Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 15:51     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:Could not afford a quality test prep program for my daughter. Her GPA is 3.9, low SATs and heavy leadership positions, impressive activities and community service. Don't want her to be identified with this post. All RD admissions at non-Ivies. She will probably attend Wellesley or Amherst.


Public or Private? Big 3/5 or other?
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 15:45     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Could not afford a quality test prep program for my daughter. Her GPA is 3.9, low SATs and heavy leadership positions, impressive activities and community service. Don't want her to be identified with this post. All RD admissions at non-Ivies. She will probably attend Wellesley or Amherst.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 15:37     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Completely anecdotal from my DD's school over the past few years... assume $ isn't a factor because then it is a different game. This is reflective of a typical UMC unhooked student (did not include the student with Cs who is now at Stanford due to parental sway and boat loads of $$$$$ etc.

A student: Ivies, MIT, CalTech, Williams, Amherst etc.

A/B Student: Michigan, William & Mary, Pomona, Bowdoin, Ivy Specialty Schools(I.e. Cornell Human Ecology, Upenn Nursing etc.), Wellesley, Lehigh, UCLA etc.

B student: Bates, Colby, Hamilton, BC, BU, Oberlin, Mcallister, Carleton, Scripps, Pitzer, Spellman, GWU, Washington & Lee, UT Austin, Villanova, Wisconsin, USC etc.

B/C student: Pepperdine, SMU, College of Charleston, Elon, High Point, Clark, Conn College, Trinity, Dickinson, Denison Muhlenberg, Ithaca, Lewis and Clark, UDel, Drexel, American, Kenyon, Rollins, Random southern state schools (Ole Miss, University of South Carolina, UGA)

I would move American and Denison, maybe Kenyon, to the A/B range. Admissions are getting tough at those schools.


Kenyon yes, the others no. My B/C student was w/l at Kenyon, got merit money at Denison.

How funny! My cousin was rejected at Denison and offered a third-pay merit at Kenyon!
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 15:02     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

I think Trinity CT is a party school for NE and Mid-Atlantic Prep school kids. That's how it was seen when I was in school 20 some odd years. Definitely see it as school of choice for STA bottom quintile boys and maybe bottom third for Prep and Landon.

Bowdoin, Middlebury, Hamilton and Colby were kind of seen this way too, but I feel like those schools are getting away from that rep.

Still trying to wrap my head around the fact Trinity accepts 30% of applicants.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 14:55     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is not taking a B/C student, and I think Bates, Hamilton and Colby are probably closer to A/B. My B student got into a top 30 liberal arts school as did several of her peers.


Alumni rep here. Kenyon is not accepting b/c students.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 14:52     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Also need to take into account how difficult the course load is for these kids: My DD got into Princeton, Harvard (double legacy there), several top SLACs, Wash U despite a number of Bs at a big 3 school without athletic recruiting or any "hooks", but was in the absolute most intensive track offered in terms of course selection (BC calc as junior, AP Physics as junior, etc). If the Bs had been in the less intensive math or science classes I doubt she would have gotten into those schools. And test scores/extracurriculars and essays/recs clearly also make a difference to differentiate between these kids.


I wonder how non-math and science kids can take the "most intensive" course load.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 14:48     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

it really depends on the high school you are applying out from...
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 14:17     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Trinity a/b list


My B/C kid got in a couple of years ago, as did several of her similarly situated classmates.


Wow, this shocking is shocking to me as when my dc applied it was is the top 20 and very selective. Where did your child end up if not Trinity? Trinity was a great school for my dc can't speak more highly of it. Hope it moves up in the ranks again. Very quality education


Trinity (if we are talking about the one in CT and not TX) is ranked 45th in the current US News. I recall it being in the 30s when my DC applied (3 years ago) so not sure what happened. She picked what was a lower ranked school at the time but now the school she attends is ranked higher than Trinity. I liked Trinity but DD was not comfortable with the neighborhood.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 13:49     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Also need to take into account how difficult the course load is for these kids: My DD got into Princeton, Harvard (double legacy there), several top SLACs, Wash U despite a number of Bs at a big 3 school without athletic recruiting or any "hooks", but was in the absolute most intensive track offered in terms of course selection (BC calc as junior, AP Physics as junior, etc). If the Bs had been in the less intensive math or science classes I doubt she would have gotten into those schools. And test scores/extracurriculars and essays/recs clearly also make a difference to differentiate between these kids.

Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 13:39     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Trinity a/b list


My B/C kid got in a couple of years ago, as did several of her similarly situated classmates.


Wow, this shocking is shocking to me as when my dc applied it was is the top 20 and very selective. Where did your child end up if not Trinity? Trinity was a great school for my dc can't speak more highly of it. Hope it moves up in the ranks again. Very quality education
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2015 13:21     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:For my DCs and their friends, the clincher for a/b or b students is test scores. A 3.3 with a 34 act is going to look much different than a 3.3 with a 29. Ditto for extracurriculars for the "holistic" schools.


Completely agree with this. It seems that gpas at top privates are lower, but those with high test scores get into better schools than same gpa and lower test scores
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2015 22:19     Subject: Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Really USC admits B students? I'd be shocked that a student with a 3.0-3.3 got in there.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2015 22:07     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't see UVA or Georgetown....where do they belong ?


Quite selective. A bit below Ivies but not much. I'd say top 25% of the class type thing, but that's just a guesstimate.


top 10%. Very selective, especially if out of state for UVA.


At our school it is definitely more in the 25% range for Georgetown and the in-state VA kids, and probably 15 - 20% for the out-of-state kids applying to UVA. These are kids with very strong board scores and AP scores, and probably A minus averages.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2015 22:04     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

Anonymous wrote:What about schools like Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice (strong Southern schools)?


Vanderbilt has become astonishingly more selective in a very short period of time. 10 years ago Vanderbilt accepted just under 40% -- this spring they accepted about 13%.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2015 21:56     Subject: Re:Which colleges are the B students going to from the top independent schools?

What about schools like Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice (strong Southern schools)?