The original readers gave him a score of 2 out of 5 in that category, observing that he wanted to major in pre-med “but we don’t see activities to support that,” one of the admissions officers said.

other than taking all available bio and chem classes, how exactly does a high school kid demonstrate a love of premed?

Hospital shadowing and research (which is a whole other issue—not really acessible for kids in rural or suburban areas if they don’t have their own cars)

so being connected or going to a connected school?

Yes. Except for NAF programs at poor high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's shocking to me is the income breakpoint--$175,000 a year! Granted that's just one school and not a super-well-endowed one. But under 175K is hardly poor. I guess on the flip side, I'm also surprised that a family at that income level qualifies for $35,000 in need-based aid.

the cost to attention is 74k, after tax, that the majority of HHI

Assuming no savings....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The original readers gave him a score of 2 out of 5 in that category, observing that he wanted to major in pre-med “but we don’t see activities to support that,” one of the admissions officers said.

other than taking all available bio and chem classes, how exactly does a high school kid demonstrate a love of premed?

Hospital shadowing and research (which is a whole other issue—not really acessible for kids in rural or suburban areas if they don’t have their own cars)

Yep. One of my friends who is a doctor spent high school summers and weekends as “Candystriper.” I don’t know if they even have that program anymore, but it involved volunteering at local hospitals. They wore a striped smock to identify them as young volunteers, thus the name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's shocking to me is the income breakpoint--$175,000 a year! Granted that's just one school and not a super-well-endowed one. But under 175K is hardly poor. I guess on the flip side, I'm also surprised that a family at that income level qualifies for $35,000 in need-based aid.

the cost to attention is 74k, after tax, that the majority of HHI

Assuming no savings....

Why would you need $35k/yr in FA if you have savings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's shocking to me is the income breakpoint--$175,000 a year! Granted that's just one school and not a super-well-endowed one. But under 175K is hardly poor. I guess on the flip side, I'm also surprised that a family at that income level qualifies for $35,000 in need-based aid.

the cost to attention is 74k, after tax, that the majority of HHI

Assuming no savings....

They included up to $175k hhi because believe it or not there are kids who’s parents have a $175k hhi who haven’t saved a dime for their child’s college education.