Anonymous wrote:1520 —> Penn ED (2030)
1530 —> Cornell and NU RD (2028)
Public nova, no hooks, just normal kids, wrote their own essays

It can be done!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I do alumni interviews for an Ivy and you have no idea how homogeneous files of strong students generally look. It's the 1500(+) SAT applicants who stand out in some way, and have a cohesive narrative, that have some chance at the high reaches. Especially in the DMV, where strong unhooked applicants are a dime a dozen and kids are competing against international Olympiad medalists, award-winning musicians, recruited athletes, published researchers, VIP kids etc. (great ECs) The competition is simply brutal. Good = leadership in school clubs, editing the school newspaper, long-term commitment to music, art, athletics, Scouts. Not likely to move the needle at a high reach but with strong essays, solid chance at a high target.

A 1430 kid is not getting into a T-10 unless hooked, usually FGLI and representing geographic diversity as well.

Everyone always says this, but Penn has 2500 freshman; they can't all be national award winners, especially when a lot of those award winners are at other top 10 schools.

2500 freshman
how many hooked? athletes, legacy, donor, faculty, FG LI, URM.
Philly local public school kids. How many?
Then there are feeder schools nation wide.
A small piece of pie for the MC UMC.

Legacy is pretty much irrelevant if not a big donor. Faculty is going to be a few kids each year at most. URM is not permitted anymore. FGLI I'll give you, but again, not a huge number. Athletes are probably the biggest hook, but that aside still leaves plenty of room for normal academic standouts.

Anonymous wrote:do kids actually do their own essays these days?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I was naive with my recent grad after she scored a 1520. All the rigor, AP scores, good but not national ECs. Rejected to the first five on this list. I knew they were reaches but I thought there was hope for a couple in RD.
Good luck!

I’m glad my 1520 kid refused to listen to me and did not apply to most of the schools on OP’s list a couple years ago. They were more accepting/cognizant of how hard it is now, while I was stuck in my Gen X college admissions memory lane.

Yes but there is a lot of randomness in the college admissions process in America so if you can afford the application fees and your kid has the patience to do a few essays extra, why not apply?

Anonymous wrote:UVA is a reach not a target. Probably UNC CH too.

Anonymous wrote:do kids actually do their own essays these days?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I was naive with my recent grad after she scored a 1520. All the rigor, AP scores, good but not national ECs. Rejected to the first five on this list. I knew they were reaches but I thought there was hope for a couple in RD.
Good luck!

I’m glad my 1520 kid refused to listen to me and did not apply to most of the schools on OP’s list a couple years ago. They were more accepting/cognizant of how hard it is now, while I was stuck in my Gen X college admissions memory lane.

Anonymous wrote:I'd add Chicago and especially Oxford or Cambridge -- schools that don't care about fabricated EC stories or sports or such hooks, and only care about your academic performance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I do alumni interviews for an Ivy and you have no idea how homogeneous files of strong students generally look. It's the 1500(+) SAT applicants who stand out in some way, and have a cohesive narrative, that have some chance at the high reaches. Especially in the DMV, where strong unhooked applicants are a dime a dozen and kids are competing against international Olympiad medalists, award-winning musicians, recruited athletes, published researchers, VIP kids etc. (great ECs) The competition is simply brutal. Good = leadership in school clubs, editing the school newspaper, long-term commitment to music, art, athletics, Scouts. Not likely to move the needle at a high reach but with strong essays, solid chance at a high target.

A 1430 kid is not getting into a T-10 unless hooked, usually FGLI and representing geographic diversity as well.

Everyone always says this, but Penn has 2500 freshman; they can't all be national award winners, especially when a lot of those award winners are at other top 10 schools.

2500 freshman
how many hooked? athletes, legacy, donor, faculty, FG LI, URM.
Philly local public school kids. How many?
Then there are feeder schools nation wide.
A small piece of pie for the MC UMC.

Legacy is pretty much irrelevant if not a big donor. Faculty is going to be a few kids each year at most. URM is not permitted anymore. FGLI I'll give you, but again, not a huge number. Athletes are probably the biggest hook, but that aside still leaves plenty of room for normal academic standouts.

That’s your opinion, not a fact. There are Research studies that show that legacy preferences at elite schools (Ivy plus excluding MIT and cal tech which explicitly disregard legacies) can make students up to 4x more likely to be accepted than non-legacy students with similar credentials.