this was very insightful, wow! thank you so much!!
I think michaeluwill nailed it. (My GD had a very similar profile a couple of years ago and thatâs what her results looked like.) It will really be interesting to see what your choices are when the dust settles. Best of luck.
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I think you are right. My daughter graduated in 2021 with similar stats and was accepted at Middlebury, Colby, and Colgate among others. She did not get into any ivys. Let us know how acceptances go.
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Interesting . . . Same thing here. No Ivies, no Williams or Amherst, but accepted at Middlebury, Colby, Wesleyan, and Tufts.
My D graduated in 2020 and applied to many of the same schools when most schools were not test-optional. She submitted 1460 (770V/690M) to all schools and had a 4.0 GPA (UW). Her results at the schools that overlap with OP: accepted to Williams, Middlebury (deferred ED1), and Colby; denied from Bowdoin and Wesleyan. We were surprised by the Wesleyan result, expected a WL or acceptance. She was a pointy humanities/arts applicant from an NYC school that has lots of applicants to Wes like her and far fewer who apply to Williams.
Same on Amherst for my daughter. No Tufts for my daughter either but test optional doubled the number of kids applying from our school and Tufts only took the one ED candidate. I have one more kid to get through this process and I will encourage him to apply ED to a non ivy. So many smart kids out there.
Completely agree with your comment. My GD had a perfect 36 on her ACT, grade grades, and good ECs. She got into a couple of T20s that I didnât mention, but getting rejected or WLâd at half a dozen Ivies/Ivy+ and little Ivies did drive home the point that youâre making.
Anyone applying to schools with less than a 10-15% acceptance rate has to consider those schools a reach. And I mean anyone. Several years ago, the president of U of Chicago said that if they removed their entire incoming freshman class and replaced them with the next group of applicants, no one would be able to tell the difference.
G
As you said, so many smart kids out there. The number of high school graduates is increasing every year until it peaks in 2025. The number of landing spots is finite, so itâs only going to get worse. Itâs all about the numbers.
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If you are curious, note that U.S. News provides selectivity ranks for most of the schools to which you applied (my copy is one year out-of-date, however). These were the ranks for the NLACs on your list:
ď¸4. Amherst
ď¸5. Hamilton
ď¸5. Williams
ď¸8. Bowdoin
ď¸16. Colby
ď¸19. Middlebury
Connecticut College: N/A
Note that 223 schools appeared in this category.
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This is intriguing, but Iâm confused what this means exactly
U.S. News assigns a selectivity rank to every school in the overall top 50 in its two national categories. By its methods, Amherst registered as more difficult to get into than Middlebury, for example. Of note, USN has chosen to estimate selectivity by âstudent excellence.â That is, it uses standardized test and high school performance profiles, but not acceptance rates, as its criteria for difficulty of admission. Ties are possible. This information appears in the print edition of its college guide.
Since you appear curious, you may want to see the selectivity ranks for the NUs on your list (keep in mind that my copy of USN is one year out-of date):
ď¸ 5. Stanford
ď¸12. Dartmouth
ď¸16. Brown
ď¸23. Cornell
ď¸26. Tufts
ď¸41. Northeastern
ď¸41. UMichigan
UConn: N/A
Note that 389 schools appeared in this category.
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I noticed that it said the acceptance rate for Middlebury was 22%, but that was the rate for 2019-2020. Last year it was 15%. Just fyi.
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Do you fully understand high school performance profiles and do you wonder about its accuracy? I like this list, but am confused by the non-test score part. Also, wonder how even tests are handled with Bowdoin and other test optional schools.
Itâs interesting but important to note only represents the USNâs unique definition of âselectivityâ which I would argue the majority of colleges do not share.
The USN methodology reduces âselectivityâ to a ranking of SAT score weighting at elite colleges, which is bi-directional: 1) high SAT apps want to attend high SAT colleges, and 2) colleges that weight the SAT more heavily tend to accept more high SAT students. Princeton is the 14th âmost selectiveâ, in part, because they decline 75% of perfect SAT applications and are more holistically selective.
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It appears you have the current edition of USN. Did they drop the high school class standing component of selectivity, which was used in prior years?
OP- congrats on such a fine HS record and on your acceptances!
To folks outside of the area- Parentologistâs analysis is quite spot on re: U Conn. I donât need to give you a geography lesson for you all to remember that CT is a small state where you can live in Stamford and be closer to a bunch of colleges in NY and NJ than you are to Storrs, where U Conn is. I havenât done the math- but there are probably 30 colleges closer to Stamford than the state flagship. And if you are in Hartford (which is close to Storrs) you are also an easy drive to another 20? 30? colleges in Massachusetts, and if you live in New London youâve got URI a quick drive up 95. All this means is that kids in CT tend to cast a wide net- even if they want to stay within a two hour drive from home- which means going out of state (which is just as popular in CT as it is in other parts of the country).
This is what U Connâs yield means-- that in-state kids have lots and lots of options, and if the money lines up correctly, they go elsewhere even though virtually every instate kid I know applies to U Conn. Numerator, denominator. Not a knock on the educational quality, not a knock on the diverse majors offered, not a knock on the quality of the student body. But if you live in a state where most HS seniors who are going to college apply to the flagship (because their GC insists on it) and yet you are surrounded by other colleges- private colleges in CT, public AND private in the neighboring states, you end up with lots of choices which in many cases means ânot U Connâ.
OP- ignore these yield discussions, based on what youâve posted I would not hesitate to seriously consider any place youâve applied to if indeed you and your parents can make the finances work. All terrific choices, all of them will get you wherever you want to go, you are going to be able to take advantage of so many wonderful opportunities at each and every college you get accepted to. Bravo!!! I hope you get a chance to visit some of your choicesâŚ
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I do not. But Iâve read your thread where others already pointed out that the SAT is the most heavily weighted component in the USN selectivity metric â and the same counterpoints stand whether itâs 100% SAT or 70% SAT / 30% class rank or 30% SAT / 70% rank: that the USN methodology solely uses objective criteria for its measure of âselectivityâ. Which I have no problem with, per se, other than the fact that people should understand the context⌠and the fact that few colleges would view selectivity that way. Princeton would argue they are more selective by incorporating more holistic criteria, not less. And I think thatâs valuable info for the OP when considering the USN rankings you provided.
If you do not have access to USN, itâs unclear on what you might have based this.
It is based on the thread you started to discuss the USN selectivity rankings. Although Iâm not sure how this aside is anything but a non sequitur.
That ranking no longer comports with the original source. As a result of a CC format change, sequential numbering superseded prior content. For example, 7 schools appeared tied for 5th in the original form of the post.
Well, significant aspects of a relatively straightforward post were subsequently misrepresented, partly through the introduction of a school (Princeton) to which the OP did not apply.
That made a lot of sense, thank you for the excellent insight! Iâm from fairfield county so I am indeed far away from uconn and should have probably taken into account the distance though i suppose an hour and a half isnât too bad haha