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<p>Even if the schools are listed alphabetically on the FAFSA, a college that uses this information for “level of applicant’s interest” or financial aid “preferential packaging” purposes can usually figure out whether it is seen by the applicant as a “safety”, since most students tend to prefer more selective colleges. I.e. if the college is the least selective school on the list, it is likely the applicant’s intended “safety” (whether or not it actually is a safety).</p>
<p>any school that has had applicants with better stats than you rejected is automatically a non safety (unless you have something amazing, like cancer cure etc). Since 2400 4.0s from competitive hschools have been rejected by all of those schools the OP applied to, none are safeties.
It isn’t too late to apply to state schools with full scholarship</p>
<p>Good for the kid from Long Island. Well deserved </p>
<p>Just rolling my eyes that any student would be disappointed that he’s stuck going to CalPoly. #1 architectural program in the country: <a href=“http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2013/November/architecture.html”>http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2013/November/architecture.html</a></p>
<p>I’m really not handling my college decisions well. It is going to take quite a while for me to build up my esteem.</p>
<p>The kid deserved every admission. </p>
<p>Indigo, here’s the thing: You spent 4 years building up your academic record. There is nothing to be got over. I think you need to say to heck with the schools that denied me–I know I could have been successful at them. Then do something…else. Study for your last APs or IBs if you have some. Go to Prom. Look for a summer job.</p>
<p>I did go and find your other thread and discovered that you are likely headed to UConn. I don’t know if it would help you feel any better, but many parts of the US do not have a state school as good as UConn. Good luck and I’m sure you will excel there.</p>
<p>“I wonder if a white kid with the same stats would have gotten in all eight Ivies? (Not trying to be racist).”</p>
<p>Why would it be racist to ask this when race is actually considered in the college admissions process? Sadly, that is a legitimate question.</p>
<p>My kid studied music at Juilliard and didn’t get into those schools, but the Grand Slammer is being described as a “very talented musician” despite never having won a competition, never having made all-state, all-city, etc. (If he had, you would be able to find it online.) If your child had been up at 6 AM going to swim practice, had spent every summer at swim camp, had made major sacrifices to do swimming, and then a kid who occasionally jumped into the pool was being called “a talented athlete” with no evidence to back it up, you’d certainly be confused. You’d certainly wonder what was up that apparently jumping into the pool and winning state and national level swim competitions were considered to be the same thing. The whole picture is a bit mystifying to me, at least. </p>
<p>Perhaps the reason many of these young people are being rejected from these schools is that so many of them are applying to the same schools without regard to whether or not the school is really the best for them. The biggest similarity each of the universities mentioned have is that they are considered “elite”. Harvard and Stanford? Duke and Columbia? They all have very different strengths and atomspheres. If more students truly considered what programs, campuses, areas etc. fit their goals and learning styles we would have far fewer reach schools and far more matches.</p>
<p>@ Momzie - coud not agree more they also stated he competes in the shot put - um yea try finding his name in the best of the season records for the shot put…not to be found. he was on the team, I get it. but for kids that “are on the team” that only compete in the duel meets the time requirement is 2 months and basically no travel</p>
<p>When one is applying to too many schools (Ivies or not), you are putting less effort in each school. I know a couple top students at my D’s high school applied to a bunch of Ivies and the in state flagship and ended up only accepted by the latter, not even wait list of the other schools. That high school do have 5-10 students going to Ivy caliber schools each year. My D applied to 1 reach school together with 5 other schools EA and got rejected from that reach. Then she applied to another reach school RD alone a couple months later and got accepted. It is the time you dedicated to the application and essay that may play an important role there. </p>
<p>I hope that juniors and their ambitious parents, who have dreams of attending a “prestigious” school, read this thread.</p>
<p>I think it is probably especially hard for ORMs who plan to major in a premed science program, have an even smaller chance at a top 10 university than they realize. I don’t know the ethnic or state background of the OP.</p>
<p>People need to brush on their statistics, and realize that each coin toss is statistically independent of the previous toss, so their chances of getting accepted don’t improve.</p>
<p>Most of the applicants at the most presitigious universities are perfectly capable of performing the work.
There are just too many valedictorians in the US and abroad.</p>
<p>There are also too many parents pressuring their kids to apply to well know universities.
They may thrive equally well at their states flagship’s honors college.</p>
<p>It is also important to have applications to Rolling Admissions and Early Action schools and only apply to a few “reaches”.</p>
<p>Some schools that people consider matches or safties, only accept 30% of the applicant pool, so you really have to show some interest.</p>
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<p>Winning competitions isn’t the only way to demonstrate talent. A kid who submits an arts supplement that is then reviewed by knowledgeable faculty in the department of interest is still conveying his or her abilities in voice, dance, composition, etc. Not all serious musicians study at Juilliard. In any case, this kid is interested in becoming a physician, not a member of the Berlin Philharmonic. Perhaps his musical talent would be enough to make him an asset to an ensemble at Harvard or Princeton or wherever.</p>
<p>Likewise, unless a student’s athletic accomplishments are the primary “hook” to get him or her into a particular college, they just become part of the overall package. Not to mention, the time required to achieve a high level of performance at swimming is likely FAR greater than that for some of the field sports like shot put or discus.</p>
<p>I met a woman who used to be an adcom @ UPENN. My dd was a sophomore at the time. I asked her where applicants go wrong, she said that students don’t take the essays as seriously as they should. </p>
<p>“People need to brush on their statistics, and realize that each coin toss is statistically independent of the previous toss, so their chances of getting accepted don’t improve.”</p>
<p>Ok, a stats lesson here. If the odds are statistically independent, as you say, then the odds DO improve. If you apply to 100 schools, where for each school the odds of getting rejected are 90%, then the odds of getting rejected by ALL 100 schools is (0.9) to the 100th power. Which is a very very small number. Even applying to 15 schools makes the odds of getting rejected by all 10 “only” 20%. That is if they are INDEPENDENT.</p>
<p>Of course, if they are not independent (and they aren’t, since a weakness at one school is quite likely a weakness at almost all of them) then the odds of getting rejected by all may remain very very high. </p>
<p>@donnaleighg,</p>
<p>Same thing that ran through my mind…why would ALL of the applicants schools reject them? Don’t they see the same com app? The same LORs? Aside from the supplements, everything is basically the same correct? Please correct me if I’m wrong. </p>
<p>All those who are complaining about racial preferences - remember that if you are white, you benefit from racial preferences against Asians.</p>
<p>Where do Indians fall in the racial preferences?</p>
<p>I don’t know if they’re treated differently from any other international students, are they?</p>