Merit is more than stats alone. That’s only the tip of the iceberg. Want a fiercely competitive college? Then you better realize that. Or you aren’t even thinking on that level, in the first place.
You want to be admitted based on stats, then apply to colleges that only look at stats.
This isn’t your high school, picking a val or who gets into NHS.
What even lets you think “merit” is just stats?
"Top factors in admissions decisions in order:
Grades
Strength of curriculum
Standardized test scores
GPA"
Aren’t GPA and Grades the same thing??
@londondad - I think not exactly. Grades in specific courses vs. a flat number that could include, say, gym and health.
Okay, got it. They don’t give grades for “Games” (i.e., Gym) in the UK.
@Suffer May I encourage you to read about “category admissions?” http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17885954/#Comment_17885954
And kids bumping out other kids:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17885743/#Comment_17885743
@HSP2019 I’m very familiar with Bakke. I also can view ethnicity stats of private colleges that coincidentally seem to remain relatively static from year to year. Thus my choice of the phrase “soft quotas”
Not sure what the point is in a string of random media articles. It feels like a highjack. It’s not understanding.
It’s hard to quantify- or even present in an analytical sense- how admissions operates. Certainly, journalists, writers, CC observers, parents, etc, are not there. They may get a slice and, as in the movie, Sleeper, are trying to build a whole from a piece, the nose.
After vetting for measure of academic success in hs and the same potential in college, this is a qualitative process. And the colleges get to choose per their self identity and sense of what builds their community. For elites, the kids who do best at admissions generally know more than their hs numbers and standing. Or their titles in hs clubs, etc. Or what they want to be when they grow up. Their field of vision is larger. They are able to view their college targets in perspective, understand their full match. Again, not just their own stats and how their one hs fawned over them.
And the privates are free to choose among those who do have this higher order of thinking and acting. But in the end, they cannot take them all. Anyone alert should see this, first and foremost. Not take their itty bitty views and try to construct a model of unfairness.
I honestly do not know what is meant by “their high-school role in that egg crate,” lookingforward, post #50. (I understand that it is a metaphor!) What I don’t understand is the view of high school students that it implies. It does not characterize students in the local schools, as far as I can tell, because I have not seen anyone thinking in that limited way. If the “egg crate” view were imposed on applicants from the local schools, it would distort reality.
Do other posters have high schoolers in “egg crates” where they live?
Something I am pretty sure that none of the elite college admission web sites say is “Your application is probably a yawner. Rethink it from scratch.” It might be helpful if they did.
I don’t want to hear anymore from the elite LACs that the only state they’re missing a student from is North Dakota. It’s a slap in the face for all top students to boil down their worth to where they live. Elite colleges have gotten way off track if that’s a top priority for them.
When my daughter was invited by a LAC to submit additional info to “optimize” her app, after deferral from ED2, a friend of mine suggested I simply write, “moved to North Dakota.”
High school is very much about conformity, QM. You have your limited, pre-set roles and you fit yourself into them. Whatever. I don’t see how it can be disputed. The system is what it is. One could offer some anecdotes of kids who try to run against the grain, but the brick and mortar k-12 system is very much about its expectations and performance per those. And the choices are limited.
adding, ND is not a priority for them. Geo diversity is.(Along with WY, North Dakota is a CC shorthand.)
I do appreciate that is the right answer to the question, @ucbalumnus . But where I come from, giving a third answer when presented with a binary choice is called “politics” 
Here’s a quote from What It Really Takes To Get Into The Ivy League by Chuck Hughes, former Senior Admissions Officer at Harvard:
Students often asked me if I’d rather see a student get a B in an AP class or get an A in an honors course. Like many admissions professionals, my sardonic response was always “Get an A in the AP class.” I would follow the quip with a smile and explain that colleges want to see students perform at the highest levels possible. If that meant getting a few B’s in AP courses, I would prefer those results every time;"
Ooh, Postmodern, I’m afraid that’s a bit of Admissions Speak, too. The reality is that, in the end, that one B, in a semi-finalist pool of 4.0uw kids, can be a liability. It depends on a few factors.
^^^ @lookingforward , are you suggesting that the same applicant would have been better off with an A in a lesser class and “not most rigorous” checked off by the guidance counselor?
Are you also suggesting that Mr. Hughes was not giving his true opinion? What would be the point of that?
I am not suggesting you are incorrect, I am asking because I am curious as to your logic.
Postmodern, yes but that doesn’t mean a high SES student from an excellent high school in a northeastern state or CA will be admitted with Bs in AP classes when there are many similar applicants with UW 4.0 taking those same classes. If the student with Bs has some other hook, perhaps, but not likely.
If the essay is so important in super elite admissions, it seems very hard for a kids that has great ideas, but is not a good writer to get admitted. I am not sure that a mundane essay will send a kid to the reject pile, if all else is good.
Is it not correct that the first read on applications puts those below a certain GPA/SAT score in the immediate reject pile (except perhaps for those with some special hook?). I can’t imagine an AdCom would waste more than 15 minutes on a kid with a 3.0 and low test scores from a wealthy district.
The reality is that it is exceedingly difficult for colleges to differentiate among 10s of thousands of applicants for a few thousand seats. That is what the OP was about. It may be depressing, but anyone that has been through the process and sees top students with great minds rejected from their top choices understands that. The good news is that there are many excellent schools where kids will do great that are just one or two notches down the prestige list where those super elite rejects go and excel. It may be depressing, but accepting that a kid will do great even if they don’t get into a top 10 school makes life so much less stressful for the student and his/her family.
》》I just hope not very many kids out there read this post. This post makes the entire admissions process look like a sick game. What the heck are we doing to our kids?《《
Good heavens, it’s a free country. There are thousands of colleges here. There’s no need to apply to any “elite” schools if you feel the system is “sick,” unfair, biased, etc. Find a school that will welcome you with open arms, hardly any questions asked, if that’s what you’re looking for. The fact is not everyone can get in to competitive universities. They have to decide somehow. Life isn’t fair - apparently some posters here didn’t get that memo.
I don’t recall anyone saying it did.
Also, we all agree there are many other factors related to who is ultimately admitted.
The response was to the binary choice. The binary choice that must be made before the class is taken and the results are known.
My opinion, which seems similar to Mr. Hughes, is that a student is far better off challenging themselves than playing it safe, and that the student who challenges himself and grows is easily the more desirable for admission than the one who does not.
QuantMech: Well said!! I wish too… elite colleges would say “90% of your applications are a yawn inducer”
I apologize if I offended anyone from the great state of North Dakota. But apparently, there are some golden tickets to elite LACS with North Dakota Resident stamped on them.
I have to say that for my son the process was truly holistic.
He is from a highly overrepresented minority though not from an overrepresented area.
Less than perfect GPA or scores but pretty good by any standard and with a highly rigorous curriculum.
He never touched a violin in his life though he did wield a tennis racket.
However his passion and drive and character showed in his other extracurricular activities,essays and letters of recommendation.