Just want to thank participants on this thread, because as a recent transplant to this country, I have no idea what colleges are looking for and how my children measure up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 GPA
26 ACT
no Ap's, no honors
recruited athlete, decided to go D1 over NESCAC, going to Patriot League

No offense but those stats would only get into the very bottom NESCACs, if that

+1

I don't think those stats would get into any NESCAC school, including the bottom-ranked ones.

But it did. See that is the thing, it's a game, you play it your way, he played it his way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 GPA
26 ACT
no Ap's, no honors
recruited athlete, decided to go D1 over NESCAC, going to Patriot League

No offense but those stats would only get into the very bottom NESCACs, if that

+1

I don't think those stats would get into any NESCAC school, including the bottom-ranked ones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 GPA
26 ACT
no Ap's, no honors
recruited athlete, decided to go D1 over NESCAC, going to Patriot League

No offense but those stats would only get into the very bottom NESCACs, if that

I know right, I never thought it would work but he never lost faith that his sport would get him where he wanted to go. The NASCAC asked if he would retake and get a 28 (which he could have done, actually practice and study for it) and he decide to stick with the other school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good stats are necessary but not sufficient for admission. DC is Columbia-bound with As and A-s with 1560 SATs from a Big 3. Just one AP at the start of senior year. Accepted at Brown and Berkeley too. Unhooked, just embarrassingly strong recs from teachers and college counselor.

How do you know this? At DC's school, the recs were sent directly to the colleges and DC not allowed to see them.

Because they told us what they think about DC and what they wrote (after the fact). We did not read the actual recs.

Anonymous wrote:3.5 GPA
26 ACT
no Ap's, no honors
recruited athlete, decided to go D1 over NESCAC, going to Patriot League

No offense but those stats would only get into the very bottom NESCACs, if that

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good stats are necessary but not sufficient for admission. DC is Columbia-bound with As and A-s with 1560 SATs from a Big 3. Just one AP at the start of senior year. Accepted at Brown and Berkeley too. Unhooked, just embarrassingly strong recs from teachers and college counselor.

How do you know this? At DC's school, the recs were sent directly to the colleges and DC not allowed to see them.

DP but my kids’ teachers allowed them to see the recs before they were sent to the colleges in a “is this what you were loooking for? Everything you want discussed in here included?” way.

That's fantastic. So you could shop around for the best recs. DC just had to guess at who would give the best recs; not sure he/she guessed right.

3.85 UW GPA
31 ACT
Varsity XC and track
400 volunteer hours
MCPS

Off to UW-Madison!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good stats are necessary but not sufficient for admission. DC is Columbia-bound with As and A-s with 1560 SATs from a Big 3. Just one AP at the start of senior year. Accepted at Brown and Berkeley too. Unhooked, just embarrassingly strong recs from teachers and college counselor.

How do you know this? At DC's school, the recs were sent directly to the colleges and DC not allowed to see them.

DP but my kids’ teachers allowed them to see the recs before they were sent to the colleges in a “is this what you were loooking for? Everything you want discussed in here included?” way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Youngest is off to college. University of Florida. 3.8 GPA 32 ACT. Florida is his dream school and has been since forever. GO GATORS!

My friend's daughter is playing lacrosse there!

I'm so excited for him!

Anonymous wrote:Youngest is off to college. University of Florida. 3.8 GPA 32 ACT. Florida is his dream school and has been since forever. GO GATORS!

My friend's daughter is playing lacrosse there!

Youngest is off to college. University of Florida. 3.8 GPA 32 ACT. Florida is his dream school and has been since forever. GO GATORS!

3.5 GPA
26 ACT
no Ap's, no honors
recruited athlete, decided to go D1 over NESCAC, going to Patriot League

Anonymous wrote:Good stats are necessary but not sufficient for admission. DC is Columbia-bound with As and A-s with 1560 SATs from a Big 3. Just one AP at the start of senior year. Accepted at Brown and Berkeley too. Unhooked, just embarrassingly strong recs from teachers and college counselor.

How do you know this? At DC's school, the recs were sent directly to the colleges and DC not allowed to see them.

Anonymous wrote:Good stats are necessary but not sufficient for admission. DC is Columbia-bound with As and A-s with 1560 SATs from a Big 3. Just one AP at the start of senior year. Accepted at Brown and Berkeley too. Unhooked, just embarrassingly strong recs from teachers and college counselor.

IMHO This is by far the most overlooked aspect of the application process.

Kids are different each year. Adcoms read thousands of applications. The few consistent factors are the reputation of the high school and its staff. If a well respected HS guidance counselor says "This is the smartest, nicest kid I have had in years" and the stats support that, I believe that is the ultimate catalyst.

Congrats to your kid!