<p>UCB: S was applying to ME and we found all of what you said to be true. What makes it so difficult is that none of the high level stats and reports really parse the acceptance info by major. When a 26 ACT/1850 SAT/GPA 3.7 accepted to poli sci gets averaged into a 35 ACT/2200 SAT/GPA 4.3 average acceptance to engineering major the end ‘admissions statistic’ is useless to both parties. Even the CDS and IPA reports do not necessarily give the granularity necessary to make an informed application decision. </p>
<p>In retrospect, for competitive majors at institutions that admit by major is necessary to call the department and ask for specifics on last years data. And, if denied or WL, ask for specifics on this years data.</p>
<p>However, most schools do not. Some (e.g. Cal Poly SLO and UCLA) give some information by division (UCLA has some by-major information for transfer admissions). UC StatFinder used to give some information by general major type (though not specific major for “engineering”) when it existed.</p>
<p>ucb: I found that SLO was very happy to provide exact numbers if one called them and asked directly. 13,0000 applicants to engineering, approx 3000 to ME (for an ME class of 197). I happen to know the UCSB figures because we went to several presentation. </p>
<p>Most families do not dig that deep before their kids apply. Naviance is also misleading since it doesn’t show results by major. This may not be a big deal in most situations but when the goal is any type of engineering or specific account programs…it can easily lead families into the wrong direction.</p>
<p>Also from a very quick look at the SJSU data I see the acceptance # but not the actual application #. While it is nice to know 3200 were accepted for ME it is not useful unless one know how many applied.</p>
<p>Dietz–I agree with you about the difficulty of obtaining granular information. I have stumbled across it for some schools, but do not know of an easy way to locate it for all schools. Many are not that transparent.</p>
<p>Cross-posted. I love Naviance but have to keep reminding myself of its limits. While my son’s school separates ED vs RD for data averages, the plotted data points are not identified as RD vs ED, or legacy or athlete, so the averages are understated. Also, as someone pointed out on another thread, the test scores of a student who took both the ACT & SAT appear in Naviance and are plotted as data points. If a student scored well on one test and poorly on the other, both tests’ scores are reported for that student’s application. In case I am not being clear, a student may have scored 2000 on the SAT and 35 on the ACT. Both results will be plotted even though the student probably only submitted the 35, leading one to think that an acceptance is possible with a 2000.</p>
<p>CT: Interesting - thanks. Georgetown and CMU give all the info. Cornell only shows # of applicants and # incoming class…no idea how many they accepted.</p>
<p>Dietz–that Cornell Engineering page provided 25th-75th % Math & CR scores and % from top 10% of class for admitted students. I know that I have those same stats by college for enrolled students but I don’t have enrolled and admitted for same time period. So, they are transparent to a point, but perhaps a slightly different set of stats each year. (Actually, I think I have the middle 50% SATs but not the top 10% of class.)</p>
<p>CT: I appreciate all the links and additional info. S is our second. Our first, D, went through the process 3 years ago and frankly I thought I was so much more informed this time around. D was applying for business/accounting/econ. What was valid for her process was not valid for S who applied to engineering. </p>
<p>For a family who has the support private college prep schools, their very connected counselors and a group of friends in our same situation, I was still taken by surprise. Simply put …IT IS THE MAJOR that matters in many many cases. I certainly missed that detail (although it all worked out quite well).</p>
<p>Dietz, at my DDs superb public, the GCs and parents had intense discusssions. Go for econ major at Upenn v Wharton? Don’t accept Naviance at face value, move up or down based on legacy or recruited athlete, or at a tier down, full pay.</p>
<p>Kay–“a tier down, full pay”. Can you explain? Do you mean that full pay is a ‘hook’ at those smaller schools a tier down the selectivity ladder? I suspect that, but wasn’t sure if that is what you meant. I sit here and wonder if the schools that are struggling to maintain their endowments will be here in a generation or if the spread of MOOCs will have caused them to fold.</p>
<p>Dietz–my S wants to study business but I have not had luck finding business admission stats expressed separately.</p>
<p>I think that it makes sense to use the number of NMSC semifinalists to predict the top school acceptance. My son’s public school has an increase of 300% in the number of NMS semifinalist over last year. The students accepted into top schools have increased significantly this year also. It is an exceptionally strong year in the history of the school. A lot of students got into the local college ranked 15-19 per USNWR. Though, some of the top students may still go to state schools because of the near full rides.</p>
<p>The GCs at my DDs school went the extra mile and then some, and not just for they HYP crowd. They would be helping working the waitlist at state schools etc.</p>
<p>Those numbers are not the numbers of students admitted. They are the thresholds of admission. The applicants’ are ranked by CSU eligibility index and admitted until the major’s capacity is reached, resulting in a threshold CSU eligibility index of admission as listed on SJSU’s page. The CSU eligibility index is calculated as described in [CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - High School Students - Calculate Your Eligibility Index](<a href=“http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/elig_index_calculator.asp]CSUMentor”>Cal State Apply | CSU) .</p>
<p>MOOC is Massive Open Online Course, like edX or Coursera. The growth has been so rapid. I know that it will not work for everyone. (I have one son who loves to learn that way and one who would just get so little out of it.) I think some local schools have been piloting Kahn Academy (or others?) by having students watch the lecture as homework and then arriving in class to discuss that which was already learned the night before. </p>
<p>Here is a recent article about the computer that grades essays. </p>
<p>My (public) school houses a pretty prestigious academy for engineering as well as a magnet program (neither of which I am a part of!) and I am surrounded my incredibly intelligent students in and out of these programs. Therefore I’m constantly humbled by these future Ivy Leaguers and otherwise prestigious students (some good friends of mine have been accepted to Princeton, Yale, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Cooper Union, and my twin sister will be attending Cornell).However, it has not been quite the same success story for me. I was rejected from almost every reach school and even waitlisted at one of my safeties. It was a little scary, haha, although I was accepted at one of my middle ground colleges, so that was comforting. For the most part, though, thank God for safeties.</p>
<p>To my astonishment, however, my last school I heard from was my reachiest reach (NYU), and I was accepted College admission is just insane and unpredictable these days.</p>
<p>I’m currently a high school senior. I have about a 3.6 GPA and a 1750 combined on the SAT. I’m not the brightest, but I’m definitely not dumb. I applied to schools like NYU and Fordham for fun just to see if I could get in. I was rejected from NYU (like I thought) and wait listed at Fordham. I even got rejected from Ohio State (I’m out of state from Indiana). That was my #1 school. In the fall, I will be attending Indiana University. I’m obviously getting instate tuition and will be a direct admit to their Kelley School of Business (one of the top business schools in the country). I’m excited about my decision but am also upset of what might have been, had I been accepted to OSU. I know several people who deserved to get into top schools with scores, GPAs and extracurriculars much better than mine but got rejected. This is most certainly the year of the safety school in my opinion.</p>
<p>My DS goes to a “socio-economically diverse” high school in Southern California. WHen D1 and S2 were applying ('08 and '10) UCLA and Cal typically accepted the top 6 or 10 kids. Last year and this year UCLA was pretty stingy, this year only accepting one top kid (WL or rejecting the others) but also accepted 2 so-so kids with hardships (death of a sibling, mother has terminal cancer). Cal admissions were more typical, the majority of the top kids were accepted. My DS got a Regents Scholarship to Cal, but was waitlisted by UCLA. </p>
<p>We had a URM who did really well including admissions to USC and Cornell and a WL at Yale (but denied by Cal Poly and WL’d by UCLA). At our school USC is always very unpredictable.</p>
College admission is just insane and unpredictable these days.</p>