<p>Newzbugg-
i don't understand your hostility. seriously. nyu was a reach school for me, and yes, i am glad to have gotten in, but if you don't like this post, then simply skip over it. honestly, in the long run, i am aware that college means very little. i agree with hssseniorlooking.</p>
<p>Random - of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.</p>
<p>this is dictionary.com's definition of random. There is no way that each applicant had an equal chance of being selected. You make it seems as if the admissions reps, just closed their eyes and picked random applications and chose to admit those students. Personally, I find that offensive.</p>
<p>How about college admissions is more like a poker game. You need a little bit of luck and a good amount of talent. I think that analogy fits perfectly. Too bad i had a little bit of bad luck and got waitlisted. o well life goes on.</p>
<p>hey trogan! i like that analogy! it's perfect.</p>
<p>poker is 60% luck 40% skill</p>
<p>yea quote me</p>
<p>"poker is 60% luck 40% skill"</p>
<p>So, Chanel, are you now admitting that random luck had a lot to do with your getting admitted?</p>
<p>As I said, a college will look first to make sure that an applicant has met its admission criteria. Once you make that cut, there is some randomness to the process. And yes, I know the meaning of the word "random," without even checking with dictionary.com. There is no way that a college can say that one applicant is better than the other. Once you meet the admission criteria, you will have an equal chance of getting accepted -- unfortunately, the equal chance is very small this year at many colleges. </p>
<p>Imagine, if you can, being a fine human being who worked hard all through school to ACHIEVE high stats, as well as great EC's etc., only to find yourself now on waitlists at all the colleges where you applied. I know some students who are in this situation. Their lives are disastrous right now. </p>
<p>Those students don't need remarks about "revenge of the nerds" or other smug remarks.</p>
<p>Hey, I've been a college student for almost a year now. My high school stats weren't that impressive and my SATs were a total bomb. I decided to pick my first year up at a local university (Boise State) where I am going to make Dean's List with High Honors my first year, and join the Honors College next semester (Fall '07). After that, I will be applying to NYU CAS for spring '08.</p>
<p>My point is that I have been immersed in collegiate applications and admissions for a while now and have picked up on a few things. I would tend to agree with the creator of this thread, especially considering NYU is holistic in it's process. NYU has options for each candidate:</p>
<p>High School Record
SAT/ACT
Extra Curricular Activity
Recommendation
Essay
Geographic Region
Relatives Attended</p>
<p>Also any other options that I am not thinking up at the moment. Now, NYU sifts through all of these things and takes into consideration how many schools the applicant is applying to, what the chances of being accepted at
THOSE schools are and if they are better or the candidate clearly has a shot at bigger and better things (and applies for bigger and better things). They would most likely take the student who would surely bite at the chance to attend NYU instead of being accepted and then turning down the acceptance for, say, Columbia.</p>
<p>Also, as has been mentioned, SAT scores and grades are VERY important in Freshmen, but not EVERYTHING.</p>
<p>I don't think the admissions process is "random", but it's certainly subjective and somewhat unpredictable. The admissions people just have too many applicants for their spots, and they have to make judgments with a limited amount of information. </p>
<p>Actually, it's even worse in the performing arts, where, besides meeting the basic admissions requirements, most of your admission decision is based on a 10-15 minute audition. And unlike the SATs, you can't do it over if your screw up. My daughter did get into NYU (Tisch), but she thought it was one of her worst auditions, while her audition for UMich (her top choice) seemed great, and she was rejected. Totally unpredictable.</p>
<p>Regarding the dropping grades for certain classes, it's pretty common. I think this hurt my daughter, too, but I've always assumed it was an attempt to get everyone's grades to a common basis - the "core" courses, if you will.</p>
<p>Crapchute! Heehee. I think you meant crapshoot. That made my day even better.</p>
<p>I think it is random to some extent. I got rejected (practically; extended waitlist) at the University of Minnesota, but accepted into NYU Gallatin with 124k in scholarships. It might be different for Gallatin though, as they focus more on essays and personal statements than the others.</p>
<p>One admissions officer told me that the reason they drop "non-major" courses when they recalc the GPA is because students often get their A's in music, art, computer science... these are courses that too often are not offered in the poorer school districts.</p>
<p>Based on that explanation, it seems like a legitimate way to "level the playing field."</p>
<p>The merits of this thread aside, can we all at least agree that in a forum which generally provides good and uselful information, but also often features obnoxious statements, the statement, "My son was accepted at NYU - it was his safety" not only wins the award for the most obnoxious to date, but retires the award forever?</p>
<p>Why do you find it obnoxious that NYU just might be someone's backup plan? Every applicant should include safeties to their list. To some, that means a local school. NYU is somewhat local to him. It may not be the "perfect" school for him, but a place where he felt certain he could be admitted, and would be happy if he ended up there. What's wrong with that -- please explain!!!</p>
<p>Happy to. There is nothing wrong with NYU being someone's safety, and good for your son that his achievements made it one for him. For some NYU it is a reach, some a target, some a safety. But what you wrote was clearly irrelevant to the discussion - it was a put-down of those for whom NYU is a highly desirable place, for some a place out of reach. Read that sentence again, but from the viewpoint of someone denied admission there, which is what this thread is really about, and then tell me it's not obnoxious. I'd bet your son would understand.</p>
<p>Some of my son's friends, who are as highly qualified as he is, have been waitlisted or rejected at colleges across the country. They have no true good options right now other than to try to get off a waitlist. They worked hard for years with a goal of getting into a good college of their choice. The OP is declaring that these hardworking students somehow missed the boat by working hard, and therefore not becoming as "creative" as she has become.</p>
<p>I was reacting to that statement. I believe that by starting a post for rejected students, and then making her statement, she is rubbing salt into the wounds of some well deserving students.</p>
<p>Then came the "revenge of the nerds" remark. Accepted students are in no position to pass judgement on rejected/waitlisted students. In many cases, the rejected are just as deserving as the accepted, just not as lucky.</p>
<p>By the way, NYU is an excellent school, and my son would have been happy to go there if his first choice didn't come through.</p>
<p>Newzbugg - on your last lengthier post, I am entirely with you.</p>
<p>Newzbugg, the fact that you are on this forum bragging about your son is pathetic.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what to make of Newzbugg. I thought she sounded kind of bitter and suspected that her son was rejected by NYU. I decided to look through her posts. On one, she says her son did not apply to Harvard, Princeton or Yale -- on another, she says he got financial aid to attend Yale . . . She also says that NYU was one of her son's safeties. On another post she says his safeties had rolling admissions. Of course, NYU does not. Apparently, he got into Johns Hopkins. </p>
<p>She thinks very highly of the boy and that's fine. My guess remains, though, that he didn't get into NYU and that it's driving her crazy. Since he's not going to NYU, why else would she be here?</p>
<p>Ho-hum, Percpaul...</p>
<p>One could look at it this way:</p>
<p>A lot of students apply to NYU from the general area around NYU, not very many from states a fair distance away, with the exception of California and Texas. When students with HIGH credentials in say, New York state, which sends around 1,113 students to NYU (according to the NYU website), they all go up against one another. When you have students from Wyoming, Montana or Idaho (like myself), we aren't competing against thousands or hundreds of others from that state. I know that in the end, a lot of other factors count. I also know that the amount of students accepted from each region does not mirror how many actually applied, but one can get a general idea.</p>
<p>That being said, Newzbugg's son (by the sounds of it) lives where a LOT of good students come from and consequently, more competition.</p>