Why is it ridiculous?
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This could be an important (but often underrated by students and parents posting here) factor in admission chances at some colleges.
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Sorry to hear. Obviously, we do not have the whole picture here. What is the chosen major, why change schools, NPC etc. What I can tell you though is that your kid will do very well in life no matter where he/she ends up eventually. I should also tell you that your kid could have gone to school for free at many well-regarded schools.
Unfortunately, there are 25,000 schools in the USA and top 10 from each school = 250K students basically trying to get into the same T30 or so schools. Many parents do not take this into consideration. There are over 50,000 kids that get 5 in Cal BC. Think about that for a second.
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This!
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And that recruitment is always conditional, often resulting in disappointment come the spring of Senior year. I have seen it many times - the athletic route is not without pitfalls, and not the cheat code that many think.
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Here seems like a free link to the article. Good read. Thanks for posting it, Cindy.
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Some schools give either a 4.3 or a 4.33 for an A+. Someone with a GPA over 4.2 on this scale has a lot of A+'s and not much else.
This is also true at the university level. Some universities give A+'s, some do not. For those universities that do given an A+, this might be worth 4.33, 4.3, or 4.0 depending upon where you are.
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I think it is very likely that many schools try to fudge their numbers. But only a few do so in a way that can be called out based on public data.
Note that medical and law schools recalculate undergraduate GPAs for applicants. Medical schools give +0.3/-0.3 for +/-, but give 4.0 for A+. Law schools give +0.33/-0.33 for +/-, and give 4.33 for A+.
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You hit nail on the head!
Let’s get back to the OP please
So addressing your point which was why bother with test scores if they don’t matter, I would turn it around and say - apply to schools where they matter more than not.
So, I think (and this is somewhat borne out by observations), scores are still important at schools trying to boost their profile. And
judicious use of ED1 and ED2. Maybe your child should have ED1 pomona or Claremont McKenna (or some school in that range)? Don’t go for the tippy top, go for a school looking for full pay kids in ED rounds.
Also, be honest in ED rounds. I don’t understand people using ED for HYPS. Unless you have cured cancer or a connected legacy, I would use ED1 or 2 given your stats for a Tufts or Bowdoin or Pomona or Middlebury or Vassar. Emory, WashU, etc.
In your child’s case, she/he applied to reaches where there has to be a bit of a story, connectivity between the exttacurriculars because ORM. And I’ll explain why that matters. Achieving mastery of musical skills is important in some cultures so this is viewed as easily attainable. Fair or not, that’s how it is. Now if your child was musical and on the tennis circuit, maybe it would have been cool to create a series of free musical concerts on route.
Other “college driven” musical ECs i have seen are things like apps for free music lessons (so your kid and others give free lessons) ir connecting with other kids to give free performances. In other words, take your talent and project it outwards.
Your child sounds fantastic, but for an ORM doing typical ORMish things, packaging is needed.
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@Andres_A First of all, your kid is amazing, and colleges acceptances, or lack thereof, will not change that fact. Being in the top 10% of their graduating class, having top 0.1% in standardized tests, while having some great ECs is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself.
However, the problem is that the top 10% of the students who are applying this year are around 200,000 students. That’s about twice the total number of students who are accepted to all the colleges that are in the popularity range of the colleges on your list (and even fewer are accepted because of their academics). For example, Northwestern received 48,000 applications last year. Since these were much better than a random sample of the graduating seniors, you can figure that likely some 9,600 (20%) were in their high school’s top 10%. They accepted some 3,300, of which many were recruited athletes, legacies, etc. The math for students who are in the top 10% of their graduating class is not all that encouraging.
In previous years only a small proportion of those top 10% were applying to these schools, and the chances for a highly qualified applicant were much better. However, as the idea that “top students MUST attend ‘top’ colleges” has spread through the nation, the proportion of top 10% students who are applying to these colleges had gone through the roof.
I know that it sucks to get rejection after rejection. However, remember why your student applied to all of these colleges, and then consider how many parents are just like you, and also want their kids to attend one of these colleges. That is why there are so many highly qualified applicants to every one of those colleges, and why most of them are being rejected.
The good news is that colleges like OSU or Rochester are amazing places where your kid will not only succeed but also thrive. I have had the pleasure of working with OSU students, and I have been repeatedly impressed by them. So your kid will absolutely have peers at USO and Rochester.
PS. I’m not criticizing your kid’s choices of college, just explaining that because your kid’s reasoning and your reasoning are so widespread, even top students like your kids are being rejected from most or all of the highly popular colleges to which they apply.
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Many Colleges recalculate your HS GPA so they are more comparable some tell you upfront while others don’t.
UF for example counts only core classes on a 4.0 scale no plus or minuses and then adds .5 for honors classes and 1 extra for college level classes. Just one example
Other schools just say they look at rigor for example
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@Andres_A Just out of curiosity, is OSU in Ohio, Oregon, or Oklahoma?
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I guess what I wonder is how they even have time to do that? If they have gotten 100,000 applicants from 10,000 schools who has time to check if you took honors or regular basket weaving?!
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@Creaky yes!! I wondered, also. OSU is OK State, where I live.
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Some big publics like in California have applicants self report courses and grades, matched up to the universities’ listings of in-state high school courses. The high school records are then in a standardized form to allow GPA recalculation.
These are verified for matriculating students by final transcripts.
Sorry.
No one knows why you were rejected.
Was it grades, rigor ?
You list a few AP scores but that may or may not necessitate rigor.
How was the essay ? Did they talk to each school ? Everyone rates them but no one truly knows.
How were the LORs? No one knows (yet everyone rates them).
How were the ECs described ? CaptIn of tennis is great if actions from it were described rather than simply saying captain of tennis.
We don’t know.
ED vs RD. Demonstrated interest ? Finances ? Major at each school…impacted ?
Not sure which you think you were ‘assured’? BU ? did you ED ? otherwise there no assurance.
Many kids have a chance and I’m sure your student did. But there are too many similar applying.
Test score…you are implying it’s a reason you had to be in. But every top student is applying to similar.
You needed safety, target and match. Not sure if USF is San Fran or South Florida.
Seems to me you had two safeties, a high target/low reach, and 7 reaches. And it worked out well.
If you wanted more acceptances assured, you needed more targets.
I get these kids bust tail. But nothing is assured. The top is top heavy today with applicants and people need to plan better if they want ‘more.’
But your child did great. And you should celebrate.
No pity is needed.
But your experience is why people need to be more realistic in how they plan.
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This thread has two helpful links to understand and come to terms with being rejected.
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