<p>I read some stats of people who got into hard schools. Like UCLA and CAL etc. i was wondering if the colleges have a rule where they have to admit a certain amount of students that have low stats, or did the people just have really hard lives and impressed the admissions?</p>
<p>Those people with low stats are athletes…</p>
<p>^not always…</p>
<p>No, colleges don’t reserve seats for low stats applicants…</p>
<p>Schools like that do accept students with lower scores and grades, despite what you hear on CC. All colleges give a 25%-75% score range, which means that the scores in that bracket, for example 29-31 is what 50% of students accept get. However, that also means that 25% of people have less than 29. Brown even gives an EXACT data report of how many people they accept with specific scores, and yes, they even accepted people with SAT’s below 650… below 550! BUT keep in mind these students are USUALLY talent majors (music, art, theater) or top athletes.</p>
<p>There are some selective colleges that are SAT optional, and really mean it. One is Dickinson College in PA. They are particularly attractive to students who otherwise have great credentials, but don’t test well on standardized tests.</p>
<p>one I can think of is UCSD. They use a formula that combines GPA, 3 SAT Sections, 2 SAT Subject tests, to arrive at a formula driven score. To this is addes points for leadership, and this is my point, a HUGE amount of points almost by definition not available to middle or upper socioeconomic class members.</p>
<p>There are, for example, 900 bonus points assigned for these three selection criteria: Low Income, 1st Gen College, and bottom 40% high school. Assuming ECs, Leadership etc. are the same between two applicants, this 900 point boost equalizes in the points total an applicant with 3.7 weighted GPA and 5 X 500 test scores, with an applicant showing 4.0 weighted GPA and 5 x 650 test scores. If you add in the 300 points (we’re up to 1200 now) for participation in an Academic Enrichment Program, you will see that lots of kids wth high GPA and high test scores are passed over in favor of much lower GPA and much, much lower test score kids (and the difference is not 100 SAT points… the difference can be 600-700 testing points.</p>
<p>I guess schools can do whatever the choose, and if I thought about it for awhile I could see the social benefit to extending 900 (or 1200) points worth of non-merit help to such an applicant gain admission, but it does give pause.</p>
<p>Here is the current version on the UCSD website for freshman admissions criteria:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Selection process
Drawing upon the broad guidelines established by the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), the UCSD Faculty Committee on Undergraduate Admissions has approved the following procedures for freshman selection which are implemented by the Office of Admissions and Relations with Schools.</p>
<p>Step I: Academic review Maximum Consideration
Uncapped Grade Point Average (GPA) 4,500
Scores of all required exams 3,200
Number of “a-g” courses beyond the minimum 500 </p>
<p>Step II: Additional academic factors<br>
Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) 300
Educational environment 300 </p>
<p>Step III: Socioeconomic factors<br>
Low family income 300
First generation college attendance 300 </p>
<p>Step IV: Personal characteristics and achievement factors<br>
Demonstrated leadership 300
Special talents/ achievements/ awards 300
Community and volunteer service 300
Participation in academic development preparation programs 300
Special circumstances/ personal challenges 500</p>
<p>Students with low stats who are admitted tend to be special admits…</p>
<p>1) Athletes</p>
<p>2) students with some other special talent or major</p>
<p>3) children of major donors</p>
<p>4) students who have an amazing story - huge accomplishment, overcoming life’s challenges, etc.</p>
<p>5) from an unusual region of the country </p>
<p>6) an int’l with a low CR or Writing score, but can full pay.</p>
<p>Just your avg kid with low scores (for the school) is often going to get rejected.</p>