I agree re Ivys - we were rejected SEA from Ivy (legacy and non athletic hook= Mega annoying !) but there were a ton of Athletes our year committed at that IVy at top ten boarding school. I think it really worked against us.
Where will your daughter choose?
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Deleted
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Please use this thread for results only. Thank you.
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I consider my daughter a good student but she is not a “high stats” student. Here are her results,
Highly competitive public HS in a majority white, upper middle-class suburb (grad class avg 300 students, 20+ AP classes offered, very few students do duel enrollment, avg SAT score is 1320, no class rank and school caps GPA at 4.0)
D23–white
No APs, 3 Honors,
Wt GPA 3.74, Unwt GPA 3.69
SAT 1180, ACT 24 (23,23,25,25)
At least one sport every year–but nothing consistent for all 4 years
Student director–marching band senior year
Yearbook co-editor senior year
National Art Honor Society
Summer employment–none during the school year
Essay discussed mental health and subsequent growth
Applied EA (where applicable) for Exercise Science and accepted at all her schools
Appalachian State Univ (no merit – because apparently she didn’t fill out the separate application !!!)
Univ of Delaware – $2000/year merit (applied test optional)
Towson University – $8000/ year merit
James Madison University – no merit
West Chester University – no merit but we are in-state tuition)
Ithaca College – $22,000/year merit
She will be going to Appalachian State
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Here’s one for non-T20 applicants who are interested in LACs in the Northeast. My D23…
Female from rural New England
3.6 UW (school does not weigh)
1320 SAT (720 R&W; applied as English/Humanities major)
2 AP/5 “Honors”
Strong essays
Strong, varied, ECs: alpine ski racer, karate black belt, karate instructor, art camp instructor, performing rock/jazz bass guitarist, varsity lacrosse, school newspaper, school activists club)
Demonstrated Interest: toured and interviewed at all schools. It matters.
Accepted
Trinity College
University of Vermont (Arts & Sciences) (Out of state)
Franklin & Marshall w/ $$ merit
Gettysburg w/ $$ merit
St. Lawrence w/ $$$ merit
Hobart & William Smith w/ $$$$ merit
Waitlisted
Skidmore
Rejected
None
She has not made a decision yet. She’s going to the upcoming accepted student events at SLU, HWS, and UVM. As a parent, part of me wishes she would consider some of the others, but she thinks she’ll find “her people” in the north country.
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Basic demographics: White female; middle class; suburban NY; typical, average suburban public school
Hooks: none
Planned major: computer science
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.52 W (estimated as school uses a 100 pt scale, not a 4.0), all honors or AP where possible; 2/198 (but only knew “top decile” when applying)
APs (All 5’s): CS A, Bio, WH, Calc BC, Physics 1, US, Lang and Comp; this year enrolled in Chem, Psych, Lit, Gov
Also took Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra online, with As in each
SAT: 1590 (800 M, 790 V)
NMF
Good (but not mind-blowing) ECs in STEM and music (e.g. “Programming Captain of FRC Team”), volunteer service (including what you would call a “passion project”) and essays; some awards; two summer research programs (one very well-known); NO sports at all
Accepted (COA is our Net Cost—several of these had additional scholarships or NMF that she did not pursue):
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MIT, EA, COA $20K - COMMITTED
-
Stony Brook, In-State, WISE honors program; initial -$3K Merit. COA = <$25K? (Unsure because WISE, NMF, and valedictorian/salutatorian scholarships may have reduced price but unclear by how much; website is vague on the details.)
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Binghamton, In-State, EA, Invited to FRI (First Year Research Immersion) + Scholars program with one-time research stipend of $3500. COA = ~$28K
-
RPI, EA, -$42K Merit. COA = $35K
-
UMASS Amherst, OOS, EA, honors, -$16K Merit; COA = $38K (invitation to apply for an additional $10K a year for women in STEM but did not pursue)
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Drexel, EA, -$36K (22K scholarship + 14K Need-Based Grant), COA = $39K (did not pursue honors or additional scholarships)
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Northeastern, EA - Honors with Global Experience Stipend; $25.5K Merit (may have been bumped up to $28K for NMF?); never got need-based offer despite multiple phone calls so COA = as high as $56K but likely would have been lower. Our NPC said $38K…but who knows?
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UMD, OOS, EA, Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES) Honors College, -$12K Merit. COA = $43K
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UPitt, Rolling, OOS, GAP, Honors, -$15K merit. COA = $43K
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WPI, EA -$27.5 K (25K Merit + 2.5 K Grant). COA = $49K (did not pursue limited additional scholarships)
Deferred:
U Chicago, EA, withdrew application
Waitlisted:
BU, RD (but met their scholarship earlier deadline), declined place on waitlist
Planned to Apply but did not:
Harvard RD
Princeton RD
Yale RD
Carnegie Mellon RD
Brown RD
Harvey Mudd RD
Stanford RD
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I’m finally done and will be attending UCONN in the fall!
Demographics: White female, urban TX, lesbian (clear on applications if asked) , middle class, large, well-known, competitive public high school
Planned major: public policy/political science with minor or double major in ASL, plan to go to law school.
GPA: 3.97 UW, 4.98 W
APs: AP Bio (5), AP Psychology (5), AP world history (4- took sophomore year during COVID)
Taking this year: AP Stat, AP Macro, AP Gov, APES
Dual credit classes: US History, English 3, British Literature
SAT: 1420 (took once- 700 math 720 reading)
Essays/LORs: Both my essays and letter of recs were very strong, I am a good writer and I had great connections with the teachers that wrote for me. (dual credit english professor, ASL teacher)
ECs: NHS, GSA (VP Junior, President senior), took private art lessons for 7 years+ portfolio was attached, Marketing intern at local tech company, Part time job in food service that I’ve had since second semester of my junior year
Awards included winning art competitions, being published in school literary magazine, AP scholar award, 4.0 or higher GPA Academic Award.
Accepted
DePaul University (accepted 3+3 BA/JD, did not apply honors): $25,000/year
Rochester Institute of Technology (Accepted honors): $22,000/year
University of Vermont (Accepted Arts LASP) : $17,000/year
University of New Hampshire (Accepted English/Law 3+3 program): $12,000/year
Loyola University Chicago (Offered to apply honors, did not apply): $26,000/year
University of Connecticut (Storrs, Accepted Honors, Accepted Special Program in Law: $18,500/year (Committed)
Waitlisted
Northeastern
American (I never visited, turns out that matters to them a lot.)
I did not accept a spot on the waitlist for either of these colleges (too expensive!)
The decision came down to UVM, RIT, and UCONN, and after visiting Storrs for an open house, UCONN was the clear victor. SPinL clearly is an amazing and small community, and it is academically the best out of the three.
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D23: Midwest Jesuit high school with high academic reputation. 1-100 grading scale - she’s got about a 93 unweighted (A range) and closing in on 99 weighted. No class ranking but probably around 7th or 8th percentile. 7 AP’s, which is one less than the school allowed maximum; honors in everything else. 5’s and a few 4’s on AP exams, 34 ACT submitted with all applications. Her extracurriculars were heavy on the service and community front - a couple of boards, including exec on a hospital’s junior board. 4 year athlete but not terribly serious, though was captain as a senior. So no particularly unique hooks or awards, etc. (awards like Nat’l Honor Society, but nothing that 5,000 others didn’t earn), but her application spoke to leadership.
Results RD unless otherwise noted.
Rejected:
Duke (deferred ED, legacy)
Georgetown
Vanderbilt (legacy)
Waitlisted:
UVA (deferred EA)
Notre Dame
Wake
Accepted:
IU (Kelly direct admit, EA, offered some merit but can’t remember how much)
Michigan (EA)
Villanova (EA)
Boston College
Richmond (EA)
Deferred EA at Santa Clara, pulled app.
Deciding between Michigan and BC, accepted waitlist spots at Virginia and ND.
No really big surprises, other than the WL at Wake Forest. She’s a lone blue dot on her school’s Naviance page for Wake in a field of green checks. The deferral at SC was spooky early in the process but in retrospect looks like yield control.
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DS23 top NE competitive BS. Solid within class but not top 10 percent. Not ranked. Upward trajectory of grades w senior year stellar grades. Act 32 one sitting w 36 reading. Strong languages. Great essays- strong writer. Strong Music Hook. Solid sports (varsity etc but not recruited).
Denied
Princeton REA
Duke
Penn
Stanford
Georgetown
Accepted
Williams
UNC (with merit)
UCSD
St Andrews
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Wake forest was tough RD from what I hear. Need to go ED there I think it you want it
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Does she regret going to BS given your comment on rea ivy?
No my child loves the BS and wouldn’t change it but i do think it’s harder from BS as so many smart kids applying to all the same top schools and then you have recruited athletes in high numbers on top. But we ended up with really great choices so we def feel blessed in the end -
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A top BS has more hooked applicants of all kinds, not just recruited athletes.
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Not at all. She doesn’t even care anymore that she didn’t get in and said she didn’t even know why it had been her first choice. She loves her BS.
Sorry- this thread is not supposed to go off topic. I shouldn’t have answered and will probably get flagged and hidden, but since posts can’t be deleted, here it is.
-edited I don’t know if @Juliaroberts was replying to me or to @Londonkid2 but sounds like we have the same answer. No regrets with the BS. Only mine decided not to apply to any other Ivy’s after the Princeton REA rejection. Is now trying to decide between Hamilton and Colgate.
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DS23: African American male applying for engineering from top suburban public school in New England.
4.3 w GPA (school only does weighted and doesn’t rank)
1550 SAT
10 APs (rest all Honors)
2 college courses for credit in STEM field (at well-known tech university)
National AfAm Recognition Scholar
Varsity captain of 2 different sports (not recruited though)
Top 5 finish in a state competition
A few other extracurriculars in both STEM and non-STEM
Average volunteering
Accepted:
Cornell engineering (ED)
Case Western (EA) with TE merit
Pitt Swanson Engineering (Rolling) with Cathedral of Learning Scholarship for $80k ($20k/year), Swanson Eng Excellence Award for $24k ($6k/year)
We had to pull the other EA apps to UVA, VT, Villanova, and UMD, so no clue about the outcome there. He had apps for an EDII and several RDs ready to go if denied ED.
It’s worth mentioning that every year our our public HS has several non-hooked admits to Cornell and other ivies/T20s. This year’s senior class size is 338 and we had 4 students (DS included) accepted ED to Cornell and 1 accepted RD. There were also admits (ED/REA) this year to Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Stanford, Duke, and Northwestern. Other than the Dartmouth and Brown legacies, my son was the only hooked applicant in that group. So in our high school it’s not just “hooked” applicants getting in to elite schools. I know that’s a popular narrative floating around CC, but there are top white applicants without hooks also getting in to elite universities. I will admit though, other than the 1 RD Cornell, they all applied ED/REA.
ETA: Sorry for the vague info on “state competition.” I’m being purposefully vague to keep him anonymous 
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Thank you.
Stats for S23, white male, private school in PA: 32 ACT (superscore, with 36 reading/35 English); GPA 4.07 weighted, school doesn’t do unweighted, 7 APs by year-end, solid ECs & LORs but nothing spectacular.
Results, with merit amount & estimated COA (tuition + R&B only):
ATTENDING: Bama: accepted + Blount honors, $24k auto-merit; COA $23k
Pitt (in-state): accepted, no merit; COA $35.7k
FSU: accepted, in-state waiver, COA $17.5
South Carolina: accepted, Capstone Scholars, in-state $21.7k merit; COA $26-28k
Temple (in-state): accepted to Temple Rome + honors, $10k merit; COA (after full cost of Rome first-year): $19k
Southwestern: accepted, $23k merit; COA $37k
Loyola NO: accepted + honors, $30.5k merit; COA $32k
UNM: accepted, Amigo in-state $16k + extra $2k merit; COA <$20k
Cleveland State: accepted, $7.2k merit, COA $25.8k
Montclair State: accepted + honors, $7k merit, COA $32k
CWRU: deferred, then WL ($20k merit estimate in WL notification)
Brown: denied
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S23- Hispanic/Caucasian male
Private school, Los Angeles
No test scores submitted, but national recognition scholar for PSAT
GPA- 3.75uw, 4.64w (grade deflating private school, max rigor)
6 APs, 60 units dual credit (AA degree), full honors schedule
ECs- 4 year varsity sport, honor societies, ample volunteer work, contributor to published research
Accepted:
UC Berkeley (attending)
UCD
UCSC
Cal Poly SLO (3k scholarship)
Cal Poly Pomona
University of Alabama (full tuition scholarship, first year room and board, stipend)
Purdue (10k scholarship)
University of Arizona (20k scholarship)
Waitlisted:
UCSD
UCI
Denied:
UCSB
UCLA
SDSU
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D23- suburban public school in TX. Ranked 6 of 412, 34 ACT (one sitting), GPA 4.5073 weighted, 3.917 unweighted. 13 APs. Three year varsity sport, 3 year newspaper editor, 6 year member of a service organization.
Accepted:
Baylor: honors + merit
UGA(EA): + merit
TAMU
UT Austin
Waitlisted:
Northwestern (legacy. did not ED)
Notre Dame
Rejected:
UNC
Stanford
Headed to Austin (College of Natural Sciences, Biology). Hook 'Em!
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