What's going on with the College Admission this year?

[puzzledad]

I am an Asian dad and a new comer to this forum. I'm totally puzzled with the education system/admission process.

Last 10 years as I have raised kids, I tried to attend the college fairs, read admissions books and always kept in touch with the township school's progress. My son is very ambitious by nature. He got good grades all along 4.4.WGPA. hardest courses w/8-9 APs, high SATI/SAT II. Siemens regional finalist, lot (I mean a lot) of science awards including Science Olympiad, tons of community hours, 3 yrs research at a college (pending paper), 4 years of varsity sports. great essays. He got rejected from all the top ranking colleges including the Ivies except waitlisted by one.
Since there is no way of knowing what happened in the admin room, I have to assume that there was something lacking/wrong/unlikable thing at a generic level in the application that gave us this consistent result across the board.Thank god my son had a safety college where he got in. But because he worked harder, he wanted to get in a better college.
I have another kid to send to college. What do I learn from this process? should I tell him not to do the same stuff because it may not give him any desired result either? The guidance counselor was shocked with the results too. He called me few times at work to tell me this. The same question goes for him. How does he prepare his students next year? How would he suggest a list of safety, reach, far-reach colleges for a student next year? Does he have any baseline from this year?
Do we have to roll out a dice and pray to god if it works? Has any one else seen this pattern? Wish good luck to all the parents who have sent their kids to their colleges of choice.

[UCBChemEGrad]

I don't mean this to be rude or harsh, but being Asian is likely the problem.

[katliamom]

Your S fell victim to demographics -- applying in a record-setting year during which even top schools were innundated with record numbers of highly qualified applicants. He did not do anything wrong. It's just that so many other people (from all over the globe) did as well, or close-to-as-well, as he did.

People on this forum have been preaching 'safety, safety, safety' for a long time now, and I was relieved your S included those in his search. About the best thing you can do for your younger son is to give him realistic expectations: that elite schools are reach for everybody, that for every available spot in the Ivy League there are hundreds of equally qualified applicants. Encourage your younger son to pursue his interests, rather than some 'formula' for getting in, applaud his successes -- and keep your fingers crossed for him. In the end, that's all that we, as parents, can do.

[tsdad]

Every year is a record setting year. I don't understand your comment UCB.

[dadofsam]

puzzledad: see this thread:

Record Low Admission Rates at Top Colleges

and my post
At Harvard, as at Yale, the applicant pool included an extraordinary number of academically gifted students. More than 2,500 of Harvard’s 27,462 applicants scored a perfect 800 on the SAT critical reading test, and 3,300 had 800 scores on the SAT math exam. More than 3,300 were ranked first in their high school class.
Harvard admitted 1948 students this year. So, in other words, Harvard had far more applicants with perfect SAT scores and/or ranked no. 1 in their class than it had spaces.

[garland]

I would say one thing would be to have more middle-ground schools--ones which while not "safe" are quite liable to take a good student who is looking at Ivy level schools. Both my kids, for instance, were accepted to UMich. Though ultimately neither went, both would have felt perfectly rewarded by going to such a fine school. there are many, many others which are not tip top but are filled with strong, motivated students. Identifying some of them which fit the student would be my advice.

[Lafalum84]

I agree with Katliamom. Hopefully your son will find that his "safety" school is actually a wonderful college (odds are it is), and he will not be the only person there who is a high-achiever. There are many excellent schools in the US, not just the 6 who happen to belong to the same athletic conference - and that's what the Ivy League IS, an athletic conference.

I wish him good luck, and I bet he has a great experience at his college.

[puzzledad]

UCB, It's not rude at all if you are providing insight into the admin process. Can you please elaborate your comment though? What do you mean by saying " but being Asian is likely the problem"?

[barrons]

I think he was saying that there are too many high achieving Asian students around for them all to be admitted to the relatively few places at the very elite schools. I think this is also pretty accurate. I think the last thing the Ivy schools want to be is over 50% Asian. They want a diverse class which means a limited number from any one ethnic group. It might not sound nice but I think it's true.

[UCBChemEGrad]

From what I understand, top privates still use affirmative action and have more discretion in selecting applicants to acheive a more balanced racial makeup for their schools. Since there are likely more highly qualified Asian applicants vs. underrepresented minority applicants, your son will be placed in a more competitive academic pool of candidates - thus making it harder for admission.

[UCLA Band Mom]

If you look at the top public universities in California (UCLA, UC Berkeley), where the use of race-based affirmative action is prohibited, the percentage of Asian students accepted is very high. Any one of these students would probably qualify for admission to the Ivy League schools if admissions were based upon grades, test scores and extra curricular activities alone.

[researchermom]

UCLA Band Mom has it right! The huge huge percent of asians at the top UC schools does seem to demonstrate that the bar is higher for asian applicants at the top private schools. I am not asian, but I feel very sorry for the asian kids who work so hard and don't get the same results as their classmates. I also know there have been lawsuits in California alleging anti-asian admissions at the UC's! In other words, if the UC's didn't have a higher bar for asians as well, the schools would have even higher asian percentages. Sorry to bring bad news.

[JHS]

If you want a sense of what MIGHT have come across wrong or unlikable, start here:

Because he worked harder, he wanted to get in a better college. . . . Should I tell [his brother] not to do the same stuff because it may not give him any desired result either?

I imagine, in a supercompetitive applicant pool, that it would be the absolute kiss of death to give the sense that anything a student had accomplished had been done with the objective of getting a "desired result" in college admissions. If you learn anything from this experience, it's got to be (a) it's hard to predict elite college admissions, and (b) therefore whatever a student does in high school should be done for its own sake, not with an eye to college applications. Presumably, your son got real benefit -- education, personal growth, satisfaction -- out of what he did. That's the important reward, and those are the benefits he'll take with him to the next level. He and his father have to be happy with that.

It all seems very unfair, I know, and it IS very unfair. Some kids (including many ethnic Chinese and South Asians) seem to get rewarded across the board for their achievements, while others seem to get blackballed for racking up too many "points". When the result is consistent across a number of schools, it probably is true that the application somehow signalled a sense of duty and entitlement rather than excitement and intellectual energy. (Teachers and guidance counselors may have to shoulder some of the blame, too. Not all of them have learned that "hard working" is not high praise at elite colleges.)

I suspect it's also important to communicate some individuality, a little rebellion, a sense that the student is making his own choices, for his own reasons, rather than following a path others have laid down. Thinking outside the box, questioning authority. It's all part of the same message. Of course, I haven't read your son's applications, but that's certainly not how YOU present him.

I also agree with garland. Applying to eight Ivies, Stanford, MIT, and your state flagship isn't a thoughtful admissions strategy. There are more great colleges than that out there, most of which have somewhat fewer applicants per admissions slot, and therefore are more likely to accept a high-quality applicant. And you can't have the attitude that they are not "better" colleges, because they are.

[midmo]

puzzledad, while I am not taking a position on whether or not being Asian is a drawback at some of the top schools, I think it is safe to say that being Asian is a positive characteristic at some other top-ranked schools, for instance, Vanderbilt University.

When your next kid is ready to choose schools, look at those which have expressed interest in increasing their geographic, ethnic and racial diversity.

[epiphany]

"being Asian is a positive characteristic at some other top-ranked schools, for instance, Vanderbilt University."

Yes, and a fine school that is. Other fine schools, such as JHU, CMU, U of Chicago, Case Western Reserve -- so many others -- get passed over due to non-Ivy "name" by many Asian families, as there is sometimes the "do or die" attachment to college = permanent future. No it does not equate to that, at least not here in the States.

And I wanted to correct the comment above about the "higher" bar. Not higher bar, just equal bar. From a group of equally qualified students (remembering that qualification does not equal a number, or several numbers), a private college is not going to admit a 50% Asian class. Not going to happen. They're going to include other qualified students in the class.

And yes, this is the reason for some of the U.C. campuses being near 50% Asian in freshman composition.