Rejected almost everywhere. Gap year/transfer?

calmom
Sun, 16 Apr 2006 16:39:13 +0000

Mootmom, thanks for the info, but the point is that Paul’s stats were comfortably in range for Boston U, which in the past has accepted more than half of its applicants. So it was a logical choice for a match school – and it really is the only one that Paul expressed surprise over.

And as I’ve noted before, my daughter’s test SAT scores were below the 25th percentile mark at the 3 reach colleges where she was accepted - so basically the SAT ranges don’t tell the whole story. Paul says that he considered NYU a match - I considered it a reach for my daughter, but my daughter got in so if anything, I’m the one who is underestimated when determining chances.

Paul wrote that he was frustrated that he did not know the “rules” of college admissions at the outset, and there may be something to that. I don’t know, but obviously with a kid going through the process a 2nd time, I did know the “rules”- and so my daughter’s results with reach school may be partially attributable to having better advice.

One of the best pieces of advice we received along the way was to ALWAYS make sure to explain any weakness in the records – NEVER assume that a selective college will overlook or miss the weak spots if you gloss over them. So, for example, my daughter asked her g.c. to explain the scheduling issues that made it impossible for her to take math senior year, and she also explained the problem herself on the application. Paul didn’t know to do that – whether it would have made a difference or not, I don’t know.

Paul was also applying to major in an area where math is more important; my daughter’s proposed majors did not require any math at all, so it would have been perceived as less of a weakness for her. Paul was rejected from NYU with higher test scores than my daughter. My daughter was accepted, but she wisely chose to apply to Gallatin rather than CAS – this was mostly a strategic decision, because at the time she applied she would have been just as happy with CAS – but she and I felt that CAS admissions would be more numbers-oriented, Gallatin more focused on her personal statement and the qualifications she had relevant to her proposed individualized course of study.

Anyway, the point is that test-score range gives a guideline as to what the competition is like, but it really can’t be used to assess “chances” either way. The big mistake that so many cc’ers make is assuming that they are certain to get into schools because their stats are at the upper range for that school – obviously, for the most competitive schools, that doesn’t hold true either. You have to look at other factors as well – it is an equation with many variables, and no single variable is determinative. So I just don’t want to second-guess Paul’s thinking at this point - I think that he came up with a reasonable choice of colleges. He just didn’t quite realize until the end how wise he was to include Fordham & SUNY in the mix. Keep in mind that he also applied to and was accepted at Pace, which to me shows that he was definitely covering all bases.