Reply to Asian American student with 1590 SAT score blames affirmative action for rejections from 6 colleges

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Test scores alone are not highly indicative of a successful future college student.  It makes no sense to force a college to admit students based on this criteria.  I don’t know why we put so much weight upon them.  All they really do is generically show relative strengths and weaknesses among high schools.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/19/study-finds-little-difference-academic-success-students-who-do-and-dont-submit-sat#:~:text=The%20study%20confirms%20that%20high,who%20will%20succeed%20in%20college.%22[/quote]

I keep seeing this claim made but there are decades of research studies on this topic and many show that SAT scores are a very strong predictor of not only college grades but future career success as well. [/quote]
+1 which is why MIT went back to requiring SAT scores.[/quote]

MIT is only ONE T25 school.  Georgetown still requires the SAT since it's not in the common app.

How about HYPS and the other 1,800+ who are test optional? How about the SAT/ACT going digital to even stay relevant?

I think you've missed the test optional trend. Get used to it.  It is here to stay.[/quote]
It is here to stay because more and more schools want to increase DEI.  Getting rid of SAT scores is one way to do that.  Why not just get rid of GPAs since there is so much grade inflation and grading is als
o pretty subjective? [/quote]

GPA - and rigor- over 4 years is a better indicator of college success (at least freshman year) than one 3-hour test.

The AOs know this.[/quote]

The AOs are failures in life. If they weren't, they wouldn't be stuck in an admissions office. They have low level degrees in xyz studies type areas and have their own personal social agendas to fulfill. I know this because I have the misfortune of interacting with many of them. Professors are not happy about the trajectory of admissions decisions over the past decade [/quote]
The distain for people who work in education across this forum is so sad. If these failures are picking the classes, why would you want to be part of them? They suck at life, but somehow are able to put together talented cohorts year after year?

[/quote]

Just sour grapes from the PP.

[/quote]

Not to mention, how much "transparency" does China have?? GTFOH.[/quote]

It's really a huge shame that the US has less transparency than even China when it comes to college admission. seriously WTF[/quote]

Once again, if China is so awesome, you are free to go there and experience this awesome system. [/quote]

So you agree that US college admission system is less transparent than even China.

Do you agree with every parts of every US systems. Is that why you are here?

I'm not sure about you, but I think there are rooms to make improvements in many arears in this country.

I care about this country where my kids were born, so unlike you I don't just leave just because I you don't like something.

I like to see improvements and progress.

[/quote]
I was born here, no plans to leave.  I do NOT think the Western European, china, India ways of tracking kids at an early age is a better system.  So I will fight to not change to that.

The main problem with our current system appears to be many feel "entitled" to an elite university experience because they "worked so hard and got high test scores over 12 years".  The blinders are on and they cannot recognize there are not enough spaces for everyone who is highly qualified.  And somehow refuse to recognize this and search for great Target and safety schools.   Nobody is saying you cannot get an education.  You can---most likely at a 25-50 ranked school---still excellent choice and it will not hold your kid back at all, unless they come from an area of entitlement/privilege that they are too good for those schools.

Reaches are just that---reaches for every DAMN person who applies, unless you are an athlete or kid of a president/last name of Bezos or gates/etc.  So reach for the stars, but have a good plan in place for if that doesn't work.  Because statistically, it will not work out.  
It seems many entitled kids this is the first time money and privilege has not bought them everything they wanted. And they cannot seem to recognize their extreme privilege over most of the other kids in the US

[/quote]

The main problem with our current system is that there's no clear rules, no transparency, and they even discriminate based on race.

[/quote]

There are fairly clear rules. What there is not and will never be is a formula, because it's a holistic process.   Do the best you can academically, test and submit if you want, be well rounded but ideally a bit pointy and really delve into an area with deep interest for ECs and then apply to a broad range of schools (reach, target and safety).  And accept the fact that as long as there are more kids applying to each of the T25 schools than spaces, and most are applying to many of those T25, that all are a REACH for nearly everyone.  So if you get rejected don't take it personally and move on.  These are highly rejective schools and reject all but 5-10% of the applicants. However, majority (likely 90% of those rejected at a minimum) are "qualified and would make good members of the freshman class of 20XY), despite that most will not make it. 
  Accept that schools are looking for diversity in many areas (including majors, M/F, geography, income, ECs/sports/areas of interest outside your major including what you volunteer with etc).

But there will never be a you get X+ SAT and y+ gpa and z+ number of APs with all 5s and you are guaranteed a spot.  You know what the criteria is. You just do NOT like the fact that not everyone with a 1580+ is going to gain admission to a T25 school.  So instead of focusing and complaining "it's not fair", focus on making your kid a better person, have them find a real EC/Volunteering that they love and would do even if it was not needed for college, help them be genuinely an exciting person who wants to make the world a better place, etc.  And realize that yes, Kid A may have gotten admission because of their essay or a personal experience that they wrote about and the AO who read it "felt something" and put it into the "accepted" pile.  
Someone smart enough to win a lottery ticket for T25 schools should also be smart enough to understand it's not guaranteed and that they will still do exceedingly well in life, and not any worse because of where they attend college.  This is 99.999% driven by the adults, not the kids.  Kids think this way when from 2nd grade onwards they have 10to 15 hours of extra tutoring just to get ahead, when kid is already A student and most advanced in their class.  When their MS friends are going to movies or hanging out with friends on Fri/sat, they are pushed to do advanced math/foreign language/etc.  They are pushed to 2-3 grade levels ahead in math whether they want to or not, they are constantly pushed to take APs starting in 9th grade and as many as possible each year to just get ahead and into best colleges.  So yes, they often grow to view themselves as a failure in their parent's eyes if they don't have a 100 in every class and only get into #26 and #32 when college application season ends.  Those kids have done nothing except be prepped for this all their lives.  However, there is a difference between "valuing education" and raising a curious, smart individual who is self motivated, not out of fear of failing the parents.

My kid is asian, works hard, but we allowed them to pick activities and advanced courses that interested them.  Made HS a happier experience and ultimately made my kid a great person who everyone loves and who is just a nice friendly helpful individual who others love being around.  My kid tried for 3 T30 schools, rejected at 2 and WL at 1.  Yes, they wished they had gotten into those, but they had an amazing list of great targets and safeties and got into ALL of them, with good merit (4 Targets in the 30-50 range, and highest safety in the 50-70 range).  They have completed freshman year, doing well, loving it, loving the school and great group of friends.  Their friends are all extremely smart, curious, genuinely great individuals who will excel in whatever they choose in life.  Some even got into "higher ranked schools" and turned them down for fit (trust me---location was definately not the reason).  
So yes, it would have been nice for my kid to go to one of those other 3 schools, but they are at an amazing school, they didn't "settle" as this was easily their 2nd choice from the first visit in terms of fit and just feel for the school.  My kid is living life in the moment and giving it there all where they ended up---I have no doubts they will excel in their career and life after college---did not really give up anything by not getting into a T25--if anything I think they are having a slightly less stressed college experience, less competition and more collaborative experience and I think that is a good thing[/quote]

You sound like an awesome parent, raising an awesome kid!  Thanks for this![/quote]

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