<p>I’ll try my best to summarize. I’m a junior and I have attended 2 different high schools already. I transferred out of a very indigent (trying not to use the word"ghetto", lol) school with a low API index into a very competitive school (different district and ranked among top 10 in CA) this year, when my parents split. I have senior friends from both schools who are going to college.
Here’s what I’ve been noticing.
I know the seniors from my first school very well (we’ve grown up together in the same district).
One of them - let’s call her Sally - was in my CP Chem class. She was held back a class, taking Chem as a junior, and did not choose any APs until senior year. Her GPA was pretty good; it was 3.9 UW but no higher W. She got an SAT score of 1950, had decent ECs (one sport and an internship). She got into all UCs she applied to, including Cal.
She is not much different from some other seniors I know there. there are at least 4 other seniors from that school who had similar scores and got in the most competitive UCs. Oh, and if race plays as a factor as well, they were all Asian.
I was of course happy for my old friends who got into their dream schools but also shocked b/c i have met very hardworking kids @ my new HS with higher stats and much more rigorous curriculum (with so much drive that they’re nearly dead from overwork out of HS) who were waitlisted or rejected to these same UCs. None of them had sub 2000 SATs, and some took ACT as well and scored high. GPAs were all well above 4.0 They had stellar ECs.
why are these kids who should have gotten in getting rejected?
The only possible reason I see is due to different backgrounds.
Academics are definitely main factors of the application. Everyone stresses so much on grades and test scores. What makes admission officials softer on these students from “disadvantaged” schools? a better hook/story? Why does it matter that much??
I’m not sure what will happen to an odd case like me when I apply. . I didn’t really have a choice in the matter of transferring and initially had a hard time adjusting to the competitiveness of the new school. If I was ever “disadvantaged” due to environment/resources, I certainly am not anymore.
One of my “hooks”, I suppose, is that my older sister is severely mentally handicapped and the roles of older sister and sibling were reversed. Why should that be a major plus for my college app?
People tell me that my background will seriously help me get into my schools and I find that weird. While it’s easy to presume that the student has been oppressed by these uncontrolled factors, this is not always the case. </p>
<p>Sorry for the rant. but can anyone enlighten me on the admission official’s perspective when they decide to opt for the “disadvantaged” kid?</p>
<p>You use the word “hook” too often and incorrectly. A hook is a family that can donate a building, a recruitable athlete, or for some schools an URM. </p>
<p>It is entirely possible that the admission committee considered the background for the students. I personally think students who pull themselves up from hard beginnings deserve a break.</p>
<p>Err, the kids in my district are not really rich either. I’d say they’re all middle class-ish. but I must say that it’s hard to stand out around here. You’d have to be literally perfect to make the top rankings.
My family is middle class and I’ve lived and attended schools in the other district for the better part of my life. Is that a “rough start”?</p>
<p>Geographic diversity does indeed play a role in college admission.
However, something else that is important to note is that the UC’s have this system during their admission process, where after they finish ranking all their applicants, they separate that pool into different groups accordingly to their ranks [ex) top 10% are in one group, 10th-20th% in another group, etc.], and then pick the top applicants of each group to be admitted. They do this to protect their yield, so that’s why for UC’s, you often see people who have weaker applications get admitted over people with stronger ones.</p>
<p>Oh, this bothers me so much. Maybe it’s because I’m the worst of the worst liberal arts stereotypes, and as I start applying to transfer from my community college, I’m getting really sensitive about it.</p>
<p>For the record: non-practicing Jew (ORM!), upper-middle-class, fourth or fifth generation college student (if I become a professor I’ll be a third-generation academic…), intending to double-major in creative writing and women’s studies.</p>
<p>Face it: I wouldn’t look good in the brochures.</p>
<p>Especially the varying rigor of the classes that comes with different schools… colleges don’t know this… For example, my first school was not challenging at all and all A’s were easily attainable; even the APs were not too demanding… But with the stickler teachers at my new school… not so much, lol. I’m trying my best though.
it just doesn’t seem fair b/c there’s only so much you can control, y’know? you can’t choose your heritage or competition. I’ll make note of that in my essay.</p>
<p>@deontology: I was easily the top 2% at my former HS. Now I’m not sure if I make top 10% anymore. It’s just so different coming from there to here. How does it work out?</p>