Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 09:11     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1500+ SAT all As at highly regarded private (school doesn’t offer AP classes but DC took 4 and got 4s and 5s). Varsity sport, leadership in ECs. Legacy - rejected. Waitlisted at all others. No acceptances today. Brutal.


With such a low admit rate it’s TRULY a crapshoot unless you have a URM, first gen or recruited athlete hook. I hope your kid knew that, wasn’t expecting it, and doesn’t feel bad!


That should be amended to say first gen URM, first gen or recruited athlete. The high strats URM non first gen kids at DC's school did not get into schools that lower stats for gen URM and first gen white kids did. DC expressed surprise at the kids that got into selective schools EA and who didn't.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 09:10     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1500+ SAT all As at highly regarded private (school doesn’t offer AP classes but DC took 4 and got 4s and 5s). Varsity sport, leadership in ECs. Legacy - rejected. Waitlisted at all others. No acceptances today. Brutal.


If your kid is wsitlisted at all the other schools they applied to, it seems they weren't realistic.


How can the private be highly regarded but offer no APs?? Something doesn’t make sense here.


many "highly regarded" independents do not offer APs. Teachers do not want to teach to the test and schools believe they offer a richer curriculum than what is offered in AP classes.



Thank you for repeating the talking point of private schools.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:58     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1500+ SAT all As at highly regarded private (school doesn’t offer AP classes but DC took 4 and got 4s and 5s). Varsity sport, leadership in ECs. Legacy - rejected. Waitlisted at all others. No acceptances today. Brutal.


If your kid is wsitlisted at all the other schools they applied to, it seems they weren't realistic.


Is it not realistic to think your kid with above stats should get in somewhere decent/competitive?


My kid has 1560 and 4.0uw, you can't expect anything. You can hope, but you need to cast a wide net. Competitive schools have stellar kids applying and can fill their class many times over with high stats kids. If OP's kid it wsitlisted everywhere they applied, yes, they had unrealistic expectations.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:13     Subject: Re:williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Hugs to those smarting from yesterday's news. DS also was denied at Williams although he didn't have straight As so we never really expected an acceptance. Just curious - what's the Plan B for those wait listed or denied so far?
My kid wants to work in Washington or a state capitol and is lucky to have a little merit aid at schools like AU so that is certainly rising as an option, especially given some of the cool mentoring & academic programs and internships American offers in his major. U of Richmond also is an option although not as appealing at this point.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:07     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m reading Reddit right now and all these kids who feel their world is over. They worked incredibly hard just to end up in many cases at places as other peers without these insane stats. They are already lamenting how they should have enjoyed high school more. This makes me so sad and nervous about this process in the near future when my kids go through it.


What sub?

Applying to College
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:06     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Williams is tiny and half the kids there are legacies.


Didn't help my kid, with straight A's in HS and a 4.53 wGPA, a 35 ACT, and good EC's. Second kid who didn't get in to Williams, notwithstanding legacy status. Both kids were easily qualified to get in. I get that there are tons of super qualified kids who are rejected every year, but its really left a sour taste in my mouth. Gonna be a while before I think fondly of Williams again. I'll remember the good education and experience I had there, and I value the friends I made there, but I'm pretty mad at the College right now.


Mine the same but 2 years ago. Straight A’s, 36 ACT, and goo EC’s, coming from a rigorous curriculum at a top HS. So, I completely understand your feelings.

The problem with Williams is that they sponsor just about every sport that NESCAC offers. With 800+ athletes at a college with 2000+ students, almost 40% of the admissions spots are taken before otherwise regular applicants are even considered, i.e. 200 of 500+ In a freshman clas are athletes. It seems that the priorities are screwy when this high a percent of the spots are claimed for those whose achievements are non-academic at what is supposedly top academic school.

But there’s more. 170+ international students are enrolled, or about 40+ per freshman class. With a number of other spots reserved for those with other hooks, it would seem that less than half of the spots of an incoming freshman class go to students based on academic merit. Among NESCAC members, the number of athletes at Williams is 2nd only to Tufts, a school almost triple its size.



95% of Williams students rank in the top 10% of their class. They have high academic expectations for athletes.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:03     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Williams is tiny and half the kids there are legacies.


Didn't help my kid, with straight A's in HS and a 4.53 wGPA, a 35 ACT, and good EC's. Second kid who didn't get in to Williams, notwithstanding legacy status. Both kids were easily qualified to get in. I get that there are tons of super qualified kids who are rejected every year, but its really left a sour taste in my mouth. Gonna be a while before I think fondly of Williams again. I'll remember the good education and experience I had there, and I value the friends I made there, but I'm pretty mad at the College right now.


Mine the same but 2 years ago. Straight A’s, 36 ACT, and goo EC’s, coming from a rigorous curriculum at a top HS. So, I completely understand your feelings.

The problem with Williams is that they sponsor just about every sport that NESCAC offers. With 800+ athletes at a college with 2000+ students, almost 40% of the admissions spots are taken before otherwise regular applicants are even considered, i.e. 200 of 500+ In a freshman clas are athletes. It seems that the priorities are screwy when this high a percent of the spots are claimed for those whose achievements are non-academic at what is supposedly top academic school.

But there’s more. 170+ international students are enrolled, or about 40+ per freshman class. With a number of other spots reserved for those with other hooks, it would seem that less than half of the spots of an incoming freshman class go to students based on academic merit. Among NESCAC members, the number of athletes at Williams is 2nd only to Tufts, a school almost triple its size.



Thanks for this.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:01     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Williams is tiny and half the kids there are legacies.


Didn't help my kid, with straight A's in HS and a 4.53 wGPA, a 35 ACT, and good EC's. Second kid who didn't get in to Williams, notwithstanding legacy status. Both kids were easily qualified to get in. I get that there are tons of super qualified kids who are rejected every year, but its really left a sour taste in my mouth. Gonna be a while before I think fondly of Williams again. I'll remember the good education and experience I had there, and I value the friends I made there, but I'm pretty mad at the College right now.


I'm sorry. Hugs to your kid (& you).
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 08:00     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:My DS graduated from an SLAC a few years ago so I completely understand this highly stressful time. In my house, I was the one who was bothered by the rejections. My DS took them in stride while I continue to hold a grudge (I am looking at you Dartmouth). Take the day to be disappointed, but you still have a smart and capable child who will reach their dreams. 🥱


Thank you for this.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 07:59     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:1500+ SAT all As at highly regarded private (school doesn’t offer AP classes but DC took 4 and got 4s and 5s). Varsity sport, leadership in ECs. Legacy - rejected. Waitlisted at all others. No acceptances today. Brutal.


Similar to mine. 1560 SAT, 3.98UW, 4.85W, top magnet, 5s on APs, NMF, actor who won awards and has worked professionally, capt of sports team, national award, state orch, multiple regional awards, club pres, decent service. Rejected from Williams.


You guys sound surprised. They rejected 93% of applicants.

Your children sound amazing, they honestly do, but that does not mean all doors will be open to then. Adjust your attitude.


Please try not to be a jerk. Clearly we knew that this was not a given, but her stats are amazing (this is by no means a complete list). Heaven forbid you all just offer a little sympathy.


Everyone's stats are amazing.

Please, these kids are a dime a dozen, which is why they all think they are entitled to top 50 schools.

Something has to give. Otherwise, the colleges may as well use lottery ping pong balls.


Yes, there are many talented kids who may have impressed in different ways as well as those networked w/ legacy and private school connections, but (at least in the past), everyone's stats were not this amazing. This kid has racked up some serious credits (not all mentioned here), definitely not "a dime a dozen." This school actually came up as a hard target for her based on previous years' stats. Also, this year had way more applicants (almost double) than previous years. Don't try to whitewash it w/ "everyone's the same." Also, at no time did she think she was entitled to anything. She works hard for everything and was a great candidate. She has a right to be gutted. Gutted does not equal entitlement. Try listening rather than lecturing and offering a little sympathy for a kid who denied herself so much to be top stats.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 07:51     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:PP here. Was trying to add, … but Pomona overshot by a lot here.


I’m sorry— are you saying we need quotas for white students now?


No. Im saying that a sensible system that accounts for historical disadvantage would produce demographics that resemble the population as a whole.

In a system like that it would be easier to use Naviance data and placement within peer groups locally to identify a good mix of schools to which to apply. Under the system as it is this year, it’s not. Which is why there are a lot of kids with very surprising outcomes.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 07:18     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Williams is tiny and half the kids there are legacies.


Didn't help my kid, with straight A's in HS and a 4.53 wGPA, a 35 ACT, and good EC's. Second kid who didn't get in to Williams, notwithstanding legacy status. Both kids were easily qualified to get in. I get that there are tons of super qualified kids who are rejected every year, but its really left a sour taste in my mouth. Gonna be a while before I think fondly of Williams again. I'll remember the good education and experience I had there, and I value the friends I made there, but I'm pretty mad at the College right now.


With those stats, there's nothing wrong with a legacy admit in this case. Clearly qualified.
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 06:12     Subject: Re:williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: white dd 1550, 4.0 (private school) national award in EC sport, is sporty (polo) and arty (has a portfolio) and academic

Pomona-denied
Haverford- WL
Scripps-WL
Bowdoin-WL
but ACCEPTED UCLA

and Santa Clara - accepted with $11k + merit for 4 years


It's all become a crapshoot if you are white


WOW! WL at Scripps with those stats is really unbelievable...but maybe polo is just not that compelling for SLACs.

Congrats on UCLA...that's terrific.

Also, try to refrain from the race comments...it's ugly, unnecessary and detracts from your impressive DD.


How many SLACs have a polo team?
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 05:43     Subject: williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
My DS graduated from an SLAC a few years ago so I completely understand this highly stressful time. In my house, I was the one who was bothered by the rejections. My DS took them in stride while I continue to hold a grudge (I am looking at you Dartmouth). Take the day to be disappointed, but you still have a smart and capable child who will reach their dreams. 🥱
Anonymous
Post 03/19/2022 02:38     Subject: Re:williams, amherst, swarthmore, pomona, bowdoin, haverford decisions today
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: white dd 1550, 4.0 (private school) national award in EC sport, is sporty (polo) and arty (has a portfolio) and academic

Pomona-denied
Haverford- WL
Scripps-WL
Bowdoin-WL
but ACCEPTED UCLA

and Santa Clara - accepted with $11k + merit for 4 years


It's all become a crapshoot if you are white


WOW! WL at Scripps with those stats is really unbelievable...but maybe polo is just not that compelling for SLACs.

Congrats on UCLA...that's terrific.

Also, try to refrain from the race comments...it's ugly, unnecessary and detracts from your impressive DD.


Did you know that Scripps only enrolled 328 students last year?

You would if you viewed their CDS. http://www.scrippscollege.edu/assessir/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021-2022-CDS_FINAL_V2.pdf

The CDS shows 189 of the enrolled students were white and 9 were black. Scripps and the other Claremont Colleges have become incredibly popular in the past five years. Applications are up for very few seats.