Re: Showing interest…Look at the Common Data Set for the school to see if showing interest is Very Important, Important or Considered or not. Typically for large state schools and even Ivy’s it isn’t (either we can’t track that for 50,000 applicants or Of Course you want to come)
Re: going to CCs…Also pays to know your state. In NJ, the top 15% get free tuition at CCs and then are eligible for a number of transfer scholarships http://www.njccc.org/scholarships-awards/transfer-scholarships/
is the common data set well known to those outside of CC/don’t have great understanding of college admissions?
I’d never heard of it, and things like demonstrated interest would be a shot in the dark to me.
When my youngest graduated a couple years ago, the class valedictorian was rejected by all Ivies, ended up getting into NYU and attending. It is a good public school, our salutatorian got into Harvard, but I am sure the Valedictorian was surprised by the results. Not that anyone should be surprised, but people often are.
@sybbie719 Actually, no. These are students who have completed two years and will be sticking around for a third. They know better than the try for early transfer. It’s just a really rough year.
My D just told me a student in her school got waitlisted everywhere she applied – flagship in state public, a strong out of state public, a very good LAC in Ohio. I think she was rejected one or two other places. Clearly didn’t apply enough places and took in-state flagship for granted as safety. I don’t know her well, but great kid. She’s hoping something comes through – or will do a gap year.
@blevine NYU is a private school. Are you confusing it with one of the CUNYs?
Did they complete 2 years or did they complete an associates degree? There is a difference on how they will be viewed with the tip going to the associates. It would also be a clean transfer because they would be transferring the degree vs credits. The 4 year school would also most likely have articulation agreements for students who complete an associates.
@eastcoast101 No I was not confusing them. My point is that in the past frankly, NYU used to be a safe school, and now they enrolled our valedictorian from a very good high school. Yes he got in somehwere, so strictly speaking not a good example of “admitted nowhere”, but certainly shows how competitive this has become for even the top students. And this is true for public schools too. Many are much more competitive than just a decade ago, resulting in having to apply where one might not consider, or face 100% rejection.
Parent here, in my day, as a very competitive NY area HS student, I considered Ivies, and other top schools, didn’t even consider applying to NYU. Now valedictorians apply there and no guarantee of admission. So I think yes, kids with dated advice can get all rejections if not careful.
I think the confusion is that when saying “it is a good public school”, it sounded like you meant NYU is s good public school. (That is also how I read it). But I think you meant the high school.
From my S (haven’t seen a final list), this was not a good year for non-diverse high stats math/engineering boys at his school. Kids he’s with in the hardest classes his school offers (they took multivariable calc, plus discrete math, all science APs, had ECs (musicians, debate,apps,etc)) some were NMF, all had at least 35 ACT, were rejected by all the Ivy’s to which they applied, most from Georgia Tech, and USC (where they thought they’d get merit). Don’t know where else they applied. A group of them are going to Michigan (which was their safety). Every school is reporting the largest, most competitive applicant pool in history. USC, for example, says of admitted class, 1/3 had no Bs, 60% had scores in 99%. No one got shut out entirely bc the school makes them apply to the state flagship (not highly ranked, and everyone gets in). And Michigan is a great school, but not where they wanted to go. Don’t know if S’s school is unusual with its placements this year. Obviously kids are getting into Ivy’s and top schools from other HSs!
Havenoidea- if your GC’s aren’t doing a good job directing kids to schools other than Georgia Tech, Michigan, and all the ivies, then it’s not a surprise that kids are disappointed in their results. This “clustering” is not in the students best interests, regardless of which geographic region you come from.
A kid who loves Brown would likely love Rice or Northwestern. A kid who loves Columbia might also love Vanderbilt. The Georgia Tech kids might also fall in love with Case or RPI or Harvey Mudd.
We live in a big country and the kids need to disperse their interests so that Adcom’s are not looking at 30 kids from the same high school with very similar profiles.
“A kid who loves Brown would likely love Rice or Northwestern.” Wow. The kids I know at Northwesten would be MISERSBLE at Rice so I don’t see them as at all equivalents.
Michigan is nobody’s safety. They are lucky they didn’t strike out there, too. I don’t care how strong a kid’s stats are, that sounds like an inappropriately reach heavy list.
And I agree with @maya54 — Brown has little in common with Rice or NW in terms of vibe, and I also don’t think Rice and NW are particularly similar except maybe in selectivity.
“Michigan is nobody’s safety”.
I’d say it’s “almost” no ones safety. But there are a few “ feeder” schools in Michigan ( Ann Arbor Pioneer , FJA) ) and Illinois sending huge percentages of the school where kids with high enough stats (4.0 UMGPA) and stats 34+ act normal good ECs always get in.
@havenoidea, those kids are getting terrible advice from their HS counselor if they thought Michigan was a safety. Michigan’s OOS admit rate is now around 20%, probably lower in this year’s admissions cycle, and certainly lower than that in engineering, though Michigan doesn’t break out admissions stats by college. I’m glad they got in and it sounds like they’re well qualified, but OOS applicants with those kinds of stats get turned down at Michigan quite frequently these days, especially in engineering and business (Ross). It’s not a safety for any OOS applicant anymore, and treating it as one is an extremely high-risk strategy. In fact, it’s downright foolhardy.
Friend’s D who was accepted to every school RD including H, Brown, Cornell, Duke, UCB, UCLA was waitlisted at UM. Maybe they knew this was a safety for her and showed on her application?
The chances of admission to Michigan are quite different for in-state applicants than for OOS. In-state admit rate is close to 50%, OOS around 20%, lower for both groups in engineering and business (Ross pre-admit). An extremely high-stats in-state applicant has a very good chance of admission but I’d still rate it a match rather than a safety.
Michigan claims the stats of in-state admits are the same as those of OOS admits. I’m skeptical, but they may not be too far off because among Michigan residents there’s a lot of self-selection, as well as steering by HS counselors who advise kids who are not at the top of the class not to even bother to apply. As a result, they get only about 10K or 11K in-state applications annually, compared to roughly 50K OOS—i.e., more than any Ivy, and mostly from high-stats kids.
Chances may be slightly higher for OOS legacies (something they do consider) or applicants from schools that have a strong history of sending kids to Michigan.
@ninakatarina I don’t know of ANY state flagships that turned down ANY students with those stats. State flagships are mostly merit based admissions so that is ludicrous.
Michigan waitlisted the valedictorian at my daughter’s school. NMF, 36/1600/4.0UW with amazing ECs and research experience. Out of state.