Things you've found give people a false sense of security about getting into college

Applying to College
61

<p>4 times better. 4 times better than the average applicant (which for my school Naviance says has a 2210 SAT average).</p>

<p>190 increase = 400% chance.</p>

62

<p>What about NAVIANCE!!?>? or anything like that? where they compare you to kids from your school?</p>

63

<p>NMF, 4.0 GPA, 2260 SAT, 4 fives on AP, and All-state athelete got my D very little in terms of admission or financial aid at top 25 schools. She did get several nice offers from +50 USNWR ranked schools.</p>

64

<p>Hispanic with 2290 SAT’s (800 verbal), 13 AP class (all 5’s on tests except one 4 on Calc BC) 4.2 GPA in the most rigorous schedule possible at his high school, plus 3-season varsity athlete, and other decent EC’s did not get him in Yale, Penn, Georgetown, Princeton, or Columbia.</p>

<p>I’d say URM status is a false security unless the URM is in the first generation of the family to go to college and from a lower socio-economic background, and still has those same stats or close. A URM whose background is typical middle class doesn’t have as much of a hook as people think, though it doesn’t hurt.</p>

65

<p>There is a randomness to the application process that cannot be measured school by school. My son had perfect SAT’s, 17 AP’s, #2, band/orchestra/original compositions, Presidential Scholar, NMS, on and on; he was the most popular “nerd” in his HS. He was accepted to all of the schools he applied to EA, and none of the schools he applied to RD. He’s happily at MIT. The moral: do your best and realize there are many “perfect” schools where you’ll be happy. You can’t control what goes on behind the closed doors of the app. committee, so don’t agonize about it.</p>

66

<p>At the top colleges the college admission committees do not owe admission to any individual student who has top grades, SAT scores, stellar recommendations, or to the student whose parent/grandparent has donated money. Admissions committees address the needs of the university by putting together the best class of students that meets the institution’s needs for that year–and every school has a formula for addressing the acceptance of each class. Accept it when you are rejected by a school-and move on. When you are wait listed–do the same–move on. You will find a spot on a campus eventually–and discover that your school was the place for you all along. I was diagnosed with cancer for my last year and a half of high school and was a top student-athlete being recruited by many Ivy and NESCAC schools for both football and lacrosse. I accepted a great academic scholarship to Bucknell and continued my chemo treatments there for the first two years. Every day is a good day–and I am alive. Be thankful that you are on this forum and are probably a phenomenal student–you’re going to have a great life even if you don’t get in to HYPS. Just my take. Good luck to all of you!</p>

67

<p>

If Asians on average have higher numbers, then why would overrepresentation at a college be a problem? Also, how do you think Asians feel when every single academic achievement is dismissed as average simply because they’re Asian? I hate to break it to you, but Asians do well on tests and in school (on average) because they work HARDER. We’re not magically born smart.</p>

<p>

I don’t see what your point is here. If they have lower stats (and probably grades), of course fewer blacks and latinos would make HYPSM. Duh. How is that unfair?</p>

<p>

That doesn’t justify discriminating against the majority of the highly qualified Asian applicants. </p>

<p>

Seriously? And who is to blame for that? I suppose the SAT is now biased against White people also… </p>

<p>Why don’t we just implement affirmative action in college sports. Let’s promote any Asian with competent ability to play on the college basketball teams! Of course, by numbers they must be the most discriminated against, so it’s only fair!</p>

68

<p>

:eyeroll:</p>

<p>Somebody didn’t employ much logical thought, did they.</p>

69

<p>Hi. How about “the great interview”? Do you think that simply demonstrates the skill of the interviewer thus creating a false sense of security, or, can it really make a difference?</p>

70

<p>

</p>

<h1>1 and #2 help a lot (I think in Hernandez’s book A is for Admissions she says that being legacy nearly doubles chances of admission).</h1>

<h1>3 is a game changer, because URM’s are competing in the URM applicant pool and not the general applicant pool. Applicannot’s point that very few URM’s get 2300+ makes the point even clearer, that URM status is a huge boost.</h1>

71

<p>Extracurricular activities tend to give people a false sense of security, imo. Listening to some people, you’d get the impression that extracurriculars are as important as grades, test scores, and essays combined.</p>

72

<p>Frankly, I’ve grown more inclined to believe that Hispanics aren’t subjected to nearly as high of an admissions boost as African-Americans are.</p>

73

<p>I concur that URM is a gamechanger. if there’s an intrinsic quality that gets your app looked at seriously when everything else isn’t stellar, that’s a gamechanger. URM.</p>

74

<p>“If Asians on average have higher numbers, then why would overrepresentation at a college be a problem?”</p>

<p>Old joke: Q:What do the Hebrew letters on the Yale seal mean?</p>

<p>A: No more than 10%</p>

75

<p>URM is huge in my opinion. Had 2000 SAT- captain of 2 sports, state champions, good ec’s founded some scholarship fund, and got into an Ivy ED. Something else that I think helps that people overlook is your dempgraphic and what the school you’re applying to is looking for. From the south and I think that helped along with being an URM as that’s something most schools in the NE are looking to boost.</p>

76

<p>I agree with everything Soothsayerr said. I don’t see why people should be descriminated against for working hard. Really, I think that anyone can succeed if they want to. Race shouldn’t even be a factor in admissions, since that in itself is racist. </p>

<p>And the Hebrew letters…are ironic since Yale used to discriminate against Jewish people.</p>

77

<p>White people have the biggest advantage of getting into colleges because they are the majority of the application pool. Imagine how many dumbasses are in the majority.</p>

<p>For Asians, its much harder actually because on average, Asians do better than other races which makes it difficult for “avg” asians to get into schools.</p>

<p>I think being Black/Latino is a huge advantage. Especially if you are a rich Black/Latino who gets great education in high school = good grades and SAT.</p>

78

<p>Why does whites being in the majority give them any sort of advantage? I mean, yes more white students are going to get in, but nowhere along the line is someone going to say “Well, this student isn’t that great, but we need more white students in the class.” Even a blatantly racist admissions officer would probably just deny applications from other races.</p>

79

<p>

</p>

<p>I’ve seen this too. it’s crazy, how people think they can get into Ivy level schools with a few solid ECs and a GPA around 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.</p>

80

<p>URM is a big advantage. im sort of offended that people are saying it isnt…</p>

<p>Stanford SCEA Thread</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 1980(680 CR, 640 M, 660 W)
SAT IIs: 740 Lit, 660 US history,
ACT: 29 Composite (33 W, 28 M, 28 R, 27 S)
GPA: 4.13 (weighted)
Rank: N?A
Other stats:
Subjective:
Essays: Good( apparently)
Teacher Recs: Good( apparently)
Counselor Rec: Good( apparently)
Hook (if any): Urm, relatively low income, sorta first gen
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
State or Country: NY
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Male</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061445468-post140.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061445468-post140.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;