<p>kahtap.... it seems like many are speculating, but no one really knows. we can only hope that they were conservative and decide to take many, but either way, at best it's still a slim chance to get off (i.e. 30% chance instead of 5-10)</p>
<p>[MODERATOR'S NOTE: The comments below will stand as a general statement of what some readers of this forum perceive as an attitude about students who attend different colleges by unnamed persons. But the reply post's point is well taken that there shouldn't be an inference here that everyone who is admitted to the most desired colleges looks down on students who applied and were not admitted. My observation is that many applicants are resilient and gracious and able to congratulate other students sincerely, including students who gain admission to more desirable colleges than the person doing the congratulating did. That's what I hope to be able to do in my children's admission years: cherish the preparation and the results experienced by each applicant on CC, besides making my children feel honored wherever they end up.] </p>
<p>You know, I'd like to congratulate those that got accepted to these top schools, but based upon past threads I've been on during my two years on this site, I know that it takes a very short time for hundreds of the acceptees at the Ivies and Duke and Stanford to go from being like piccolo junior and trying to downplay the significance of their acceptance to where they are telling others on here how their schools are the only ones that make a difference and how these schools attracted the "meritocracy" of the elite (meaning themselves) and are therefore the only colleges worth going to.</p>
<p>Yes, I expect Da Dad's son, with a mere 4 perfect SAT 800s (and who will probably end up a top school like WUSL or UC Berkeley) to very soon be treated like a second-class citizen or be talked about as if he couldn't write a decent two-page essay because he wasn't "Ivy material". </p>
<p>I would find it amusing if it weren't all so sad--and so true. Humility on this site tends to be very short-lived.</p>
<p>Calcruzer I really take offense to your post this morning. My son was one of the lucky ones to get into his Ivy of choice and be waitlisted by another. I don't see him as a meritocracy and I feel blessed that he is there and that I could do some small part in getting/guiding him there.</p>
<p>'I know that it takes a very short time for hundreds of the acceptees at the Ivies and Duke and Stanford to go from being like piccolo junior and trying to downplay the significance of their acceptance to where they are telling others on here how their schools are the only ones that make a difference and how these schools attracted the "meritocracy" of the elite (meaning themselves) and are therefore the only colleges worth going to.'</p>
<p>I am the granddaughter of immigrants. My father left school and at age 17 worked in the coal mines of West Virginia to make ends meet. He was one of 6 of alcoholic parents. My mother graduated high school and that was a big deal for her family. I put myself through college, a master's degree and later on (with a child and a job) through law school full time.</p>
<p>I instilled in my son a work ethic. I also tried to teach him how important education is. He is courteous and understands community service. He knows he is lucky and blessed to be in an Ivy. We do not think they are the only way to go or necessarily best for everyone. </p>
<p>When I went to law school in my 30's I was grateful and in awe every day to be there. If the babysitter couldn't make it, my 2 yr old came with me. </p>
<p>There may be some people who believe Ivy League schools are the only ones that matter and they are better than everyone else for being there. I rather feel sorry for them because gratitude can help people get the most out of their experience and keep it in perspective.</p>
<p>My two cents</p>
<p>[Poster's note] As a point of reference, my son was not in the current 2012 freshman class and neither applied to, nor wished to apply to, any of the Ivy-league or other top 15 schools two years ago when he was a freshman. Thus, my comments are not based upon him being "rejected" at any of these schools. They are also not based on any rejections I personally experienced either, since I applied to only one Ivy-league school (Brown) years ago and was accepted--but did not attend for financial reasons.</p>
<p>momofnewP,</p>
<p>Excuse me if my implication that the actions of some are indicative of the actions of all--or even of the majority of the students accepted at these schools. In that regard, I apologize. (Please note that I said "hundreds" of students make these comments, while the Ivy-league schools, Duke, and Stanford have accepted close to 30,000 students this year.)</p>
<p>But I also stand by my statement that, unfortunately, there are many students accepted to these schools who quickly forget that there are thousands of other well-deserving students who were just as qualified, but for whom there simply weren't enough spots at the very top-rated schools. My experience on this site verifies this. I have written numerous comments about the positive experiences to be gained at schools such as Ohio State, UCSD, Arizona State, NYU, Florida, Washington--only to have the next five posters chime in with comments on how these programs will never match up to certain other "top" schools. There's even a prejorative used on a different site (TTT) that refers to some lower ranked schools as "third-tier toilets". Fortunately, the collegeconfidential people do a good job in preventing such terms being used on this site.</p>
<p>While this group doing the posting is certainly not the majority, this small group tends to make it very difficult to convince students who come to this site that they shouldn't strive only for the "elite name" college or that they shouldn't let the college rejection from these schools ruin their lives. While the well-experienced parents know that the importance of college isn't in the acceptance or rejection, but rather in the college experience, the information learned, the contacts made, and in the building of a successful and productive career, the comments these posters make seem to feed the frenzy that as one student put it, "my life is over since I was rejected from all the Ivies". This is obviously not the attitude that the college admissions process should be creating--but it is. </p>
<p>It is my view that only when we downplay the "status" between the schools and begin to realize that (like in the Forbes Op-ed piece) Harvard, Yale, and Stanford and the others are "only" schools, and not some secret ticket to nirvana, that we will be serving our students well. </p>
<p>I do not wish to downplay these institutions' (the Ivies, Stanford, and Duke's) quality of education. All I wish to point out is that they are not for everyone--and not everyone wishes to (nor necessarily should wish to) go to them. There are many excellent colleges in the US, and this feeding frenzy to attend only the very top-ranked ones is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive.</p>
<p>Let me, however, express my congratulations to your son and to you upon your son's acceptance. It was not my intention to dimish his (or the other acceptees) accomplishments, which certainly must have been major ones to be admitted to these very selective institutions. Plus, if his work ethic is as strong as you describe (and I have no reason to believe otherwise), I am sure both his college and future career prospects will be quite exemplary.</p>
<p>Too many people chasing prestige or with the misguided notion that success is only defined by where you went to college. Sad.</p>
<p>There are MANY MANY schools with WONDERFUL professors and programs out there that are OFF THE BEATEN path, and where you would survive and thrive and have a LIFE CHANGING experience.....none of which has ANYTHING to do with Harvard Schmarvard.</p>
<p>If you got in, good for you. IF not, dont sweat it. College is WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT when you get there, no matter where you got in.</p>
<p>Here's an article from US NEWS & WORLD REPORT, listing the colleges with the lowest acceptance rates. Surprisingly, the lowest are Juilliard and Curtis Institute of Music: 7%. Yale and Harvard: 9%
<a href="http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/webex/lowacc_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/webex/lowacc_brief.php</a></p>
<p>Maybe my experiences can help add some perspective on this discussion as well.</p>
<p>I'm a graduate of a couple of schools that some people seem to have conflated with Nirvana. Sure, I was happy to get in (and even happier when I paid off my student loans). </p>
<p>But where you went to school is just a detail in one of the early chapters of your life. It tells you little about where you'll be toward the middle of the book, and even less about where you'll be at the end.</p>
<p>The reality is that the number of good jobs greatly exceeds the number of people who graduate from big-name schools. I work in the corporate law department of a company that rates highly on those annual "best places to work" lists. Some of my colleagues went to the schools everyone seems to rave about at CC, but most of them did not. My boss went to a state university that's not usually mentioned in the same breath as Michigan or Berkeley. His boss went to a school on the "good regional schools" list. </p>
<p>So congrats to those who beat the odds and got what was on their Christmas list this year. And for those who didn't, you have my sympathy. But all of you in either category should remember that there are many Christmases to come, and that just about everyone will have some years where their dreams come true, and others where they find coal in their stockings. Having spent some anxious months pounding the pavement last year, I'm acutely aware of that fact.</p>
<p>Here is something to think about. </p>
<p>Twenty years ago, American seniors applied to the Universities and the Universities picked from those applications. The majority of the applications came primarily from, American students. Those days are gone.</p>
<p>Today, Universities receive applications from around the world. Gone are the days when Universities compared and picked from just American students. American students, and their parents, dont see, nor do they know, what the foreign students applications look like. But if youve read the articles about schools outside the US, you know the competition is fierce. </p>
<p>It is THAT competition that has raised the bar. It is that competition that has made it so important for American high school students to do more.</p>
<p>I disagree with you. Yes, there are tons of foreign students out there who apply to schools in the U.S. but still if you look at the numbers , they are not that many for some colleges. I don't think it influences the overall admission rate that much. I mean, the international students go through a different process and are in a different situation. And if you just think about it, selective colleges do want diversity and smart foreign students because America is the country who can benefit them and they can benefit America. So many doctors, lawyers, professors are not native. Besides, if they don't admit many internationals, what happens to the pursuit of the "American dream" so popular outside of the U.S.?</p>
<p>I think the main reason for low admission rates is the fact that many high school students are applying to more and more schools regardless of how tough getting in could be.</p>
<p>Hindoo, i have to disagree about the first-generation college student comment.. that is not why the student got accepted.. I'm a first-gen college student too but yale rejected me and accepted two people with at least 150 SAT points lower than mine and less EC's..</p>
<p>Does anyone know U of Chicago's numbers?</p>
<p>yea percentages are pretty low.</p>
<p>i don't think people are smarter. I just think there are more people applying. however, the people who deserve it still get in.</p>
<p>"Deserve" it?</p>
<p>No, I don't think the people who get into the ivies are "the ones that deserve it." This would imply that everyone who is rejected or waitlisted does not, that their scores and accomplishments are not comparable. There are MANY qualified people who do not get in to the ivy league; if the stats posted by members of this site are any indication, many people who have worked just as hard and long do not get into their dreams schools.</p>
<p>Now, I do think that whoever gets into the ivies earned their right to be there (and more power to them!), they obviosuly have impressive applications. But, they are not only the ones worthy of (or "deserviing" of) being given the nod.</p>
<p>I suspect the Ivy that admitted the "bellicose" African girl believed that she could bring something unique to the table. </p>
<p>Nuttin' wrong with that!</p>
<p>My youngest is a soph at one Ivy, and was rejected by another. When we started the process we were clueless as to what top schools were actually looking for in a candidate. The sad fact is that there are so many more great students than spots at the schools that are perceived as the most desirable. What is often missed by parents as they evaluate their offspring is that being the best in your high school is only impressive locally. There are close to 28000 high schools, all of them have a top ranked student and an editor of the yearbook. What the Ivies look for are accomplishments that go beyond the local area. Being recognized on at least the State level, but preferably the national level. That's what makes ECs stand out. Additionally, as has been said before, the admissions offices are assembling classes, not simply taking the top 2000 applicants.</p>
<p>Competition this year was intense. But, if I could change my birth year--I think I would. Was 1990 the worst year to be born--or what?</p>
<p>^ Nah. It'll only get worse, baby!</p>
<p>^^actually, i think it will become easier...1990 was the peak year for the echo baby boomers..at 1991 the amount starts to taper off.</p>
<p>It won't become easier as long as a rather large % of top students apply to 20 schools each!</p>
<p>I echo what many of the wise posters have said about keeping your perspective and about college just being the beginning chapter of your (hopefully very long and interesting) life story.</p>
<p>yes the number of high school students may decrease, but i have a feeling they will be applying to more and more schools, and many of them will continue applying to the high profile schools, continuing the trend of record breaking number of applicants each year.</p>