MODERATOR’S NOTE: There is ONE thread on CC where discussion of affirmative action is allowed. I am deleting posts related to AA.
As each AP test is taken, D’s classes are basically over, just show up, movies, nothing else graded. I don’t remember it being like that so much last year, still big projects due near the end.
This is a day for celebration and joy.
Let’s keep celebrating the good news and decisions.
Please.
My daughter was admitted to an Ivy and another similar type school. Perfect stats aren’t enough. Every kid of every race and socioeconomic level on the admitted student FB groups has a totally amazing cool story of something they have done. Every kid seems to be a varsity athlete and/or accomplished musician/artist. When my child applied our expectations were low even with perfect grades and scores. My older son attends one of these type schools and there are plenty of tutors and mentors available. When so many of the students come from the absolute best private schools in the world even students who have a perfect GPA, test scores, tons of 5’s on AP tests but came from schools that don’t have the same quality of teaching and curriculum there can be some catching up that is needed. The very wealthy students mostly have access to things like summer internships on a much higher level than one can find through the normal application process. The system of mentors at these schools try and help even the playing field for those students whose parents can’t provide this type of opportunity for their kids by helping them to obtain internships. It’s entirely possible that your daughter had she been admitted to an Ivy would need a tutor and a mentor @cleoforshort. They aren’t limited to URMs and “poor” kids. It doesn’t matter how old/young the AOs are they see all the stats and the unique abilities of a huge pool of kids and compared to the rest of the pool your daughter was lacking something they were looking for. That doesn’t mean she isn’t smart and wonderful but it also doesn’t mean that all the accepted kids were selected based on being poor or URMs or some other unfair thing.
Re APs I am fortunate that last year and this year our district is paying for all AP tests. She is only taking one – AP Lit. I’m not sure if Columbia gives AP credit or not.
@cleoforshort, Not to gang up…Perhaps there were other factors. There are over 35,000 high schools in America. If Their is not room for every one of the top kids to make it into an ivy league. You said your daughter was in top 5%. There are 8 million seniors graduating high school in America. The top 5% of that is 400,000. Clearly there is a wide divide between IVY openings, and top 1 and 5%. There are many other factors that go into highly selective applications. Were her essays, recommendations, and ec’s uniquely outstanding. Getting in to these schools is a crap shoot. I read that over the last five years schools like Harvard and Stanford reject 70% of kids with perfect test scores. I understand and feel for the disappointment and anger you have. If you are not a highly recruited athlete that these schools want, playing a sport is not going to help that much. If you have a child who is applying to IVY type schools, they are outstanding kids. Unfortunately, these schools accept less than 10% of these outstanding kids. I also think we as parents, might be fooled by our kids grades. In our HS, there will be 16 Valedictorians, and 20 salutatorians. In the days of every one gets a trophy, this is ridiculous. A’s are given out like party favors. We all tend to believe that our kids 4.0+ W GPA’s, are much more unique than they really are. Bottom line, after taking out recruited athletes, Big time Donors, legacy kids, and EA/ED applicants, a great student has less than a 3% chance.
Congrats on BC. It is a highly regarded top 30 school. It will open all the right doors that your daughter will work hard for. Celebrate what is great, and forget the hate…Best wishes to you and your daughter. Peace out…
@MSHopeful --AFAIK, Columbia offers up to 16 credits for AP courses. Other than FL, I do not think there is any way to get out of the Core courses. (I am speaking for the College here and not Engineering.)
I had downloaded something called the Academic Planning Guide 2016 but I did not save the URL. I cannot recall where I found it but perhaps try googling. Both Fu and the College were addressed in same guide.
Now, for the life of me, I cannot figure out if Yale awards credit, but I do have a nice marked-up Columbia guide on my desktop!
Edited: here is the link–https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/sites/dsa/files/Academic_Planning_Guide_2016.pdf
It was a tough year for applicants, my daughter included. 60% of applicants are female. The girls overall, have better grades, scores and ec’s than the boys. Our h.s. college counselor told my twins, that our son might do better in college results even though his grades, ec’s and test scores were lower than sister. ( his were still very strong). Just for being male. The vast majority of girls did not get into any of their “reach” schools, daughter included. The ones who did, had amazing back stories and truly earned those spots. Many of the boys did get into at least one reach school. The recruited athletes did very well with mediocre testing and average grades. Oh well. Life goes on. At the end of the day, our kids will do great wherever they land. The are bright , kind , driven and will become happy adults. Hopefully they will be off the payroll after they graduate in 2021!
Let’s get back to CELEBRATING <:-P <:-P <:-P
Congrats to all with decisions today we are getting down to the wire!!
@youcee Oy, yes, I am paying (and have paid for) several APs that won’t count for anything. Some are because Hamilton doesn’t offer credit for the course she’s taken (though they might offer placement, like Physics 1), and some because they only offer credit for 1 of a “type” (she took both AP Euro & APUSH - but will get credit for only one history.)
She should get 3 (possibly 4) credits from Hamilton when all is said and done out of 9 AP’s taken - but they only give you credit for the AP course after you have taken the next level course and passed it with a minimum grade (usually a B.)
The kids I see getting into Ivies/MIT/Stanford type schools have some pretty amazing accomplishments. They keep our heads from getting too big about our son who has perfect grades, near perfect test scores, music honors, etc. 5-6 kids are going to Stanford this year (more than recent years) and I believe they are all girls. That’s arguably the #1 target around here. Some kids have had such accomplishments as creating cancer detection tests and creating software used by the government. Others are just unbelievably great musicians. This is at just 1 public HS - you can imagine how many beyond exceptional kids there are throughout the country. It’s eye opening and humbling.
Hard to do much with a color mascot and an art medium, but I am pretty happy with my new avatar! ;
It’s been so enjoyable to learn of all of the kids’ decisions. Congratulations! Good luck to all of your kids taking APs.
Congratulations @ChalkPastel! My D also discerned that W fit her to a T and ended up applying via EDl. I love seeing how excited she is. It’s not where we thought she would end up when we began this process, but it’s the right college for her.
@Calimom3 What you said Seriously, great thoughts/comments and I couldn’t agree more. It does seem harder to be a girl these days. I have to admit how happy that makes me that so many girls are successful and achieving at a high level. My field was male dominated when I entered 20 years ago and now my graduate students are all women. I am VERY much ready for my girls to be off the payroll (D14 graduates next year and 4 more for D17)!
@cleoforshort Congrats on BC Honors! I hope your child will thrive there!
I think this admissions season was very hard. I know of many bright, talented, hardworking kids waitlisted or denied at schools that I thought would have been safeties or comfortable matches based on their stats. Does anybody know if 2017 is on a demographic bubble and there are more kids than usual vying for the same limited number of spots?
AP exams: D’s school doesn’t offer AP courses so no AP drama in this house.
QOTD: I am especially grateful to the parents of 2017 for providing support, congratulations, and commiseration as needed. I am amazed by the academic talent and depth of parental support represented here. As for CC more broadly, the learning curve was tremendous and I have done what I can to pay it forward. Probably the single most important takeaway point is to start with budget. Figure out what you are willing to pay, figure out what your target schools think you should pay, and, if possible, figure out how to reconcile the difference. If there is no way to get to your price point, find a different school with similar qualities that has a different definition of “need” and/or offers merit aid. It makes no sense to apply if there is no way you can afford it.
I also learned that there are many, many fantastic options about which I knew little previously. I have another child coming along in 4 years and her search is likely to be completely different than her sister’s and I will be ready!
There are way too many wonderful people here to mention by name - I’m sure I’d miss a few despite my best efforts. But a shout out for just a few: I am filled with admiration for @Mom2aphysicsgeek who has guided her children to successful college outcomes and has navigated challenges I can’t begin to contemplate. I have enjoyed @dfbdfb 's quick wit and sensible advice and @STEM2017 's sense of humor. I have appreciated the candid stories and creative avatars of @MotherOfDragons And I bow before the tremendous effort of @eandesmom to provide the 3.0-3.4 students with a cheering section and to compile valuable data about their outcomes that will serve the CC community for years to come.
@CT1417 Thanks!
@mamaedefamilia awwwww thanks!
AP Testing: I am very happy that D’s college (U of Oklahoma) will accept almost all of her AP and dual enrollment credits. She will enter just a few credits short of junior standing. The generous acceptance of AP and DE credits was a small factor in choosing this school. It will give her the latitude to take a larger variety of interesting classes, knowing that she already has a bunch of basic requirements covered.
DS got his decision in (deposit paid) with more than 3 hours to spare! Breathing easier here now that decisions are made!
DS headed to Bowdoin.
DD headed to Hamilton.
Not easy decisions for either of them.
Looking forward to watching them learn, grow, and mature over the next several years. Really happy for them both.
Expecting fabulous opportunities for all our amazing kids! and hoping they can take advantage of them all!