My daughter was extremely disappointed when she was rejected from these schools. She was an out of state applicant.
Number 4 in her graduating class of 515. She was the first girl on the list. Her unweighted GPA is 4.0 and weighted is 5.75.
She has taken 15 AP and Aice classes. She never failed an AP exam…nothing lower than a 3. She has 7 dual enrollment classes. Her ACT was 30. UCLA rejected #3 and #4 from her HS. They accepted #7 & #8. I don’t understand these college admissions processes. She feels like all her hard work was for nothing. Did get accepted to Georgia Tech and UCSB. Waiting on Berkeley, guessing that will be a no. UGH
There are simply more qualified applicants than there are spots at many of these schools. Fortunately your D has some great options.
Holistic admissions. Too many similar applicants. She is a great student, but probably her ACT score wasn’t enough to compensate, or to push her above others with similar qualifications and better test scores. I am sorry she is disappointed, but she has good choices.
I agree with the above poster. Her score was rather low for those schools.
And tell her that her hard work isn’t for nothing. First,she got in to some good schools (if she is going in to engineering or CS, I don’t see how GTech is worse than USC or UCLA).
Second, hopefully she was studying hard because she wanted to improve. What she learned and her work ethic isn’t going away. Most people don’t die right after entering college so you should never do stuff or work hard solely for college admissions. But working hard and learning lots would set her up for success in college and beyond. Life for her will be 80 years long (give or take). Would she be as set up for success in that life if she hadn’t worked so hard?
@Oreobiscuitmax too many apps, too few spots! As for the ACT score, I disagree that was a problem… 43% of kids get into UCLA with and ACT score under 30 and about 41% get in at USC under 30.
@Fishnlines29: Yes, but how many with an ACT of 30 get rejected from those schools?
Keep in mind that (especially at privates), the bottom quarter by stats usually have some hook or special talent.
Depends on major as well. My daughter got reject to both USC and ucla with act 34
Indeed. Some majors at UCLA and some schools at USC are extremely competitive to get in to. As in, Ivy-level admit rates.
@PurpleTitan Yes, of course plenty get rejected over 30, that’s wasn’t my point. My point was almost just as many get rejected under 30.
My DD who is from CA goes to Georgia Tech and absolutely loves it. GT has open many doors for my DD and given her an incredible education. Also last year the California legislative mandated that the UC’s accept less out of state students. Your DD is lucky to get an acceptance from UCSB. When working with my students I remind them that there are 40,000 high schools in the U.S. which means at least the same number of valedictorians. Very competitive colleges can’t accept all the valedictorians. I get the sense as a parent you are venting with your post which I understand. Having gone through this process with my own children and my students try to be positive with your DD- education isn’t simply about getting into the “hard to get into colleges.”
Your DD has been accepted to some great colleges. Students with high stats who apply to very selective colleges have to be prepared that they are not going to be accepted to all of them. I hope for the best for your DD and you. PM if you have any questions about Georgia Tech.
Would GT have accepted her without that hard work?
Also I wonder about why UC schools? You can get the large classes and lack of personal attention/guidance for much less at other state schools. Although as a CA resident I do feel duty-bound to encourage your D to attend UCSB; we welcome her and your non-deductible gift of $100K to the UC system 
For an OOS student, her ACT is low. I think the top UCs depend on high test scores from OOS to help balance some of the lower test scores they must accept from instate. For instate admissions, GPA is more important. They don’t have to follow that for OOS admits.
As for USC, once you remove the talent/athlete/URM admits, how many really have less than 30 ACT. Every applicant isn’t looked at with the same filter.
?? She gets into GT and she thinks her hard work was for nothing? She needs a reality check…and a drama check. I “get” that she’s disappointed, but…
Did you really want to pay $55k per year for OOS UCLA? Why?
OP, GTech gives more importance to the GPA, rigor of school courses and ECs than it does to SAT scores (though it has the highest SAT scores for all publics!)
https://www.irp.gatech.edu/common-data-set
Since your Ds SAT score is not that high, maybe UCLA and USC gave more credence to this than other parts of her application. UCLA does consider standardized scores as “Very Important”.
http://www.aim.ucla.edu/profiles/cds2.aspx
I find it funny though the way you have mentioned in the passing your D’s acceptance at GTech as my D2 got accepted at UCB and is now a junior at GTech. And my brother went to USC!
@Oreobiscuitmax it is an upsidedown world when getting accepted to GA tech and UCSB makes a kid feel like their hard work was for nothing. We have to change that mindset for our high school students.
College admission are competitive. Every parent knows that. My D (CA in state) did not get into UCLA, UCSB, UCSD or UCI with a 33 ACT (engineering majors are simply extra competitive) but she got USC and UMich. And could only attend one. Either would have been ice cream and bonbons.
It’s unfortunate that kids can’t select their school with the specificity some want, but GTech and UCSB are great choices - and if they still dream of SC or UCLA, put in a good freshman year and transfer.
@CaliDad2020: “College admission are competitive. Every parent knows that.”
(Well, maybe some parents don’t. . . .)