Angry over the college admissions process

Parents Forum
701

<p>Calmom - just out of curiosity, how do you know so much? Have you ever worked with a private counselor? I worked and paid for one, at no time did the counselor guaranteed anything. Why would you think Cornell’s admission is so predictable? If you looked at 2012 thread, there were kids denied with 2300 SAT and some were admitted with less than 2000. Maybe you have some insights that we are not aware of.</p>

<p>Just for the record, the counselor advised my kid to apply for Yale because he believed D2 had a good shot and it was a good fit. It was D1 who decided Cornell was a better fit for her. Once D2 made her decision, he was 100% behind her.</p>

702

<p>

He got into Harvard and Carnegie Mellon. CMU has a top program in computer science. He’s got his dream job at Google. No regrets! We’re 10K richer, I won’t even tell you how much he’s making!</p>

703

<p>Please don’t mathmom. I might cry, but congratulations to him and to you, and bravo and brava.</p>

<p>As for Cornell being predictable, I think NY’ers will tell you that it isn’t. Our two Cornell interviewers resigned when not one kid was ever taken from our high school, though kids had been taken at all the other ivies. The year after their resignation, four were taken.</p>

704

<p>And if your kid does not make it into an Ivy with one of those “guarantees” what do you get? Your money back? Considering what stats that a kid has to have to get one of those types of guarantees if they even exist, scammers could still make money if enough suckers put down the bucks. It’s just playing the odds.</p>

705

<p>Hold the presses; this quote from Calmom’s link: *Guaranteed admission to the Ivy League college of your choice. All we require from you is a perfect SAT score (perfect ACT if necessary), three perfect SAT achievement test scores, perfect grades in high school, at least 10 AP courses with all exam scores of 5. In addition you must be an Intel science fair winner, live in Wyoming, and have parents that are alumni of the chosen college and have contributed at least $10 million dollars to the college in the past 2 years.</p>

<p>This offer will only be available to the first 20 students who pay $50,000 each for the privilege of having us provide this guarantee. (MIT and CalTech guarantees available for an additional $10,000)</p>

<p>Contact us now. This offer won’t last long and when it’s gone, it’s gone.*</p>

<p>Haha. He admits to being sarcastic to make a point. At any rate, the actual college that dad had named was Yale.</p>

706

<p>I had a 2200 SAT score, 700+ subject tests, 3.7 unweighted GPA, 4 AP tests 4/5, taking 6 APs senior year, 300 community service hours, all the shenanigans, but I was rejected to 11/13 of the colleges I applied to and waitlisted to 2 (eventually rejected). I didn’t apply to any Ivies, and I applied to several lower tier liberal arts colleges and several UCs. S**t happens. I’m at a California Community College right now and I must say that the experience has been really good for me in realizing what I want to do in life and how to deal with rejection and failure. I’m also saving alot of money at CCC, and discovering more about myself.</p>

707

<p>thank you for posting alpha, that is actually what this thread was originally about, but it has somehow deteriorated into a discussion of how crazy people are to think they could get into the Ivies without curing cancer, which we already know.</p>

<p>Anyway, I’m glad for your good report. </p>

<p>I like to hear of the good outcomes out of these situations, and I’m sure, at first, you were absolutely baffled by your results, as were those who advised you. Do you feel you were advised well, but got incredibly unlucky? or do you feel there was something you could have done differently during the application process, looking back?</p>

<p>again, thanks for chiming in.</p>

708

<p>From today’s Chicago Tribune:</p>

<p>“Waitlists grow, but not students’ chances”
<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-wait-list-20120423,0,5864844.story”>Chicago News - Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune;

<p>Several students profiled; one of them attends a pricey private HS equipped with a college counselor, but is still without an acceptance. </p>

<p>Thanks to all for their input on this thread. CC helped tremendously when D1 was applying (HS class of 2009.) Despite a minor case of Ivy fever, resulting in ego-bruising rejections from Yale and Brown – and yes, well-meaning friends and relations can really fuel those fires – she couldn’t be happier as a junior at Wesleyan.</p>

<p>D2…again, so helpful to have CC. The prevailing wisdom back in 2008/2009 was that THAT graduating class would have the toughest competition for selective schools. HA!!</p>

709

<p>I’m having a hard time believing some of the stories on here. The overwhelming number of colleges out there accept more than half of their applicants. My kid was accepted at 10 of 11 schools she applied to. Only two of those schools were reaches (one accept, one deny).</p>

<p>How can you not get in (absent odd circumstances) if your list includes schools (i) where your stats are significantly above average and (ii) where the acceptance rates are higher?</p>

<p>If, however, you apply only to reach schools, 25 apps might not be enough.</p>

710

<p>Part of the problem is that we all assume an A average means a student is a superstar. Unfortunately, high school grade inflation has become so rampant that distinguishing the top students from the merely able has become more difficult.</p>

<p>“More than 45 percent of this year’s college freshmen say they managed to graduate high school with an “A” average” (from a 2009 CBS News report):</p>

<p>[High</a> School Grades Hit By Inflation - CBS News](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-538000.html]High”>http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-538000.html)</p>

711

<p>It also depends on where in the country one is. Being a girl from Long Island is like having leprosy, my apologies to those unfortunates who do.</p>

<p>And although no one ever seems to believe me, both of my kids were rejected by “safeties” and admitted to match/reaches. I have thrown out the concept of a safety unless we’re talking about publics with clearly set out admissions standards without holistic considerations.</p>

<p>I think even a well-considered list with safeties can result in no acceptances if a student is particularly unlucky.</p>

<p>In the same vein, a very lucky student might line up an amazing array of acceptances.</p>

<p>And in the stratosphere of schools there is no logic. I know of someone who was heartbroken that she was rejected by Columbia and had to attend Harvard. </p>

<p>It’s not a buyers market for many, even though many schools do accept almost all applicants. I guess would be true safeties. Not sure either of mine would have agreed to attend, but fortunately they each had enough “yeses” to have a choice.</p>

712

<p>Any college that accepts more than half the applicants does not expect a significant percentage of those to matriculate. A college with a low yield may need to accept four times as many kids as seats actually available. Seeing that your kid “matches” the top stats is only one piece of the puzzle. Don’t forget the CA is multi-page. Even at a lesser college, it’s not all about stats. In fact, at some lesser colleges, a genuine sense of the kid fitting and wanting the place is important for retention.</p>

<p>Beyond that, it’s remarkably obvious in so many threads this year that few can figure what’s happened this spring. If you get past the obvious (stats in range, solid ECs with leadership & the right level of responsibilities, good writing, geog diversity, interest, whatever) it’s been a surprise to many of us.</p>

713

<p>

</p>

<p>Living in the Northeast I tend to think that way … but overall for the US not necessarily true … highest yield rates … and there a lot of state unis or focused privates with high acceptance rates on this list</p>

<p>Harvard University 2,205 1,664 75.5%
Brigham Young University–Provo 7,020 5,245 74.7%
Stanford University 2,340 1,674 71.5%
Yeshiva University 1,223 865 70.7%
University of Alaska–Fairbanks 1,547 1,077 69.6%
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 6,089 4,075 66.9%
Georgia Southern University 5,493 3,622 65.9%
Yale University 2,039 1,344 65.9%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1,676 1,067 63.7%
University of Pennsylvania 3,841 2,410 62.7%
University of North Dakota 3,357 2,096 62.4%
University of Nevada–Las Vegas 5,222 3,115 59.7%
Princeton University 2,311 1,312 56.8%
Florida A&M University 4,993 2,815 56.4%
Columbia University 2,498 1,391 55.7%
University of Florida 11,460 6,381 55.7%
University of Memphis 4,381 2,439 55.7%
University of New Orleans 1,933 1,066 55.1%
North Dakota State University 4,400 2,400 54.5%
North Carolina A&T State University 3,814 2,053 53.8%
South Dakota State University 4,205 2,247 53.4%</p>

714

<p>^ *colleges that accept more than half the applicants *
Ie, the notion of what makes a safety, whether it’s enough to just look at stats of current freshmen and place yourself in the top quartile.</p>

<p>Lewis&Clark accepts 68% and 14% actually matriculate. They need to accept 3600 to fill 500 seats. That’s probably an odd example but the name shows up on CC. Just as Harvard needs kids who can handle the work and make the right non-academic contributions, I suspect LC is looking for kids who’ll stick, not transfer first chance they get. </p>

<p>Of course, I’d guess many of the rejecteds probably didn’t fit in academically, were on the too-low side.</p>

<p>I agree many state schools are (or should be) safeties for kids from those states.</p>

715

<p>

The more things change, the more they remain the same. I’ve been around CC for a lot of years - there isn’t a single year when there haven’t been threads bemoaning the surprisingly harsh ED results and the mysterious results in the spring. </p>

<p>About the only change I see right now is there seems to be somewhat less grousing about AA & recruited athletes. Either people have come to accept the athletic/URM preferences as being part of the process, or the impact of those factors is becoming less pronounced – I wouldn’t know. </p>

<p>I do think that over time, more and more college are becoming less and less reliant on standardized tests scores. I think the writing has been on the wall in that respect for some time – the tests may have meant something way back in the day when students spent a couple of hours reviewing on their own, took the test one time, and submitted their scores. Not any more.</p>

716

<p>First off,
Stop.</p>

<p>Where are your E.C’s?
Also, try Michelle Hernandez’s A is for Admission. She is an ex-Dartmouth admissions officer and talks alot about how the admission process works, especially at the Ivy league. </p>

<p>Also, do what you love. I have a 4.0 gpa and a 2340, but schools saw that I stood out thanks to my EXTENSIVE lab research and prizes. There is a lot more than your grades that make a college acceptance. </p>

<p>Lastly, stop the dumb statistics. You will be accepted if you feel you have done EVERYTHING you can to further your knowledge and succeed. The only difference between Harvard and UC-Irvine is a name, some hype and a bunch of insane parents.</p>

<p>College is a fun, rite-of-passage. It is not a time for anxiety.</p>

717

<p>has this person posted the colleges her son applied to. for my thought, i think above 1800 is a pretty good sat score. but what do i know.</p>

718

<p>Calmom- ok, agree- but you missed some heinous AA threads. One’s still running. </p>

<p>I believe Hernandez’s book was last revised in 2009. ?
ps, Apollo, nothing’s crazier than the chance-me kids advising each other on CC.</p>

719

<p>

You’re right, I’m very selective about which threads I read on CC these days. I’m probably missing a lot.</p>

720

<p>Alpha - That was helpful input. I wish there had been more of that to help Op and others.</p>