<p>I've been seeing a lot of people confused about their rejection when they had stellar stats and SAT scores ect... I understand your frustration for working hard and not seeing the benefits, but I think maybe colleges are begininng to look beyond numbers and more and more at the applicant's personality and creative side then just their test scores and GPA. This is clear by the five additional essays and the emphasis on the large one. I know, as far as Tisch and CAS goes, the audition or portfolio review is more important than grades and numbers. I understand everyone's frustration, but I don't feel it's fair to assume that because your stats were higher than others, you were more qualified. </p>
<p>To all who were rejected: cheer up, life goes on, and in twenty years none of this will matter. In fact, in 100 years, you'll be dead! </p>
<p>To all accepted: Congratulations! You were chosen out of 34,000 applicants this year, and you all desevered it!</p>
<p>Interesting thought, and if that was true, I would think NYU would take into consideration more classes that students take in HS....several of the required classes my D took in highschool, and I am not talking about gym, were dumped in the NYU GPA....</p>
<p>If they truely want to look at the whole student that would be great, but then count more hs classes</p>
<p>I say this because at my Ds HS, in California you are required to take art (for California Univs, and religion, it was a Jesuit HS- these weren't cake walk classes either), and we were told they basically count for nothing in the application process at an NYU information session</p>
<p>How is counting more HS classes looking at the whole student? The grades in these classes, if counted, would merely rise the GPA. </p>
<p>I am not sure if this applies to US universities, but in the UK universities prefer academic subjects to specialized one because they better prepare students for university. For example, if you want to apply to Cambridge or Oxford for Law, candidates are actually advised NOT to have taken law in high school! I suspect the academic subjects are what NYU is counting in the admissions average.</p>
<p>Where a student can really shine (and where I believe I was able to convince NYU to accept me despite my average SATs) is in his or her essays and extra cirricular activies.</p>
<p>Because you are ignoring more than 15% of the curriculam a student must take, and saying it is not relevant to the students education, that is how</p>
<p>If you discount the grades in those classes, you are discounting those classes and what benefit they give the students and the commuities, as well as discounting the teachers who teach them.</p>
<p>Why shouldn't an architecture class count as much as a french class? Or a world religions class as much as a general science class?</p>
<p>Look at it this way, at my D very competitive HS, you HAVE to take 4 years of religion, and a year of art...because you have to take those classes, you can NOT take other classes...so a sixth of your courses are discounted toward your GPA....while other get all their classes counted</p>
<p>the UC system REQUIRES art classes, but doesnt count others</p>
<p>citygirlsmom i read that your D will be attending fordham university..</p>
<p>have you visited the campus? i will be attending fordham university as well but im waiting for my financial aid package to come in before i make a decision. how did you D pick fordham over all her choices?</p>
<p>Chanel, according to your other posts, you were accepted. I feel that you are arguing a pointless battle. Be happy that you were accepted, but don't post something that seems like you are accusing those who were rejected of not being creative or having a personality that is "undesirable" by NYU. Let's face it, college admissions are random.</p>
<p>Maybe those of us who never really got into the whole quantitative side of education feel quite happy with the process changing into one taking into account the more individual and perhaps creative sides of students -- and maybe, just maybe, a good score on a standardized test you were able to fork out money to practice, or a 4.0 gpa fueled by college admission anxiety says very little about your true capacity and intelligence as a student.</p>
<p>It's a little bit like revenge of the nerds, except the nerds are students who excelled and learned outside of the quantitative confines of school before coming back to the flock. Top "stat" students work very hard, please know I understand and respect this, but personally it feels good to see that traditional ideas of what constitutes academic ability - belief in modern schooling as the supreme authority, obedience to rules, social and economic resources to understand and attain the status of a rolemodel student - are starting to crumble a bit in favor of the more unorthodox learners.</p>
<p>I certainly hope it can not be chalked up to college admissions being "random".</p>
<p>Regarding the concern that some classes, e.g., art and religion, are not considered by NYU in its admissions deliberations: if they were meaningful for the student, that could be reflected in the essays / short answers; if they weren't personally meaningful, there's no reason to consider them since from a GPA perspective the university has determined that they aren't predictive of college success.</p>
<p>I think what Chanel_nicole is trying to say is that NYU's got more of a balanced Holistic Admission. No, NYU does not disregard the importance of a strong academic record AT ALL. However, just because the individual's got a better GPA, SAT, and a more vigorous courseload does NOT make that individual more qualified than someone who performs mediocre in school yet has great contributions outside of school.</p>
<p>And folks, I don't know that I classify this reply as "consolation," but at least it helps put things in perspective if you read the 2 somewhat-cross-posted threads on Parents Forum, which linked the NYT article.</p>
<p>("None but the Stellar Need Apply")
and
(Great Year for Ivy League Schools, not so great for Applicants)</p>
<p>....the figures being relevant to all desirable/popular colleges, not just Ivy League.</p>
<p>Maybe you are just feeling a little overly-smug about being accepted. You don't want to admit that you were selected almost randomly. Rather, you have a need to feel superior, since your "stats" are probably not that great. By the attitude that you show, you are not the "better people," either. </p>
<p>NYU also said that they discount AP Human Geography. The admissions rep we met with laughed and said she had no idea what the subject is. She was a graduate of NYU. </p>
<p>Enough said!</p>
<p>My son was accepted at NYU - it was his safety - but he will not be attending.</p>
<p>
[quote]
NYU also said that they discount AP Human Geography. The admissions rep we met with laughed and said she had no idea what the subject is. She was a graduate of NYU.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>By addressing the above anecdote, are you assuming that all NYU grads have no idea what AP Human Geography is?</p>
<p>If this is the case, I'm glad your son got into schools better than NYU (his safety). </p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with Chanel Nicole trying to cheer the rejected and congratulate the accepted. From a psychologic level, it's YOU who's feeling superior and overly-smug. Otherwise, why would you bitterly interpret the post as so?</p>
<p>Yes everyone. I am accepted at NYU too. I don't think I was better than all of you that I'm accepted... I just think that randomly and luckily, there was something about my application that appealed to the eyes of the reviewer. College admissions are crapchutes. I can sympathize with your pain and frustration because I've been rejected from my both of first choices - UCLA and USC.</p>
<p>But I must agree, Nicole is right in that life DOES go on and you WILL find happiness somewhere else. I've been dreaming of Southern California ever since I took the intiative to travel there last summer. NYC was NOT what I expected at all, yet I'm sure I'll survive and make the best of it.</p>
<p>You all have worked so hard to get thus far!</p>
<p>College admissions--NYU admissions--are not random. But they aren't "fair" either. This idea people have that because they have a higher GPA or higher test scores or were in more "leadership" positions in high school--or whatever-- somehow establishes a right to a particular college is ridiculous. There are many factors playing into their decisions. They are not judging YOU when they pass judgment on whether your application fits their school this particular year. That admissions committee doesn't really know you at all.<br>
I hope to God the admission process is truly holistic. It will always be subjective and fallible. That's life. It can be very disappointing not to get what you want, but it is an important test of your character is to see what you do with that reality. For parents as well as students! My daughter got into 3, deferred at 1, of the 9 schools she applied to. We cried, we laughed, we dealt with it, she'll go to college next fall and be just fine. She got into NYU--what a great, great thing! She didn't get into Brown--her favorite. As they say, BFD. I am not going to feed a "victim" attitude by saying how unfair it was that she didn't get into those schools even though she "should have" based on her stats. What good does that do her? What kind of attuitude towards the world does that model? If there is a true, systemic injustice at a university, take it to court. Otherwise, an attitude adjustment is in order.</p>
<p>citygirlsmom, you said "If you discount the grades in those classes, you are discounting those classes and what benefit they give the students and the commuities, as well as discounting the teachers who teach them" but this is not true at all. </p>
<p>The student can still use the skills and benefits from these classes to further their application and show that he or she is a suitable student. I took an EC class on sundays but NYU did not count this towards my average. However, I felt that the experience was valuable enough to write about and I dedicated my entire "what did you do last sunday" essay on it.</p>
<p>No... he's not as overbearing as I -- just the opposite. I don't really intend to attack any one person's beliefs. I just reject this notion that the colleges look for balance, look at the whole person, etc., (blah blah blah), when it is obvious that the process is random. I think that once a student meets the admissions requirements for a college, unless you have some kind of hook, you will be selected for admission at random. Being admitted to any one college does NOT show that you are more creative, or a better student after all.</p>
<p>BTW, I am certain that most NYU grads know what human geography is. However, the admissions rep did not impress me when she ridiculed the notion of someone taking AP Human Geography. She announced this opinion in a large group session, by the way.</p>