Oberlin used to be the top LAC in the midwest. I was shocked to see the change.

Anonymous wrote:Not any specific schools, but the competition level in general is astounding to me. Both DH and I think we would not have gotten into our alma maters by todays standards. But we grew up in a more laid-back part of the west coast, so maybe it's just different out there.

agree 100% and my DH and I both grew up on east coast and attended competitive private schools, where even the lowest ranked kid ended up at very solid colleges. We have seen acceptance rates at one of our alma maters go from
Approx 50% acceptance to >5%

Anonymous wrote:Not any specific schools, but the competition level in general is astounding to me. Both DH and I think we would not have gotten into our alma maters by todays standards. But we grew up in a more laid-back part of the west coast, so maybe it's just different out there.

I think it’s all over. I went to Cornell for engineering and there’s no way I’d get in now. Not sure I’d even want to though. The whole thing about competing to get into clubs disappoints me. And they absolutely killed Collegetown, which had been a lovely (and lively!) social hub.

Case Western
U of Wisconsin

Chemistry major. They really slipped a lot. A lot.

Not any specific schools, but the competition level in general is astounding to me. Both DH and I think we would not have gotten into our alma maters by todays standards. But we grew up in a more laid-back part of the west coast, so maybe it's just different out there.

Indiana
Fairfield
Most of the SEC

None. I don't think about this stuff at all. My kid is at community college and working.

Not buying hype:

UC -
Davis
Irving
San Diego
Santa Barbara

Rutgers
Maryland
Florida
Georgia
Florida State
Northeastern
Boston U
Boston College

Vanderbilt, for sure

University of Spoiled Children
Northeastern
U of F

UCLA & ND to a lesser degree.

Northeastern, Clemson, BU

Northeastern
Vanderbilt
Any of the SEC schools for OOS kids
NYU
USC (when I took the SATs they were doing the stuff Chicago does now- sending the biggest and most mailings of anyone and generally acting desperate)

So many schools that probably still suck despite the hype:

Northeastern
Boston U
Richmond
U Florida
Georgia

Obviously UMCP especially for those in certain counties (MoCo, Howard, others).

Title pretty much sums it up, but when you first started paying attention to college rankings as a parent did you have any moments of shock when once a safety (for many) is now a reach (for many)…off the top of my head Northeastern and UofF come to mind.

Any others?