Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most important stat is weighted class rank. And even if your school says it doesn’t rank, colleges can figure out. From a public, your unhooked kid needs to be in top 5 percent of class and from a private, top 10 to 15 percent to have a chance at a T20.

When T20s have tens of applications to review, that's doubtful. If a HS doesn't rank, it doesn't rank.

You’d be surprised, counselors might estimate in their letters or schools have awards like cum laude or other academic awards that tip off admissions, especially at schools that regularly send kids to that college. They know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m this poster:


“My kid has 1590/4.0 top rigor (school doesn’t weight or have AP classes but took three APs 5/5/4). I think essays show kid’s strengths, ECs are strong but not amazing. White, not legacy or big donor. Deferred at Yale early. College counselor says if kid doesn’t ED2 at UChicago there’s a strong likelihood of ending up in RD only having options at a large public or a school that’s a lot lower ranked than kid’s hoping for. Is college counselor being overly conservative? Kid likes Chicago well enough but would prefer HYSPM”

In answer to questions, high school doesn’t rank. Kid has 4.0, so no one has a better average, but I think there are approx 20 other kids who do too. High school is most selective/rigorous in our non dmv city. Used to send lots of kids to ivies; these days, it’s one or two a year each to HYPSM. No one got in early to Yale, Harvard, or Princeton this year, which is unusual for school.

This seems to be the case at all top DMV privates this year as compared to class of 2024. Only 3 Ivys at our school and 2 were legacy, compared to about 12 last year early (still mostly legacies). Seems like a harder year all around in ED. Will see how it pans out in RD.

THIS. It was a horrible ED/SCEA round at our top private. Outside of Cornell, the only Ivies were a couple of legacies and 1 sports recruit. Otherwise the school went about 0/20. This is in marked contrast to prior years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think feeder schools are working well at all this year. My kid goes to one in DC and we know others in NYC and results at the elite universities are way down this year. Tons of deferrals. The pool of schools that the elite colleges are taking kids from is wider each year.

OP, I have a kid in a similar spot and I'm not feeling particularly optimistic. If prestige is important to you I would 100% take the Chicago spot. That is what our college counselor advised as well. my kid is not (she is fine with a school ranked 40).

Disagree with this 100%. OP's kid is clearly a standout (Yale only defers maybe 15% of applicants). If your kid isn't in love with Chicago, don't do it. They WILL have other amazing options. Worst case Cornell, Georgetown, or Duke (hardly a worst case...).

FWIW I have a kid w similar stats who did ED1 Chicago and will go there in the fall. In a best case scenario he would have loved to take a shot at Penn and Yale but he genuinely loved Chicago too. So it made sense to take the bird in the hand, and he's thrilled to be done. But if he hadn't loved Chicago, we wouldn't have done ED for the prestige.

LOL you’re talking like OP’s kid will just get accepted to Duke, Duke is pretty much as selective as Yale these days

Or here. In our school probably 80% of the super high stats kids who get shut out of HYPSM land at Duke, Georgetown, or Cornell. But you're right that 20% don't. So that's a risk you take if you don't do a safer ED2. Personally I think it's worth taking that risk. Real worst case, your kid goes to a state school for a year and transfers to Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither does Duke.

Duke is #6

That's great.

Anonymous wrote:I’m this poster:


“My kid has 1590/4.0 top rigor (school doesn’t weight or have AP classes but took three APs 5/5/4). I think essays show kid’s strengths, ECs are strong but not amazing. White, not legacy or big donor. Deferred at Yale early. College counselor says if kid doesn’t ED2 at UChicago there’s a strong likelihood of ending up in RD only having options at a large public or a school that’s a lot lower ranked than kid’s hoping for. Is college counselor being overly conservative? Kid likes Chicago well enough but would prefer HYSPM”

In answer to questions, high school doesn’t rank. Kid has 4.0, so no one has a better average, but I think there are approx 20 other kids who do too. High school is most selective/rigorous in our non dmv city. Used to send lots of kids to ivies; these days, it’s one or two a year each to HYPSM. No one got in early to Yale, Harvard, or Princeton this year, which is unusual for school.

This seems to be the case at all top DMV privates this year as compared to class of 2024. Only 3 Ivys at our school and 2 were legacy, compared to about 12 last year early (still mostly legacies). Seems like a harder year all around in ED. Will see how it pans out in RD.

I’m this poster:


“My kid has 1590/4.0 top rigor (school doesn’t weight or have AP classes but took three APs 5/5/4). I think essays show kid’s strengths, ECs are strong but not amazing. White, not legacy or big donor. Deferred at Yale early. College counselor says if kid doesn’t ED2 at UChicago there’s a strong likelihood of ending up in RD only having options at a large public or a school that’s a lot lower ranked than kid’s hoping for. Is college counselor being overly conservative? Kid likes Chicago well enough but would prefer HYSPM”

In answer to questions, high school doesn’t rank. Kid has 4.0, so no one has a better average, but I think there are approx 20 other kids who do too. High school is most selective/rigorous in our non dmv city. Used to send lots of kids to ivies; these days, it’s one or two a year each to HYPSM. No one got in early to Yale, Harvard, or Princeton this year, which is unusual for school.

Anonymous wrote:Neither does Duke.

Duke is #6

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has 1590/4.0 top rigor (school doesn’t weight or have AP classes but took three APs 5/5/4). I think essays show kid’s strengths, ECs are strong but not amazing. White, not legacy or big donor. Deferred at Yale early. College counselor says if kid doesn’t ED2 at UChicago there’s a strong likelihood of ending up in RD only having options at a large public or a school that’s a lot lower ranked than kid’s hoping for. Is college counselor being overly conservative? Kid likes Chicago well enough but would prefer HYSPM.

CC has to be conservative. Your kid has as good a shot as anyone. RD to the schools kid is hoping for (worst they can say is “no” and they can’t say “yes” if you don’t ask) and throw in some Wesleyan, Tufts type LACS and a couple big state schools.

This!

Anonymous wrote:The most important stat is weighted class rank. And even if your school says it doesn’t rank, colleges can figure out. From a public, your unhooked kid needs to be in top 5 percent of class and from a private, top 10 to 15 percent to have a chance at a T20.

When T20s have tens of applications to review, that's doubtful. If a HS doesn't rank, it doesn't rank.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think feeder schools are working well at all this year. My kid goes to one in DC and we know others in NYC and results at the elite universities are way down this year. Tons of deferrals. The pool of schools that the elite colleges are taking kids from is wider each year.

OP, I have a kid in a similar spot and I'm not feeling particularly optimistic. If prestige is important to you I would 100% take the Chicago spot. That is what our college counselor advised as well. my kid is not (she is fine with a school ranked 40).

Disagree with this 100%. OP's kid is clearly a standout (Yale only defers maybe 15% of applicants). If your kid isn't in love with Chicago, don't do it. They WILL have other amazing options. Worst case Cornell, Georgetown, or Duke (hardly a worst case...).

FWIW I have a kid w similar stats who did ED1 Chicago and will go there in the fall. In a best case scenario he would have loved to take a shot at Penn and Yale but he genuinely loved Chicago too. So it made sense to take the bird in the hand, and he's thrilled to be done. But if he hadn't loved Chicago, we wouldn't have done ED for the prestige.

LOL you’re talking like OP’s kid will just get accepted to Duke, Duke is pretty much as selective as Yale these days

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think feeder schools are working well at all this year. My kid goes to one in DC and we know others in NYC and results at the elite universities are way down this year. Tons of deferrals. The pool of schools that the elite colleges are taking kids from is wider each year.

OP, I have a kid in a similar spot and I'm not feeling particularly optimistic. If prestige is important to you I would 100% take the Chicago spot. That is what our college counselor advised as well. my kid is not (she is fine with a school ranked 40).

Disagree with this 100%. OP's kid is clearly a standout (Yale only defers maybe 15% of applicants). If your kid isn't in love with Chicago, don't do it. They WILL have other amazing options. Worst case Cornell, Georgetown, or Duke (hardly a worst case...).

FWIW I have a kid w similar stats who did ED1 Chicago and will go there in the fall. In a best case scenario he would have loved to take a shot at Penn and Yale but he genuinely loved Chicago too. So it made sense to take the bird in the hand, and he's thrilled to be done. But if he hadn't loved Chicago, we wouldn't have done ED for the prestige.

This is weird advice, Duke is near impossible from this area.

Not to mention Georgetown or Cornell.

I think sometimes people with high test scores overestimate how desirable they are to admissions but the reality is it’s a fairly common commodity

Anonymous wrote:The most important stat is weighted class rank. And even if your school says it doesn’t rank, colleges can figure out. From a public, your unhooked kid needs to be in top 5 percent of class and from a private, top 10 to 15 percent to have a chance at a T20.

This plus a good SAT score. So, 1400 won’t cut it.

The most important stat is weighted class rank. And even if your school says it doesn’t rank, colleges can figure out. From a public, your unhooked kid needs to be in top 5 percent of class and from a private, top 10 to 15 percent to have a chance at a T20.

I think this thread is overly optimistic. If kid is shooting for STEM and has just ok extracurriculars or typical for a kid with their profile (way too many Asian kids with orchestra and tennis, for example), they may struggle to land in the T50. STEM admits are really hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think feeder schools are working well at all this year. My kid goes to one in DC and we know others in NYC and results at the elite universities are way down this year. Tons of deferrals. The pool of schools that the elite colleges are taking kids from is wider each year.

OP, I have a kid in a similar spot and I'm not feeling particularly optimistic. If prestige is important to you I would 100% take the Chicago spot. That is what our college counselor advised as well. my kid is not (she is fine with a school ranked 40).

Disagree with this 100%. OP's kid is clearly a standout (Yale only defers maybe 15% of applicants). If your kid isn't in love with Chicago, don't do it. They WILL have other amazing options. Worst case Cornell, Georgetown, or Duke (hardly a worst case...).

FWIW I have a kid w similar stats who did ED1 Chicago and will go there in the fall. In a best case scenario he would have loved to take a shot at Penn and Yale but he genuinely loved Chicago too. So it made sense to take the bird in the hand, and he's thrilled to be done. But if he hadn't loved Chicago, we wouldn't have done ED for the prestige.

This is weird advice, Duke is near impossible from this area.