@StewyGriffin my son had the same Vandy experience. We were shocked when he was waitlisted. The students we talked to when we went on his tour said he had taken more AP classes by the beginning of his junior year than they had taken all four years of highs school. But they had attended the ritzy private school across the street from Vandy. They could pay… so they got in. Our EFC was so high that it said we could pay… but I can’t pay 1/3 of our gross pay for a year of college. So he was WL. This whole process is a joke.
The fact that having a lengthy jeremiad of a life story seems like a requirement when applying to top top schools, and that most white middle class/asians have to do so much to make up for not having one.
The fact that students are expected to do way too much at way too early of an age…most seniors still don’t know what on earth they want to do in life, yet 8th-9th graders nowadays are having to map out their entire plans for reaching their dream schools. Including amazing extra curriculars, incredible schedules and test scores, etc. A lot of students end up just doing things that look good and not things they are truly passionate about because they are so desperate for acceptance. (ps: forget that social life completely.)
Students are becoming so hung up on what college they want to go to that they don’t really think about what lies beyond it.
Lastly, the college admissions process has turned into way too much of a game. Which is pretty screwed up.
Rant over.
cleoforshort, OMG, you made me lol! Great response!!
aunt bea outside of Cal Tech which schools are you suggesting don’t look at URM status? Thats going to be a very very short list.
@SAY The UCs.
As an incoming senior, I hate the college frenzy at my school. Probably because we are mostly high achievers, but it would be great if everyone kept which colleges they got into to themselves…what if s/he hurt someone else’s feelings? 
Also, the fact that college admissions people say “Do what you love”…that probably only applies if the applicant is of national/international level or something. Haha
I’m not upset at the way white upper middle-class kids are expected to just do well. This is our scenario. Honestly, my kid has been given every advantage. Aside from having been born white, she goes to school in a well-funded public school system, has a parent who makes an income allowing a comfortable lifestyle, has been able to afford to travel, we can afford EC fees and we can afford for her not to work. Of course, it is easier for her to do well, academically, under those circumstances! I’m actually (a little) disappointed she did not see to take this opportunity to do even better!
Just can’t believe all of the posts here whining about upper middle-class white and Asian kids being left out… Please.
I truly feel for the middle-class kids in the “donut hole” whose parents make too much for fin. aid, but didn’t make enough to save enough for their college ed… and especially the poor kids who had to work extra-hard to qualify for merit scholarships, the URMs who had to overcome other people’s assumptions and expectations… There is a young man, right now, on another thread, whose father apparently abandoned the family and has not sent child support in years… The young man has had no contact with his father in years, and I get the feeling he doesn’t even know where he is… so that’s gong to hinder him applying for financial aid. He is counting on merit scholarships to attend college, any college…
What does aggravate me: I’m not crazy about the idea of the Common App. I feel like it fuels the ratings/selectivity game.
People who complain about AA screwing over their entitled, snobby upper-middle class white children, while being completely ignorant of the fact that URMs are at a disadvantage against them in EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF LIFE. Those people are, in my mind, low key racists.
The fact that some schools can LITERALLY ignore the writing section of the SAT. My regret is applying to a school that does that.
The fact that a Northeast state flagship (which is the automatic safety for its in-state students) SOLELY looks at GPA. Do you really think that a 4.3 GPA instater or a 3.8 GPA OOSer is really going to come to YOUR school? LOL.
People who judge/label others as entitled, snobby, upper class, white people when, presumably, the primary reason is that they disagree with them.
dsi411 you obviously aren’t familiar with the UC’s. It is complete nonsense to believe that they don’t use URM status though they have become experts at doing it obtusely. UC has many tricks but the biggest is the transfer game which allows students with 400-500 point lower SAT’s to gain admission as transfers. The freshman URM have SAT’s well below the Asians that are admitted. This has been very thoroughly dissected many times before so I’m not going to go over it again.
The number 1, most annoying thing of all about college application season is the way it brings out the absolute worst in (many) high school students and their parents. Every year brings a new group with an absurd focus on “dream” schools, insistence on chasing status, rationalizing away the failure to plan financially for the event everyone knows is coming approximately 17-18 years after the arrival of each bundle of joy, and feverishly questioning classmates and their parents about their plans in order to make ill-informed comparisons with themselves or their own kids.
The thing that makes me most ridiculously angry though is the pre-emptive wailing about how everything from standardized testing, AA, and athletic recruiting is so UNFAIR to MEEEEEEE!
@StewyGriffin nah, I think it’s pretty justified.
Early decision, my number one doesn’t have early decision but my number 2 has it and the early decision acceptance rate at my number 2 is significantly higher than its regular decision acceptance rate.
Last year was the fact that I’m Asian and I can’t change that. If you’re Asian, just subtract a 200 from your SAT score right now, and that’s your actual score (or it feels that way, or maybe I just suck).
This year (going to college in a month) is that applying to college is a one time thing. I’d love to re-apply. Hm, even start high school all over lol.
Also, the cost of simply APPLYING. My parents were willing to spend 1k USD for me to just apply. And it didn’t help that I was only accepted into my safeties (mb on that part though).
I didn’t have many valuable extracurriculars, but I spent a load of time designing an imaginary world, drawing maps, establishing rules, history, and creatures for it, and I did want to put it on my ‘activities’ section, but my college adviser had told me not to, probably because it didn’t fit into ‘what colleges want to see’. And so I didn’t. Looking back, I really wish I did. I hate how I felt like I had to forgo much of myself to make me look like I do what “normal people” do (what my college adviser said). But still I’m not sure what would’ve been the better decision.
Applying to colleges actually felt like I laid my entire life out for them to judge and then evaluate. Then it was their job to tell me: no you’re not valuable. And all the day-to-day attitudes I have, even though I can be kind and caring on daily bases to immediate people, NONE of that matters if I did not make it into some “let’s go to a poor country and build a house” activity.Then I feel like they make you question the worth of your existence lol…
I’m not sure if I sound bitter, I’m not that bitter really.
CeLcel: There are many greats schools out there and I hope you are going to one that you feel will serve your needs. I hate it that you are being penalized because of your race; hopefully your children won’t have to put up with that. IMO those extra 200 points of intellect will serve you better than getting a “helping hand” to a school you don’t deserve. Good luck! I would be interested to hear where you are going.
Why must we pay either the Collegeboard or the ACT, both private businesses, money in order to be considered for practically any college? I suppose 2 precludes a literal monopoly, and I understand that they give a rough estimate of equivalences across school districts nationwide, but…paying to even be considered at most universities… that can’t be right.
I really wish that colleges took AP/IB scores a lot more seriously (correct me if they do). Wouldn’t AP exams be the ultimate gauge of whether a student can truly succeed at the university level? I know that AP classes can often be jokes (at least, it felt like they were at my school), but the exams at least took a good level of knowledge and hard work to get 5s (barring some like AP Gov). I feel like they are better versions of the ACT/SAT/SAT IIs. You know exactly what’s going to be on the test, and the material can be completely learned within the school’s curriculum. It seems to me that it puts rich/poor kids on a much more even playing field because you can get all the help you need from your teacher, and it’s simply up to you to learn the material. No excuses. No legs up by paying for an insanely expensive testing service either, although exam fees can be brutal (not as bad as IB exams though :)).
The only problem with APs is that I guess getting a 5 doesn’t truly differentiate yourself from others; 5 just means that you could supposedly do well at a college-level version of the class, which a lot of students can do. Maybe they should switch an SAT II-like system with less perfect scores and more detailed scaling. Or maybe they should just make SAT II more like APs lol, but then what’s the point. It’s all CollegeBoard anyways, they’ll take your money no matter what.
Aside from that, college-application season just makes me feel bad for others ruining their lives for colleges and just making themselves look good in whatever way possible. Last year when I was a junior I swear at least 10 seniors tried to make new clubs, none of which ended up succeeding. They all ended up having one or two students come to every meeting, but hey, most of them made it into some good schools. Argh.
Also when some particular Asians complain about being Asian. Like, it may not be your choice to be racially Asian, but when you study for insane amounts, take the ACT/SAT 5 times, join a non-cut sport and don’t even try, join 13 clubs and are president of 5, you’re not really helping your case, are you? I know plenty of “Asians” who are awesome people and aren’t insanely obsessive over colleges at all. They actually have fun a lot 
and they’re still just as smart as anyone else.
Shout out to essays, which I understand are extremely important and useful, but they are ultimately just going to work against me 
Can’t test scores, grades, and teacher/coach recs be enough lol. I just don’t enjoy writing…
It may be something minor compared to what others have posted here, but it really frustrates me how some universities just ignore the writing portion of the SAT. The section is part of the test we studied and took to do well on, and it aggravates me a bit sometimes when a college will just assume its not important or just blatantly ignore. If you did well on writing or bad it should be considered at least somewhat to the same degree as the other two sections. The writing section is being deleted next year but for the classes that had to take the writing portion I just think it should be considered. Note: I’m only talking about the schools that choose to flat out ignore it or dismiss the section as unimportant.
Just my little rant/opinion
The fact that we insist everyone goes to college even though no one can afford it. We demand people take on crippling debt (yes, even if you go to a “cheap” college) when they don’t necessarily have any career options ahead of them.
Also, the fact that everyone else in the universe has apparently been planning out their college resumes for all of high school. I go to a Jewish dayschool with a dual curriculum; there is no opportunity for clubs or extracurriculars. I also have twice as many grades (including ones for meaningless classes) that can lower my GPA. Everyone’s situation is different, but the colleges aren’t going to care that I’ve actually been putting in all this work and dedication to these other classes, because they’re not career-oriented.