<p>Just last year, a few of my younger sister's friends had the following happen. </p>
<p>Applicant one
Had 4.0 GPA but zero AP/Honors nor any attempt to take a rigorous curriculum. SAT score was in the 1800s. Not a lot of ECs from what my sister could see. Ethnicity: Mixed white/asian
Accepted: Cornell, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCI. </p>
<p>Applicant two
Had 2370 SAT score, UW GPA of 3.9 and W GPA of 4.5. But cookie-cutter ECs such as club president. Ethnicity: Persian.
Rejected: HYS, UCB, UCLA, UCSB
Highest school accepted to was UC Davis. But wrote an appeal to Berkeley and got in.</p>
<p>Applicant three
Got many C's in Freshmen year. GPA increased greatly to 3.7 UW in Jr. year. Had some AP/Honors, not many ECs. SAT was in the 1900s. Ethnicity: Asian
Accepted: USC, UCSD, Vasser, NYU</p>
<p>Applicant four
Pretty much standard 3.8 UW, 4.3 or so W, 2000 SAT, varsity sports player. Ethnicity: Black
Accepted: Yale, Stanford</p>
<p>What’s creepy is you know all these peoples’ GPAs, SATs and lists of accepted schools. Man, I’m gonna have to tell my kid to keep this stuff under wraps. I don’t think there was a single person who knows the list of schools I was admitted to or my scores while I was in HS.</p>
<p>Am I the oddball or nuts? This list was private and I never knew what schools my friends rejected or were rejected by – only where they decided to attend.</p>
<p>T26E4, I think we’re in the same boat. My ds who is a senior asked us that we NOT tell anyone (especailly grandparents), his GPA, SAT scores or where he is applying. He plays things close to the vest and doesn’t want to be like others we know who post tmi (too much information) on Facebook. I told him what one of his classmates scored on the SAT and he asked how I knew. I told him the kid’s mother’s friend posted it on Facebook…It was a very good score but there were many higher in our area.
My son said that very few of his circle talk about where they are applying or compare scores. Obviously from NMSF status, you can tell who did well on the PSAT and likely the SAT but my son said he only shared his SAT score with one classmate and only because they had a lunch bet over who would score higher…</p>
<p>To me, these examples just show how arbitrary college admissions can be. It is not just a formula of grades, test scores and ECs. One of these applicants might have had an unusual academic interest that fits the college’s needs, or an exceptional essay, or a special circumstance that explains lower numbers.</p>
<p>T26E4, yeah, I agree. No one actually knows my rank, SATs, or GPA. (The kids in the class of '13 know my SAT, but that’s it.) I don’t tell people those things. . . The only thing people know is what schools I’ve been accepted to.</p>
<p>1)Everyone will know where you’ll go to college.
2)Grades of the best are hardly private. Everyone knows who the valedictorians are. It is not hard to get an idea of other people’s scores. So much talk about this subject.
3)SAT scores are also hardly under wraps. The people who get high PSAT scores are invited to National Merits, which is public. SAT scores were openly and honestly discussed. There were even parents who would tell other parents about their children’s good or “unacceptable” SAT score. </p>
<p>In my year, everyone knew about everyone else. There are far more secretive aspects of life to keep from prying eyes.</p>
<p>I’ll be pretty open now about this. I was from Northern Cal and I knew the scores of almost everyone, where they were accepted to, and where they attended. In my year, people would post this stuff on AIM (probably not used now) as they got the results. Even more remarkably, no one would refuse if asked about such information. At the end of the year, there was always a list on the school newspaper as to who went where for college. </p>
<p>Are the people above me homeschooled?</p>
<p>I mean, the definition of creepy is frightening.</p>
<p>What can someone do by knowing your SAT score, where you got accepted to, or where you go to school? Even addresses and phone numbers are public knowledge these days.</p>
<p>BFS: I guess it must be a culture thing. I attended the top magnet school of my large urban district. I my graduating class of ~200 all attended college, about 1/3 going to UMich and a handful to Ivies and other “prestigious” schools. I was the lone attendee of an HYP school. There was just no culture of comparing mine vs. yours. Everyone hoped everyone else did well. I had literally no idea what schools others applied to. And I can honestly say I knew not a single persons’ ACT or SAT – nor do I ever recall telling mine.</p>
<p>I guess I have to be satisfied to say that: That was your experience and mine was different.</p>
<p>Where I’m from discussing SAT scores and GPA and things like that are pretty common, not really a privacy concern. I know what scores the top students have pretty much, and a lot of people post their results on Facebook.</p>
<p>Where I live people don’t really care about or talk about GPAs and scores much. They’ll tell you what they got if you ask, but it’s not a common topic for conversation.</p>
<p>Test scores, gpas, class rank etc. are not a secret at my school at all. I could probably tell you the top 30 students in my class right now without having ever been formally told, but just from hearing people talk about their’s and others’ ranks. I also know most of my friends and classmates’ ACT and SAT scores because people at my school love to talk about it and brag. Besides, it’s pretty easy to guess who would have a high gpa and test scores based on what classes they take, and their grades which are also not a secret. As for what colleges people are accepted and applied to, we actually keep a list outside the office to post copies of acceptance letters! I would not find it at all creepy if someone I didn’t know very well knew my stats.
But maybe that’s just because us high schoolers are so used to sharing every aspect of our lives through social media…</p>
<p>In my school, no one knew others GPA or test scores except those who got the highest in our class on the SAT or ACT. Lastly, we really only knew where others were going, not where they got in and/or got rejected from except for a few of my very close friends; we talked about that.</p>
<p>I think these examples show that even if you think you know everything about another student’s credentials, you probably have no clue about their lives and what was included in their applications. Perhaps one of these students who seemed to be accepted a to a school beyond his qualifications had overcome a difficult family or personal situation in a way that impressed his counselor and led to a sterling recommendation with detail about his fortitude and perseverance. Perhaps one who seemed destined for greater things exhibited a poor attitude in class that led to “damning with faint praise” recommendations from teachers. Or, as the classic example goes, maybe one was or wasn’t an oboe player. You simply don’t know. I recommend that students avoid trying to analyze others’ credentials, which are actually none of their business, but instead concentrate on their own.</p>
<p>Maybe it was an issue of who applied for financial aid and who didn’t at schools that are not need blind. Maybe one of them didn’t do the “optional” components of the application. Maybe gender balancing played a role. Maybe one knocked their interview out of the park, while another blew it. Maybe one has some great summer program experience that you don’t even know about. Maybe they aren’t even telling the truth about some component (GPA, scores, acceptances, etc.) that you have no way of verifying.</p>
<p>This is why you will keep getting the recommendation out here to apply to several schools, and pick a range of reach, match, and safety schools that you can be happy with. Because pretty much anything can happen in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Pretty much everyone I know now knows my test scores and GPA, because I accidentally posted my chances thread to Facebook (I know I’m an idiot). That was utterly humiliating.</p>
<p>I do share my test scores and GPA with my friends, and everyone I know talks about these things. Most of my friends aren’t as college-obsessed as I am, but when I went to a summer government program everyone was constantly sharing their GPA, SAT scores, ECs and how many APs they were taking. I found it a little strange, to be honest, and I was a little insecure that I wasn’t as good as the others. But I don’t mind letting my good friends share in my excitement when I do well or comfort me when I did badly.</p>
<p>Within our community, parents talk freely about scores and schools, and ask as well. I’ve not asked, but have been asked and answer accurately.</p>
<p>At our DS’ school, seems that most students freely discuss grades, GPAs, scores, and schools.</p>
<p>Regarding OP’s posted stats: proves that college application acceptances are crapshoot, with high-achieving white girls and asian “A” students facing the stiffest competition. In regards to Midwest LACs’ admissions, I suspect there’s a 3-point ACT spread between non-URL men vs women, and that URL men probably get a significant bump up in acceptances merely for applying.</p>
<p>Very true. I know of many white females with great stats who were rejected to all their dream schools despite having pretty strong stats. Asians are even worse off on average. </p>
<p>I’m certainly not going to debate any of this, but as of now, it’s almost expected that the standard 2400/4.0 asian is turned down by HPYS.</p>
Maybe gender balancing played a role. Maybe one knocked their interview out of the park, while another blew it. Maybe one has some great summer program experience that you don’t even know about. Maybe they aren’t even telling the truth about some component (GPA, scores, acceptances, etc.) that you have no way of verifying.</p>