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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP— I have a [b]kid at TJ.  [/b]

I don't have a kid at TJ but am a consultant in the field and have many students who have gone through the process.

[b]The bad news. The kids getting into Stanford aren’t just impressive for this area or the smartest kid in your neighborhood.  They have demonstrated world class talent. The National chess champion. US international traveling math, bio, chem or physics olympics team. The Intel and Siemens finalists. The National student journalist of the year. These are the kids getting offers. Not NMSFs, 99th % SATs, great grades, student body President. If your kid isn’t nationally or internationally recognized in something impressive, a URM/first Gen, an elite athlete, or donating a building, I she should still apply, but I would not let her get her hopes up.  Because with 5% admissions rate, URMS, athletes and legacies filling sports, and all the applicants being impressive, the odds are bad.
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I agree with all of this.  Same for the Ivies.  Legacy doesn't count unless you are talking seven digits.  I had a triple legacy at Yale turned down.  He had all the stats but wasn't URM, low-income, etc. etc. but did have national awards.  Please tell your kids this is going to be like throwing craps at Vegas.  You might get lucky but the odds are stacked against you.  And apply EA, SCEA or ED - take advantage of that.  The game is now being played out there, not at the RD level.

Better news:  [b]Berkley[/b] might be doable for a kid who is just bright, and hardworking with excellent SATs and not also a superhero on the side.  If she’s interested in CA, maybe one of the Claremont colleges, depending on what she wants to study?  One of them is all [b]female,[/b] but they share a co-ed campus.   [b]Occidental[/b] also seems to be getting a lot of buzz right now.

Berkeley is going to become even more difficult to get into because OOS (including internationals) will now be capped at only 20% of entering class.  So past Naviance figures for your school are not relevant.  OP needs to widen the field of schools for her daughter to at least ten.

I highly recommend the Claremont Colleges, Pomona first.  The all-female college is Scripps. I know some students who did not get into Pomona, CMC, etc., but got into Scripps and took courses at the other colleges.  Selectivity is very low for Pomona, @ 9% and dropping.

No to Occidental.  It has lost its way.  Selectivity is at 45% and climbing.  You can do much better for same expense.

Even better news:  I know two kids who were bright, hard working, and talented, but not superhuman that are at Stanford right now in [b]grad schoo[/b]l—one from Case Western and one from Northwestern.  And when push comes to shove, your terminal degree is the one people care about.   I know your DD has worked so hard, and given 100% and wants Stanford for undergrad. And she could probably do well there.

Which grad school?  The law school wants to see children of URMS who attended Stanford so they can check off three boxes:  wealthy (called development cases); URM; legacy.

But help her manage expectations and look at the big picture.  Stanford (and Berkley and the Ivys) will still be there in 4 years. She’s clearly capable of doing great things in college.  And if she does, she will have a realistic shot at her dream school for grad school. [/quote]

Not unless she's a URM and legacy.  Remember the "Black Lives Matter" essay??  That's what they are looking for, even at the grad school level.[/quote]

Both heterosexual white males from UMC DMV households. Both accepted to STEM PhD programs, not the professional schools.  One was physics and the other was CS (I think.  Maybe CS adjacent). They were very impressive kids. But theynwere the same kids that Stanford had turned down coming out of good DMV base HSs. [/quote]

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