Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:PP here. My kids have also never asked "why Larlo and not me?" That's not how they were raised to think.

Oh, please. It’s normal for a teenager to wonder why they weren’t picked for something.

Nope. Normal kids understand the randomness of elite college admissions and don't ask this. Mine never came home and cried over a friend's or acquaintances's college acceptance that was "better" than theirs. Maybe it's because they never knew anybody else's "stats" or college applications to the friggin' letter! It's ODD.

Hello? You are posting on a board that exists to allow parents to obsess over where their kids will get into college, what stats it might take, whether not taking one specific AP course is the death knell for all their college hopes and dreams, which tutor/outside advisor to pay thousands of dollars to to increase their chances, whether private or public school gives them a better chance, etc etc etc and the actual teens who are applying are supposed to be above wondering who got in and how they compare to those who did?

Give me a break.

The purpose of this board, at least so far as I am concerned, is not limited to "obsessing" over where kids will go to college or what stats and classes may be required. It's to share information on a wide variety of college-related issues.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

This^. There is a lot of bias for Asian/SouthAsian applicants.

And they end up at Duke instead of Harvard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

Oh, stop. Every Asian kid my kid knows got into a better school than her. If you think Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, and UVA are disappointments, that’s your problem.

Yup, similar at our school.

UVA is a disappointment for someone aiming for Harvard/Stanford. They can make peace but doesn’t mean they won’t feel the sting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

This^. There is a lot of bias for Asian/SouthAsian applicants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

This^. There is a lot of bias for Asian/SouthAsian applicants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

Oh, stop. Every Asian kid my kid knows got into a better school than her. If you think Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, and UVA are disappointments, that’s your problem.

Yup, similar at our school.

UVA is a disappointment for someone aiming for Harvard/Stanford. They can make peace but doesn’t mean they won’t feel the sting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s roughly 400 kids graduating from DCs school this year. The top kids have been in the same classes all 4 years and know each other’s ranking and test scores. The top 2% of graduating class (8 kids) all had 4.0 uw and 1500+ SATs. This is how acceptances went for them:

1. Carnegie Mellon (shut out of Ivies)
2. UMD (shut out of Ivies and top SLACs)
3. UMD (shut out of Ivies)
4. Johns Hopkins (recruited athlete)
5. Yale (first gen)
6. UMD
7. Penn (first gen)
8. Princeton (URM)

All great, hard working, top scores, excellent EC kids, but like PP said there just isn’t enough room for all high achievers at the tippy top.

And all eight are pathetic for knowing each other's grades, rankings, test scores, and college application choices and results -- and any parent who knows all of this about all eight is even more pathetic.

The kids share this information freely with each other and obsess over it for most of their senior year. Parents get the information without even trying. In fact, I think PP substituted UMD for another state school because it matches what I know about kids I’ve never met at our school.

Goodness gracious. Which HS is this?

I can almost -- almost understand kids "sharing this information freely." Almost. But "parents getting this information without even trying?" Nope. Certainly not to the point of remembering it all to the degree that this poster did. That takes effort. Unhealthy effort. Obsessive effort. Insane effort.

I'm PP who listed the class standings in the hope of showing that Ivy admissions is not the end all. There will be plenty of hard working and intelligent kids at your state school.

Unfortunately, I know that it is not like this at most schools, but I am so grateful for the experience that my DC had throughout school. Out of the 8 kids listed, 6 are routinely at my house. 5 of them have been together since 6th grade. What started out as mandatory group projects in my basement, evolved into weekly study sessions for whatever big test was coming up, to movie nights in my basement. Those 6 supported one another throughout high school. They were there for the sporting events, the break ups, and the poor grades. They studied for the SATs together and I even drove 3 to their testing days. They attended campus visits together and worked on applications. I was there with them since 6th grade celebrating their successes and being there for them in their defeats. I fed them, cheered them on at sporting events, and drove them everywhere imaginable just like their parents did for my DC.

I am so happy for these kids and I know that they will all go on to wonderful lives no matter where they go to college. They know the importance of teamwork and building others up. I wish that every kid had this opportunity in high school and for my DC as they head to college, I hope that they can find a similar group of people.

And I call complete and total BS although I congratulate you on your feeble attempt to back track and justify your obsession. It just so happens that the top 8 students in your kid's class of FOUR HUNDRED all happen to hang out at YOUR house and have been doing that since sixth grade? And, no, they're not competitive and neither are you and it's all about supporting each other yet they all know each others' precise GPAs, test scores, classes, college applications, acceptance/rejections, etc.?

Just. Stop. This is an anonymous forum. No reason to lie to us -- or yourself.

My eldest kid is a freshman in high school but my husband graduated from a public high school in 1992. He was #2 out of 400. His best friends and study group were numbers 1-8 (minus 1 or 2 numbers). he's still friends this group 35 years later! He could tell you now who got into Princeton and who did not (they were in NJ), who was a national merit finalist and who was not, etc.
the top kids tend to know each other, especially in schools where there aren't that many academically focused kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

Oh, stop. Every Asian kid my kid knows got into a better school than her. If you think Columbia, Princeton, Cornell, and UVA are disappointments, that’s your problem.

Yup, similar at our school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid had perfect or close to perfect grades in AP classes, high SAT scores, strong extracurricular activities and got rejected from all the top schools, what do you think went wrong?

Kid was born into an Asian family could be the answer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My white male perfect student got into 4 safeties and rejected/WL at 14 others for CS. It was insane. Saying he was a white male was application suicide.

What is your definition of "perfect?" Did he have skills, experiences and perspectives that added or made him stand out to the places he applied? Were his essays excellent? Did he submit supplements? Did he tailor supplemental essays to specifics of the universities? Did he demonstrate interest? Did he have regional, state and national (not AP Scholar) awards? Did he highlight honors and ECs well? Did he demonstrate leadership? That's what it takes. My kid did all that. She revised her essay and honors/ECs when early admissions didn't pan out. She kept workjng to earn more awards and dud. She also found much to love about her safeties should top schools not pan out. There are just not enough spaces for high achieving kids. What you think is perfect may not be enough or what the college is looking for. I really hope he finds things to love about his school. As a high achiever, he will do well wherever he goes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s roughly 400 kids graduating from DCs school this year. The top kids have been in the same classes all 4 years and know each other’s ranking and test scores. The top 2% of graduating class (8 kids) all had 4.0 uw and 1500+ SATs. This is how acceptances went for them:

1. Carnegie Mellon (shut out of Ivies)
2. UMD (shut out of Ivies and top SLACs)
3. UMD (shut out of Ivies)
4. Johns Hopkins (recruited athlete)
5. Yale (first gen)
6. UMD
7. Penn (first gen)
8. Princeton (URM)

All great, hard working, top scores, excellent EC kids, but like PP said there just isn’t enough room for all high achievers at the tippy top.

And all eight are pathetic for knowing each other's grades, rankings, test scores, and college application choices and results -- and any parent who knows all of this about all eight is even more pathetic.

The kids share this information freely with each other and obsess over it for most of their senior year. Parents get the information without even trying. In fact, I think PP substituted UMD for another state school because it matches what I know about kids I’ve never met at our school.

Goodness gracious. Which HS is this?

I can almost -- almost understand kids "sharing this information freely." Almost. But "parents getting this information without even trying?" Nope. Certainly not to the point of remembering it all to the degree that this poster did. That takes effort. Unhealthy effort. Obsessive effort. Insane effort.

I'm PP who listed the class standings in the hope of showing that Ivy admissions is not the end all. There will be plenty of hard working and intelligent kids at your state school.

Unfortunately, I know that it is not like this at most schools, but I am so grateful for the experience that my DC had throughout school. Out of the 8 kids listed, 6 are routinely at my house. 5 of them have been together since 6th grade. What started out as mandatory group projects in my basement, evolved into weekly study sessions for whatever big test was coming up, to movie nights in my basement. Those 6 supported one another throughout high school. They were there for the sporting events, the break ups, and the poor grades. They studied for the SATs together and I even drove 3 to their testing days. They attended campus visits together and worked on applications. I was there with them since 6th grade celebrating their successes and being there for them in their defeats. I fed them, cheered them on at sporting events, and drove them everywhere imaginable just like their parents did for my DC.

I am so happy for these kids and I know that they will all go on to wonderful lives no matter where they go to college. They know the importance of teamwork and building others up. I wish that every kid had this opportunity in high school and for my DC as they head to college, I hope that they can find a similar group of people.

And I call complete and total BS although I congratulate you on your feeble attempt to back track and justify your obsession. It just so happens that the top 8 students in your kid's class of FOUR HUNDRED all happen to hang out at YOUR house and have been doing that since sixth grade? And, no, they're not competitive and neither are you and it's all about supporting each other yet they all know each others' precise GPAs, test scores, classes, college applications, acceptance/rejections, etc.?

Just. Stop. This is an anonymous forum. No reason to lie to us -- or yourself.

My eldest kid is a freshman in high school but my husband graduated from a public high school in 1992. He was #2 out of 400. His best friends and study group were numbers 1-8 (minus 1 or 2 numbers). he's still friends this group 35 years later! He could tell you now who got into Princeton and who did not (they were in NJ), who was a national merit finalist and who was not, etc.
the top kids tend to know each other, especially in schools where there aren't that many academically focused kids.

Your husband and the other poster are made for each other then. Pathetic. And most definitely NOT the norm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s roughly 400 kids graduating from DCs school this year. The top kids have been in the same classes all 4 years and know each other’s ranking and test scores. The top 2% of graduating class (8 kids) all had 4.0 uw and 1500+ SATs. This is how acceptances went for them:

1. Carnegie Mellon (shut out of Ivies)
2. UMD (shut out of Ivies and top SLACs)
3. UMD (shut out of Ivies)
4. Johns Hopkins (recruited athlete)
5. Yale (first gen)
6. UMD
7. Penn (first gen)
8. Princeton (URM)

All great, hard working, top scores, excellent EC kids, but like PP said there just isn’t enough room for all high achievers at the tippy top.

And all eight are pathetic for knowing each other's grades, rankings, test scores, and college application choices and results -- and any parent who knows all of this about all eight is even more pathetic.

The kids share this information freely with each other and obsess over it for most of their senior year. Parents get the information without even trying. In fact, I think PP substituted UMD for another state school because it matches what I know about kids I’ve never met at our school.

Goodness gracious. Which HS is this?

I can almost -- almost understand kids "sharing this information freely." Almost. But "parents getting this information without even trying?" Nope. Certainly not to the point of remembering it all to the degree that this poster did. That takes effort. Unhealthy effort. Obsessive effort. Insane effort.

I'm PP who listed the class standings in the hope of showing that Ivy admissions is not the end all. There will be plenty of hard working and intelligent kids at your state school.

Unfortunately, I know that it is not like this at most schools, but I am so grateful for the experience that my DC had throughout school. Out of the 8 kids listed, 6 are routinely at my house. 5 of them have been together since 6th grade. What started out as mandatory group projects in my basement, evolved into weekly study sessions for whatever big test was coming up, to movie nights in my basement. Those 6 supported one another throughout high school. They were there for the sporting events, the break ups, and the poor grades. They studied for the SATs together and I even drove 3 to their testing days. They attended campus visits together and worked on applications. I was there with them since 6th grade celebrating their successes and being there for them in their defeats. I fed them, cheered them on at sporting events, and drove them everywhere imaginable just like their parents did for my DC.

I am so happy for these kids and I know that they will all go on to wonderful lives no matter where they go to college. They know the importance of teamwork and building others up. I wish that every kid had this opportunity in high school and for my DC as they head to college, I hope that they can find a similar group of people.

And I call complete and total BS although I congratulate you on your feeble attempt to back track and justify your obsession. It just so happens that the top 8 students in your kid's class of FOUR HUNDRED all happen to hang out at YOUR house and have been doing that since sixth grade? And, no, they're not competitive and neither are you and it's all about supporting each other yet they all know each others' precise GPAs, test scores, classes, college applications, acceptance/rejections, etc.?

Just. Stop. This is an anonymous forum. No reason to lie to us -- or yourself.

My eldest kid is a freshman in high school but my husband graduated from a public high school in 1992. He was #2 out of 400. His best friends and study group were numbers 1-8 (minus 1 or 2 numbers). he's still friends this group 35 years later! He could tell you now who got into Princeton and who did not (they were in NJ), who was a national merit finalist and who was not, etc.
the top kids tend to know each other, especially in schools where there aren't that many academically focused kids.

Your husband and the other poster are made for each other then. Pathetic. And most definitely NOT the norm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s roughly 400 kids graduating from DCs school this year. The top kids have been in the same classes all 4 years and know each other’s ranking and test scores. The top 2% of graduating class (8 kids) all had 4.0 uw and 1500+ SATs. This is how acceptances went for them:

1. Carnegie Mellon (shut out of Ivies)
2. UMD (shut out of Ivies and top SLACs)
3. UMD (shut out of Ivies)
4. Johns Hopkins (recruited athlete)
5. Yale (first gen)
6. UMD
7. Penn (first gen)
8. Princeton (URM)

All great, hard working, top scores, excellent EC kids, but like PP said there just isn’t enough room for all high achievers at the tippy top.

And all eight are pathetic for knowing each other's grades, rankings, test scores, and college application choices and results -- and any parent who knows all of this about all eight is even more pathetic.

The kids share this information freely with each other and obsess over it for most of their senior year. Parents get the information without even trying. In fact, I think PP substituted UMD for another state school because it matches what I know about kids I’ve never met at our school.

Goodness gracious. Which HS is this?

I can almost -- almost understand kids "sharing this information freely." Almost. But "parents getting this information without even trying?" Nope. Certainly not to the point of remembering it all to the degree that this poster did. That takes effort. Unhealthy effort. Obsessive effort. Insane effort.

I'm PP who listed the class standings in the hope of showing that Ivy admissions is not the end all. There will be plenty of hard working and intelligent kids at your state school.

Unfortunately, I know that it is not like this at most schools, but I am so grateful for the experience that my DC had throughout school. Out of the 8 kids listed, 6 are routinely at my house. 5 of them have been together since 6th grade. What started out as mandatory group projects in my basement, evolved into weekly study sessions for whatever big test was coming up, to movie nights in my basement. Those 6 supported one another throughout high school. They were there for the sporting events, the break ups, and the poor grades. They studied for the SATs together and I even drove 3 to their testing days. They attended campus visits together and worked on applications. I was there with them since 6th grade celebrating their successes and being there for them in their defeats. I fed them, cheered them on at sporting events, and drove them everywhere imaginable just like their parents did for my DC.

I am so happy for these kids and I know that they will all go on to wonderful lives no matter where they go to college. They know the importance of teamwork and building others up. I wish that every kid had this opportunity in high school and for my DC as they head to college, I hope that they can find a similar group of people.

And I call complete and total BS although I congratulate you on your feeble attempt to back track and justify your obsession. It just so happens that the top 8 students in your kid's class of FOUR HUNDRED all happen to hang out at YOUR house and have been doing that since sixth grade? And, no, they're not competitive and neither are you and it's all about supporting each other yet they all know each others' precise GPAs, test scores, classes, college applications, acceptance/rejections, etc.?

Just. Stop. This is an anonymous forum. No reason to lie to us -- or yourself.

My eldest kid is a freshman in high school but my husband graduated from a public high school in 1992. He was #2 out of 400. His best friends and study group were numbers 1-8 (minus 1 or 2 numbers). he's still friends this group 35 years later! He could tell you now who got into Princeton and who did not (they were in NJ), who was a national merit finalist and who was not, etc.
the top kids tend to know each other, especially in schools where there aren't that many academically focused kids.

Anonymous wrote:My white male perfect student got into 4 safeties and rejected/WL at 14 others for CS. It was insane. Saying he was a white male was application suicide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My white male perfect student got into 4 safeties and rejected/WL at 14 others for CS. It was insane. Saying he was a white male was application suicide.

Oh, come on; mine is far from perfect and got into 7 schools for CS.

Do you have to say your major?