Last year:

My 3.8uw private ended up at Cornell at RD. Other friends ended up at Michigan, USC, Northwestern and a few Vanderbilt (class president) - all RD.

Hang in there and send loci where you can.

No didn’t want a LAC unfortunately

Anonymous wrote:OP with girl from private. She has a 3.7 unweighted as of end of junior year. Almost nobody has over a 3.8. No grade inflation really.

Did she apply to some LACs that are more familar with your private school?

OP with girl from private. She has a 3.7 unweighted as of end of junior year. Almost nobody has over a 3.8. No grade inflation really.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid from a good private - top 30% of class with 1550 SAT and all 5's on APs. Solid EC's with leadership and community service, but no hook other than private school. Applied humanities - rejected ED to Ivy, deferred Santa Clara, USC and UMich. In at Pitt with merit and honors college. Waiting on a bunch more but feeling rather hopeless right now. Essays were excellent. Any thoughts?

Pitt is hopeless?

No, "Waiting on a bunch more" is hopeless.

Anonymous wrote:Kid from a good private - top 30% of class with 1550 SAT and all 5's on APs. Solid EC's with leadership and community service, but no hook other than private school. Applied humanities - rejected ED to Ivy, deferred Santa Clara, USC and UMich. In at Pitt with merit and honors college. Waiting on a bunch more but feeling rather hopeless right now. Essays were excellent. Any thoughts?

Pitt is hopeless?

Anonymous wrote:Presumably waiting for April admissions?

It may be you didn't play your hands carefully enough. If full pay and coming from an excellent private, I'd have targeted the better LACs along with Chicago for early admission. Ivies are one in a thousand shot without a hook. USC is a different beast. Michigan is competitive out of state.

I don’t think ED LACs is a good idea. Chicago yes.

Anonymous wrote:Top 30 percent isn’t good enough for Ivies or USC (from east coast, half the class is taken fromCS]? Should have used ED somewhere like Wash U, Rice, Emory or a slac.

Meant to say half the class from CA.

Anonymous wrote:11 APs including senior year. Upwards trajectory (straight A’s junior and first semester senior year), Couple of Bs in freshman and sophomore year hence class ranking. GPA 4.3

That was the weighted GPA. What is the actual GPA?

Anonymous wrote:Presumably waiting for April admissions?

It may be you didn't play your hands carefully enough. If full pay and coming from an excellent private, I'd have targeted the better LACs along with Chicago for early admission. Ivies are one in a thousand shot without a hook. USC is a different beast. Michigan is competitive out of state.

What is it?

Top 30 percent isn’t good enough for Ivies or USC (from east coast, half the class is taken fromCS]? Should have used ED somewhere like Wash U, Rice, Emory or a slac.

Anonymous wrote:This is one of my kids, and he keeps saying he should have switched to public for 11th & 12th. His friends from club sports who go to public do a fraction of the work he does, have straight As or A pluses (which our school doesn’t even give), lower SATs and are getting in to much better schools. I do think it matters who he’s competing vs at his school, and they can only take so mah from these smaller privates.

Anonymous wrote:This is one of my kids, and he keeps saying he should have switched to public for 11th & 12th. His friends from club sports who go to public do a fraction of the work he does, have straight As or A pluses (which our school doesn’t even give), lower SATs and are getting in to much better schools. I do think it matters who he’s competing vs at his school, and they can only take so mah from these smaller privates.

How does he even know how much work they’re doing? He’s taking polls of all his public school friends and how much they work every night for each class? He knows everyone’s SAT scores?

Every school has kids that work harder than others. Private and public. Maybe your son has to spend more time to learn things than his friends. No shame in that, everyone is different.

My public school kids work hard, they spend a lot of time studying and they talk about what they’ve been learning at the dinner table, which tells me that they’re engaged with the content and making connections. They haven’t been to a private school to compare, but they’re hard working and well rounded and really bright. Public school kids aren’t a bunch of bumbling idiots who don’t deserve to go to college as much as your kid does.

Actually they are a girl. Just ignoring the haters and thanks for all of the other positive input!

Anonymous wrote:He got into Pitt which is a great school, so why the stress? He has one option he will for sure be happy with.

I would also focus on this!

Anonymous wrote:This is one of my kids, and he keeps saying he should have switched to public for 11th & 12th. His friends from club sports who go to public do a fraction of the work he does, have straight As or A pluses (which our school doesn’t even give), lower SATs and are getting in to much better schools. I do think it matters who he’s competing vs at his school, and they can only take so mah from these smaller privates.

If you are at a wealthier public, he'd have the same issue.