OP, can you ask Jeff to delete your thread and re-post something less invasive. This is asking to dox local kids. Thanks.

I'm assuming the Pomona poster is full of crap. Same booster on here every week. Worse than the Penn parents.

Anonymous wrote:College Applied to: Pomona College
Result: Deferred
SAT/ACT: 1540 SAT (770 Math, 770 Reading), 750 Literature Subject Test, 790 Chemistry Subject Test, 800 Math II Subject Test
Class rank: Salutatorian
Legacy: None
URM: No
Aid: Full Pay
Why: Her top choice
Next steps: Apply EDII at either UChicago or Swarthmore, apply RD to Amherst, Carleton, Colby, Bowdoin, Barnard, Wellesley, Columbia, Yale, Tufts. Already admitted to a match and safety school.

Not OP, but just wanted to say thank you for posting!

Anonymous wrote:I rarely see a kid on College Confidential who gave themselves a mediocre or even average rating for recommendation letters. All of them seem to think that they rate 9s or 10s and have excellent recommendation letters. Either they are overestimating themselves or these teachers all say every kid is fabulous - which sort of negates the whole point.
I'm also seeing a greater number of admits with hooks of being URM, first gen or having significantly low income for the very exclusive schools. I feel somewhat bad for the Asian kids who seem to be at a significant disadvantage - a lot of rejections.

Same for essays. Every kid has 9/10 for essays. How would they know?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College Applied to: Pomona College
Result: Deferred
SAT/ACT: 1540 SAT (770 Math, 770 Reading), 750 Literature Subject Test, 790 Chemistry Subject Test, 800 Math II Subject Test
Class rank: Salutatorian
Legacy: None
URM: No
Aid: Full Pay
Why: Her top choice
Next steps: Apply EDII at either UChicago or Swarthmore, apply RD to Amherst, Carleton, Colby, Bowdoin, Barnard, Wellesley, Columbia, Yale, Tufts. Already admitted to a match and safety school.

So tough out there for a girl. Would recommend Swarthmore in ED II if she would be happy there. If she didn't get into Pomona ED, not likely to get into Columbia, Yale, maybe not Amherst or Tufts (due to yield protection)

It's actually a very good sign to be deferred from Pomona. They're like Stanford in that they reject the majority of their early candidates and defer only a select few who they like but want to review later. Most other LACs and east coast universities resort to deferring most ED students, which is basically a courtesy rejection (though a small group does get in later).

I don't think that people on this board realize how selective it is to get into Pomona. They have the second lowest ED acceptance rate in the country after Columbia University- yes, more than UChicago, Brown, Penn, etc. Their overall acceptance rate for females was just 7% last year. I would not read too much into this as a sign for what is to come. That goes for any highly selective ED program, though, not just Pomona. As pointed out previously, even at the LACs where the ED acceptance rate is much higher, that number is skewed by recruited athletes.

That list does feel reach-heavy, though. I might encourage her to add Vassar, Wesleyan, Scripps, Smith, and other less selective LACs. Her stats might get her merit aid from some of them. And it never hurts to reflect on the application to see if you could do something different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please just list the quick responses so those with Juniors and below can get a sense for next year:

College Applied to:
Result (Accepted, Rejected, Deferred):
High School (Public (which district?)/Private):
SAT, ACT scores:
GPA (Weighted/UW):
Legacy (Y/N):
URM (Y/N):
Aid (Full Pay/Financial Aid):
Who recommended ED here (Senior's Choice/Parent/GC/Recruited Athlete, etc):

Do not provide all of this information. It will make you readily identifiable to the college, your high school, and your fellow students and parents. And not any of them will appreciate your publicly sharing the information. Instead, just please offer the college name, and the decision, accepted, deferred, rejected.

What is the point of that? Totally useless.

Anonymous wrote:College Applied to: Pomona College
Result: Deferred
SAT/ACT: 1540 SAT (770 Math, 770 Reading), 750 Literature Subject Test, 790 Chemistry Subject Test, 800 Math II Subject Test
Class rank: Salutatorian
Legacy: None
URM: No
Aid: Full Pay
Why: Her top choice
Next steps: Apply EDII at either UChicago or Swarthmore, apply RD to Amherst, Carleton, Colby, Bowdoin, Barnard, Wellesley, Columbia, Yale, Tufts. Already admitted to a match and safety school.

So tough out there for a girl. Would recommend Swarthmore in ED II if she would be happy there. If she didn't get into Pomona ED, not likely to get into Columbia, Yale, maybe not Amherst or Tufts (due to yield protection)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These chance me threads are honestly not useful. The college process is seriously fickle and unpredictable. You could have a perfect SAT and GPA and get denied from every elite school you apply to. You could be white but be at the bottom 25% for testing, yet get in virtually everywhere.

In my experience looking at these posts, high school students have a tendency to severely overrate the quality of their essays and recommendations. You'll mostly see 7-10/10s listed on College Confidential. In the eyes of an admission officer, most will be at the 3-7/10 range. So take subjective remarks about quality with a grain of salt.

Something to note for the elite LACs (Williams, Amherst, Pomona) is that they fill a huge chunk of their early class (some 40-60%) with recruited athletes. While they have higher overall early acceptance rates, it's not really that much higher. To illustrate this, say we have 700 ED applicants at Williams, and 235 were admitted. About 140 of them are recruited athletes- almost all of whom are given verbal commitments that they'll get in. That leaves us with 95 admits among the remaining 560 applicants- a 16.9% acceptance rate. Basically no change from the overall rate.

Simple math would tell you that this is incorrect. A basic understanding of NESCAC recruiting guidelines would as well.

Are you sure? My simple math suggests this might be true.

I rarely see a kid on College Confidential who gave themselves a mediocre or even average rating for recommendation letters. All of them seem to think that they rate 9s or 10s and have excellent recommendation letters. Either they are overestimating themselves or these teachers all say every kid is fabulous - which sort of negates the whole point.
I'm also seeing a greater number of admits with hooks of being URM, first gen or having significantly low income for the very exclusive schools. I feel somewhat bad for the Asian kids who seem to be at a significant disadvantage - a lot of rejections.

Cornell. Son's best friend, top of the class grades and scores, but no hooks. Deferred. Shit. I got in 30 years ago with stats half as good.

Anonymous wrote:Stepson rejected ED Stanford.

Nephew deferred ED Swarthmore.

Both jarring surprises.

With 5% acceptance rate, no one should be surprised to be rejected from Stanford.

Stepson rejected ED Stanford.

Nephew deferred ED Swarthmore.

Both jarring surprises.

Tulane.

Accepted.

College Applied to: Pomona College
Result: Deferred
SAT/ACT: 1540 SAT (770 Math, 770 Reading), 750 Literature Subject Test, 790 Chemistry Subject Test, 800 Math II Subject Test
Class rank: Salutatorian
Legacy: None
URM: No
Aid: Full Pay
Why: Her top choice
Next steps: Apply EDII at either UChicago or Swarthmore, apply RD to Amherst, Carleton, Colby, Bowdoin, Barnard, Wellesley, Columbia, Yale, Tufts. Already admitted to a match and safety school.

Anonymous wrote:Please just list the quick responses so those with Juniors and below can get a sense for next year:

College Applied to:
Result (Accepted, Rejected, Deferred):
High School (Public (which district?)/Private):
SAT, ACT scores:
GPA (Weighted/UW):
Legacy (Y/N):
URM (Y/N):
Aid (Full Pay/Financial Aid):
Who recommended ED here (Senior's Choice/Parent/GC/Recruited Athlete, etc):

Do not provide all of this information. It will make you readily identifiable to the college, your high school, and your fellow students and parents. And not any of them will appreciate your publicly sharing the information. Instead, just please offer the college name, and the decision, accepted, deferred, rejected.