Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The UK and European countries do this.

This is not our style in America.

And the tracking begins early in their school systems.

There is a reason why American education is superior. It isn’t like UK and European universities are inherently virtuous.

Statistically the US education is failing and for years has paled in comparison to the rest of the world, not just Europe and Canada. Far fewer people can actually read, far fewer have a higher education of any worth. It is just a fact.

Anonymous wrote:And they do this because they get too many applications, and they know EC and essays are suspect. Even Duke discounts essays these days because of AI and the fact consultants write them.

Duke does not discount the essay. Essays are not suspect.

Anonymous wrote:Which raises another point: most people live in the same general area their whole lives and most jobs are regional too, so most people don't need a "nationally known" school anyway.

Do they really live in the same general area? Are jobs regional? That is not my experience. I went from east coast to west coast back to dmv. Moving around is really required to do well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CalTech has a reputation for focusing on test scores, grades, and related honors.

But do you mean a Russian-style first-past-the-post system where the top 500 kids get into MGIMO, the next 500 get into MGU, etc?

No, we don't have that here.

Caltech cares about activities. We toured there a few years ago, and that's what they said.

But, the T15s will care about grades and GPA, as well as activities.

Yes, Cal Tech want to hear about all the Math olympiads you have won.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is not, you have to go to Canada or UK for that.

Some of the top UK schools require interviews.

Yes. You don't get an offer from either Oxford or Cambridge without an interview. It is key in the decision making process. Other places that may offer interviews include Imperial, UCL and Kings London.

Anonymous wrote:There is not, you have to go to Canada or UK for that.

The UK requires a Personal Statement which is one page long. It has to detail 80% of how you are suitable for the course you're applying to and 20% EC related activity which is connected to it. Many UK universities have this as one major component in the decision making process, and others use it as a tie breaker for applicants with equal grades / stats.

Also a major component is the teacher reference.

So you have the following if you're applying from the US to the UK

SAT score
AP score
High school transcript - from 9th-12th all grades accounted for
personal letter of recommendation
list of work undertaken / voluntary or otherwise
Personal Statement

That's not just grades.

People love to reference Canadian colleges as just looking for test scores/GPA. Something tells me that nobody had a kid actually apply to a top school.

My kid applied to U Toronto and had to write 3 essays and provide a complete list of ECs...and I recall one of the essays (you had to write three out of five topics) was about an EC meaningful to you.

The way Canadian schools are different is that you can't even apply to a program if you didn't achieve a certain ability in different areas. My kid applied for CS and they required a Calc BC score of 5 to even apply...which my kid had, but we didn't know that ahead of time.

And they do this because they get too many applications, and they know EC and essays are suspect. Even Duke discounts essays these days because of AI and the fact consultants write them.

Anonymous wrote:The UK and European countries do this.

This is not our style in America.

And the tracking begins early in their school systems.

There is a reason why American education is superior. It isn’t like UK and European universities are inherently virtuous.

Anonymous wrote:There is not, you have to go to Canada or UK for that.

Some of the top UK schools require interviews.

Anonymous wrote:Alabama. The high scores are tied in with their generous merit aid and an effort to improve their profile.

They are also nationally "known" but for what, beyond this policy, is anyone's guess.

Greek life and partying, and football.

I don't know anybody that leaves the EC section completely blank...so perhaps that would be very strange to see.

Everyone has something to throw in there, even if the ECs aren't impressive.

Anonymous wrote:CalTech has a reputation for focusing on test scores, grades, and related honors.

But do you mean a Russian-style first-past-the-post system where the top 500 kids get into MGIMO, the next 500 get into MGU, etc?

No, we don't have that here.

Caltech cares about activities. We toured there a few years ago, and that's what they said.

But, the T15s will care about grades and GPA, as well as activities.

Yes. Many many state schools, as others have said. In fact, many admit they don't look at anything else. I think many also disregard GPAs because of grade inflation.

Look at common data set and they will tell you what they consider and what they do not.

Anonymous wrote:Which raises another point: most people live in the same general area their whole lives and most jobs are regional too, so most people don't need a "nationally known" school anyway.

Even a much derided "non-T14" law school is highly regarded in-state and in nearby states if its the one with high performers in the state, sending graduates into locally headquartered businesses, firms, and politics.