I thought this might be an interesting thread. The intent is not to bash any specific school. It may serve as a highlight that NMF is no guarantee of admission.
My DS2 (he’s a twin) was rejected by UCLA for CS major. I suspect it is a combination of no hook and its an impacted major. Still, surprised that a student with his stats was denied.
So far . . . Stanford, MIT, and Georgia Tech. Stanford and MIT are obviously pick your name out of a hat in terms of admission, so it was no surprise, but we thought he had a decent chance even as an OOS applicant at Georgia Tech.
Still waiting on two schools and they are super selective as well so not anticipating admission.
But, on a positive note, he has seven acceptances to amazing programs!
@RoonilWazlib99 -my son has some acceptances too. He is waiting on USC, Northwestern, Harvard and Brown. I’m not optimistic. But, as you say, the “highly selectives” seem to be random. My actual hope with this thread is to encourage parents of future NMFs to keep in mind the selective schools aren’t swayed by NMF. Its kind of expected if you have no hook.
Rejected: WASH U, UCLA
Waitlist: Georgia Tech, UCSD
Gpa: 4.6, ACT: 36
UCSD was a shock for us since we’re in-state. Accepted Davis and UCSB with Chancellor’s Invite.
our nephew was in-state in California and rejected by Berkeley, but accepted at Stanford. College admissions aren’t something you can run through a computer program and yield a predictable result. What you can predict is that being settled with their decision will help them thrive wherever they go, and that should be a parent’s goal.
DD is instate California, Gpa 4.6, SAT- 1560, waitlisted at UCSD, UCLA, UCD, rejected at WashU, uchicago, accepted at UCSC and NE honors.
Totally bummed and just can’t understand.
Waitlisted at UCLA (in-state–accepted at UCSD, UCD and SLO) and deferred from UVA.
GPA 4.75 (don’t know UC GPA) and SAT 1580.
@suzuki, agreed.
Bunch of acceptances thank goodness , but S rejected by Stanford and WashU. Waiting for a few more and not holding our breath.
@jackbelchos - My sons have friends in the same boat. We are in-state. All “main” UCs seemed very picky. On eof their friends was rejected by Davis in Bio, but accepted at UCLA! Go figure.
@chitowner Agreed. My son will be glad with any of the schools he is accepted to. We intentionally asked them to keep the list to schools that they wanted to attend. I think I lulled myself into a false sense of “he’ll get accepted to UCLA”. The rejection was a surprise. In hindsight, I should have expected it.
@suzuki7 - I’m with you. With your DD stats, I would have also expected a few more wins. What major?
@usma87 @suzuki7 @TTdd16 I know it must be hard, but look at all of you posting the high stats. I don’t see anyone discussing what their kid did OUTSIDE OF GRADES and TEST SCORES. It is NOT about high stats anymore. There are thousands of kids with high GPAs and perfect test scores. Schools want kids that do more than school. They want a kid with a passion for something, doing it for a number of years, state or national awards…All that I see from the above are people comparing high stats…that is not the name of the game anymore. And NMF is a great honor, but again, it is based off a junior PSAT score intially, one test! Many schools do not even care about it. I am not trying to be sour grapes, but first of all I don’t see anyone commenting on other things your son or daughter did AND don’t forget, essays and teacher recs are very very important! Lastly, what were the majors these kids applied to? Some are impacted and yes, that will be an issue.
@jackbelchos what major? that makes a huge difference. And what other things besides high GPA and perfect test score?
@LvMyKids2 I didn’t bother listing all of the ECs and awards because the question pertained to test scores and college rejections. I added the GPA for context. Frankly, I’m tired of reading through all of those lists because most, if not all, of the kids on CC are pretty amazing and are getting rejected left and right. It’s disheartening. If you’d like me to list those things I’d be more than happy to, but it doesn’t change the fact that these kids are getting rejected from what used to be a sure thing just a few years ago.
Regarding the UCs, they tend to weight GPA* more heavily than test scores that NM is mostly based on. Also, the computer science major has grown rapidly in popularity in the last decade, so that it is much more selective than the overall campus for many UCs.
*As recalculated by the UC method. Remember that weighted GPAs given by the high school are useless outside of the high school, since different high schools have different weighting methods. A 4.7 weighted GPA may be based on an unweighted GPA as low as 2.7 at a high school with a very exaggerated weighting method.
@jackbelchos trust me i know. I had a child go through it last year, but having said that she did have high gpa and perfect ACT, but exceled in many of her ECs and did so with a pure passion. Did nothing “just for college” I think one has to have excellence in all areas - grades, test scores, essays, ECs and recs. And then, it is a crapshoot. Many get rejected because there are just so many more kids applying to schools now (from all over the world) and only so many spots. What was your child’s major? And did he/she pursue jobs or anything to do with that major/interest? Thank you
@ucbalumnus weighted GPAs are definitely useless. That is why major colleges ask for a school profile to understand how a particular HS GPA is calculated. From all of the school tours I have gone on (and I have gone on over 35) most say that they look at the transcript for rigor (taking the most challenging courses available to you) and then of course, want to see As (or mostly As with a few Bs)
@LvMyKids2 - My original intent is to highlight that NMF need to be realistic in their quest. There will be very few NMF on the fringes. My DS2 is an example - high stats but not great ECs. His choice. He wanted to do other things than the clubs at school and volunteering. He needs to reap what has been sown. BTW, their high school is a US News top school. He has taken as many APs as he can. He has also taken extra classes beyond the norm. But, alas, his straight A’s and 1510/34 did not make the cut at UCLA. We also did not encourage them to seek out the big NMF scholarship schools unless they had a genuine interest in the school.
To all so far - our GC also said there is a baby bulge this year. I have held the theory that the increase in applications is two-fold. First, these kids were all born around the millennium, '99 or '00. In our town, enrollment for this group has been high throughout school. Second, the emphasis on applying to a larger number of schools. This has caused a number of side-effects including “yield protection”. We are all seeing it this year. The great CV that gets denied from the school that should have been automatic. For future years, I hope this trend begins to soften.
Even with a hook, or at least something resembling a hook, NMF, grades, and scores don’t always cut it.
Son’s bona fides: NMF, 4.0 UW, 36 ACT, 1580 ACT, two patents, a successful company he started and runs, captain of robotics and lacrosse, invited speaking engagements, national TV appearances and awards.
Results (so far): Denied at Caltech and MIT. Waitlisted at Chicago. Admitted at Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, and RPI. Other than A&M’s National Scholar full-tuition (which is amazing), nothing too crazy in Merit awards. Still waiting on a few, but no confidence in the top schools.
We aren’t complaining. He has fantastic options, especially for what he wants to study. But the game has definitely changed. My heart goes out to all these kids who did everything they were supposed to do (and then some) and still can’t get into their dream schools. It is a valuable life lesson, to be sure. It’s just one is unexpected in this setting.