<p>I've had some talks with my counselor about this one college where I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to go to (I applied early and was deferred), and her answers aren't making a lot of sense. Here're some examples:</p>
<p>Counselor in October: I think you'll be deferred, but I think you've got a good shot at regular admission.
Counselor now: You don't have a very good chance; less than 40%. (my stats have not changed at all btw)</p>
<p>Counselor: The admissions committee won't really take the fact that you skipped 11th grade into consideration.
Admissions person: We would definitely see skipping a year as challenging yourself and taking initiative.</p>
<p>Is it just me, or do these seem sort of contradictory? I'm so confused!!! Please let me know if you have any opinions. ^_^ Thanks so much everyone!!
~Brit*</p>
<p>My counselor isn't very informative of admission process. He said that I should get into Mary Washington's ''honor program.'' But there isn't one.</p>
<p>My counselor is trying her best but with 220 students she has to help with college applications, she is pverstressed and can not really help me.</p>
<p>In the first case, the GC has obviously changed his/her mind. That doesn't make a lot of sense but I guess it happens to everybody.</p>
<p>In the second case, both views make logical sense. However, I did some research (on CC threads, also) earlier in the year and came to the conclusion that your GC is probably right. It would seem that your SAT scores need to be just as high to be accepted even if you are skipping a year, and you have a year less to work on your EC's. However, my coming to that conclusion doesn't mean I'm right. It probably differs from adcom to adcom in how they view skipping a year. However, an admissions officer encouraging you to apply isn't the most sacred advice. Adcoms are taught to encourage everybody to apply.</p>
<p>perhaps your gc looked more closely at the stats for your particular school and saw that chances for deferees really aren't very good. and i would say that 40% is pretty good. did you send in more info to the school?</p>
<p>gc's can only make generalizations.. they cant be intimately familiar with every school their students apply to.</p>
<p>It depends on the type of schools you go to. If your school is known for sending ___ # of students to XYZ university, of course your GC is going to be familiar with the admissions process there and will likely provide you an accurate estimation of your admissions chances based on past data.
[quote]
Counselor: The admissions committee won't really take the fact that you skipped 11th grade into consideration.
Admissions person: We would definitely see skipping a year as challenging yourself and taking initiative.
[/quote]
Yes some schools will see your skipping a grade as a sign of your maturity and what not while others would handle the situation differently. However, the former situation is usually an exception (e.g. Simon's Rock College). Though, if you have demonstrated considerable mastery of your subjects and have ousted your school's offerings, then I don't see why you would be disadvantaged in terms of academics. </p>
<p>And again, as dufus mentioned:
[quote]
you have a year less to work on your EC's.
[/quote]
So there is a certainy balancing act, depending on where you apply!!!! </p>
<p>In other words, take your GC's words with a grain-of-salt with more obscure colleges that deviate from YOUR school's norm since GC's are more knowledgable with what is common.</p>
<p>just like in any profession there is a varying degree of skill level. i know a guidance councellor (not at my school unfortunately) taht went to the national convention of guidance councellors. needless to say, he knows more about college admissions than colleges usually do. but then there are GC's that thing that u should chooose a school by walking into the school store and trying on a sweater (that GC's at my school, unfortunately).</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that I know more about college admissions than my gc (...or anyone else in my school, for that matter) because I've been researching on CC for practically a year. There's so much great information that I've absorbed on here, and it kinda surprises me when people at my school have no idea about a great deal of the admission process. I guess I never realized that I've acquired a lot of specialized knowledge here. </p>
<p>For example, most of my friends are in the top decile/vals of our school, yet had no idea what a Common App was, or the fact that URMs had better chances of admits, or that SAT2s were mandatory in most selective schools, or that college essays should be "personal", not the scholarly, use-big-words-to- impress-people essays that teachers brainwash their students into writing their entire high school careers. Most people think Ivy League is an adjective describing any school that's hard to get into. The gc's seem to promote some of these misconceptions, too.</p>
<p>During a session with my gc, I mentioned that I was thinking about withholding my race on my apps because I was asian, and she had no idea why I would even consider doing that. I had to explain the whole ORM thing to her. (though I did check the race box in the end...honesty's the best policy.)</p>
<p>But I guess you can't blame her. She deals with ~400 kids at a large public high school where the majority of kids go to the nearest public state university. It's understandable that she doesn't have as much info regarding highly selective schools. I'm assuming the situation is better at private, competitive high schools?</p>
<p>Like anything else, you get what you pay for. While there are exceptions, you will generally find very knowledgeble councelors at top private schools that send 10% plus to top schools and less informed, overworked counselors who can't possibly keep track of every stat at every school for the last 4 years. If your counselor works with over 100 kids, keep reading CC!!</p>
<p>I think GC's are more concerned with other stuff than college admissions anyway. They have to deal with discipline problems, irate parents, bureaucracy, ....</p>