Anonymous
08/30/2025 03:37
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My kid was accepted to 2 Ivies and is attending UVA. We also know a kid who chose UVA over Princeton and is attending this fall.
This is not a UVA post but one to say that the "IVY LEAGUE" is not the end-all, be-all, dream college experience for every very smart kid.
Yep, my kid with similar stats as OP didn't apply to any Ivies, and thought it was smarter to go to a strong state school and graduate debt free. Full tuition scholarship to Pitt, and couldn't be happier!
Yikes.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 16:50
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.
My kid 4 years ago had 1600 and 36 in one seating each. Maxed out GPA with most rigor and didnt apply to one Ivy.
He graduated from Oxford and is now at Stanford for Graduate school.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 13:58
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:Roll Tide!
Anti American crap s hook of idiots no
Anonymous
08/29/2025 13:56
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Less than half of USNWR top 10 schools are Ivies. No one cares.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 13:49
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Plenty pof kids aren't interested in Ivies; they really aren't the best options for undergraduate education in most cases.Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 10:20
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
My kids had similar stats. Plus great ECs and leadership. In the end, neither warmed up to the Ivy schools we looked at - found them to be cheerless, stressful, and unwelcome places with what seemed to be lonely and unpleasant students. They vibed a lot better with several other T20 schools, so that's where they go today. The Ivies are not for everyone, and I would suggest visiting before applying.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 10:02
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
My DD is similar to OP's. 36 ACT 3.99 UW GPA, 10 APs so far with 8 5s and 2 4s. Will be NMSF. She's only applying to the (ranked 100-ish) local state university and will be in the honors college there. We encouraged her to look at some T20 schools, but she isn't interested in being that far from home.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 09:44
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It sounds a little they are taking a lot of liberty in assuming they would have gotten in and had the opportunity to turn down. Most of those stats are rejected. However, I applaud any kid that prioritizes fit.
+1 I also have a 1600 scoring kid. Especially with super scoring, a 1600 on the modern SAT is not as rare or meaningful as it once was when the test was designed differently. Even the majority of 1600 kids would get rejected from an ivy today, especially without other stand out accomplishments to back up the test scores. The schools do not really distinguish between a 1600 vs 1550, and there are too many kids who get these top scores, so you have to be a stand out some other way. As a previous thread pointed out, there are probably 20,000 who get 1520 or higher in one sitting, and when you allow super scoring on top of that, the numbers are even higher. It’s really good that OPs kid is not expecting or hoping to get into an Ivy or top10, and good for them for prioritizing fit.
I would be curious to know what places they pick and why. My kid is book smart, but not the leadership type or startup type, nor have they built a nuclear reactor in our garage. They just love learning and want to go somewhere where they can meet other nice, curious kids.
+1. I had a brief moment when DC started getting perfect scores on practice tests where I thought, should I be adjusting the schools we are planning to tour this year? And then I remembered how thoroughly unimpressed he was when we toured Brown, which was probably the closest fit wise of any of the Ivies. He knows he wants an artsy SLAC and so even if he does get a perfect or near perfect score this fall, it won’t change our plans. I’m not going to pressure him to go after something he doesn’t want that he probably wouldn’t get anyway. I’m glad he’s focused on fit and not prestige.
Which artsy SLAC does your DC like? Mine wants strong music arts but wants to major in one of the sciences.
We aren’t done touring yet but so far he liked Oberlin and Skidmore best.
Great schools!
Anonymous
08/29/2025 09:40
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This will cause entertaining responses I'm sure, but what would be your reaction if your 36 ACT/4.8W GPA student didn't want to apply to an Ivy? I respect it but am surprised.
My child is a closet Californian (Stanford).
My child has perfect scores but has no interest in Stanford.
Whew. That was a close one. Saved the monumental Stanford effort of issuing yet another rejection.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 09:36
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Mine ED’d to Rice bc wanted residential college school. Preferred it over various Ivies (including legacy one). Likely would have loved Yale but seemed like a real long shot based on naviance from DC’s school. So some risk aversion/strategy went into it. But based on prior year info from DC’s school, very rational Would have been interesting to find out full options but DC very happy.
Anonymous
08/29/2025 09:01
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay a lot of kids are happy at a lot of different schools. No one is starting to thread saying my kid is a great student but has no interest in applying to Caltech or women's colleges or Notre Dame.
It's great to find a good fit for your student. Why waste your time bashing colleges of no interest?
I am the PP who posted about Notre Dame. Was not bashing any schools. Just said he wasn't interested. He spent 3 weeks over the summer at a Brown summer program, and this helped him decide that wasn't for him. He also knew he didn't want a cutthroat environment. Yes, he found a great fit. Isn't that what this thread about?
Of course. Mine has great scores and has no interest in Notre Dame and so what. It's about finding a good fit.
I said it was about fit. Not sure why you feel a need to keep harping on it...why so defensive?
Huh? This is an entire thread about finding the right fit.
Anonymous
08/28/2025 21:00
Subject: Perfect scores, no interest in Ivys
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay a lot of kids are happy at a lot of different schools. No one is starting to thread saying my kid is a great student but has no interest in applying to Caltech or women's colleges or Notre Dame.
It's great to find a good fit for your student. Why waste your time bashing colleges of no interest?
I am the PP who posted about Notre Dame. Was not bashing any schools. Just said he wasn't interested. He spent 3 weeks over the summer at a Brown summer program, and this helped him decide that wasn't for him. He also knew he didn't want a cutthroat environment. Yes, he found a great fit. Isn't that what this thread about?
Of course. Mine has great scores and has no interest in Notre Dame and so what. It's about finding a good fit.
I said it was about fit. Not sure why you feel a need to keep harping on it...why so defensive?