I do know. That was from the director of a SLAC you would know. 6 min. max - reviewed 3 times - first him, the director - then two assistants in case he missed something. Years ago when applied (or should I say decades?), everything was done by hand. down to the mailing and the writing out of the $50 check so one applied to say, four choices. So we applied to only a few schools. And it was difficult typing out all those applications. Now all it is is a few changes in the essay and a push of the button, so kids can file to 25 schools. So this Director's point was that whereas his school would get let's say 7,000 applications decades ago for a class of 400, now it's 30,000 for the same sized class. Oh, BTW, if you are legacy you should get a meeting with the director of admissions. MY SLAC did that for my kid.

BTW, the same Director constantly reminds everyone whatever you do, remember to change the name of the school in the essay. If you send an application saying "I've always wanted to go to Pepperdine to be near the ocean" and the application goes to Williams, the file is tossed. Files also are not read if late.

Anonymous wrote:Here's how it works. Admissions tags the front of your kids' files with two figures: test scores and GPA, noting high school/weighted, not weighted. Each file gets no more than 6 minutes of attention at a SLAC. If the GPA and test score isn't sufficiently high, they move it into the "reject" pile. Usually two or three officers read each application just in case someone has missed something (2 min. per file x 3). Your goal is to get your kid to the point where they even open the file and find out your son has great letters of rec., or is something the college would like to have on its campus due to something disclosed in letters of rec. and personal essays.

Goodness, this describes what I thought went on at a Va Tech or Penn State. I guess it was naive to think a SLAC would give an app a better read before the reject pile? So do you know or are you just guessing?

Here's how it works. Admissions tags the front of your kids' files with two figures: test scores and GPA, noting high school/weighted, not weighted. Each file gets no more than 6 minutes of attention at a SLAC. If the GPA and test score isn't sufficiently high, they move it into the "reject" pile. Usually two or three officers read each application just in case someone has missed something (2 min. per file x 3). Your goal is to get your kid to the point where they even open the file and find out your son has great letters of rec., or is something the college would like to have on its campus due to something disclosed in letters of rec. and personal essays.

How is Carleton regarded by employers in DC?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA?

Trinity College, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, UMich, Boston College, Boston U, Harverford, Tufts, Tulane, maybe Bowdoin

Reaches: Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, maybe Cornell and maybe UMD

You can scratch carleton, Haverford, Tufts, Bowdoin, And all the reaches except UMD from the list.

+1.

OP, nothing beats a miss but a try, and I would hope you wouldn't be totally discouraged from applying. My solid 'high B' son was accepted at Cornell, UCLA, Northwestern (aunt's alum), Berkeley, Middlebury, and a few others. He did well on the SATs (700 math, 750 critical reading, 740 writing) but he was solidly into community service. Not because it would earn points but because that is where his heart is and almost every essay was about his community service observations, solutions, etc, etc.

He was turned down at Stanford and Princeton. His heart didn't break. He is doing extremely well at Northwestern majoring in what he loves and taking courses he enjoys.

You should proceed and explore colleges that would meet your son's interest and take it from there. You might take your concerns and questions to the admissions offices for advice and insight.

Good luck!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA?

Trinity College, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, UMich, Boston College, Boston U, Harverford, Tufts, Tulane, maybe Bowdoin

Reaches: Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, maybe Cornell and maybe UMD

You can scratch carleton, Haverford, Tufts, Bowdoin, And all the reaches except UMD from the list.

+1.

Tufts and Wesleyan have the same acceptance rate (22%). Carleton is easier to get into than BC (31 vs 28%). Haverford is 25%. Don't scratch any them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: St Albans' (or GDS or Maret or Sidwell) -- pretty sure they subscibe to Naviance. That's going to be your best metric.

Sure, but Naviance is very limited in its focus on grades and scores. For schools with small graduating classes and many strong applicants, Naviance isn't that useful. At least it wasn't for our kids -- based on Naviance data, neither of them would have been accepted at the school they attend/ed.

It focuses on grades and scores b/c that's what it comes down to ultimately. Most kids at top tier privates are very similar except for grades and scores. B students from top private schools don't get into the top colleges. There are too many students with better scores and grades applying to the SAME schools.

Some of you seem to think that a "B" student at a top tier private is looked on as superior to the class valedictorian from some no name large public school from Ohio, Wisconsin, etc. I can tell you these public school kids get into Stanford, HYP, etc which is not the case with a B student from STA, NCS, Sidwell, etc.

OP never came back with more qualifying information so it's difficult to speculate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA?

Trinity College, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, UMich, Boston College, Boston U, Harverford, Tufts, Tulane, maybe Bowdoin

Reaches: Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, maybe Cornell and maybe UMD

You can scratch carleton, Haverford, Tufts, Bowdoin, And all the reaches except UMD from the list.

+1.

Anonymous wrote:B student with good test scores -- at a top private school -- with good teacher recs (which he probably will have) -- does indeed have a very solid chance at Michigan. He should work hard and try to get an A here or there, though.

Michigan will take the kids with Bs and As, but it doesn't have to take kids with solid Bs. This is based on what I've seen at our Big 3 over the past few years. Michigan's strength in STEM subjects is making it increasingly attractive to many students. There are plenty of kids -- not just in DC, but all over the country -- who see Michigan as a safety if they don't get into a very selective school.

Anonymous wrote: St Albans' (or GDS or Maret or Sidwell) -- pretty sure they subscibe to Naviance. That's going to be your best metric.

Sure, but Naviance is very limited in its focus on grades and scores. For schools with small graduating classes and many strong applicants, Naviance isn't that useful. At least it wasn't for our kids -- based on Naviance data, neither of them would have been accepted at the school they attend/ed.

St Albans' (or GDS or Maret or Sidwell) -- pretty sure they subscibe to Naviance. That's going to be your best metric.

Anonymous wrote:STA?

Trinity College, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, UMich, Boston College, Boston U, Harverford, Tufts, Tulane, maybe Bowdoin

Reaches: Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, maybe Cornell and maybe UMD

You can scratch carleton, Haverford, Tufts, Bowdoin, And all the reaches except UMD from the list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA?

Trinity College, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, UMich, Boston College, Boston U, Harverford, Tufts, Tulane, maybe Bowdoin

Reaches: Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, maybe Cornell and maybe UMD

B students (even from STA) don't get into Haverford, Tufts or Bowdoin unless he scores 2100+ on the SATs.

Forget Cornell even with 2100+ SATs, he will never get in with those grades.

With a B avg, it'll depend a lot on what he scores on the SATs.

A critical point here is: where is the B average from? What school? Why? Simply put a "B" at some schools without grade inflation is not the same "B" as it is from a school WITH grade inflation. The top New England baoding schools...as an example.....just do NOT give out "A"s.. So, a student there with a B average will not be assessed in the same manner as someone from a local school where there is significant grade inflation. In other words, "A"a are given out like candy. YES, the other points noted on this thread will matter as well. No question about it.

Even "B" students from Andover and similar will not get into an Ivy, Stanford, etc. even with top SATs all in the 700s for all three parts. So you can talk about how some schools have grade inflation or not but for the very top universities, a student will not get in with a "b" avg without a compelling hook like for example an underrepresented minority with perfect SATs.

Don't think this conclusion is entirely accurate. However, the OP didn't say they were trying for the top Ivy. Some of the noted reaches above may not necessarily be "reaches" if you are from the right school.

B student with good test scores -- at a top private school -- with good teacher recs (which he probably will have) -- does indeed have a very solid chance at Michigan. He should work hard and try to get an A here or there, though.