My DS had 4.0 GPA with 1590 SAT, and was accepted to an Ivy. He turned it down to attend George Mason on a full tuition+room/board scholarship because we would have to pay almost 85K per year, and we didn't receive any financial aid at the Ivy where he was accepted. Fast-forward to today, he is currently at UVA medical school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

I wouldn't call a computer science major at the #44 university with a top20 computer science program "true safety" by any definition of the phrase. Isn't that a reach for everyone?
i'm glad it worked out.

Right?!?! It's not a Safety for CS by any stretch

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Friend was NMSF, 1590, top 5%, tons of rigor including AP Stat and BC Calc. Applied nursing to UVA and UNC from oos. Thought scores were good enough so didn't try elsewhere. Ended up at state university but not even in nursing program.
Now....mistake was only having two reaches. And nursing makes everything unsafe.

This 1000%

Nursing is hard anywhere. But if you want to have better odds, you need 3-4 Targets and Safety schools that have direct admit nursing as well. If you are 75%+ at a Safety, and nursing admit rate is at least 20%+ you have a much better chance (don't know anywhere you'd get nursing admit over 50%)

In reality, if you only apply to T30 schools and a safety, odds are good you are attending your safety. But if you find 3-4 good target schools as well, you will most likely will get into one of them (ideally you should get into 50%)

direct admit

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

I wouldn't call a computer science major at the #44 university with a top20 computer science program "true safety" by any definition of the phrase. Isn't that a reach for everyone?
i'm glad it worked out.

What makes you think the safeties and reaches are the same for everyone? Are you assuming the college application process is a true lottery? Your understanding is totally wrong.

UMD may be safety for top student, but UMD dotect admit ton CS is not a safety, even for top students.

Your comment about lottery doesn't even make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

I wouldn't call a computer science major at the #44 university with a top20 computer science program "true safety" by any definition of the phrase. Isn't that a reach for everyone?
i'm glad it worked out.

DP. I would normally agree, but for a Blair magnet kid with these stats (UMD cares about stats), I would call it a likely.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Friend was NMSF, 1590, top 5%, tons of rigor including AP Stat and BC Calc. Applied nursing to UVA and UNC from oos. Thought scores were good enough so didn't try elsewhere. Ended up at state university but not even in nursing program.
Now....mistake was only having two reaches. And nursing makes everything unsafe.

OOS is always a crapshoot, sure, but instate, Nursing

If she's not getting into nursing instate, who is?!

Is she permanently blocked from nursing, or just has to apply after first year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

I wouldn't call a computer science major at the #44 university with a top20 computer science program "true safety" by any definition of the phrase. Isn't that a reach for everyone?
i'm glad it worked out.

What makes you think the safeties and reaches are the same for everyone? Are you assuming the college application process is a true lottery? Your understanding is totally wrong.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

CS is really tough. The guys at College Transitions write pretty extensively about it sharing all sorts of data/info about admission into certain colleges. They recently posted about University of Washington and shared the admission rate for CS applicants, both in-state and out-of-state, with a link to the page below.

https://admit.washington.edu/apply/freshman/by-the-numbers/

Anonymous wrote:Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

I wouldn't call a computer science major at the #44 university with a top20 computer science program "true safety" by any definition of the phrase. Isn't that a reach for everyone?
i'm glad it worked out.

Yes, ended up at UMD for CS major, with merit.

They applied to 4 reaches, and 2 targets, and the one UMD safety.

1580 sat
4.0 uwgpa, 4.92 wgpa from a magnet program

They seem happy there and will do a 3+1 masters program. They are also a dual math major. So, they will graduate with 2 bachelors and 1 masters in four years, all for under $120K. Not too bad.

I know of another magnet student who also ended up in the same boat as my DC.

CS major is just tough.

A friend’s DD with an UW 4.0 and 1540 SAT got into zero colleges they applied. Not a single one. Obviously they didn’t have a true safety on the list but did have some schools ranked out of the top 50. They ended up scrambling and applying to rolling admission colleges in the UK and attended one.

and to answer your question - she is doing FANTASTIC, socially, academically etc

Yes. Friend was NMSF, 1590, top 5%, tons of rigor including AP Stat and BC Calc. Applied nursing to UVA and UNC from oos. Thought scores were good enough so didn't try elsewhere. Ended up at state university but not even in nursing program.
Now....mistake was only having two reaches. And nursing makes everything unsafe.

Anyone from recent years have a kid who had high stats but ended up with no options aside from their true safety school?
I.e. they applied to top30 schools (with their college counselor's strong support and/or the support of previous years' stats from their school) but the cards just didn't fall their way and they ended up in their true safety school?

How are they doing now?