Agreed - a crazy stat for you - UWash Seattle acceptance rate for out of state applicants into computer science was lower last year than Harvard’s admission rate! I am sure not true for classics or history!
7 Likes
I completely agree about the rise in admission criteria. I attended a large (considered at the time- now it has tripled in size!) public university in the south in the 1990s. I had a wonderful experience in the honors program, BUT I also had many good friends outside that program who managed to graduate (barely) and who would almost certainly NOT get into the school if they were applying now. This is even more true at places like UGA now which have extremely high academic stats to get in. One on hand, it is nice that my alma mater and others like it are now filled with very high achievers, but I had the academic advantages of a small honors program combined with meeting people from a wide range of not only socio-economic status (which can still be true in today’s flagships) but also, to be honest, from a very wide range of actual intellectual ability and interest in academic things (two very different traits.) It has served me well in my life as I have lived mostly in small towns and other areas where dealing with a diverse range of intellectual/academic abilities makes for a happier life.
I don’t have a solution to this problem since people who do well in high school and/or score well and show high aptitude for academic work certainly deserve to have academic opportunities, but when I compare the situations in the 1990s and now at flagship state schools, I can’t help but feel something has been lost even as something has been gained, and not just talking about who does or doesn’t get admitted.
4 Likes
Teeters on 60% acceptance but our high stats nephew was rejected in state at Madison.
My high stats kid (ACT 35) was told by their very savvy college counselor that he needed at least one “safer” school that UWash Seattle, CU Boulder and UMD College Park. He is OOS for all three but isn’t applying for CS, engineering or similarly impacted major…
2 Likes
Any insight into why? Or is this a case of too many really good in-state applicants, and Madison doesn’t seem to rack and stack?
I don’t know that much about UW Madison besides the fact that it is an excellent state flagship institution, but just took a quick look at their CDS.
Looks like they get a ton of applications from high stats students!
80.6% of admitted, enrolled students had between 3.75-4.0 GPAs
94.9% of admitted, enrolled students have a 3.50 or above
SATs 25-75% range was 1350-1480
As I said, I don’t know enough about Madison to have good understanding, if you have more info, I would love to hear it.
1 Like
U Mass Amherst is said to have excellent food. I keep hearing that!
1 Like
Sounds like good advice from the counselor, because UMD is definitely not a safety.
6 Likes
We visited UWisconsin. Certainly lots of very smart kids there. S2023 and really didn’t like it - definitely not a fit! Very Midwestern in feel, seemed conservative and non-diverse, and lots of nice kids mostly into beer/sports. But that is based on one two-day visit! I am sure others know much more.
1 Like
D20 and D23 both wanted small LACs and they also wanted to escape the midwest so we didn’t ever consider UW Madison. I was wondering if their admission often rejects high stat in state students a la the UC system with their flagship campuses.
Interesting to hear your perspective with that recent visit, thank you for sharing it. As I said, I had no real information about the school.
1 Like
Yes to beer and sports. Wisconsin frequently tops the state with the most drinking. Madison is actually quite liberal and has a large LGBTQ population. Madison itself is mostly white.
3 Likes
AmyIzzy haha- she’s amazing but not because of her scores. 
Good luck to your kid!! Hope he gets into the program of his dreams!!
Side note. I still have to finish my paper but I successfully defended my doctoral project this week. So working full time, getting my doctorate, and parenting 3 kids has been stressful. Add in 2 of those kids going through mental health challenges and also having to provide support and caregiving to an aging parent. Add in me being hospitalized in summer and surgery finally being planned for January. Is it any surprise ive gained 40 lbs?
So it wont be a new years resolution fad for me to say I have to lose weight and get healthy!
20 Likes
Lehigh is FAR superior. (DH is an alum, my kiddos learned before they could walk that Lafayette sucks). 
1 Like
My friend is a Lafayette alum. I told him we toured Lehigh and Lafayette and she liked Lehigh but loved Lafayette. He said, “I’m glad she preferred it to THAT OTHER SCHOOL.”
1 Like
Hang in there!!!
4 Likes
Well, any student who pursues engineering in college is amazing to me. That’s a language I simply don’t speak. Lol. Best of luck to her!
2 Likes
AmyIzzy Believe me I hear you!! I am a social worker and my husband is an english major and it appears we are going to produce two engineers. We can’t figure out how that happened!! lolol.
What is your son interested in?
4 Likes
i work at a college now in a small dept with mostly grad students. Well Done to you! It’s a lot of work. Out of curiosity, does your school do much to publicize or promote its grad students and graduates?
on a d23 college note, she was asked to interview in january for a program that I like at U of kansas. She’s not 100% invested at this point, but I think could change. She did give it her all with essays.
Haha! I’m a middle school special education teacher who feels pretty sharp at math and science up to early high school then I’m lost! My husband is a graphic designer and musician so both my kids get their music/art talent from dad. My daughter is studying music at Loyola New Orleans, great writer but math was not her thing. My son is crazy good at math and science (100 in advanced anatomy last year, 97 in AP Stats & AP Bio right now) so we aren’t sure where that came from either, although my dad is a biology teacher who loves math so thinking grandpa’s genes played a role. Lol. My son plans to study Psychology (w/ possible minor or double major in Spanish) with end goal of PhD in clinical psych (recently mentioned considering psychiatry but most likely clinical psych path.) He has a long road of schooling so undergrad cost will be a big factor.
Thank you! Good to hear that CS at GMU and internship opportunities in the area are good. Sounds like it’s a decent option. Thanks again!
2 Likes