Factors like this “holistic review” also cause people to join activities and do things just to check boxes to make them seem well rounded. Or make them up entirely (which I’ve also known people to do).
I’ve told my son all along none of these people know the first thing about you, you are words on a screen. So you can’t take any of these decisions personally. Although admittedly I’m having a hard time not feeling it was personal. I know there are no guarantees, but this year was extra cruddy with everything so that was just the cherry on top. He spent a lot of time trying to find schools he loved that he had a good chance of getting into based on historical school data and that didn’t work out for him in the end because of this year. And if one more person tells me “kids are resilient” I’m going to smack them across the face. I know enough about resiliency to know when you have been losing things over and over again and more bad things happen to you there becomes a time when it’s all too much. It also has a major assumption my kid has lived some sheltered life where nothing bad has ever happened to him either, which is also not true. Not that he could talk about any of that because spending a year of your life rehabbing from a major injury and having to step up and take care of your little brother for months as a high school freshman because your mom had to take care of your dying grandmother is to “common” for essays so he couldn’t even talk about how resilient he was in a college essay. Every adult told him it didn’t make him stand out.
It was painful to hear the poor grammar used by the high school student from California. She likely had 35-45 kids in her class growing up with no teacher’s aide.
Yea, I feel for these kids. When colleges go out of their way to assure you that you’ve been rejected/WL “holistically”, it’s really hard not to take it personally.
I think part of the other thing that really hasn’t sat with me the right way is the game of deferring and then rejecting. Like just make a decision in the first place. The whole “we like you we just want to see your mid-year grades” okay well those were all As in his hardest courses yet, so don’t give me you wanted to see that, you just wanted to string him along and keep his hopes up when there was none.
I think you’re talking about Yvonne (sp?). She came from a home where only Spanish was spoken. I was heartbroken hearing her speak about her struggles. She worked hard and was able to succeed, but many other students like her won’t succeed if placed in a university they’re not academically prepared to handle. I was a student like Yvonne, coming from a low-income family that spoke Spanish at home. I was lucky to earn a scholarship that allowed me to attend a private high school in CT that academically (and socially) prepared me for a competitive college. I was the top student at a small, inner-city parochial school, but I struggled a lot my first semester in private school. My parents barely graduated high school and were lower middle class (if that). Most of my classmates were wealthy and had well-educated parents. I was far behind academically. I remember getting a low grade on my first assignment and being so confused. The same work would have earned me an “A” at my former school. In addition, I felt so out of place socially - I didn’t know what to wear, didn’t know how to act, didn’t know what the heck the kids were talking about when they talked about their exotic vacations. But I had my family’s emotional support and caring teachers that helped me succeed. By the time I graduated, I was well prepared to attend a highly selective university. I saw other students, like Yvonne, struggle terribly in college because they were academically and socially overwhelmed, like I had been in high school. Most graduated but many earned lower GPAs or switched to easier majors. These are students that would have done better in a less selective university, where they wouldn’t feel completely overwhelmed while being far away from their families. And yes - some of these students thrived in college, but it wasn’t the norm. Yvonne is an amazing and resilient young woman who would have succeeded wherever she went to college.
My cousin is an amazing teacher who has taught in schools with all income levels. It was heartbreaking to hear about how the kids were passed through well below grade level. She did some amazing work to raise up almost all of her third grade class to grade level and called the parents in for support with an interpreter. Helped one student learn to take the bus with a parent in jail and a mom not taking him to school, etc. She was very unpopular with administration for her approach. She moved to another state and some of the rural parents were extremely disrespectful and the bussed transferred kids all ended up in her classroom instead of being allocated among the grade level classes. Now she teaches at a private school where the classes are smaller. Lots of systemic problems and we really need some amazing leadership to address them.
I don’t disagree, but I think the point is that kids who do well in their HS, even if it’s not well resourced and they don’t have access to top teachers, can succeed at selective colleges – but may need support and resources to catch up. Sink or swim is not going to work for many of these students.
Support programs are what UT-Austin has implemented and the data show most kids succeed. The UT student in the episode really had her confidence shaken when she arrived in Austin, but they had programs in place to help her get over the hump. So much wasted talent in our country when we don’t recognize how to help students from all backgrounds succeed.
I couldn’t agree more with this. It’s the equivalent of “we think you are good, just not good enough for us right now; let’s wait and see if someone else better will show up.” The kid CHOSE to apply early for a reason. They are explicitly saying I want you! Just to hear, umm…not sure (yet) if I want you, too. Left in limbo for months. Anyways…a wise man once said: “never treat as priority those who treat you as an option”. Happy Monday, all!
The challenge is that she is facing the proverbial a bird in the hand vs two in the bush issue with ASU being directedly admitted to BME already vs UNC is secondary admit and BME program has very limited spaces. Plus, ASU she can do the 4+1 MSBME. While she is above the mid-range for ASU, she is in the mid-range for UNC so does not have much confidence about getting into her desired major there (albeit what lowers her composite test scores into mid-range is the English/Reading, not Science/Math). So, have to weigh how she feels about second and third major/minor options at UNC and then what about grad school. Factoring in the 4+1 vs maybe having to do two years of grad school if does UNC undergrad, it could end up more for UNC in the long run. Plus, I think she feels more confident about research opportunities at ASU in her areas of interest.
She can get to her long-term goals without BME undergrad, but she took one of those career assessments recently to try to help her with her ASU v UNC college decision making and every one of her top matches had BME listed as a relevant major (a number also had alternate major options like chemistry/biology/neuroscience, which would be plan Bs at UNC).
She pretty clearly feels ASU is overall a better fit for her, but the distance is what has been holding her back at this point and making her try to figure out if she can make UNC work (mostly distance from her BF, not so much her family vs her logistics concerns earlier in the process ). That and her impression is that UNC has more school spirit than ASU. She does keep mentioning wishing she could get some Dutch Bros though. I do too .
To be fair, if I were in her shoes, I would be having a hard time deciding too. Glad it’s not my decision to make
Keep in mind that Georgetown is not test optional. Applicants who sat for any SAT or ACT tests were required to submit those scores. If applicants were following Georgetown’s requirements, then the 7% not submitting represents the applicants who did not test.
Happy Monday, all!
vs her logistics concerns earlier in the process ). That and her impression is that UNC has more school spirit than ASU. She does keep mentioning wishing she could get some Dutch Bros though. I do too 
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