Unpredictable

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

When I joined CC last year, I expected to learn what I could do to get into the best colleges, and get scholarships. I thought the college process was for the most part methodological and predictable, save the Ivies and schools like MIT and Stanford, and that “this school is a safety, this school is a match, this school is a reach, etc.”

My schools is quite extraordinary. My GPA, 4.44, puts me on the lower end of the second decile (~16%, our top student has a 4.84); still, this seems to not be a big issue for many students. Several second decile students have gotten into University of Chicago, Yale, Washington University in St. Louis, and others. I thought that my class rank would ruin me, but my school, which sends many to top schools (just this year one of the top students got into 5 Ivies + Stanford), seems to be almost immune.

Case point: my own admissions cycle.
I first got into Tulane, which I was pretty sure I would get into. I received a nice scholarship ($27,000/year) and later received the Dean’s Honors Scholarship (full tuition). Next I got my deferral from University of Chicago EA-this bummed me out, because even though I couldn’t afford it I really liked UChicago-which later turned into a rejection (as predicted). Still, my spirits improved when I got into University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in January, with a nomination to compete for the Pogue scholarship (I eventually did not make finalist though). Surprising me even more (but happily surprising) was getting nominated for the Trustee Scholarship at USC; 118 people applied in my grade to USC, and only two-me and a girl-got nominated.

Even more surprisingly, however, was getting waitlisted at UCLA after receiving the USC nomination (and eventually receiving the scholarship).

I learned it’s not all about numbers. After a certain level, candidates aren’t picked for the highest GPA, or even the highest SAT. I got a 2320, but our super-valedictorian, for instance, got a 2390 but only a Presidential scholarship at USC. It’s what the colleges are looking for. Plus, this year, some schools, like the UCs, have been really erratic. I got waitlisted at UCLA (accepted to Berkeley, however) but received a full scholarship to USC; another person I know received Berkeley Regents but was waitlisted; another was waitlisted at UCLA but got into Yale; and yet another was waitlisted at UCLA but got into Columbia.

Another case would be a person I know who was waitlisted at Davis, rejected at Irvine and Santa Barbara, and got into UCSD. Or a guy who was waitlisted at Cal Poly, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and others, but got into Rice.

I have to say two things: chancing won’t help and don’t worry about it. Even sure matches can disappoint you, and sometimes you can think you’re ordinary while one of your colleges thinks you’re extraordinary. Additionally, the top 3 UCs have started to become ever more erratic in their admissions processes, with my counselor noting that many times UCLA accepts a candidate while Berkeley doesn’t, and vice versa.

Most of the college admissions process at the highly selective colleges isn’t in your hands. It’s about making yourself look unique, not laundry listing your ECs. The girl who got into Yale (she was an URM though) was really into Navy-related ECs, and USC, in my case, liked me because of my Linguistics Club. Just try to stand out, not even winning every award. Another case from my school was a guy who won a national competition, but didn’t end up in the “top schools” (Berkeley is still top in my opinion, though).

Good luck, rising seniors. I don’t think college admissions are going to get any less crazy in the near future. :slight_smile:

2

I have to agree with you 100%. I have learned that test scores and GPAs, after a certain point, don’t really carry the weight that I once assumed they did. They’re important, yes, but not the end all be all like I once assumed. Most colleges seem to stay true to the “holistic” approach. Well said :slight_smile:

3

It seems to be even more than that, though. Holistic doesn’t seem to be a standard between colleges; one college could see a student as stupendous, while another might just see them as a run-of-the-mill ordinary person. USC gave me the Trustee most likely due to my passion for language and linguistics (I created the only high school level Linguistics Club I know of), but other colleges (like WashU, UChicago-despite my quirkiness, Stanford, etc.) didn’t see what they wanted. Even the “predictable” schools seem to become more erratic and random.

4

I had a whole response written out before my browser crashed, but essentially: that’s very true. I underestimated just how unpredictable this whole process was until I actually went through it, and as application pools become increasingly competitive I think it’ll only get worse. It’s unfortunate that some schools don’t see in us what we hope they do, but regardless it sounds like you have a lot to be proud of.

It’s almost funny, looking back, how much I thought I understood about college admissions. I guess the only thing I’m sure about now is that it’s impossible to be sure about anything. I’m starting to believe though that everything does work out for the best.

5

I totally agree. A person in my class whose probably going to be salutadictorian. With a 4.0 and a almost perfect SAT score over 2000 with good ECs got rejected from BU and NYU and then all of the Ivies. I had way lower GPA and lower SAT scores and I got into both NYU and BU.

I remember spending days on my essays and having everyone I know reading them. I seriously think my essays set me apart from a lot of other people. I remember starting my first essay and having a teacher tell me to delete the whole thing and start it over but this time… frame it like a story. A lot of other people in my grade just treated their essays like that question they had to answer with facts and maybe a tiny bit of incite…certainly not as the key piece that would possibly make or break their college admission.

I think this year in college admissions more people applied and Colleges wanted kids who would fit into their narratives. After awhile it certainly wasn’t JUST about the numbers. I have always felt like chancing was a little stupid. And I refused to allow myself to be told whether or not I was good enough for a college. If I had allowed myself to be chanced I probably wouldn’t have applied to half the places I got into.

6

From the personal experience (I live in California), perhaps the two most surprising schools this year were UCLA and Cal Poly. Many people applied to Cal Poly as a safety from my school, and got waitlisted or rejected outright; I applied to UCLA as a match, and got waitlisted.

Really, the My Chances forum is useless and can just give people false confidence/crush their hopes for no reason. I would just recommend for people to apply to some super safeties, as… really… you never know.

7

The college admissions game does seem like one of random chance. However, one can gain some insight and thereby help their chances.

First, you do have to realize that asking random people on CC or anywhere else to “chance” you will not give you accurate answers.

The best info you can get is the “common data set” info for the colleges you are interested in. Google “common data set” and the school name to find it. The part that I think is the most significant is the one where the school identifies how much emphasis is placed on certain areas contained within the application.

Some schools (like Cal Poly) are all about the numbers, SAT scores and GPA. They will also figure in the strength of the classes you take making a direct comparison of GPAs irrelevant. So they must have a magic formula, but I’ve never seen it published.

Many schools admit by department making you choose a specific department on your app. The popular departments can be very hard to get into. It also makes the college score ranges for the whole college irrelevant.

With this economy more students are applying to state schools as they are cheaper. This is making prior year admit stats missleading.

ECs are a good thing but only if you really participate (not just join everything and do nothing). The essays are a good place to explain your participation in your ECs. Also list any awards you received as part of your ECs.

The top tier schools pay less attention to the GPAs and SAT scores once you get above a certain floor (everyone knows about the 2400 SAT and perfect GPA kid who was rejected). They take a “holistic” approach that they try to explain but never quite do. The way I think about the “holistic” approach is to think about what kind of opportunity that specific college affords it’s students. The college would then be looking for students that will take advantage of that opportunity. The only way they have to know who will take advantage of that opportunity is to see what your track record has been in the opportunities that you have been afforded in high school. Your ECs may come into play here. Students without a lot of opportunities but made the most of them will be more attractive than someone who had a lot but did only a minimal amount. You essays and letters of recommendation really do need to address this area.

Read you application back to yourself trying to put yourself in the colleges shoes and think about why I would admit this person. Be critical about your evaluation, the college will be.

Talking about why you really want to attend a specific school will not impress in most cases. After all you already expressed that desire by filling out the application.

Do your own applications. It is OK to have your parents (and others) read and comment about them, but you do them.

And always have a back up plan (ie. a safety school that you would really like to attend). Factor the money issues into your plans.

Have fun with the process. Remember, a college education is more to do with what you put into it than where you go.

8

StevenF;
you are so right. My son was so disappointed, (more like devastated) when he didn’t get into his match/reach schools, like Duke, Cornell, UPenn and even CMU and Northwestern. He had 2280 SAT, and 800 Math SATII, 720 Bio SATII, and 3.79 gpa with all Honors and 7AP’s. Had Varsity Tennis, Treasurer of National ARt Soc. Tri-M, etc… We tried to figure where we went wrong-- recs? ec’s? Asian? I think it might be a combo of all 3 reasons. If you have all the requisite stats, it seems you need not be well rounded, but have something that stood out. According to Naviance for our schoola and other stats, he was in line for a good shot at these schools. He did get accepted to BU, Bing, RPI, Georgia Tech, Case Western and others. My advice is make sure you apply to alot of “safety” schools. My son is having a hard time seeing himself at a one of his safeties. Not that he is a snob, but he felt that all his hard work for the last 3 years was all for naught. He was admitted to Columbia U. Honors Science Program and attended classes there weekends, Also won scholarship for Hunter College’s language program in summer.

Anyway, I know life goes on and this is a blessing in disguise. (Fantastic aid pkg from Case), but it was really hard for the first week or so, accepting these decision. It is still hard for him. He is a high achiever and expects alot from himself and does not want to go to a school that he thinks “slackers” got into…

9

juju: at every one of the schools your son was accepted to are and will be like minded, extremely accomplished students who are in the exact same position as he is…

Where do you think the 10’s of thousands of top students are going to land who were not accepted to the ones he applied to? he is not alone…it is not just him…

These are not slacker schools…

10

My son has 3.6 GPA, 2220 SAT, 6 APs, decent ECs (no president etc - 100+ volunteer hours and black belt karate). We were so worried in July/Aug because of his “relatively lower” GPA being instate California. So we made sure to apply lots of OOS schools. Turned out our paranoid paid off. He got admitted into UCSC, UCSB and UCR instate and UIUC, Purdue, Case, Gatech, BU, etc etc and got denied from UCD, UCB, UCLA,UCSD,UCI. This year UCs have been brutal to Asian male 3.5 to 4.0 GPA. Several students who thought UCD/UCSC/UCSB/UCI as “safety school” got kicked in their teeth and now scrambling left and right. Calpoly was brutal this year – avg admitted GPA 4.1 and only 10% admit rate.

So, future class, please please please – dont think the safety will be there when you need it, so have a plan B and plan C.

But all I know that so called “holistic review” approach taken by UCs this year will bite them back in next 4-6 yrs when the overall quality of the grads started to decline.

The brain drain from CA has started from this year, and its evident in all the bay area school I have been reading about. The message from UCs is clear, if you are an asian then apply only if you have 4.2GPA and 2300 SAT. Otherwise dont need to come. The problem is same kids are also getting into HYPS with merit scholarship. But the real hard working students with 3.6 to 4.0 GPA are being left out and had to move OOS.

11

Just marking to safe in the future when I counsel students. thanks and good luck.

12

That is my DD’s scores and she got in UCSD. She was quote disappointment by rejection from UCB, and waitlisted by UCLA. I have a son coming up in 2 years. I will ask him to triple his application list. By then, California schools will be even tougher I think.