<p>does make a little more sense now.</p>
<p>My son came home yesterday and told me about a kid at his school who had gotten into his dream school EA. It turns out the kid pulled his other applications after getting the acceptance and now is having second thoughts as to whether the dream school is still the dream. It could be a simple case of buyer’s remorse now that he sees friends getting to make choices. But I know I’ve also read here that the kid who applies in September may not be exactly the same kid when making the final decision in April; a lot of growth can happen during that senior year. So, I think that is something else to keep in mind both when putting together a college list and deciding about withdrawing apps after receiving an acceptance.</p>
<p>eireann: re, your comments about the top 10%: many, many high schools no longer rank students, and so don’t provide information to colleges about whether kids are in the top tenth. At some colleges, like the ones you named, the percentage of applicants from non-ranked schools can be around 50%. So turning percentages into actual numbers doesn’t work out.</p>
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<p>Yes. Many “prep” high schools may have small enrollments, and possibly also have selective admission policies, and they don’t rank at all. So it’s not at all clear from Common Data Set figures what class rank is “enough” at a high school with no official class rank to get into a highly selective college.</p>
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<p>Exactly, 2blue. Kids can change their minds or have second thoughts between the fall and the spring. My D and one of her friends were so high on Columbia in the fall, but had changed their minds by the spring (both WL, so no harm done to anyone else’s chances ;)).</p>
<p>Plus, finances can change so drastically in this time of uncertainty.</p>
<p>I don’t believe kids should collect acceptances as they would trophies. But there can be good reasons to keep an application open, even if you get into what you think will be your #1 or #2 choices.</p>
<p>POIH, S1 also benefited from the extremely tough schedule at his very competitive HS – there were schools that recognized it and accepted him (and some gave merit $$). At the two Ivies to which he applied, I think the lower GPA <em>did</em> make a difference for him, despite a stronger schedule. However, he spent far more time and effort on the Chicago/MIT apps than he did on Harvard/Cornell (where he used Common App), so that may have made a difference as well. Finally, H & C may have concluded he was just too good a fit at other schools and made a yield management decision. Who knows. It didn’t matter.</p>
<p>I recall that your D also earned some very nice hardware for herself – that can go a long way for an applicant who has great test scores and essays/recs, but whose grades may be a little bit lower, reflecting the difficulty of the schedule. She has every reason to be proud. We would have just done it a little differently at our house.</p>
<p>I can only hope S2 does as well with his college list when it’s his turn!</p>
<p>It doesn’t work for everyone, however. D’s friend took an insane number of AP’s and her grades suffered for it, although I’m sure that she was still in the top decile. She also racked up her share of awards, although not in the sciences. She was waitlisted at 6 elite universities - she started calling herself the waitlist queen. She ignored all the waitlists and is now happily attending an elite women’s college.</p>
<p>I don’t think she would have done it differently, however, even if someone had told her that high GPA was more important than academic rigor. She took the AP’s because she knew she’d be bored in the regular classes. I don’t think that there’s any magic bullet in college admission. Given that, make your class choices based on your interests and abilities. Find EC’s that make you happy. Apply to colleges you like in a wide range of selectivity. Love the schools that love you, pick one, and thrive.</p>
<p>Didn’t DadII once bemoan that his D only had a “decent” ACT – at a 34? In the same way, this poster probably does see his daughter as somehow average considering the bar that seems to be set.</p>
<p>MarinMom, I definitely agree – both my kids have taken AP classes because that’s where the students who care about school tend to congregate. If the work isn’t challenging, they find it hard to stay motivated. Esp for S1, if he’s not engaged, forget about it.</p>
<p>I haven’t followed OP as closely as some people here. I am going to ask this question - there are many students that have taken the hardest courses possible (my daughter included), had 4.0 GPA, very good SAT scores, and didn’t do anywhere close to how OP’s daughter did. It is luck if his daughter just got into once of those top schools, but there must be something else if she was able to get into majority of them. I would like to hear from OP on what he thinks were his daughter’s hooks. Did kids at her school do just as well?</p>
<p>OP can perhaps fill in more, but as far as I remember:</p>
<ul>
<li>elite prep school.</li>
<li>huge number of APs (14) and 3 post-AP college courses.</li>
<li>girl interested in engineering.</li>
</ul>
<p>I think if we get too much into hooks, it can become personally identifying. Suffice it to say she clearly has worked hard to get where she is!</p>
<p>This thread is then a bit misleading because clearly OP’s daughter is not a sub par candidate, she had a lot more going for her than just her grades, similar to star athletes.</p>
<p>Sorry, but having a kid at a “highly competitive prep school” doesn’t strike me as being average, especially when you throw in the APs, etc. That’s like saying Derek Jeter is an average hitter relative to the other NY Yankees (he is) but compared to the other shortstops in the rest of the majors and minors, it doesn’t hold water. I fear holding this student out as “average” can be disheartening to those students who don’t have the record/advantages of this individual. Sorry, but this post strikes me as nothing but grandstanding.</p>