@SincererLove Well, USC offered rejection with a twist by asking to accept second choice major after 6 months. It was pretty obvious that a student of her calibre wouldn’t accept their offer.
@aggie92 quite the contrary! It is so impressive that it is nice to see someone without a hook! And USC doesnt make sense, although my hunch is that they tried to get a better yield this year. Therefore, I think they accepted alot more kids this year that they thought would accept the USC offer - not super high stat/accomplished kids. I saw it for a fact around a few high schools in my area. Some of the most qualified students getting rejected from USC, while other acceptances to USC made me scratch my head! Your son was too good for them! And I agree with what post #137 said.
Thank you everyone, yes we didn’t get when USC rejected him but now I have a feeling they might have done to protect their yield. It was laughable when DS got a rejection letter saying sorry the pool was highly competitive when he was already admitted into Caltech and HM (their acceptance letter said the admission committee’s decision was “unanimous,” and there was a handwritten post script responding to his essay).
@aggie92 and @LvMyKids2 - Am I remembering correctly that USC had “more than expected” accept last year or the year before? This year has been crazy. My boys are both thrilled with the choices. Orientation and move-ins to work our way through now. Good luck to all!
Being an NMF may help, but not not being one will definitely hurt when it comes to top 30!
@Wisdom2share I don’t understand what you mean “but not not being one will definitely hurt when it comes to top 30?”
Im having a hard time with the double negative. If you are implying that NOT being a NMF would hurt if applying to the Top 30 schools, this is absolutely NOT true.
Yes, USC normally accepts EVERY high stat applicant. Period. USC is basically an auto-admit school–for anyone and everyone with a pulse!
My friend’s high stat daughter, who is also a SCion, who got rejected this past cycle, is just lying, I’m sure.
All the kids from my S’s hs, who are rejected each year, they’re just rejected for their high stats. Low stat applicants are essentially auto-admits at USC.
And finally, all the posters on USC appeals thread on cc, they’re probably just liars too. Everyone knows how easy it is to get into USC.
@CupCakeMuffin, your post above opining that USC is, in fact, not need-blind school, is grossly inaccurate.
@USCWolverine - sarcasm much? Many of us here are struggling to see how our dear, darling children were not welcomed with open arms. IF you can explain how a National Merit Finalist with a 1550 SAT, 35 ACT, demonstrated interest does not make it into USC, I would love to hear it. USC is a fine school, but I am baffled by their admission process this year. I am obviously biased, but the process has left me scratching my head.
Our acceptance rate was 12.9% this past cycle. As the parent of a kid who’d LOVE to attend USC one day, I have to keep reminding myself (and him): That means, sadly, slightly over 87 out of 100 applicants were rejected. Mind, I’m not suggesting you don’t understand that simple math; I’m sure you do. I’m just trying to connect with it, for myself, on frankly a more emotional level.
Friend’s daughter, SCion, very high stats, ENGINEERING (emphasis bc they thought, being a girl with that intended major would be a big boost) major, USC was her first choice…rejected. I didn’t know what to say. I still don’t know what to say. It sucks, but it is what it is. She would have been full pay. She loves USC. Perhaps yield protection may have been involved, but that’s pure speculation. Different friend’s son, also full pay, NOT a legacy, also rejected–but he was also rejected at Cal, UCLA, Penn, and (of course) Stanford. Fortunately, he was admitted and will attend Michigan–GO BLUE! But I can tell you it wasn’t yield protection for him, bc his stats, while excellent, were hardly “amazing” (by cc standards). Just another top student at another West Coast suburban hs…
I’ll have to dig up our admitted students’ mean GPA’s/SAT’s, etc. I’m certain they will NOT be low. Also, USC has world class film and dance schools–all programs which place less emphasis on stats. So that may bring those numbers down slightly, but probably not much. We shall see.
All I can say is, this sucks for these kids. That said, if they love USC, they can still attempt to transfer later on. Quite honestly, my son and I talk about community college regularly (despite his, so far, “high” stats). If he cannot get in first time round, cc is always an option.
Lastly,based on what you noted in earlier threads about your child, I am 100% certain they will succeed. Thank you for your service to our country and FIGHT ON!
Wow, that is a bitter bitter thought and so insulting to the great high stat or whatever stat kids that got in there.
Slam a school but don’t slam the kids.
This thread wasn’t started as which schools reject high stats kids, but which reject NMF kids.
For my D’s high school class, there were 6 NMF. Not all of those 6 were in the top 20 of the class, and I think only one was in the top 10 (not 10%, just the actual numbers 1-10, out of 435). I’m sure most NMFs country wide are great, well rounded people and have a lot more than just “one test on one day.” Their applications have to show that.
I’m very impressed with NMF, but our hs really wasn’t. The NMF were hardly mentioned in the awards or the graduation program, but those top 20 were a big deal. They sat in the front at graduation, graduated first (Summa) and received a lot of praise. Maybe some of the colleges feel the same way, that other stats are more important and they’d rather have a Val with a perfect SAT score than a NMF.
@twoinanddone I think that NMF is recognized by most HS as either a shout out at awards ceremonies, in a local paper or on school website. At least that is what I have seen around here. However, I do think the kids that graduate in the Top 20 (or whatever a high school designates) of their class is huge. That is 4 years of alot of hard work - day in and day out, year in and year out - not just one test on one day. It is not to minimize NM at all, but really in some cases it is luck on one day. Both my kids had 4.0/36 ACT and neither one got the NM. Dont think it mattered at all in the college process (the lack of NM). And, these days, either does Val and Sal. It is a nice recognition at graduation, but for colleges at the selective level, a majority of the kids that apply are at the Val/Sal level and will still get rejected. Around my area, at one high school the top kid (only one person) is Val. At another neighboring HS, the Top kids with a certain GPA and over, are ALL valedictorians. That could mean 40 in a class of 550. That is TOOO many!
@LvMyKids2 we have found it to be very true for some of the most selective schools, where majority of students who apply are at least NMSF, and in many other schools kids who get any merit scholrships or qualify to Honors college are usually NMfs
Foremost among these in 2017 are the University of Chicago with 277 merit scholars USC with 230 merit scholars Vanderbilt with 220 scholars and Northwestern with 200 scholars. Franklin Olin College 15/60 students with out hooks, 170 at Stanford, 160 at MIT
Since most applicants are at least NMSF it is some what expected by these schools though not explicitly. It would be disadvantageous not to be qualified with out any other hooks.
@Wisdom2share I don’t disagree that selective schools do have their share of NMSF (because that is all that is know at time of application), but what I am saying is that it is NOT a deciding factor that pushes one over the top to get in. In the cases of the selective schools (chicago, USC, Vanderbilt, Northwestern) these kids would most likely get in WITH or WITHOUT NMSF. Yes, I am not discounting that it gives in some cases merit (USC), but there are not alot of TOP 20 schools that give enough merit to warrant going there. USC is not a Top 20 school, but yes, if accepted I know you can get the 1/2 tuition. Correct me if I am wrong, but UCHICAGO and Vandy do NOT give 1/2 merit. I stand by what I said that it does not matter for purposes of getting ACCEPTED if one is a NMSF or not. Very little, if any, weight is given to that. For kids that do get in, and have NMSF, it is more likely that they had a strong application, gpa, stats, ECs, etc to begin with. And, I am not talking about honors colleges, because those are usually the state flagship schools that give money for NMF… I see that you showed for 2017 how many NM scholars attended Top 20 schools (minus USC), but more than likely they would have gotten in WITHOUT having NM status. And I DISAGREE completely, that it would be disavantageous not to be qualifed for NM without any other hooks. My kids had NO hooks, NO NM and got into Top 20 and Ivy.
@LvMyKids2 I am not saying it is the deciding factor, I am saying it is expected, just like a good test scores or a GPA.
If majority of the students with a certain stereotyped background who applies a particular school are NMSFs and you are not then it can be a disadvantage, because it is expected of you to be one.
in a couple of schools we are familiar with the courting starts as soon as the NMSF results are announced.
“because it is expected of you to be one.”
@Wisdom2share , you are making an incorrect assumption, based on what I dont know.
Have you ever heard of the phrase- “correlation does not mean causation.”?. It is applicable in the case of college admissions.
Top colleges dont care one bit if a student is a NMF or not ,when it comes to admissions decisions, IF the students test scores- be they SAT or ACT, and GPA’s are high enough.
@Wisdom2share I do not agree with that and, in fact, our daughter’s admission decisions completely contradict your statement. She was admitted to 3 top 30 schools (MIT, Duke and UVA) and she was not a NMF or SF, she was only a commended scholar (gasp). I really don’t think the top schools place as much weight on it as other schools do.
"Since most applicants are at least NMSF "
ahem,
@Wisdom2share
for the U of Chicago 57% of applicants submitted ACT scores, which are not used to determine NMF status.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=University+fo+Chicago&s=IL&id=144050#admsns
at Norwestern 71% submitted ACT score. Only 38% submitted SAT scores.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=northwestern&s=IL&id=147767#admsns
And at Vanderbilt, 74% submitted ACT scores, while only 34% submitted SAT scores
https://virg.vanderbilt.edu/virgweb/CDSC.aspx?year=2017
at those 3 colleges that you referenced I dont think you can say that “most” were NMSF’s, since “most” actually submitted ACT scores instead of SAT scores. And one can’t be a NMF if one did not take the SAT.
I suggest you double check your facts before posting statements like the one above.
@menloparkmom - some kids take both SAT and ACT and only submit one to the schools. My NMF submitted ACT but he took SAT as well.