Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Add Notre Dame to this list at 33-35.

That 34 is a median percentile, so half of the top 25% of the class has an ACT higher than a 34.

These numbers represent the middle 50%. Therefore, 50% had 34 or higher, not 25%.

I can't tell which college you are referring to, can you clarify? I may be mistaken but I do not think this is correct.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a sense of entitlement, OP. You think nobody else's kid is accomplished? There are thousands of kids with similar stats and it is a reach for all of them. Your child is obviously very accomplished and will succeed whether he hits the Ivy lottery or not.

Correction - legacy admissions that are not based on such excellent stats are the ones with the unearned sense of entitlement. It is the elitist manipulation of the educational system, that gives us grossly under qualified people like Trump in the WH. Or maybe merit no longer matters.

For the non-legacy, non-hook, people with the excellent stats? it's just a lament on an anon board.

I'm the one you quoted. I agree that legacy admissions are the height of entitlement. However, OP seems to think great grades and test scores entitles one to Ivy when it does not. There are not enough Ivy seats to go around for all of the kids like that. It's the baseline (unless you have some other hook) and they are looking for more. It's the same story for all of our kids. That's life.

Private university slots are not paid for by public funds or held to some objective metric that you have voted on that has a checkbox of "deserves X, so you can be forced to give him X." They are private institutions with their own goals and plans. They do not belong to you. You are not in charge of them.

If that is the way you want it to work, you have to start and fund your own. But they have gotten the reputation they have for making their own decisions, not just the decisions that people who feel they deserve to be in charge have wanted them to make.

And yes, it is not extraordinarily special to a highest tier university that your child has this list of accomplishments. That is normal for their applicants. Your child is, of course, special to you. He or she does not have to be special to a university for that.

Anonymous wrote:Gosh it is sad but simple math

37,000 or so High Schools in the US

14,700 Ivy enrollments annually

Even if they took all the #1 kids there are still far more left out than admitted.

It's just a 5 lb. bag, you can't get 20 lb. in it.

It's actually a 1 lb bag for kids like the OP

Look OP it's not fair but it is the way it is. If you really wanted to game the system you should have moved to a different state

Brown accepted 8.5% of all applicants in 2015, the lowest rate in its history. It took that same percentage from California (5,062 applicants), Texas (1,197), and New Jersey (1,620).

But 17.1% of both Alaska’s 35 applicants and Mississippi’s 41 got in. So did 20% of the 20 applicants from North Dakota. Of the 23 students who applied from Montana, seven were accepted—a success rate of 30%.

https://qz.com/653167/if-you-want-to-get-into-an-elite-college-you-might-consider-moving-to-one-of-these-states/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Add Notre Dame to this list at 33-35.

That 34 is a median percentile, so half of the top 25% of the class has an ACT higher than a 34.

These numbers represent the middle 50%. Therefore, 50% had 34 or higher, not 25%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Forget the lower part of the range 25%. That's for the hooked. The high academic kid is 35-36/1500-1600. Diversity of talent is a good thing. It teaches you how to get along in the world. But the point that was made was that they would be surrounded by a mass of their academic peers for classroom challenge. That's not the case.

You’re arguing that the student will not be surrounded by academic peers if she/he ends up at WashU or Vandy? Uh ok.

BTW, I'm not the one correlating elite educations with the Ivyleague. Certainly most Ivies are among the group but it is not a matter of Ivy vs non-Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Forget the lower part of the range 25%. That's for the hooked. The high academic kid is 35-36/1500-1600. Diversity of talent is a good thing. It teaches you how to get along in the world. But the point that was made was that they would be surrounded by a mass of their academic peers for classroom challenge. That's not the case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Add Notre Dame to this list at 33-35.

That 34 is a median percentile, so half of the top 25% of the class has an ACT higher than a 34.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Add Notre Dame to this list at 33-35.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

They may not be a dime a dozen, but there are a LOT Of them. The ACT range for Harvard and Yale are both 32-35 for the 25%-75%. The range for Washington University is 32-34. The range for University of Chicago is 32-35. The range for Vanderbilt is 30-35. The range for USC is 30-33. The range for Davidson is 30-33. The range for University of Virginia is 31-34.

Kids who go to school outside of the Ivy League will have great peer groups and arguably better peer groups, because the diversity will be greater.

Yes, Ivies are always a reach. So are the major leagues in any sport you can think of. A rare few are slam dunks (to use one sport's analogy), the rest have to work hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

No, the truth is that they will stand out but they won't be surrounded by a majority of the same academic peers. That doesn't mean the schools won't be great experiences. Students like these are not a dime a dozen. Too many to fit into a handful of schools but not so many they are mainstream elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote: Basically, there are too many qualified kids for each top school spot.

So that means that a bunch of energetic, accomplished, intelligent, creative students will be going to other schools, which makes those schools pretty darn great too - maybe even "top". Not only will those students be able to do well pretty much wherever they go, it turns out that they will be surrounded by lots of great peers, which will help them even more.

Yes. These days, you can be rejected from colleges you thought were at your level, because there are other considerations at play, notable hooks and creating a balanced and diverse class.

Anonymous wrote:"Gosh it is sad but simple math

37,000 or so High Schools in the US

14,700 Ivy enrollments annually

Even if they took all the #1 kids there are still far more left out than admitted.

It's just a 5 lb. bag, you can't get 20 lb. in it."

+1

And it's always been a 5 lb. bag and it was always a reach with those stats once you account for test difficulty and grade distribution changes over the last 70 years.

Add to that, the fact that there was never a STEM shortage at the elite level. After a decade of attempts to ramp up STEM interest, there may still be need at the state schools, but there's over saturation at the top.