Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted to Honors! very happy

3.98/4.84 GPA from magnet program.

SAT 1590, ACT 36

national merit scholarship semifinal

international, national awards ( all major related).

national award for creative ideas (also major related)

several community service awards (close to 1000 SSL)

headship awards


Asian, female in state, need financial aid.

Why not go for the ivies if qualified for FA?

Not first gen, family income not lower enough to qualify for QB, which is $65,000 annually for a typical family of four, and again ASIAN does not belong to URM group.

Ivies meet 100% of financial need without regard to merit or status. Have you run the calculators? Can you afford what they say you’ll owe?

The hard truth is that Ivies need to balance the admission number for race, first gen, LQBT etc. So, they use financial aid to get those type of URM not Asian.

That is malarkey. Whoever told you this did you a disservice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

No. I am so sorry but the 27 did significantly hurt your kids chances. Because what it underlined for the school was only the learning disability. Going test optional would have shown the great GPA and that would have reflected that the learning disability is overcome by your kid.

Go and also apply to UMBC. You still have 3 days left. Don't worry about the school report and recommendations for now. You can ask for it later from your HS.

You’re conflating two posters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

No. I am so sorry but the 27 did significantly hurt your kids chances. Because what it underlined for the school was only the learning disability. Going test optional would have shown the great GPA and that would have reflected that the learning disability is overcome by your kid.

Go and also apply to UMBC. You still have 3 days left. Don't worry about the school report and recommendations for now. You can ask for it later from your HS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

Your college counselor performed a disservice with that recommendation. No way one should submit a 27 ACT score under test optional. 30 should probably be the lowest score.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

I am sorry for that, but common sense must prevail. You counselor failed to use hers, and was blinded by what worked in the past. Yikes have definitely changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

I am a college counselor. Unless your daughter fulfills an institutional priority of which we are unaware, the 27 is below the 25th percentile (29-34 is the 25th-75th percentile) and she should not have submitted that score. I'm sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

UMD is test optional. Applicants don't have to submit standardized test scores, so no need to freak.

Yes, but think for a minute why tests are optional. It is to permit the process to admit a better demographic of students. But if you don’t contribute to the demographic percentage, then they will use scores to differentiate admits. Of course they don’t say that. But, hearing the admit status with and without test scores verified just that. In this day and age of grade inflation, getting a high GPA is easier and doesn’t necessarily differentiate the student for admissions. Submit those GPA with high test scores and you get in. Submit the GPA without test scores, then you are at the mercy of the admission demographics, and may or may not get in. Again, no one is talking about that for obvious reasons and we all prefer to think that tests are not important.

A lot of the test optional stampede was triggered by COVID. Now schools (including Harvard) are looking at data to see if it even made a difference in students' performance. The underpinnings of this trend are much more nuanced than what you are suggesting PP.

Maybe some, but most options were touted as the panacea towards testing biased (whether true or not). It was advertised by many schools as such. As a result, it allows universities to rightly permit a better student demographic, and not be limited to test scores alone (read: more flexibility for admissions). GPAs alone are not perfect, nor are tests - but SOMETHING is needed to differentiate great students. If everyone has is special due to grade inflation (which is a real trend over the last decade), then no one is deemed special. High test scores help a student if otherwise not positively contributing by to demographic stats. But not submitting bud a flag to AOs that the student didn’t score well. Otherwise, they would submit. No high performing test raker is not submitting high test scores. And no high performer is not at least attempting to take a test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

Based on past years, I might have thought the same. This year is crazy. I’m sorry about this denial. But thank you for sharing. It’s helpful for those of us with younger students watching this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted.
Honors College, CS, Asian-American Male.
MCPS magnet, 1590 SAT/4.0 u/4.8 w/12 APs

ECs, honors, internship, awards, community service etc were also pretty impressive considering the COVID disruption for 10th and 11th grade.
Not athlete, no hooks, in-state.

Congratulations to your son! He sounds very impressive!

+ 1. Congratulations! It is a popular choice for Blair magnet alum (around 40% choose to attend UMD). He will have a great experience.

🙏🙏
Grateful that the option of UMD (also UMBC and other in-state colleges) exists. Also glad that UMD is not a inferior fall back but is a valuable option for academics, opportunities, employment outcomes and in-state tuition. However, getting into UMD and MIT, for some of the STEM majors at least - it is the exact same candidate. Which is good news/bad news, I guess. I am grateful more than anything. The list of pros in the column for UMD is long and strong, especially in these turbulent and pandemic times.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Yes this is my kid. Our college consultant told us to submit the 27. She has kids getting to UMD all the time. She didn’t think the 27 would hurt her chances. I am obviously not so sure I agree, but either way, UMD rejected her. It’s upsetting when you child has worked so hard throughout highschool.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

UMD is test optional. Applicants don't have to submit standardized test scores, so no need to freak.

Yes, but think for a minute why tests are optional. It is to permit the process to admit a better demographic of students. But if you don’t contribute to the demographic percentage, then they will use scores to differentiate admits. Of course they don’t say that. But, hearing the admit status with and without test scores verified just that. In this day and age of grade inflation, getting a high GPA is easier and doesn’t necessarily differentiate the student for admissions. Submit those GPA with high test scores and you get in. Submit the GPA without test scores, then you are at the mercy of the admission demographics, and may or may not get in. Again, no one is talking about that for obvious reasons and we all prefer to think that tests are not important.

A lot of the test optional stampede was triggered by COVID. Now schools (including Harvard) are looking at data to see if it even made a difference in students' performance. The underpinnings of this trend are much more nuanced than what you are suggesting PP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted to Honors! very happy

3.98/4.84 GPA from magnet program.

SAT 1590, ACT 36

national merit scholarship semifinal

international, national awards ( all major related).

national award for creative ideas (also major related)

several community service awards (close to 1000 SSL)

headship awards


Asian, female in state, need financial aid.

Why not go for the ivies if qualified for FA?

Not first gen, family income not lower enough to qualify for QB, which is $65,000 annually for a typical family of four, and again ASIAN does not belong to URM group.

Ivies meet 100% of financial need without regard to merit or status. Have you run the calculators? Can you afford what they say you’ll owe?

The hard truth is that Ivies need to balance the admission number for race, first gen, LQBT etc. So, they use financial aid to get those type of URM not Asian.

There isn’t merit aid and they don’t need to sway people to attend. Getting past the admissions hurdle is the challenge. Financial aid is available to all admitted and there are calculators online.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.

Enough already. This is an actual kid we’re talking about. I think a separate thread about when to go test optional at UMD would be a useful thread, especially when we have more data.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted to Honors! very happy

3.98/4.84 GPA from magnet program.

SAT 1590, ACT 36

national merit scholarship semifinal

international, national awards ( all major related).

national award for creative ideas (also major related)

several community service awards (close to 1000 SSL)

headship awards


Asian, female in state, need financial aid.

Why not go for the ivies if qualified for FA?

Not first gen, family income not lower enough to qualify for QB, which is $65,000 annually for a typical family of four, and again ASIAN does not belong to URM group.

Ivies meet 100% of financial need without regard to merit or status. Have you run the calculators? Can you afford what they say you’ll owe?

The hard truth is that Ivies need to balance the admission number for race, first gen, LQBT etc. So, they use financial aid to get those type of URM not Asian.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 4.7 weighted. 3.98 unweighted. 27 act. Upset.

ACT definitely not in line with GPA....red flag

This should not be a red flag. This will likely be my daughter next year. She has a slight learning disability but she excels in school because she is a very hard worker and is diligent. She just can’t seem to ace her standardized tests. Any school would be lucky to have her because she works hard and gets good grades.

But it is and was a red flag, PP did not get in. You don't send a 27 with that kind of GPA and you certainly don't send a 27 to UMD, when you have the option to not submit scores.