<p>I don’t think that “blacklist” is an accurate term to use in most situations. Sure, an institution such as Stanford could act like the original post, but it seems to have evolved a bit…</p>
<p>I’ve spoken with HS college counselors in my area, and they ALL make it clear that if a relatively large number apply from a single high school in a given year, and then none or few actually accept and attend, then there is a statistical trend to show that during the NEXT admission cycle(s), there are fewer and fewer acceptances for the NEW batch of applicants in THAT HIGH SCHOOL… so of course there is a tidal effect to admissions, where the results THIS year from Standford, or Harvard or any other selective school, for the seniors in YOUR school are indeed a product of the applications and acceptances from recent years…</p>
<p>that’s why when you talk with counselors at highly reptuable high schools, they’ll perhaps limit the numbers from the senior class that they’ll let apply to a given school such as stanford, and they’ll interview those students who really want to go there, so that a chance from THAT high school is not “wasted”… leading to balanced admission offers for years to come…</p>
<p>Like it or not, blacklist does exist.
Example: a very competitive math and science HS sends kids to top 20 schools except Cornell because a student from there had drinking problem while in Cornell (for 6 years).
Example 2: a student who got accepted to Emory via ED chose to attend Cal instead, the student’s school has not had any Emory acceptance since (for 5 years).</p>
<p>Can please you elaborate more about the E.B.H.S. blacklist case, as my D at E.B.H.S. is applying to Stanford next year? I want to gauge whether an acceptance to Stanford is virtually impossble so we don’t waste time on it.</p>
<p>I think all the top schools might have a blacklist against my school, almost nobody ever gets in… of course that might just be due to the fact that my school sucks, but that’s a different story.</p>
<p>… is there any proof whatsoever that something like this exists? It makes no sense. At all.</p>
<p>Well, other than stating the facts and historical trends I don’t think anyone has any proof. I also heard rumors that Stanford does not like to offer acceptance to the very best students (Val & Sal) from the east coast high schools thinking they will get into top ivies and won’t go to Stanford even if accepted, in a way to increase yield. Any truth to this? Anyone heard of anything similar?</p>
<p>YSLYDZ - Just the opposite in our personal experience. My S was val of his class in an east coast high school and was accepted, and currently attends Stanford. He was either waitlisted or denied admission to all the Ivy schools that he applied. Not very scientific, but it just illustrates that admission to all these top schools is a definitive reach for almost all applicants. That is why one should apply to schools that offer what one wants to study, and that would ultimately be a good fit.</p>
<p>YSLDYDZ, it probably is a waste of time for your D to apply to Stanford. I’m familiar with the EBHS situation because I’ve graduated from there a few years ago. I know that around 7-8years ago, someone backed out of an “early decision” agreement from Stanford. Ever since then, no one has gotten into Stanford. I knew a girl (2010 graduate) who was accepted to Harvard, Princeton, and Georgetown, but she was rejected with Stanford. Many very qualified students each year apply to Stanford in hopes of breaking this cycle, but we (including I) have ultimately concluded that EBHS has been blacklisted. Your D can still try, but the chance of success is very dismal.</p>
<p>I think the “no one from my school has gotten into X college for the past 5-10 years, we must be blacklisted” is complete nonsense. </p>
<p>Now, it is true that colleges track students to see how successful they are. If it is the first time ever or in a long time that someone is admitted to X college from a certain high school then during the next admissions cycle, x college will analyze how successful that student has been and if it is worth it admit any other people from that high school.</p>
<p>^ But that only applies if the student matriculated. In our case, the student was accepted early and broke the contract by going to another school. Therefore, Stanford had no way of evaluating that student’s future successes and the high school. So Stanford could not judge whether our school was bad or not. However, we actually do know that Stanford knows that our school yields some pretty talented students because of the students accepted prior to the incident. </p>
<p>We believe that we are blacklisted because breaking a contract serves as a pretty legitimate reason for punishment. But piggy backing on what you said: if no one from a school has gotten into X college for however many years, BUT there were students from that school who had MATRICULATED into X college in the past AND nothing bad had happened at the school, then no I don’t think it’s blacklist.</p>
<p>I wasn’t talking about the case where the contract was broken. It is obviously a serious offense. In addition, a student can’t break the contract by herself because she needs the letters of recommendation. So the schools officials were obviously aware of what she was doing and they went along with it. This makes me think that Stanford no longer trust the high school’s administration and teachers.</p>
<p>I think universities definitely do take that into account. Our school had a student a couple years back who broke the ED contract to Brown without legitimate reasoning and we have not had a single person get in yet. I’m hoping this year will be different, but I believe that it could very well be a blacklist. Who knows? However, keep in mind that scores are NOT everything in college admissions so just because they had great scores didn’t mean that they’d be admitted. Far from it, actually. Top schools like Stanford have a lot to consider and scores, within a 200-300 point range do not make much of a difference.</p>
<p>Yes, colleges can reject a student from a particular hs because the recent trends (over several years, not just last year) are that admits did not choose to enroll. But it doesn’t happen in a vacuum- a very highly competitive kid, with a compelling app package, will get serious consideration. The final decision will be affected by whether other kids from that area are equally strong, maybe even more compelling. </p>
<p>But, at the same time, adcoms also note when they haven’t taken a kid from a particular hs in a while- and if the applicant is very solid, it can help.</p>
<p>If your hs has this problem, get your GC to work on it now. He or she should be reopening those channels. (Esp if there were good reasons for prior kids not matriculating- fin aid, family situations, etc.) </p>
<p>But, Ballet is right that this is all so much more than stats. Most private colleges have a self-image and an idea of the attributes they want in their freshman class.</p>
<p>“I also heard rumors that Stanford does not like to offer acceptance to the very best students (Val & Sal) from the east coast high schools thinking they will get into top ivies and won’t go to Stanford even if accepted, in a way to increase yield. Any truth to this? Anyone heard of anything similar?”</p>
<p>No, because many of these students actually prefer Stanford over the ivies.</p>
<p>At my kids’ HS school, there is basically a guarantee to the university/college that a student will enroll if accepted SCEA. Every year, a fairly large number are admitted with the understanding that they withdraw all other RD applications once they are admitted. Basically, the high school treats it like ED.</p>
<p>"I think the “no one from my school has gotten into X college for the past 5-10 years, we must be blacklisted” is complete nonsense. " Not nonsense. It’s called Yield Rate!</p>
<p>Prestigious universities, especially the low admit rate non Ivy version, protect their yield rates with ferocity. I interview at a prestigious prep school that has routine admits to the Ivies, but very rare admits to Duke, Stanford. They track their losses to the Ivies routinely, and this impacts their yield ratios. College admissions is big business, face it.</p>
<p>My advice to anyone at a would-be “black-list” high school; if you have the scores and grades, as well as the recs and some way of distinguishing yourself as a leader/innovator, apply ED to these schools, and don’t waste your $ on a regular decision app.</p>