Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve looked at Naviance, and at least at our school the outcomes really do vary. I can’t quite understand why a student with a 1430 might get in while someone with a 1580 doesn’t.

I’m also curious how people define “amazing” extracurriculars. Are there concrete examples of what’s considered good versus great?

Thank you! And is anyone else navigating this without relying on a counselor?

The way I look at it, you have Penn, Duke, WUSTL, Vandy, UM, UVA, UNCOOS as reaches. Getting in any single one, you call it a win this year. Celebrate it.

You have a short list of targets (BC, UT, Villanova), which may be fine. But I would recommend adding Case EA in your target list. Get the result by 12/18. Adjust your list based on that outcome. If it's an acceptance with merit, I would stick to the reach list.

UT Austin OOS is a reach for high stats kids.

Anonymous wrote:My son had 1500, was valedictorian and had sports, volunteering etc, but nothing that would blow your mind. Lots of APs.
Accepted - Georgetown, UVA, UCLA, UT Austin
Wait listed Michigan, Wash U
Denied Berkeley and UNC

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC was at an ID camp at WashU and was told by the coach not to submit a lower than 1530 SAT. They want the kids with super high SAT’s.

Yes, my DC was being actively recruited by Wash U and pre-screened by admissions and the message was that DC needed to get above 1500 (score was 1480, grades were very high, 11 APs with 4s and 5s).

Anonymous wrote:Kid was a recruited athlete at WUSTL but was told not to submit his 1500 score. Go figure.

Anonymous wrote:DC was at an ID camp at WashU and was told by the coach not to submit a lower than 1530 SAT. They want the kids with super high SAT’s.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience with 1 kid at a HYSP (a 1510), one other in at another Ivy (1490) and one just accepted to a top public (34 ACT) - all no hooks - 1500 and average ECs are fine. Factors that personally I think move the needle:

1) Full pay
2) Essays and EC story (doesn't need to be leadership experience but able to highlight definitive contributions, lessons / skills learned, links between activity choices and major interests all tied together in an interesting and authentic way)
3) Predictive profile (I strongly suspect there is AI being used that identify which students are likely to graduate on time, employable afterwards, and avoid protesting)

I agree that your DC needs a balance list with likely schools they actually like (and ideally ones that will provide decisions prior to winter break such as Fordham) but it's also okay to aim high.

Curios what were your Ivy accepted kids’ target and safety schools? TIA

Anonymous wrote:DC was at an ID camp at WashU and was told by the coach not to submit a lower than 1530 SAT. They want the kids with super high SAT’s.

Anonymous wrote:Oh - and also southern schools are really popular right now. So that skews the numbers and acceptance rates. So schools with rankings comparable to Vandy outside of the south are much more likely admits than Vandy itself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience with 1 kid at a HYSP (a 1510), one other in at another Ivy (1490) and one just accepted to a top public (34 ACT) - all no hooks - 1500 and average ECs are fine. Factors that personally I think move the needle:

1) Full pay
2) Essays and EC story (doesn't need to be leadership experience but able to highlight definitive contributions, lessons / skills learned, links between activity choices and major interests all tied together in an interesting and authentic way)
3) Predictive profile (I strongly suspect there is AI being used that identify which students are likely to graduate on time, employable afterwards, and avoid protesting)

I agree that your DC needs a balance list with likely schools they actually like (and ideally ones that will provide decisions prior to winter break such as Fordham) but it's also okay to aim high.

This post is complete and total bullshit. I mean, wow.

Man, I really need to get off of this website.

DP agree! 1510 HYPS unhooked??!

And how would they even know you’re full pay? Even if they did know and it’s not need blind as they claim, HYPS have plenty of full pay applicants. Their priority is FGLI families!

Do you even have a kid applying to college? You sound clueless. There's a box on the application where your kid checks whether they are applying for financial aid. If not, they're full-pay. And just 15% of Harvard students are FGLI, so not sure why you would say that their "priority" is FGLI families when 85% of students are not FGLI.

Anonymous wrote:DC was at an ID camp at WashU and was told by the coach not to submit a lower than 1530 SAT. They want the kids with super high SAT’s.