I am in utter shock; my daughter who excels in school, captain of her volleyball team, editor of her school yearbook, president of the National Honor Society, co president of the Spanish Honor Society tons of community service, 7 AP classes , class rank of 6 out of 400 students with a GPA of 4.34 was not accepted at Northeastern and wait-listed at Emerson. So I guess my question is what do these kids have to do to get into a school?
Rank does not count for much there. If her SAT was in the 1900’s then it is below the average of 2080.
Be luckier.
I hope your daughter isn’t too hard on herself when soo much of this process seems random
Your daughter sounds like a terrific student, and you should be proud of her
jventola, I ask myself the same question. So many students are being rejected and deferred from what, by all accounts, would be considered a “match” school given the CC criteria we read so much about on here. Her SAT scores seem to be an issue for your D. My daughter’s were close to 2100 and that doesn’t seem to be good enough for alot of the schools in the 20-40% acceptance rate categories, even with good rank, great GPA, good ECs.
@NEPatsGirl There is no CC criteria, people just feel comfortable chancing others when in reality they know very little of the real process. 2100 is fine for 20-40% acceptance rate schools. If a person is rejected with a 2100, then it probably wasn’t the problem.
@NEPatsGirl It was probably the money not her as a candidate. Good luck to her tomorrow!
it’s sad but two things I’ve noticed: 1) the standardized test scores carry great great weight…mostly because it’s the only way to compare one student to another…and 2) its simply easier to get in early. At Northeastern, my kid got in EA…but I’ve been looking at the message threads for RD and there’s a good chance she wouldn’t have gotten in if she had tried then. Some of it is confusion by the school…i.e. letting in too many kids early before they see the applicant pool…
Hopefully she has a good safety? UMass? @SouthernHope is right. You need to do very well on the SAT even if you have to take it three times. Apply early and show interest. If there is an optional interview take it. There are just too many great students applying to be weak in one area and the early bird… The kids are all doing varsity sports, volunteering etc… It’s great that you have one of the good ones!
@meriks, I know there is no black and white criteria but with a little research into commondata sets and such, you should be able to get a good idea. What I didn’t realize going in was the difference between need blind and need aware, how your declared major could have impact on decisions, the ratio of male to female and that impact, etc. There’s a lot to the admission process and it just goes back to a quote I heard from a college advisor in the fall of D’s junior year when we first started looking…“odds are very much against the white girl in the northeast with a 4.0”.
@NEPatsGirl Which schools with 20-40% acceptance rejected your daughter ?
She got a deferral from Dickinson (45%) and a “possible” from Wellesley which is basically the same thing as a deferral (30%). She was outright rejected by Vanderbilt ED (although I think they are more like 15%). That one was expected by they other two were not.
@NEPatsGirl That is true about girls in the NE. Our friends have a daughter going to the top private school in our state, amazing stats GPA and SAT, excellent ECs, volunteer work in Africa for many summers, she applied ED, did all the visits and interviews and both parents are legacies and she did not get into Bowdoin.
That’s a a perfect example…how much more can you do? We spread the wide net because of financial issues but I might suggest everyone, regardless of ability to pay, increase their list a bit. Another example here in MA is that the UMass Amherst decisions have been coming hard this week and sooo many great students are being rejected. There was a time when we never heard anyone being rejected. The average stats for the Commonwealth Honors College is 1390 SAT and 4.2 GPA so even the instate flagship is becoming a crapshoot.
D has three great choices in front of her and hopefully at least a few more coming this week and for that I am grateful. I can’t impress on everyone how important it is to have that safety school, both academic and financial, that you or your child would be happy to attend. D’s safety was UMass Amherst and while she was pretty adamant about not going there, she’s certainly starting to warm up to it now.
Thank you all for the feedback. My daughter did get into UMASS Amherst which is a great school and Emmanuel another good school. Her SATS were low just under 2000. It’s very frustrating - when I called Emerson they said she applied as undecided and that was held against her. They said they look at students who are undecided with a very critical eye. We plan on writing a follow up letter to Emerson letting them know that they are her #1 choice and hopefully she gets in. I am VERY proud of her and feel Amherst would be a great fit for her.
She just feels defeated 4 years of killing herself taking 1 AP course after another committing to everything, she just thought her options would be greater…I can’t say I blame her. Judging a student by a standardized test score hardly seems fare.
Jventola, so she has two great choices on the table? I wish her luck with Emerson if that’s her first choice. D also had difficulty with the standardized tests, first thought was she would be scoring in the 2200s but that hope was dashed almost immediately and I’m afraid to tell you what her ACT score was lol.
@NEPatsGirl And she did not need financial aid (trust fund). @meriks The SAT 1390 is out of 1600. (CR and M) My son squeaked into UMass honors with a 1380 but we applied early. People don’t believe that UMass is hard to get into but it is certainly getting more difficult.
Oh no!
My daughter has 2 WONDERFUL choices on the table, I just wish she would realize that.She has also applied to NYU, Columbia, BU and Harvard with Harvard being her stretch. Or at least we thought it was the minute she got out right denied by Northeastern she just feels the others are not within reach. Maybe her guidance counselor should have directed her better? I have no idea. But then again her guidance counselor was SHOCKED she didn’t get accepted to Emerson.
Hopefully she will learn to love her wonderful choices. Sounds like the GC could have directed her better but so glad she has options. Better two schools than one so she doesn’t feel trapped.
@gearmom, D squeaked by with a 1350 into honors lol. Her CR was low. I think the school still has a stigma for low-achievers but I’ve been reading D the threads of kids getting rejected and she’s starting to get the idea that UMassA is no longer for the B/C students, it is a match for her stats and abilities, not a safety.