Anonymous wrote:My kid (11th grade) is smart. Like, super smart. Not genius level, but he has maintained his 4.0 with ease and sails through AP and DE classes. His IQ is somewhere around 140. He hasn't taken the SAT yet, but I'm sure he'll do super well.
Despite all this, he keeps telling me he has "no shot" at good colleges (not Ivies, but schools like UC Davis, Georgia Tech, etc). I really don't understand how college admissions have become so competitive that a child in the 99th percentile will have trouble being admitted to schools without insanely low acceptance rates.
Is he exaggerating, or is this true?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well my kid who got a 1580, had a 4.4 weighted gpa and has a 145 IQ didn’t get into VT or UVA. But he got in elsewhere and is loving it. Apply wisely with good safeties and a range of targets. Reaches are unlikely.
That’s insane. I assume he was in-state? I’m hoping my child might get into William and Mary when the time comes, but I suspect he’ll be a smidge lower on the scale than your child. The current process is crazy.
Sorry. I don’t believe that. From our rigorous private in NJ kids who aren’t nearly that credentialed get into VT.
I don’t know what to tell you. That was my kid and he didn’t get into VT (engineering) and no A+ on our scale and he had good EC and a very rigorous schedule. He is an Asian/white male in STEM and he applied before AA was ended. But he is from NOVA and it is hard to get into our top state schools because of the number of great students here trying for these schools. Much easier from out of state, I suspect.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My kid (11th grade) is smart. Like, super smart. Not genius level, but he has maintained his 4.0 with ease and sails through AP and DE classes. His IQ is somewhere around 140. He hasn't taken the SAT yet, but I'm sure he'll do super well.
Despite all this, he keeps telling me he has "no shot" at good colleges (not Ivies, but schools like UC Davis, Georgia Tech, etc). I really don't understand how college admissions have become so competitive that a child in the 99th percentile will have trouble being admitted to schools without insanely low acceptance rates.
Is he exaggerating, or is this true?
No it’s not true
Unless he’s at a religious private then yes could be.
If he’s in a public magnet might not get his first choice but will get in
Same with any other public
Georgia tech is very competitive however have him apply
Why does attending a religious private change the answer?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's true. They would rather take foreigners at 3x the price than your kid. He should apply anyway. The rejections will help him to build resilience for the job market which is this but worse.
Please ignore this xenophobic piece of disinformation. I'm a foreigner, I know other foreigners, and it's just as hard if not harder for our kids to get in. Thank you.
absolutely! international students raise the game for all students: they are so incredibly talented at my kid's elite school--they have enjoyed having them as friends and class peers.
They cheat to get in and then cheat to stay in
Anonymous wrote:My kid (11th grade) is smart. Like, super smart. Not genius level, but he has maintained his 4.0 with ease and sails through AP and DE classes. His IQ is somewhere around 140. He hasn't taken the SAT yet, but I'm sure he'll do super well.
Despite all this, he keeps telling me he has "no shot" at good colleges (not Ivies, but schools like UC Davis, Georgia Tech, etc). I really don't understand how college admissions have become so competitive that a child in the 99th percentile will have trouble being admitted to schools without insanely low acceptance rates.
Is he exaggerating, or is this true?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's true. They would rather take foreigners at 3x the price than your kid. He should apply anyway. The rejections will help him to build resilience for the job market which is this but worse.
Please ignore this xenophobic piece of disinformation. I'm a foreigner, I know other foreigners, and it's just as hard if not harder for our kids to get in. Thank you.
Sorry about the stupid racist above. Foreign students are a net benefit for our universities.
They are not a net benefit to American students though. And American universities should serve American students first and foremost, rather than existing to milk rich foreigners.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Re your last sentence, OP: your child will absolutely be accepted to schools that do not have insanely low acceptance rates. A couple of pointers from recent experience:
- there are tons of students with your child’s stats.
- as terrific as he undoubtedly is, he is one of tens of similar thousands
- he is wise to make a plan. Create a brutally honest and balanced list of reaches, targets, and safeties that he would be happy to attend
- acceptance rates are such that reaches for all means just that - reach for ALL regardless of stats
- he should thoughtfully prepare a strategy for ED, EA, RD and rolling
- he should identify the teachers likely to write the best LORs and ask them early
- he should provide his guidance counselor with information to include in the very influential guidance counselor letter
- he should be prepared to create applications that not only reflect his achievements and ECs but that also convey to AOs who he is as a human being and why his presence on a campus will add to the campus as a community
-he should take comfort that the dream school and top 25 concepts are a fallacy. There are tons of schools in this country where he can be happy and thrive. But he’s got to do the work to find them, and not be influenced too much by rankings or the perception of others
- he should be humble and realize that hard work is everything, no one is entitled to anything, and positivity is infectious, vs the understandably negative feelings he sounds like he is experiencing. Get energized, chin up!
-also remind him that this too shall pass.
there are no "tens of thousands" 4.0 10+AP 1500+ applicants.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's true. They would rather take foreigners at 3x the price than your kid. He should apply anyway. The rejections will help him to build resilience for the job market which is this but worse.
Please ignore this xenophobic piece of disinformation. I'm a foreigner, I know other foreigners, and it's just as hard if not harder for our kids to get in. Thank you.
Also, it's not like there is a separate price for foreigners that is 3x what Americans pay.
NP. Give it some thought. Really think about it. The poster is referring to international students. They do pay significantly more, as they should.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of excellent schools that simply aren’t prestigious. Sounds like he has those two things confused, so set him straight.
This is perhaps the wisest thing ever said on this forum. Parents listen to this!!
I wish I had this when my DC were applying to schools. We didn't know any better so we were all mixing up "good" with "prestige".
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My kid (11th grade) is smart. Like, super smart. Not genius level, but he has maintained his 4.0 with ease and sails through AP and DE classes. His IQ is somewhere around 140. He hasn't taken the SAT yet, but I'm sure he'll do super well.
Despite all this, he keeps telling me he has "no shot" at good colleges (not Ivies, but schools like UC Davis, Georgia Tech, etc). I really don't understand how college admissions have become so competitive that a child in the 99th percentile will have trouble being admitted to schools without insanely low acceptance rates.
Is he exaggerating, or is this true?
BTW, IQ scores are irrelevant in college admissions unless they play out in high school rank or test scores. Mine is four standard deviations above normal but I got into the T4 law schools simply because of top placement in college class (summa, no 1) due to hard work and LSAT scores. My children are both 145+ and life members in Mensa. No one cares about that in college admissions. Fortunately, European universities are still invested in merit (not IQ claims -it has to be demonstrated) not DEI games and skin color so that's are focus innapplications and it has worked out well. I can provide for info about Oxbridge applications if interested. Many parents of gifted students who don't want to pay $93k a year for social wokeism are looking at Canadian Universities, German and Dutch
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's true. They would rather take foreigners at 3x the price than your kid. He should apply anyway. The rejections will help him to build resilience for the job market which is this but worse.
Please ignore this xenophobic piece of disinformation. I'm a foreigner, I know other foreigners, and it's just as hard if not harder for our kids to get in. Thank you.
Sorry about the stupid racist above. Foreign students are a net benefit for our universities. They provide a perspective that US born kids haven't heard. They often stay and add talent to our economy. If they go home, they bring experience with the US that is helpful to the US abroad. Y'all are welcome here. Don't listen to the bitter fools.
Yeah we need more billionaire perspective parking their Ferraris in front of fire hydrants on campus.