I would be guessing, but my guess is yes yield protection. Northeastern is another school that games admission. That 5%admit rate in no way correlates with them being in the company of other single digit admit schools. Schools that game the admission system irritate me, and make me think less of the school.
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Agree!!!
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I believe they are need aware - which helps you.
But you did not apply ED.
Sure, they can see who drops out (people who EDâd elsewhere).
They know, in many cases, they are a safety valve for top schools.
What you think is a low GPA and ECs may not be relative to others or they may be embellished - but those other campuses are not in the data and I assume those students are full pay.
Itâs such a different ethos with the co ops - this is why âfitâ is far more important than rank or selectivity and why itâs important you visit b4 deciding. Sometimes the top ranked is the wrong school - both my kids. Today NU is not top 50 - not saying itâs right, but itâs what US News says with their ridiculous methodology.
Personally I donât get the Brown ED. They state thereâs not an advantage although 50% of the class is ED - but it potentially eliminated you from the top choice and that would be bad. Fortunately, now heâs got a crack at Stanford still.
Itâs water under the bridge and as you said youâre glad your son got denied but they say:
Please do not assume that your admission chances are improved by applying under the Early Decision plan. The Board of Admission makes the same decisions under Early Decision that it would under the Regular Decision plan.
Rochester may have been a suitable backup had he liked Brown (open curriculum)
If fit is so important, perhaps NEU should have a supplemental to gauge why applicants are even interested in applying to the school⊠oh wait, they used to and in past years removed the supplemental. I too find it so so irritating when colleges game the system
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Fit is important for you - not for them.
A low acceptance rate is important to them.
Iâm just saying - in many ways Iâd find it unusual someone would apply there with your list.
That tells me you are chasing rank and/or selectivity - but you have acknowledged that.
You can only control you - not the schools.
NU knows what itâs doing better than most every other college out there. They are maestros.
Rochester does require at least 6 courses outside of the general area (humanities, social science, science) of your major, unlike Brown.
Not to mention, they hand out fee waivers like candy - even to those who absolutely donât need them.
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My son has similar stats but much weaker academic/research EC. His niche was music- he plays in a band and leverages that towards other areas. He tied his interest in neuroscience with music. We are from California.
Results so far included a deferral to Stanford REA, deferral Michigan, rejection UT Austin. However, he did get into USC (SoCal), UNC, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin.
Waiting on the UCs. One of his friends got in early to UCB for neuroscienceâŠ
Good luck to your son!
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That rate isnât accurateâitâs for the Boston campus onlyânot London, not Oakland, not NUin, and not the NYC campus.
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OP- in my opinion and experience there is absolutely nothing wrong with incorporating rank or prestige into a holistic assessment of fit.
There are a variety of advantages, resources and opportunities that elite schools provide that are often under appreciated by some who havenât experienced them.
The application list assembled by your son seems to have been well thought out and based on a variety of âsoftâ and âhardâ preferences and attributes. It is entirely appropriate for super high achievers such as your son to consider notoriety or reputation amongst numerous other factors when constructing a list. You are in fact shrewd not to compromise given your sonâs impressive credentials, early acceptances and ability and willingness to be full pay. You have clearly done a lot right!
Every student is unique and families have different priorities, resources and experiences that should be respected. There is no universal right or wrong when it comes to something so subjective and personal.
You had a simple request and asked a simple question. Yes, he has a very good chance based on his stellar credentials and already has some great acceptances.
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Thank you. Iâm not sure why a few people here are so distressed at the fact that prestige and rank is something to consider when selecting where to apply. If it isnât for you, then great. But it is for MANY. That doesnât make him immoral or disingenuous. I donât feel like I should have to explain why he picked each school. He researched each school and was drawn to the school enough to want to apply.
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Congratulations to your son for his accomplishments. It is incredibly difficult to say how T20s will go- in particular the Ivies. S24 had similar academics (but weaker ECs and a higher SAT) and was rejected/WL at the T20s he applied to last year (only applied to 4, though). He is attending UVA (still a great school, of course). The only hesitation I have with so many private T20s is that he could get a lot of rejection at the end and that is very, very hard. That being said, Iâll be surprised if you donât get a couple of âyesesâ from the remaining list. If I had to guess it would be some combination of BU, UCLA, Georgetown, Tufts and WashU. Stanford is insanely hard to get into from the east coast and the others are a coin toss unless you are hooked in some way. Best of luck to your son. With the acceptances he has in hand already anything else will be gravy.
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Completely agree. Everyone knows someone who went to a low-ranked school who is wildly successful in their career. But odds are in favor of those who went to prestigious ones. There is no need to put down posters who are after prestige and rank and make them have to âexplain.â
CC is a niche website that caters to a tiny fraction of the population who are passionate about colleges. Just like a college football recruiting forum caters to ardent football fans. No one is going to deride posters there for tracking the recruiting activities and social media of 17-year-olds. Likewise, there is no need to ridicule posters here for caring about prestige.
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+1.
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If by âodds areâ you mean an actual, data based analysis of outcomes I think youâd be surprised by the findings of these studies. They pay a lot of attention to âselection effectâ vs. âtreatment effectâ. Essentially- if you studied a large cohort of Ford models you would conclude that Ford teaches very tall, slim and beautiful women to become top models. When in fact- Ford (and its competitors) are just very skilled at CHOOSING women who are already very tall, slim and beautiful and then carries them over the finish line to help them launch a modeling career.
I am a huge fan of using âprestigeâ as a short hand for many wonderful things about âhighly rejectiveâ colleges. But becoming âwildly successfulâ is neither an outcome that I care about, nor is it baked into the Ivy (and its ilk) educational model.
Harvard did its own study about 20 years ago and concluded that for a large percentage of its alums, getting into and graduating from Harvard was the most significant accomplishment of their lives. School teachers, librarians, social workers, mid-level banking professionals, program managers at foundations, trust and estate lawyers⊠fine careers all, but a high percentage would not be described as âwildly successfulâ.
A lot of parents put a lot of stock in these colleges ability to on-ramp their kids into a wildly successful career. And sometimes it happens. And sometimes it doesnât. And thatâs ok because Yale and Brown donât define themselves as training programs for corporate America.
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Well that doesnât make sense to me. He applied ED to Brown, which upon acceptance wouldâve necessitated withdrawing any other applications.
I shouldnât have used the term âwildly successful,â which I suspect triggered your reply. I should have said âquite successfulâ or simply âsuccessful.â My apology. And I agree with your comments. There is certainly a selection bias going on that can be difficult to quantify. Is it the school or the students? A complex topic that has been roundly discussed/debated on CC so letâs not go there and derail OPâs thread 
.
Focus on the OP, please. Several posts deleted.
Thank you. I asked about his chances for these schools, not if you agree or disagree with the choice of applying to them in the first place
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Congrats on the acceptances! There are some great schools on this list. Also if doing med school the full rides would be helpful. I see WashU, BU, Tufts and Notre Dame working out. And a possible on Georgetown. Dartmouth and Penn fill a lot of their class in ED. As a parent of 2 HYP kids I would say the UNC and UChicago deferrals are signals of Ivy waitlist results.
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