I have put in information on cc and cb for my child and they have come back with Carnegie Mellon, USC, Scripps, Yale, Harvard, as possible matches.<br>
Weighted GPA 4.3; SAT Math 770, CR 730, writing 690. AP History 5; AP English, CalcAB,
and Physics all 4. In NHS, LHS, Keyclub, Plays varsity in two sports, Volunteers at Church, is captain of Robotics team. However when I read post on CC it seems that these schools might be more of a reach because some of these applicants seem so outstanding. Any insight into why the discrepancy.
Well, don’t trust “chance” threads, as most people who reply don’t have any expertise in the field, and I don’t think there are any admissions officers “chancing” people, and there are just a few very well-informed posters.
So yes, there will be a discrepancy between not only actual results and chance threads, but also between some posters and others. I’m sorry if any of this has caused confusion.
Anyone who told you that Harvard and Yale were possible matches really doesn’t have a clue.
^Rather, they have a very limited amount of information to even begin to judge-let alone the fact that they’re not admission officers.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Your child has done great at school … congrats. At the top end the definition of match and reach gets a little tricky. Your child’s stats certainly look very competative for any school (depending on the class rank of that 4.3) so in one sense he is a match for top schools like Yale because his stats are certainly good enough … however since the admit rate is only about 10% it could be said that schools like Yale are reaches for all applicants (short of 2400, 4.0, NBA caliber centers, who cured cancer in their spare time). Punch line … it looks your child should consider any school they want … but also should keep in mind at the very top end their odds of admission stink (just like they do for everyone else) … but please also remember their odds are 0% if they don’t even apply!
Here’s the thing for really top kids: they have reaches and safeties. The reaches are the top schools in the country and they are a reach for everyone. Those schools don’t have that many spots, so they have many applications for each available spot. Other than those, let’s say top 25 schools, your child’s stats would be at or near the top.
The nice thing about having a child who has nice stats is that they may get some merit money if they don’t fall in love with one school and think that it is the only place that will make them happy. Good luck with the search.
Cross post with 3togo.
OTOH, Carnegie Mellon, USC and Scripps are probably matches. H and Y are matches for no one.
^Which doesn’t have to mean your student isn’t “qualified enough.” Rather, it can just mean that speaking of space and applicant pool, there is just not enough room to fit every competitive applicant.
^^Exactly. They already have the toe-dancing bassoon player this year.
I don’t mean to be critical here–I’m just a high school student, so maybe my insight is meaningless. Some people may say that Harvard and Yale are reaches for everyone, and they are. But a 2190 does not leave too many applicants competitive for those two schools. Some with those numbers get in, but that’s a significant reach.
So I guess my point is that saying “it’s a reach for everyone” is not the most honest and useful critique.
Agreed. However, the initial problem starts it all—most people here are not admissions officers, and those who are can’t tell us xD
Houston, we have a problem.
Thanks for the replies. I think I will encourage him to reach for the top but be sure to have safties nets that he would be happy to fall into.
hmm … looking at my kid’s HS naviance data (I’m estimating from graphs)
Cornell - half the admits are below 2190
Coliumbia - 2/3 are below 2190
Brown - 1/3 are below 2190
Yale - 40% are below 2190
Harvard - 30% are below 2190
Dartmouth - none are below 2190 (only 2 admits both above 2190) … Dartmouth hates us
Penn - 40% are below 2190
Princeton - 30% are below 2190
so I’m not sure the basis of your statement … but at my kid’s HS having 2190 gives kids a pretty good shot … dropping below 2000 looks to be the floor at most of the IVYies for kids from this HS
Scripps is definitely not a match 
To the OP: Your child has a good shot at attending a top notch school (any one of a large group). So even if Harvard or Yale are not “matches”, there are still many great schools that would be. Also, one more point on the chancing threads. If you notice, many titles include “will chance back”. People who can’t figure out their own information probably aren’t the best judges of others.
I stand by what I said–and let’s be clear what I said-- “competitive for those two schools,” meaning Harvard and Yale. I was not referring to any other schools.
As for Harvard and Yale, my naviance shows that the vast majority of accepted students were above 2200. With that said, naviance’s use is limited. The sample size is small, much smaller than, say, decision threads on this site.
The trends in your son’s school, 3togo, are interesting. It must be a competitive school that colleges look favorably upon.
To the OP, a 2190 certainly qualifies the student for any of the schools. However, I was simply saying that once you take out hooked students–URMs, athletes, legacies–a 2190 is on the lower end. The student will obviously have to shine in other areas, which he very well may.
[The trends in your son’s school, 3togo, are interesting. It must be a competitive school that colleges look favorably upon.
[/quote]
It is a very good public school which does well in top school admissions (Dartmouth and Columbia typically being exceptions - wonder why they hate us) … we don’t really know about the OP’s HS and how students from there do in general … as you mentioned the HS could be a big variable for this student.
^side note, I’ve always wanted to know how to quote. It looks like there was one error in the last post.
What’s the format for quoting on CC?
[qoute] the statement to quote [/qoute]
but spell quote correctly (the same basic process works for other things like “bold”)
this is very handy