Anonymous wrote:I am a little surprised at the Wellesley denial. Though selective, it is not as selective as the ivys, and their 75% percentile ACT is only 33, which is below your SAT equivalent. And unlike some other SLACs, you cannot say that the stats for girls are higher. Maybe that school takes a higher number from ED. Just curious. Glad we did not shoot for the ivys. I do not think we would have had a chance.

Wellesley on their class of 2022 -- you need a hook.

"Wellesley received 6,670 first-year applications this year, a 17 percent increase over last year (which was also a 17 percent increase over the previous year). These numbers provide a first glance at the 19 percent of applicants granted admission, the lowest admit rate ever for the College.

Here’s a look at the admitted class of 2022:

The accepted students hail from 955 high schools in 49 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as well as 41 countries outside the United States.
Fifty-three percent are domestic students of color, identifying as African-American, Asian-American, Latina or Hispanic, or Native American.
Sixteen percent will be the first generation in their families to attend a four-year college.
Eleven percent are international citizens.
Their average SAT score is 1438 and their average ACT score is 32.
Of the students attending high schools that rank, 86 percent are ranked in the top 10 percent of their
graduating classes.
Admitted students include those who applied to Wellesley via the College’s valuable partners QuestBridge and the Posse Foundation, and those who worked with local, community-based organizations that support students in applying to college."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD - 1550 SAT, Top 2% of class (in the top 10 students) at a well regarded public high school. Not full pay. 4.0 UW, not sure of Waited but I want to say 4.6 or 4.7.

It wasn't pretty. We had a wide range but we did apply to a couple of top schools.

Denied at Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley.

Wait-listed at Middlebury, Rice, and Barnard.

Accepted with lots of merit aid at Tulane, Fordham, Lafayette and some decent publics.

Accepted with No Merit at U Richmond, W&L.

I do think being a female hurt her especially at the SLACs. I would very much caution expectation setting.

Wow, I think this post may suggest how strong an advantage full pay private school kids have in college admissions. Haven’t seen outcomes like this at DC’s Big 3.

No, my full pay, private kid with similar stats had roughly similar outcomes, except that she knew better than to even try at ivies.

geez. reading that...why even try now.

Curious, was dc pushed to achieve those stats? Have you hired private tutors, send kids to summer learning camps, etc...?

My question for the PP who shared these results is whether any of her applications were ED, or all were RD.

ED is becoming an essential strategy if you want to crack the top schools. Which is unfortunately IMO, but that seems to be the state of play.

I am a little surprised at the Wellesley denial. Though selective, it is not as selective as the ivys, and their 75% percentile ACT is only 33, which is below your SAT equivalent. And unlike some other SLACs, you cannot say that the stats for girls are higher. Maybe that school takes a higher number from ED. Just curious. Glad we did not shoot for the ivys. I do not think we would have had a chance.

Unfortunately, it doesn't help (with admissions) if you are a girl applying to the most selective SLACs or the likes of Stanford. There are too many of these applicants, even with high stats.

You need a hook. Or want to study a field where women are underrepresented (engineering for example).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD - 1550 SAT, Top 2% of class (in the top 10 students) at a well regarded public high school. Not full pay. 4.0 UW, not sure of Waited but I want to say 4.6 or 4.7.

It wasn't pretty. We had a wide range but we did apply to a couple of top schools.

Denied at Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley.

Wait-listed at Middlebury, Rice, and Barnard.

Accepted with lots of merit aid at Tulane, Fordham, Lafayette and some decent publics.

Accepted with No Merit at U Richmond, W&L.

I do think being a female hurt her especially at the SLACs. I would very much caution expectation setting.

Wow, I think this post may suggest how strong an advantage full pay private school kids have in college admissions. Haven’t seen outcomes like this at DC’s Big 3.

No, my full pay, private kid with similar stats had roughly similar outcomes, except that she knew better than to even try at ivies.

geez. reading that...why even try now.

Curious, was dc pushed to achieve those stats? Have you hired private tutors, send kids to summer learning camps, etc...?

Stanford is a MUCH smaller school. Just the numbers tell you that even the strongest applicants have a better shot at Berkeley.

-- Berkeley grad who thought I wanted to go to Stanford until I actually visited there, so I'm biased, but Berkeley is better anyway

Anonymous wrote:This reflects that good grades/scores are nothing more than table stakes. The referenced schools are reaches for everyone and your child should recognize that rejection is the most likely outcome. But that is true for almost everyone so it should not be a deterrent. Good luck!

I am the PP with the high stats DD and this is very good advice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD - 1550 SAT, Top 2% of class (in the top 10 students) at a well regarded public high school. Not full pay. 4.0 UW, not sure of Waited but I want to say 4.6 or 4.7.

It wasn't pretty. We had a wide range but we did apply to a couple of top schools.

Denied at Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley.

Wait-listed at Middlebury, Rice, and Barnard.

Accepted with lots of merit aid at Tulane, Fordham, Lafayette and some decent publics.

Accepted with No Merit at U Richmond, W&L.

I do think being a female hurt her especially at the SLACs. I would very much caution expectation setting.

This is discouraging. I hope she is happy with where she is going

PP - thank you for your kind thoughts. I think so. Although she is very young she has a track record of making good decisions. So it wasn't where she envisioned going but she has a good head on her shoulders and I have faith she will be successful no matter where she goes. And she is considering pre-med so the numbers work well.

This reflects that good grades/scores are nothing more than table stakes. The referenced schools are reaches for everyone and your child should recognize that rejection is the most likely outcome. But that is true for almost everyone so it should not be a deterrent. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD - 1550 SAT, Top 2% of class (in the top 10 students) at a well regarded public high school. Not full pay. 4.0 UW, not sure of Waited but I want to say 4.6 or 4.7.

It wasn't pretty. We had a wide range but we did apply to a couple of top schools.

Denied at Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley.

Wait-listed at Middlebury, Rice, and Barnard.

Accepted with lots of merit aid at Tulane, Fordham, Lafayette and some decent publics.

Accepted with No Merit at U Richmond, W&L.

I do think being a female hurt her especially at the SLACs. I would very much caution expectation setting.

Wow, I think this post may suggest how strong an advantage full pay private school kids have in college admissions. Haven’t seen outcomes like this at DC’s Big 3.

No, my full pay, private kid with similar stats had roughly similar outcomes, except that she knew better than to even try at ivies.

PP here. I understand and in hindsight we did shoot a little too high. But she liked Brown and Columbia and after all her hard work it was hard to tell her not to try.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD - 1550 SAT, Top 2% of class (in the top 10 students) at a well regarded public high school. Not full pay. 4.0 UW, not sure of Waited but I want to say 4.6 or 4.7.

It wasn't pretty. We had a wide range but we did apply to a couple of top schools.

Denied at Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley.

Wait-listed at Middlebury, Rice, and Barnard.

Accepted with lots of merit aid at Tulane, Fordham, Lafayette and some decent publics.

Accepted with No Merit at U Richmond, W&L.

I do think being a female hurt her especially at the SLACs. I would very much caution expectation setting.

Surprised at the "no merit at U Richmond. They are courting high stats kids big time.

PP here. That's what I thought. And I called them to express interest and they weren't biting. I do think if my DD was a DS it would have helped at the SLACs, and maybe at Richmond. I would not plan on the notion that URichmond is courting high stats kids. My DD stats were higher than all their 75% percentile and they weren't the least bit interested. I was told "it was a tough year and we wish your DD well".

Might want to consider UCLA as well, given her interest in linguistics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD - 1550 SAT, Top 2% of class (in the top 10 students) at a well regarded public high school. Not full pay. 4.0 UW, not sure of Waited but I want to say 4.6 or 4.7.

It wasn't pretty. We had a wide range but we did apply to a couple of top schools.

Denied at Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley.

Wait-listed at Middlebury, Rice, and Barnard.

Accepted with lots of merit aid at Tulane, Fordham, Lafayette and some decent publics.

Accepted with No Merit at U Richmond, W&L.

I do think being a female hurt her especially at the SLACs. I would very much caution expectation setting.

Wow, I think this post may suggest how strong an advantage full pay private school kids have in college admissions. Haven’t seen outcomes like this at DC’s Big 3.

No, my full pay, private kid with similar stats had roughly similar outcomes, except that she knew better than to even try at ivies.

Anonymous wrote:OP - Yes, Naviance says my child is well positioned against other admitted applicants from their school. But computer models can be misleading. Thanks.

Grades only matter in the context of the high school and course selection. Except for all-star athletes, there is no way to be "well positioned" for Stanford. The entire applicant pool has great SATs and grades. Berkeley is significantly more difficult than any other public university. Work on your safety list!

OP - She will be full pay. Plans to study linguistics undergrad with career aspirations in PR. Lot's of AP courses with 4's and 5's in all. Will be a very interesting year.