<p>They don’t. We are just meant to believe they do, so we’ll keeping sending in those application fees. ;)</p>
<p>Re: reputable media source – my way of saying it is not from a blog of a twelve year old. It is at least from the Globe.</p>
<p>I was thinking about the question upthread on what it takes for an unhooked app to move pass the first reader (or for the first reader to read beyond the first page). If the Ivies indeed calculate AI for each applicant before any serious reading takes place, then, for Harvard, an AI of ~225 ought to pass that initial screening.</p>
<p>Since GPA is our kids’ weakness in the context of T20’s, many of us are eager to find out if our kids make that initial cut so the adcoms can get to what we believe are the “juicy” parts of the app.</p>
<p>At this point, getting higher test scores (on the November tests) is the only thing our kids can do to raise their AI’s for EA/ED. For RD, the mid-year grades can still impact AI’s.</p>
<p>Hi. I’m new to this thread so sorry if this question is not appropriate. No one is posting where their DS or DD is applying. I’m wondering if it’s more ivy or elite LAC on this thread. MY DS is barely 3.6 so all the info has been great. Thanks. Also, how many total schools are kids applying to. Is 5 too few (1 safe, 2 match, 2 reach, according to statistics)</p>
<p>Welcome, northwest mom. Your question is completely appropriate! Anyone who wants to keep information private will simply not post it.</p>
<p>My son is applying mostly to larger universities. His list at the moment, which may be reduced but probably will not be expanded, is:</p>
<p>MIT
Stanford
Chicago
Washington U.
Rice
Rochester
Tulane
Pittsburgh
Colorado School of Mines
our State U</p>
<p>Applying to five schools is fine, as long as the safety is truly safe, and your son believes he’d be happy at any of them. The only reason my son is applying to as many as ten schools is that we are playing the financial aid game; in the end, he’ll probably attend the best school that he is admitted to and that we/he can afford. (With “best” being an elusive concept, of course.)</p>
<p>
I think Michelle Hernandez is actually at least as credible as the Globe. She’s posted info on here I think, and has her own book and website.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what it takes to get a 225 AI. I went to Hernandez calculator and tried a few things.
At the 10% ranking (ranking is the preferred representative of grades on her calculator) even all 800s on all tests only gave a 223 AI.</p>
<p>At the 5% ranking you could get a 225 with 790s on all the tests.</p>
<p>Of course, I’m thinking that below HYPMS the 225 has got to drop a bit.</p>
<p>Thanks mantori, that looks like a very well balanced list. Our list is Oregon (his dad went there) Colgate, Vanderbilt, Yale and Dartmouth, but we are thinking Colgate ED. I think he is thinking ED to not have to write so many essays. But we are all over the map with small, large, urban, rural. He’s pretty easy going and claims he will be happy anywhere. Any thoughts</p>
<p>northwest mom, Colgate’s ED acceptance rate is 60%, twice the overall acceptance rate of 30%. So, if your S really likes it and would be happy, it seems like a good choice to ED to.</p>
<p>Just out of idle curiosity – if one’s school doesn’t rank, do the adcomms really use the GPA, or do they try to extract an estimated ranking from a school profile and use that instead?</p>
<p>S2, who is not applying to any Ivies, so this truly is just an “I wonder…” question has a 230 AI when using weighted GPA (which the AI calc says to use if available and the school doesn’t rank). At least with his profile of stats and grades, the rank makes a big difference in his AI. Using GPA 9-12 only yielded a 230, including transcript GPA (which includes HS courses taken in MS, and included semester grades of 7 Bs and a A) is a 229.</p>
<p>Then again, a high AI doesn’t mean everything. S1 had a 236 and did not get into the two Ivies to which he applied, though he was accepted at the two T-10s he really wanted.</p>
<p>^^^^Are these the kids with the under 3.6 GPA? Because the highest AI I can possibly see, using GPA under 3.6 is 229 with 800 on everything.</p>
<p>I honestly think that unless you can estimate a rank this AI calculator I’m using has got to be much less accurate when using weighted GPA. Why do I say that? The top of the scale is “4.3 and up.” A lot of weighted GPAs go all the way up to 5.0. I think that’s why they encourage ranking for these calculators.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know how adcoms can figure this stuff out - rank, GPA, weighted, unweighted, what do you count? At my kid’s school, a 4.0 weighted GPA would probably put you at the 20 percentile. Is this grade inflation, or just a whole bunch of overachieving, hardworking kids? I don’t know. </p>
<p>There were 36 NMSF there out of 600 grads. About 30 kids got into Ivy schools, over 60 into top 20s, probably over 100 into top 50s. So how do you evaluate something like that? It’s not a super manget school, but it’s not a slouch school.</p>
<p>My son is applying to Harvard (this is to make DH happy neither he or I think he has a chance, but he is a double legacy), Brown, Tufts, Georgetown, Vassar, William and Mary, American and Syracuse. He’s interested in history and international relations. According to his school his weighted GPA is 97, unweighted 91, but if you take out orchestra classes unweighted is closer to an 88. Looks like he’s on track to get great grades this year though. Ooh, I see they put rank up on Naviance - I’m not sure about his class size, but I think it puts him just on the wrong side of top 5%.</p>
<p>I don’t really think you can use the calculator with just grades. That sort of came out in Hernandez’s book too. Nor can you always use rank - there are schools like Boverntine’s which clearly do very well in the admissions game and have lots of high testers.</p>
<p>mantori-suzuki wrote (#1404)
</p>
<p>First of all, thanks for sharing the list. Based on our experiences, other than Stanford, you really don’t have a t20 school that is known for good FA on your list. Both Chicago and WashU are among the worst in the T20. </p>
<p>The most common mistakes I have seen on CC and made myself too were: under estimate the EFC from none T5 profile schools, and over estimate the chance of getting named merit $$ (full tuition or higher) from any of T60 schools.</p>
<p>I remember the Yale rep said they only work with unweighted GPA, class rank notwithstanding. Somehow I got the same impression with MIT. I agree if class rank is available, it will be used instead of GPA for AI.</p>
<p>Here are DS1’s EA list:</p>
<p>MIT
Chicago
CalTech
Notre Dame
Oxford (10/15 deadline)</p>
<p>We are still working on his RD list.</p>
<p>
I agree. I think it is probably less accurate with just grades but it might be some sort of tool. Actually, even at best it’s just a guideline - it seems like admissions is part art and part science anyway…</p>
<p>The reason it is tough with weighted grades is because there are so many ways that schools weight the grades. If they gave a definition and weighting formula along with the calculator I think you could be more confident.</p>
<p>At my kid’s school you could technically (although I doubt it ever happens) get a 4.0 weighted GPA without ever getting an A.</p>
<p>Good luck eveyone with the schools - I think you’ve all got a shot. For mathmom, at 5% rank from a good school with a double legacy I don’t see why Harvard would be out of reach. Of course I know this year is tougher than most.</p>
<p>Hi Team,</p>
<p>I know this is somewhat off-topic and some people have gotten very upset over any discussion of non-T20 schools but…, (I know, The Dreaded But),</p>
<p>S2 and I spent yesterday visiting IndianaU- Bloomington and both of us were very impressed. They do not have engineering or architecture programs (sorry man-suz) but they do have very good music and business programs along with a number of well regarded schools. It is also one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever visited with either S1 or S2. Just an idea for those looking for a good non-T20 to add to their list. I’ll be posting a visit report later. For a 3.6er with high boards I’d think it would be a safety, even OOS.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=Dad II]
Based on our experiences, other than Stanford, you really don’t have a t20 school that is known for good FA on your list. Both Chicago and WashU are among the worst in the T20.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I’ve heard that, too, and I’m a bit worried about it. He is applying to Chicago because he loved it when we visited, and WashU because he has been nominated for the Danforth Scholars program, which would cover tuition if he gets it.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=vinceh]
They do not have engineering or architecture programs (sorry man-suz)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I must have given the impression that my son wants to major in engineering, but he’s really more interested in physics and chemistry, so IU could be an option. But we’d be out-of-state, so cost is a problem, and I’m not aware of any major scholarships there. If you know of any, I’d love to hear about them, because I’ve heard so many nice things about IU. I’ll look for your visit report later!</p>
<p>mantori, congratulations on that “Danforth Scholars program” nomination. It is one student per school so your child is a very top student in their school. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Bovertine – S2 has a 3.56 UW, 4.26 W, with very strong test scores (at/above 75% of all schools on his list). His school does not rank. Attends a “super magnet school” as you put it. </p>
<p>S1 had a 3.76 UW/4.56 W with a 1580/2380 and 800/800/730 SAT-IIs, but not top 10%. Also attended a high-powered program. S1 is outside the parameters of this thread but the GPA was a concern.</p>
<p>Just a quick follow-up. My IU visit report is posted. </p>
<p>Also, if you apply by Nov 1st you’ll get full access to the available merit aid pool. The big merit scholarships ($9,000/yr) go to 3.8+ & 1270 (CR/M SATs), but we were told there were other merit aid opportunities. The app process is very easy, On-Line App, Form for Guidance Counselor, Standardized Test Scores, Transcript and Fee. That’s it, no letters of rec, no essays. If you’re accepted but don’t qualify for the automatic merit aid you get “invited” to apply for other scholarships that involve recs and essays. If you hustle, you should be able to get everything there by Nov. 1, and then you just never know what might happen. </p>
<p>That ends my PSA for IU, we now resume our regularly schedule broadcast of the Top 20 show, “CSI: Ivy League”, where our lead characters analyze college applications down to the DNA level.</p>