<p>What I’ve found (being lucky enough to have an extended family stretching across the country, with cousins in every geographic and intellectual climate imaginable) is that kids like that are a) from geographically underrepresented areas or b) from well-regarded high schools. My cousins at a top public school outside of Manhatten have peers accepted to Ivies left and right despite what CCers would call mediocre ECs. Some schools are known for their academic rigor and college prep, so a near-4.0 and loving teacher recs actually mean something. At other high schools without those well-established connections with Ivies (<em>coughmecough</em>), it takes something more extradinary than a pristine GPA to prove you’re ready for Ivy academics and culture.</p>
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<p>My favorite Chicago shirt: “If I wanted an A, I would have gone to Harvard” :)</p>
<p>I originally came on here to feel better about my own rejections (hey if amazing students with such great stats got rejected from Ivies, then well, I figured I don’t need to agonize over my rejections).</p>
<p>Reading everything posted is very interesting, especially dicussing the chances (geography, GPA, SAT scores, etc.).</p>
<p>I was also wondering (not sure if already posted), but SAT seems way more stressed in the chances than the ACT in admissions. </p>
<p>If a student with a 36 in the ACT got rejected and a student with a 2400 or close to it in the SAT got rejected, which one is more surprising or unsettling?</p>
<p>“My child got into Harvard, Princeton and Columbia this year. He is an excellent student with high test scores and NORMAL ECs. He is a dedicated, but not award winning musician, and has done well in Science Olympiad at the state and once at the national level.”</p>
<p>It’s not normal to have state and national-level achievements in Science Olympiad. If this is normal for the people whom your S hangs around with, it’s important to realize that compared to most students in this country, he has an extraordinarily accomplished peer group.</p>
<p>Most high school students don’t even get awards from their own high schools.</p>
<p>That quote also struck an odd tone for me. Why would a parent think state and national awards were run-of-the-mill accomplishments? My heart goes out to the son who succeeded with such scant praise or pride from mom.</p>
<p>^That’s because like 95% of chess players don’t even compete in tournaments, and of those 5% that do compete a lot of them can’t even get past regionals with top 5.</p>
<p>I’ve seen several posts quoting admit rates for 2400-scorers at various colleges, but little supporting data. Did I accidentally skim over the links? There is information on individual sections of the SAT for many colleges (ex. Amherst’s report <a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/181593[/url]”>https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/181593</a> ) but not the composite score. I’m very curious how much weight a perfect score actually has.</p>
<p>Considering that the 750-800 CR range has a 49% acceptance rate at Amherst, one can safely assume the 2400 acceptance rate is at least 50% (probably even higher).</p>
<p>Fauve–I showed your post to my son. He thought that it was hilarious that he had evoked your sympathy. My son, bless him, receives more praise and support than he knows what to do with. He has thanked us repeatedly for being down to earth and keeping him grounded. He chose his ECs based on what interested him, and not with a view to impressing future Ad coms. We did not even discuss college until the end of Junior year, much less plan ECs to impress colleges. My son is all the validation I need for my parenting skills—not because he got into good schools, but because he has grown into a well adjusted, caring young adult.</p>
<p>Thank you for that post. I needed that, and I’m feeling a lot better about my “situation” (it really isn’t even worth calling a situation) now. It’s nice to know others were in the same boat as me.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that’s not what the 49% means… The acceptance rate for the 750-800 CR is 467 people out of 1637, which equals about 28.5%. The 49% represents the percentage of the pool of accepted students that had a score within that range.</p>
<p>Not necessarily in defense of Cluelessmom2, her DS’s that achievement might come with little effort and therefore she thought it’s ordinary (so did he perhaps). For most kids, it’s extraordinary or impossible.</p>
<p>KevRus, U of Chicago is not just a great school, it is of the absolute highest elite in terms of academics. You shouldn’t just be thinking “I’m going to a good school anyway, should be happy” - you’re going to be amidst scholars who think about things that will boggle your mind. If I may humbly suggest, please forget who got accepted or rejected for a moment, and remember that U of Chicago academics are really second to nothing if you’re going to be majoring in something they’re good at (many options there). I have plenty of criticisms of how admissions work, but let’s not forget that getting admission is a matter of stuff working out, but the wealth of things at most of these schools whose names we’ve juggled is incredible.</p>
<p>@lake42ks,
My son did put a lot of effort into it…and I appreciated his dedication. But he did it because he ENJOYED it, and he was representing his school and team. I feel that the craziness that I see when it comes to ECs is disturbing, because it makes these young applicants stress out and constantly feel as though they are lacking. My son stayed true to himself, and did not seek any leadership positions in the Science Club at his school, of which Science Olympiad is a part, because such a position would have made him uncomfortable. So he contributed in a way that came naturally to him. The Adcoms apparently were not put off by his lack of leadership. That is my point. My advice to the applicants who read these forums is: Do what comes naturally to you. Enjoy what you do. Your authenticity will shine through. It worked for my son.</p>
<p>Wholeheartedly agree with this last post. Just be advised that those who are passionate about their e.c.'s often end up “obsessing” over them due to internal, not external motivation or goals. Some people (perhaps not you) equate mega-achievement with self-conscious attempts to please & to gain at the expense of personal happiness. You probably don’t make that confusion (my D is very much like your S in that regard – not “forcing” the leadership aspect!), but many, many parents on CC assume that overachievers “lost their childhood,” were driven to it by helicopter parents or controlling parents, etc. Some people achieve for the love of it. :)</p>
I needed that, and I’m feeling a lot better about my “situation” (it really isn’t even worth calling a situation) now. It’s nice to know others were in the same boat as me.</p>