<p>Every year, at around this time, the "Chance Me" threads begin to proliferate as students try to assess the validity of their college lists and set expectations for the process. On a personal level, I have mixed feelings about the "Chance Me" posts. I can see how feedback can be helpful, but I also see how the majority of information that I would categorize as 'Completely Wrong' seeks to come from "Chance Me" initiated discussions. Additionally, those threads position themselves precariously: tempting even the most balanced towards an unhealthy attitude towards the application process.</p>
<p>To Tufts' Prospective Students: I encourage you not to get bogged down worrying about statistics. I believe, as an admissions officer and as a human being, that you are more than stats and a resume. Your identity, in its richness, will not be captured by the grades you can post here or the transcript you send to us. And although those are critically important pieces of your application, we look to admit students who are, in fact, more than stats and a resume. It is critical that your own identity remains easy for you to see throughout the process. Seeking guidance from other students about your stats alters the emphasis of the conversation in the wrong place and obscures the points of the applicant you do have control over: your essays and your recommendations. </p>
<p>It is important to create a college list with a mixed set of odds (reaches, targets, safeties) and these threads be used to begin to think of your list in appropriate terms. But each of you needs to KNOW that Tufts does not envision you, your future, or your personality through such a limiting lens - neither should you.</p>
<p>Good post, it's nice to see how the admissions officers at Tufts truly view us, the students - as people rather than numbers. In fact, this makes me feel even better about applying to Tufts; who would rather be treated as a file rather than a person?
I agree with the point that 'chance me' threads should only be used lightly in assistance to making a varied college list. After all, essays, recommendations, and other parts are considered, not just grades and a list of ECs. </p>
<p>Again, I'm REALLY glad to see that the admissions committee at Tufts sees the students as unique personas, not grades. After all, grades are only a part of me; the rest of me needs to be seen too!</p>
<h2>THANK YOU---It's so frustrating to see people with 3.9 GPA's and 2300 SAT's freaking out on this forum. It makes me start to get anxious. </h2>
<p>I completely agree with this. My roomie this past summer was freaking out because she had a 2350 SAT after her second try and she wanted to get it up to a perfect score. As you can imagine, it drove me ballistic and I began to question my own score (a 2240), which I had previously thought to be pretty good. It's incredibly nice to see people on the other side of this process who don't buy into this insanity and actually care about who we are as human beings. If this sort of sentiment/viewpoint is echoed in the general Tufts community, you bet I'll be applying.</p>
<p>Do I always write with so many typos? That original post is riddled with them! </p>
<p>A whole year elapses and my feelings on “Chance Me” threads remains basically the same. Understanding the odds is important when balancing your list of prospective schools, but I urge you to exercise your own judgement when receiving advice on how to build a better application from those threads. </p>
<p>Your application should reflect your values, your life, and your perspective - not just your GPA and scores. Please, don’t lose sight of that.</p>
<p>I’m so glad you wrote this post. The people who are responding to the Chance Me threads are not adcoms (at least they don’t appear to be) and therefore they are in no position to know what a prospective student’s chances are. If there is anything that I have learned about the process that my D went through last year, it is that the process is very unpredictable. What may seem like a low GPA or test scores may not, in the end, turn out to be the most relevant factor. The same with ECs. Some of my D’s friends got into top 10 rated schools with weak ECs, no community service, minimal if any awards, etc. The class of 2013 at Tufts does not consist of 100% of students in the top 10% of their class. Classes are made up of followers and leaders.
Some of the responses to these threads are unduly harsh. No student should be discouraged from applying as a result of these threads. The only one who may be in a position to weigh a student’s chances are his/her guidance counselor, who will be able to assess the student’s record against the other student’s from that school. That is the applicant’s immediate competition.
I really hope that students who post these threads take the responses with a grain of salt, and that they make their own decision, and not base it solely on what others think of their chances.</p>
<p>There’s been a big bump in number of Chance Mes on the Tufts boards lately; though I never comment on them, I do read them to get a sense of where the community is in terms of stress and what the misconceptions surrounding admissions are.</p>
<p>More often than not, I end up disagreeing with the replies within those threads: if not disagreeing with conclusions, then with the reasons. If you post to get chanced, remember that what you hear in response could be (and often is) well intentioned but still completely wrong. And if you are reading or replying those threads, please be aware that the circumstances in one student’s life or school could be wholly different from those of your own.</p>
<p>I have often wondered why students post so many “chance me” questions considering the the responses can come from anyone, including those who do not know much about the admissions process. I suspect some posters are just looking for a nod – sure, you’re in – so that they can feel better about a process that is out of their hands after the app is in. Or perhaps they are looking for affirmation. Those who are looking for an honest assessment are also taking a chance on how much the responder knows or doesn’t. </p>
<p>Tufts has done a good job in recent years of helping shed light on admissions – for example, its blog about admissions committee discussions is informative. But I also think the “you are not just a number” point (made by other universities also) needs to be accompanied by a reference to the avg SAT and GPA or something like that – the middle 50th percentile? Some universities tell students you are not just a number, but most of their admits score above 2200 on the SAT. I’m not sure what the best numerical indicator would be, but really the complete sentence should be something like “You are not just a number as long as you are in the SAT and GPA range of our admits.” OR, “You are not just a number, but it will be much more difficult to get in if your numbers are below X.”</p>
<p>^^^ Fair points. But the “you are not just a number” refers in part to how the numbers themselves are evaluated. Almost everywhere else in the world, you take some sort of exam and that exam determines whether or not you get in to University. You could argue that the SATs (or ACT) fulfill a similar role here in the US, but that ignores the way many school, including Tufts, choose to interpret those scores. Yesterday, I read an application of as student with SAT scores more than 100 points below our means in every SAT subject, but as a recent immigrant to the United States with no prior exposure to English, I’ll still be recommending her admittance. I’ve chosen a pretty extreme example to make my point - it’s still on my mind - but there are countless points of distinction that change the way we interpret and understand even the numerical, qualitative portions of the application. </p>
<p>When we admit below those averages, it is precisely because we believe a student is capable of being more than a number. </p>
<p>And in ED I fought like crazy for a “normal” applicant (no hooks of any kind) with similarly weak SAT scores because of how obviously smart she was. Her brilliance wasn’t captured by her test scores, but it was captured in other placed in her application. That weaker numbers make it harder to get in isn’t a secret, and admissions officers don’t pretend otherwise. The truth is: if your academic numbers are softer than our averages, you must make the case that you are <em>smarter</em> than those numbers. This is, actually, not an easy thing to accomplish. However, the idea that you are <em>more</em> than a test score is unequivocally part of the process for every single student at Tufts, regardless of what that score is.</p>
<p>Dan, if you’re still around…wait a mintue…aren’t you supposed to be reading RD applications until your eyes hurt?</p>
<p>But if you are still around, I wonder what you’d say about two reactions I have to most chance-me threads for selective colleges and universities.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>At competitive schools, lots of students with dossiers that are appropriate in every way (test scores, ECs, essays), still end up denied admission through no real fault of their own. Colleges don’t have infinite capacity. Fitting the statistical profile means you certainly have a shot. But if somebody tells you “you’re in,” it’s probably a meaningless opinion.</p></li>
<li><p>Whatever your first-choice college is, most successful adults did not actually attend it. Even if it’s always been your dream to go to [insert name of college], keep in mind that being denied does not necessarily reflect badly on you, or doom you to a lifetime of failure, misery and resentment. In fact, if you approach [college you end up attending] with an open mind, you’ll probably find that it has a lot to offer, and many of its graduates go on to lead happy, productive, gratifying lives.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Even for the one school I know well (child attended, parent council, know some staff), I don’t feel comfortable saying anything other than match or reach (50% or <5% chance, resp.), but I do offer those opinions on occasion. Most amusing are the high school students offering to chance each other. :)</p>
<p>^^Yes, I’ve never understood the high school students chancing each other. Particularly amusing are threads entitled: “Chance me and I’ll chance you back”!</p>
<p>Simply put, taking a person’s application entirely into account is exactly why I love Tufts. Well, one of the many (infinite?) reasons. After a long time searching, I feel like Tufts is a place where I’m a real person. Early Decision II!!! I’m so excited. :)</p>
<p>Also: With the essay questions for Tufts, I feel like it truly validates what Dan was saying. It’s really one of the only applications of its kind that really gets the applicant’s spirit going.</p>
<p>Completely true. It’s one of those realities that can be a comfort or a source of anxiety, depending on mindset and the time of year. It’d like to reiterate, however, that what it means to have an ‘appropriate dossier’ is not a fixed standard; it is influenced for each student by the particular quirks and realities of their schools and their lives. This is what makes the Chance Me feedback, even seemingly obvious feedback, so suspect. </p>
<p>As for your second point, about dream schools, I agree with that as well. An open mind and (more importantly) a willingness to get passionately interested in MANY schools is important. But encouraging this is often where admissions officers and college counselors fail to strike the right balance. We (collectively) talk endlessly about Fit, and that moment when you walk onto a college campus and it “just feels right.” The whole thing is likened, implicitly or explicitly, to dating or love. Describing a college visit as an opportunity to experience Love At First Sight (LAFS) runs opposite to keeping an open mind; how often does a Romantic Comedy end with each partner agreeing to be on the lookout for better options?</p>
<p>In the movies, there’s “the one,” but in real life, there isn’t. There’s the one you have a relationship with, whom you’ve chosen from a pool of suitable mates for a variety of reasons, including that he or she chose you, too. And then you go about having a relationship, trying to make life good together and better for each other.</p>