Anonymous
02/18/2014 20:57
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Tests are an important objective cutoff.
"GPA is useless" (per the UVA Admissions Dean). There are so many kinds and standards for GPA so as to make it no help. What really does matter is doing better than your high school classmates in the hardest classes in high school, however your high school communicates that (sometimes counselor recs).
The most selective schools are looking for some passion and commitment to some other thing; be it academics, sports, experience. They love to see the deep dedication it takes to reach high levels in these endeavors.
Forget all the clubs and volunteer hours. Most college bound students do tons of these things and they rarely stand out.
"GPA is useless" (per the UVA Admissions Dean). There are so many kinds and standards for GPA so as to make it no help. What really does matter is doing better than your high school classmates in the hardest classes in high school, however your high school communicates that (sometimes counselor recs).
The most selective schools are looking for some passion and commitment to some other thing; be it academics, sports, experience. They love to see the deep dedication it takes to reach high levels in these endeavors.
Forget all the clubs and volunteer hours. Most college bound students do tons of these things and they rarely stand out.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 20:47
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:You forgot connections.
touche
Meh. This is overrated, unless your last name is Kennedy.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 20:44
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Legacy
Money
What if you don't have legacy, but you have money? What are you suggesting? Bribery? Donations? Just curious.
Donate to have a school or building names after you 2 years before your child applies.
Silly. You're right in one respect, that you need to be able to donate major $$$ to colleges, much more than the $10,000 that represents a coup at DC-area private schools. But in both cases, colleges and DC private schools, it's not necessary to flash your wallet crassly at them. If you're in that league, and you have a track record of making large donations, then you're already in the philanthropy/development databases that development officers use. Don't worry, they'll figure out who you are.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 20:44
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
GPA and test scores weed out applicants.
Then the rest is multivariate.
+ Privates really do develop reputations with different colleges and universities, so that helps.
+ Legacy is still a considerable factor. Look at the stats. (They're quite amazing.) http://www.businessinsider.com/legacy-kids-have-an-admissions-advantage-2013-6
The book The Gatekeepers, about admissions to Wesleyan, is informative, even though the reporting took place over a decade ago. http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085
Then the rest is multivariate.
+ Privates really do develop reputations with different colleges and universities, so that helps.
+ Legacy is still a considerable factor. Look at the stats. (They're quite amazing.) http://www.businessinsider.com/legacy-kids-have-an-admissions-advantage-2013-6
The book The Gatekeepers, about admissions to Wesleyan, is informative, even though the reporting took place over a decade ago. http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085
Anonymous
02/18/2014 20:34
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Legacy
Money
What if you don't have legacy, but you have money? What are you suggesting? Bribery? Donations? Just curious.
Donate to have a school or building names after you 2 years before your child applies.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 20:25
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Anonymous wrote:Legacy
Money
What if you don't have legacy, but you have money? What are you suggesting? Bribery? Donations? Just curious.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:53
Subject: Re:Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
For MIT it used to be:
Equal weight: GPA, SAT I, SAT II, Class rank, Scores on 3 essays.
That "binned" a student 1-16
1-4: Likely
4-8: Good chance
8-16: Needs something extra
Extras: National awards, Excellent Alumni Recommendation, one was probably "diversity" (hidden)
They (3 people) wrote a summary of all candidates and strengths, then they voted.
Equal weight: GPA, SAT I, SAT II, Class rank, Scores on 3 essays.
That "binned" a student 1-16
1-4: Likely
4-8: Good chance
8-16: Needs something extra
Extras: National awards, Excellent Alumni Recommendation, one was probably "diversity" (hidden)
They (3 people) wrote a summary of all candidates and strengths, then they voted.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:49
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Legacy
Money
Money
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:33
Subject: Re:Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
It use to be you would go to college to learn how to cure cancer. Now you need to have cured cancer so you can get into college!
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:31
Subject: Re:Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
It depends on what you mean by "really good"
Typically there is some academic threshold a university wants to meet. At the most competitive schools, this means great GPA taking all the hardest course load with great SAT scores (you need the full package if you want to go someplace like Harvard). At other schools, they'll just use a GPA and/or SAT or class rank cutoff (often larger flagship state universities take this approach). At other schools they'll look at the applicants more holistically--and taking a rigorous courseload even if you get a few Bs matters because it shows intellectual curiosity (often smaller schools like SLACs).
Typically, it seems to me that leadership, extracurriculars, charity, etc. is used as a tie-breaker for equally academic qualified candidates, i.e. if you don't meet the academic threshold for the school, your extracurriculars don't matter so much. At someplace like Harvard, there are more great GPA, great test score, tons of AP/IB class kids than they can ever accept, so it matters for the sake of differentiating you from the rest of the students. But it almost never means that a B+ student who didn't take the most rigorous course load offered by their school will get into Harvard just because of their amazing extracurriculars. There are certainly exceptions--development cases, etc. but most of the development cases were a little closer to the cut academically than that anyway.
It is somewhat of a crapshoot, every university has their own policy, and every year there are kids who get into no way in hell reaches and kids who seem like they should have plenty of options who only get into one safety.
Typically there is some academic threshold a university wants to meet. At the most competitive schools, this means great GPA taking all the hardest course load with great SAT scores (you need the full package if you want to go someplace like Harvard). At other schools, they'll just use a GPA and/or SAT or class rank cutoff (often larger flagship state universities take this approach). At other schools they'll look at the applicants more holistically--and taking a rigorous courseload even if you get a few Bs matters because it shows intellectual curiosity (often smaller schools like SLACs).
Typically, it seems to me that leadership, extracurriculars, charity, etc. is used as a tie-breaker for equally academic qualified candidates, i.e. if you don't meet the academic threshold for the school, your extracurriculars don't matter so much. At someplace like Harvard, there are more great GPA, great test score, tons of AP/IB class kids than they can ever accept, so it matters for the sake of differentiating you from the rest of the students. But it almost never means that a B+ student who didn't take the most rigorous course load offered by their school will get into Harvard just because of their amazing extracurriculars. There are certainly exceptions--development cases, etc. but most of the development cases were a little closer to the cut academically than that anyway.
It is somewhat of a crapshoot, every university has their own policy, and every year there are kids who get into no way in hell reaches and kids who seem like they should have plenty of options who only get into one safety.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:21
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Anonymous wrote:You forgot connections.
touche
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:05
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
You forgot connections.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 19:03
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Crap shoot.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 18:58
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
Something that makes you different from all other applications. You started your own business. You were the youngest member ever to attend a national political convention. You play the bagpipes. I heard of a young man who got into Harvard with middling grades because he was a trained EMT with the local volunteer fire department.
Anonymous
02/18/2014 18:37
Subject: Getting into College: Order from most important to least important
What are the most critical in terms of getting into a really good college/university?
GPA
SAT Score
Difficulty of Classes (AP, IB, etc)
Sports
Leadership
Clubs and Activities (musical instrument, other languages, etc)
Charity Work
GPA
SAT Score
Difficulty of Classes (AP, IB, etc)
Sports
Leadership
Clubs and Activities (musical instrument, other languages, etc)
Charity Work