<p>I was reading about how the author of Mice and Men went to Stanford- a farm kid who did alright in school went to Stanford. That was 90 or so years ago- nobody even had ECs back then, did they?
We’ve all seen on CC how much kids do nowadays to get into top schools, how about you? Do you remember your stats from high school and where you were accepted?</p>
<p>In 1978, I had a 3.2 and a 1240 (out of 1600) SAT. Ranked around top 25% or 30%. I got into Penn State main campus, George Washington Univ, and Syracuse Newhouse. I took the SAT once with no studying, did minimal ECs and had no advanced classes. And it never occured to me that I wouldn’t get into at least two of the three schools I applied to. </p>
<p>Yeah, it was a LOT easier to get into college. And cheaper.</p>
<p>oh grasshopper (you are probably too young to remember that)…there were ECS, but they weren’t called ECs (you danced, you played sports, you were on student council, you worked, etc. etc.) and we did community service but it wasn’t called community service it was called volunteering and we went to summer camps for music and art etc., but it wasn’t called enrichment…it was called summer camp… and yes I remember my grades and test scores and they were good enough (ACT and SAT one time only) to get into the same colleges then as now.</p>
<p>Hmm, late '70s, when we hand wrote applications. I finally got an IBM Selectric typewriter my senior year of college to write my thesis. </p>
<p>Attended excellent private school, don’t think we had class rank, though I was probably one of the top 5 (small class), I probably had an A- average. Most rigorous classes, by today’s standards. Test scores were (pre-re-calibration) 700 Verbal and 600 math, took SAT a second time in order to bring my math up from the mid-500s. Applied to 3 schools: admitted to Brown (my first choice), denied at Princeton, went to Bryn Mawr as a financial safety because couldn’t afford Brown. Classmates went to Yale, Dartmouth, Wellesley, and can’t recall where else. It was a different time.</p>
<p>And, I could earn $2-3000 a summer and pay for more than half my college tuition. I think I had $500 in undergrad loans after 4 years. Went to law school, and had $75,000 in student loans after 3 years. Paid those off in 10 years.</p>
<p>My mother (endowed with foresight) ordered two applications from Harvard, convinced my brother would make an indelible mistake on one of them. My oldest brother applied to 3 schools and got into all 3: Harvard, Yale, Stanford. 4 years later, my other brother also applied to 3 schools and got into all 3: Harvard, Princeton, Yale. And he did so after his GC said “he’ll never get into any of the top schools.” This was in the late '70s.</p>
<p>My brothers are amazing people, but it was easier then. These schools weren’t getting 30,000 applications. And it was much cheaper.</p>
<p>Ranked #3 in hs class, over a 4.0 GPA, excellent test scores, school-wide extracurriculars and some regional and national awards in certain subjects. Got into Penn, Northwestern, Georgetown and WashU (my “safety”) - the only schools to which I applied. Feel quite confident that if I had applied to other elite schools, I likely would have gotten into at least some of them. </p>
<p>You took the SAT’s once; only the “dumb kids” took them more than once. You didn’t take AP’s til senior year. You wrote your essays on a Saturday night by hand or typewriter (electric if you were super fancy), spent maybe an hour tops on each application and you were done.</p>
<p>1978 graduate here. 1280 SAT - took it once and pretty sure I went to the movies the night before…
A-/B+ GPA - this was at a large NYC High School and I think our grades were numbers not letters so maybe a 90? Not sure if they still do that. I kept all my college apps in a box under my bed and can still remember my mom yelling at me to “pull those apps out from under the bed and get them done!” Applied to 5 schools and was accepted at Syracuse, University of Vermont and University of Missouri (lots of family there). Ended up at Syracuse as a theater major.</p>
<p>@Midwestmomofboys - now that you mention it, I remember being very popular in my dorm because I had an IBM Selectric typewriter with a SELF CORRECTING cartridge. I was a fair typist and made some money typing other students papers.</p>
<p>I think applying was easier in those days, but what was super easy was applying to Canadian schools. I was an American but I finished high school in Canada, and one day my senior year my guidance counselor called me into his office. He looked at my grades, and a chart that told him the minimum scores for various colleges in Ontario, and then told me my grades were good enough that I could choose any 3 schools I wanted. I said “Toronto, Queens, and . . . I don’t have a 3rd” and he replied “How about I check off Western, it’s a good school.” I signed my name, and left a few weeks later 3 acceptance letters appeared in my mailbox. No essays, no EC’s, and the whole thing took 5 minutes. I don’t think I even paid for a stamp.</p>
<p>I wonder what the Canadian process is like now?</p>
<p>pizza, I was third also SyrAlum i made a ton of money senior year typing senior capstone papers as a self taught but very fast and accurate typist…come to think of it that’s probably why i got hired at my first job in 1978.</p>
<p>Graduated in 1985. Can’t recall my GPA but my overall HS average hovered around 90. Took the SAT once…got a 1050 (out of 1600). No overly impressive ECs, never took an AP class, graduated with a NYC regents diploma. Applied to Syracuse Univ and Manhattan College, accepted to both.</p>
<p>Here is an indication of how much more difficult frosh admission at Berkeley is now.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, more than half of entering frosh were placed into Subject A 1, a remedial writing course for those who did not test out of it with one of the following: sufficient score on English Achievement Test (predecessor to the SAT writing section, though it was then a multiple choice grammar test), 3 on English AP test, or UC-administered essay test for those who were not exempt from the previous tests.</p>
<p>Today, fewer than 10% of entering frosh are placed into College Writing R1A, the combined remedial writing and frosh English composition course (6 credit units instead of 4 for the usual English composition courses), even though the testing standards to be exempt from it are similar.</p>
<p>In other words, it was not that hard to get into Berkeley back then (except in a few very popular majors) compared to now.</p>
<p>1978 in the crazy state of California…used to only have to be in the top 12.5% to get into a UC…now top 9% maybe. SAT scores…can’t remember but I am sure they weren’t amazing and neither was my GPA. Applied to 3 UC’s…got into my top choice UCSB. Never even occurred to me I wouldn’t get in…wouldn’t make it today!</p>
<p>I think that part of the reason I got into BC many years ago was because of low-income URM status. I don’t think that I’d get in today with my stats. I also think that kids learn a lot more in university than they did in my day. The amount of knowledge in the various disciplines is so much greater today - there is just so much more to cover now. Imagine taking a year of Biology 30 years ago and then take a look at Campbell’s Biology textbook. There is just so much more material to cover today.</p>
<p>My college is different, not easier, not harder. The percentage accepted doesn’t differ much, but in those days, there was a far higher percentage of preppies, and some very, very rich ones (still are, but percentagewise perhaps fewer.) Some of them were real dunderheads. It was also the last year of the Jew quota. There were nine applicants from my high school, six more qualified than I. Three ended up at Harvard, three at Yale, two at Columbia. All Jewish, as I remember (it’s a long time ago.) But I was the only one accepted…off the waiting list. I was 112th in my high school class (and my high school was both more difficult and much more competitive than my college.) My last name is not easily identifiable, and I was an English major (most of the rest were pre-meds.)</p>
<p>The two biggest changes that I’ve noticed since the late '90: back then, we didn’t superscore the SATs, and kids tended to apply to 3-6 schools. Even kids who were gunning for Ivies tended to not apply to more than a handful of schools: the Ivy of choice, a few matches, a safety, a financial safety. </p>
<p>Just my opinion, but ‘superscoring’ the SATs gives a false sense of the competitiveness of a school. The median score of the admittees or enrollees may be something that only a small fraction of the students got on any one sitting of the SAT.</p>
<p>Back when I was applying for college, it was much easier to get in. Instead of 27,000 kids fighting for 1,000 spots at Harvard, there were only 20,000.</p>
<p>1978 grad here…1260 2-part SAT (took once, no prep); 2 APs (both senior year); so-so grades (lots of Bs and Cs in math and science); took the History Achievement Test (precursor to SAT II…can’t remember score but it wasn’t anything outstanding); part-time job after school; one significant EC; no community service to speak of. Handwritten apps and looking back essays were painfully labored…:). Generic Central Ohio public HS.</p>
<p>Applied to Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Oberlin. Interviewed at Harvard (legacy) but took a pass on applying. Went 5/5 on apps; attended Wellesley. </p>
<p>So, yeah, easier. Also during my time at Wellesley I think the COA broke five figures…</p>
<p>Class of '74. Don’t know my rank but only 23 in my graduating class at a private school and kids got into HYPM and the little ivies so I was likely near the bottom. Grades were mostly B’s & C’s. SAT in the 1100’s. Took some Achievements but don’t remember which ones or my scores. I’m sure pretty mediocre. No EC’s, no job - unless you count going to Grateful Dead concerts. ;)</p>
<p>Applied to 4 schools (Syracuse, Ithaca, Skidmore & U of Colo) and accepted at all of them. Went to Boulder.</p>
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<p>I think that BC was $3,500 (not including R&B) for my first year but my sister went to an Ivy and she told us what the COA was per year one of the years and I was pretty shocked - there must have been a year or two when prices really jumped around the late 70s to early 80s.</p>