Congrats. Is class rank at class rank schools weighted or UW?
Again folks, itâs not a ranking of the best GPAâs and test scores in order to be accepted. They also look at a candidateâs promise and potential too.
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At our school, the valedictorians never get into the best schools. They are often students with a singular focus â academics â and the rest of their applications are less impressive.
I am sure this isnât the case at every high school or for every valedictorian, but hearing that a valedictorian didnât get into a top school is never unusual.
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Yes, that goes for all universities. Yet, all universities donât make the exact same decision about all candidates. May be there is some overlap, may be there is none. It is finally about the âmatchâ and being able to build a class. No point putting too much into reading a universities decision into which kid is âbetterâ in whatever way one thinks their definition of âbetterâ is. In my experience there are kids who were only accepted by Columbia or by Yale and were not by a range of othersâŠâŠi donât think any kid (or their parents) should be attaching their potential or worth into exactly what admission decision they got from any university.
I say this from POV of a parent, whose one kid attends a top program in a top Ivy in their field and the other who is equally good and waits for many decisions. I know first hand that they both are equally good and have tremendous potential.
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That is true⊠I think part of the challenge is that in certain high schools, the students and parents know the other students and parents REALLY well. They know their stats, their leadership roles, their ECâs, community service etc. They are with these people constantly and know a LOT about what the student is all about and what they have to offer or include in an application. Some of them have even read each otherâs essays, although not letters of rec obviously. So I think some of the wondering and headscratching comes when people actually know the other applicants REALLY well⊠and find it mystifying that kid A got in over kid B - when they know a lot more about what those kids are putting in their apps than âjust the statsâ
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Yes. Agree.
But the parentâs view is different than the collegeâs view because the parent can look into the kidâs eyes, talk with them and see how they carry themselves. The college can not see that.
And, as you said, the college sees the recs.
I personally think itâs incredible that a decision so big is made without seeing, meeting or talking with these kids. Another idea in my next life would be a third party interview business that submits a professional objective interview score to the college like a âstandardized interviewâ. Simply, how does this kid present, defend and support ideas.
I know as parents we all like to think itâs just âluck of the draw,â but algorithms and AOâs are paid to look for certain characteristics in an app that we arenât privy to.
Again, once you start to break down that about 45% of the freshman class is OOS and itâs balanced male/female, and thereâs only âXâ amount of seats in each Michigan school, 1st gen, diversity, and on and on. The number of open acceptance spots gets pretty thin.
Weâve had applicants post acceptances here that have also received acceptances from Princeton, Harvard, other Ivyâs, Cal Tech, etc. Theyâre not just competing against kids from their own school, I think theyâre potentially competing against others in the school district, zip code and state in terms of representation. Thatâs my opinion. Others can disagree.
BTW, my D lives with the only person who enrolled from Wyoming in the 2018 class. Maybe Michigan wanted one less applicant from NY, IL or CA and decided to offer one or two extra from a state with less representation.
I really donât know what makes up their secret sauce. But we seem to get the same conversations every year here. âWhy Kid A over Kid B?â
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when should I submit my LOCI?? and what is the best way to start it off? EX- Dear Admissions Committe?
All valid points. Not to mention the mood the AO was in when they read the app and so onâŠall of it is way more subjective than we would like to think!
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Data - sorry to go here again, but I love the data and the asymmetry between what we have and the colleges have is fascinating.
Three observations that I guarantee are true.
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Test optional is a weak application with subpar admission chances. (This is not new or novel and has been discussed here often).
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AP test scores trumps point 1 and gets you out of that bucket. (Some discussion on this - but not much)
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AP classes with Aâs but no test scores is weak and suspicious. (No chat on this, but seems obvious)
Now. I would not waste time with dear Bill.
I would start with âI am excited to get an opportunity to confirm my interest âŠ.â
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Subpar unless you are a candidate that the college needs to check off another box. Diversity, athletic recruit, major donor/prominent alumni or cured cancer.
And I donât have any issue with that.
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Trying to catch up. Lots of great points about acceptance criteria but I havenât seen anyone discuss recommendations and their role. The student who reviewed their application was not able to see those, I believe. My DD submitted 3 teacher recommendations and 1 employer recommendation in addition to the required counselor recommendation. Does any have data around recs?
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No data but some insight about a LOR - it isnât just a prose letter that endorses a student as an âexcellent candidate.â It also has a section where areas of character, leadership, etcâŠare scored.
Now ideally, if someone agrees to write a LOR, one would hope they unequivocally endorse you. However if the LOR leaves any doubt or is less than emphatic, it can matter and I believe it happens on occasion.
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Same at our schools but then people start saying yield protection and totally undermine the selection of people who got in
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Just got home from work⊠But nothing is certain especially this year. The way itâs going I think the first wave you will see more acceptances but also more denials and wait listing.
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Weighted but if you take APush the highest grade you can get is a B+ whereas History honors is usually an A+ across the board so the GPA of history honors kid is always higher without putting in any effort. Just talking about our high school
Not undermining my own child, but rather I recognize that schools keep an eye on who might not enroll. And there are ways to engage with a school to flip a deferral.
We are also from a school with a limited selection of classes, and my child who was accepted EA is not exceptional in any way, other than a high likelihood of attending umich if accepted.
Anecdotally (again not saying they are less qualified), UM reaches deeper into our class for girls - UM has (for COE and Ross) lower yield for girls.
I understand that! But I also know that they wanted my child badly thatâs why she got a 20k/year merit scholarship at COE as an oos student which made a difference in our decision
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Ding, ding, ding!! We have a winner! 
⊠There is a type that lots of schools look for. Hard working, dedicated students with passion is a great descriptor for many students at Michigan and other schools. Add that to good grades and scores. Great recommendations and essays and actually good ecsâŠ