Not all in-state publics are affordable to all families. We could barely manage Community College plus 2 years @ State Flagship.
Some students with top-end stats may find that a school that is not an in-state public but offers a big merit scholarship for stats may be a better safety if they live in a state with poor in-state financial aid.
Those materials are sent to every student with somewhat matching stats and has absolutely no correlation with admission results.I donāt think Stanford will send marketing materials to a āCā student with low test score but from those with almost perfect stats who receive them only fraction will be admitted.
What the heck does being in the same athletic league have to do with anything? You could apply to Rutgers, UMN, Michigan, and Northwestern ā all in the same league, but very different locations and a range of selectivity.
@midwest67 But that only goes to show with unlimited application options that is what was available to you, so how did you miss out? Your chances would have been enhanced if colleges receive fewer applications. Under the current system all the cards are in the hands of the universities and colleges, they are in this āgameā to benefit themselves not the kids and their familiesā¦
I know that these posts on CC tend to go off in a hundred different directions. Itās part of what I love about CC.
But I politely ask as not to scare and overload the OP, that we really try to stay somewhat on topic.
I donāt feel that discussing what is affordable, marketing techniques and discussions of limiting applications is particularly helpful to the OP. But if you would like to discuss those topics, please make a separate post where you will probably have lots of lively discussion.
Iād like to have this discussion stay somewhat on topic so that it can be a learning experience for those in the same situation.
@3littlebirds, know you are not alone in what happened. This happens and it a great learning experience for many. It will add a lot of value for those parents now trying to make a college application list.
@inparent because it stops people applying to every Ivy for example.
@deb922 Unlimited applications are precisely the reason @3littlebirds found themselves in the position they did. Someone up thread applied to 23 colleges, the whole system gets choked with speculative applications.
Someone posted about getting shut out, so it is not just a theoretical possibility:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2066463-what-do-i-do-now-not-accepted-anywhere.html
@deb22,
future applicants, and their parents NEED to know that
1] colleges use Enrollment management companies to send out mailings to high scoring students in order to encourage them to apply to a college
and
2] receiving tantalizing material from a college does NOT mean they have a better chance of acceptance, let alone if they should even add that college to their list.
NO student should apply to a college simply because it sends out that material, but I 'll bet you that many top scoring students do. Iāll also bet that most are not aware of enrollment management companies and the effect of their efforts have on the increase of applications to highly selective colleges.
That is the reason it is important to refute erroneous ideas that are posted on CC on the thread where the post is madeā¦
To Educate future students and their parents.
It may not help the OP, but it may help others in the future .
Re. Post 171
@ucbalumnus, you nailed it:
āBut most top-end students do not want to go to schools like University of Alabama Huntville, Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University, or Tuskegee University.ā
My ātop statsā kid did want to go to UAH, but most ātop statsā students eschew schools like that, unfortunately.
Just heard a lovely story of a young person who didnāt get into MIT, the dream school, but is super happy at 'Bama. Good for said student for āexpanding the territoryā!
If you donāt know any top end kids who want to go to UAH and its ilk, you must hang out in some pretty affluent or lucky circles.
I know top end kids who have graduated from CUNY (yes, the much maligned, formerly open admissions CUNY-- whether Baruch or City College), Binghamton, branches of other state Uās that youāve never heard of, U Mass Lowell and Boston, etc. Why? Sometimes because of finances (most of the time). But also because of an ill parent and younger siblings (who wants to be 2500 miles away when mom is getting chemo and radiation?) Or a recent divorce and the idea of toggling between TWO homes from a distance seems daunting- better to be local and not to have to split up vacations. And again- finances.
Who started the trope that being a high end kid meant you couldnāt/shouldnāt attend Macauley for free, instead of bankrupting your family just as child number two was graduating from HS?
@menloparkmom "future applicants, and their parents NEED to know that
1] colleges use Enrollment management companies to send out mailings to high scoring students in order to encourage them to apply to a college
and
2] receiving tantalizing material from a college does NOT mean they have a better chance of acceptance, let alone if they should even add that college to their list.
NO student should apply to a college simply because it sends out that material, but I 'll bet you that many top scoring students do. Iāll also bet that most are not aware of enrollment management companies and the effect of their efforts have on the increase of applications to highly selective colleges."
I do totally agree with what you said above.But in our situation when the fifth plus material started to letters about generous financial aid, invitation to be a student for a day, ā¦ open house, show tourā¦ from the same school again and again that one should pay attention. If this is just paid material,why the same school sent more than the other and more detail and detail than general. If we had to apply very college that send us the material, the application list would have been over 200.
The mail means nothing. We get beautiful mail from places like Williams and Duke and understated letters from Yale (with no photos at all! Just a letter that some people might think is actually personalized but I know better that it is not.)
S19 is receiving all of this only because of his PSAT score. He DOES, however, also receive emails directly from some admissions officers that heās met at his high school or at college fairs. Those are the only communications that we know are personally for him as they are specific enough and heās met these people personally.
Sorry, no. It is spit out by a computer based on scores. The college knows nothing about your child. Why do some stores send you more catalogs and mailers than other stores? Itās part of their marketing strategy and they want your business based on your demographics. Itās great that it worked out for your child ā and it worked out for the college that marketed to him and he ended up going to. But the marketing was not personal.
My kid got at least 20 increasing more āpersonalā junk mail from Wash U STā¦at least. She was not a competitive applicant for the school. God knows why they wasted the paper and postage.
I quipped she should applyā¦and include the mailings, and a cover letter that started something like this :
As you can see, your college feels Iām the PERFECT student for your school. Attached is my application.
Kid declined to do,thisā¦but I think it might have turned some heads in admissions!
Seems to be driven by fear that a CUNY graduate would not be recruited or considered by desired employers who recruit at other schools based on perceptions of the other schools being āmore rigorousā.
@suzyQ7 Wowāour Naviance account only shows data from the past couple of years. But, you are absolutely rightāit can be deceptive. DS had good grades, tho not tippy top, excellent ECs, but is a poor standardized test taker (only SAT I math was respectable). Got into his 50% acceptance rate school without sending any test scores because they were not required. HOWEVER, when you look at the scattergram for his college, there is his little green checkmark with his GPA, SAT scores and his (gulp) 20 ACT. Iām sure there are more than a few people looking at that scattergram and scratching their heads, wondering how he got in LOL
@blossom, not sure if youāre talking to me, but I live in a low income neighborhood, 89% non-white at the local high school, where most kids either donāt go to college, go to the local community college or go to the local Cal State. I know exactly one family other than my kids in my neighborhood that went to a selective school.
If you were talking about College Confidential, then yes, I think many on this site eschew places like UAH. People in my area have never heard of it.
After going through this with two kids (in the middle of it with my second) I now feel like in some ways it is a bit easier with a lower-stat kid because on paper your higher-stat kid COULD be a candidate for any school.
My high-stat DD (1550 SAT, 4.0UW/4.94W, All honors and 6 APs, one primary time-consuming EC but part-time job and other less signifianct ECs) is not having the admission success she would have hoped for.
Sheās in at 3 schools (that weād classify as admissions safeties but I think they are all wonderful schools) with decent merit money so she has somewhere to go but the challenge is these are the schools sheās now the least excited about - which as others have noted can be the challenge with high-stats kids. Based upon results so far we are not optimistic that any of the remaining decisions will play out as acceptances but weāll find out by next Wednesday.
Tufts
Cornell
Penn
Bucknell
Georgetown - DEFFERRED in EA but since Georgetown doesnāt reject during EA expecting this to be an RD rejection
Johns Hopkins - REJECTED
UVa (out of state for us) - REJECTED
Lehigh - WAITLISTED (this was the biggest surprise, given her stats, demonstrated interest and my alumni status we thought this would be a solid yes for her)
Penn State - ACCEPTED with merit, did not apply to Schreyers
Maryland - ACCEPTED with merit and Honors College
Ohio State - ACCEPTED with merit, did not apply to Honors College
Hopefully I can get her excited about one of her current acceptances. I have also asked our Guidance Counselor to reach out to the Lehigh admissions rep to see if she can get any feedback about whether something was lacking in her application. My daughter waived her right to read her recommendations, however (as is true for all students Iām sure) she thought she was asking teachers who have a favorable view of her and would write a good letter.
So all that I guess to say that this is just a hard process and having a high-stat kid does not necessarily make it easier.