<p>I would love to be a fly on the wall to know what exactly makes admissions choose one student over another. Each class at each school is unique and it is really impossible to guess what tips the balance for one student over another.</p>
<p>It is possible that the financial situation of the aforementioned URM student made him attractive to Stanford. I know they say they are need blind, but are they really? </p>
<p>A similar situation in my son’s class; 2 URM students applied to Stanford, both top candidates in every way, one checked yes for FA, the other from an affluent family did not, guess who got in? If you said the affluent one, you are correct! </p>
<p>Being URM is just more information about you, perhaps a point of difference in the eyes of some, but there is so much more to the package that admissions base their decisions on. </p>
<p>That goes to the point made earlier about fit. The right fit is probably the single most important factor in any students’ choice because they will be the ones spending at least the next four years there.</p>
<p>And as I said, biggest surprise is how communities differ. I am Black, and work with a number of traditionally African American “Greek” organizations to try to increase the number of Black kids graduating ( less than 50 percent in some nearby communities; 54 percent for Black males, overall, in California), and think about college. We do a Baccalaureate for all the Black kids in the county that graduate . Sure, three or four got into a UC, but I think my D was the only one who went to a private that wasn’t an HBCU, or even left the state. And she got NO money. NEVER would have considered it until we came to CC, and H and I are Physicians. So yeah, CC is a real eye opener for me. Where ARE these kids? I have a feeling my community is more typical.</p>
<p>I was surprised by how much of the process is conducted online – and then, after getting used to that, I was surprised that there are still parts that are NOT conducted online – like the sending of recommendations and transcripts.</p>
<p>As for the URM thing, I think it sometimes results in students being admitted to colleges for which they are underqualified. I would prefer to see any preference for URMs given at the financial aid stage (more scholarship, less loan) rather than at the admissions stage of the process, where it can result in students spending four years struggling academically.</p>
<p>I have seen the same pattern of admissions advantage for URMs that Rockville mom has seen. This may be because I live about 5 miles from Rockville. Our area has a substantial number of URM families who are in good shape, financially. Thus, people in our area may see patterns that others might not. </p>
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<p>It helps in getting internships, too, so if you’re a URM, make sure that there’s some subtle indication of that on your resume (join and mention an ethnic organization at college, for example), if it isn’t obvious from your name.</p>
<p>What surprised me was how unpredictable this process is no matter how much research is done! My child was accepted into a competitive state school w/mediocre stats while friends with great stats were not.</p>
<p>I was surprised to find out that colleges discriminate by race.</p>
<p>That was the first time I ever realized that society considered me different from the average American, and that there’s nothing I can do about it.</p>
<p>Perhaps I was a bit naive back in high school.</p>
<p>I think a child with true need, no matter the color of their skin needs to be equally eligible for aide and scholarships. Affluent children, no matter the color of their skin, need to be treated as affluent kids.</p>
<p>I think as long as our society shows favoritism to one group of people over another, no matter how good the reason is, resentment will be created from the “unfavored” groups and we will continue to struggle with bringing everyone together. No favoritism is right in my eyes, not matter the reason, but we don’t live in a an ideal world.</p>
<p>When I hear kids complain that they have to limit their college choices because of finances and then in the second breath mention a classmate who is getting butt loads of money thrown at them because of their URM status it bothers me and it does fuel division among people of different groups. </p>
<p>Now over half of the URM kids I know who are getting full rides are because they won Hispanic Achievement awards. This is almost the same as a NMF, which is the reason my daughter has a full-ride, but the scores required to be a NMF is quite a bit higher than to win an Hispanic Achievement award or the Achievement Award given to black students. Obviously, these kids are bright and should do well in college, but to know that because you are not a URM you have to work harder is just as frustrating as being a woman and feeling you have to work twice as hard as a man or to be black and feel you have to work twice as hard as a white. These feelings fuel divisions that continue to plague our society.</p>
<p>^So I think you are saying you know three this year bragging about the benfits of being URM in the college admissions game, and getting URM based full rides that are not need based And that is over half of the Hispanic kids you know. </p>
<p>Fair enough. </p>
<p>Not doubting you, but I’d love to know which schools by the way. The URM ones that are not need based seem as scarce as hens teeth, and I don’t think I’ve seen many that are “full rides”. </p>
<p>Again, the surprise for me is, I might know 30 Black and Hispanic kids, and I can’t name more than three that are even going to college. All three going to community college. Of course, most of the White kids I know are going to community college too.</p>
<p>The thing that surprised me the most was how frustrated and hateful my white friends were over the whole idea of affirmative action. (They didn’t understand what it meant, either.) I had one white friend say “Oh, it’s so hard to be a white male in this process, you have to be so much better, and more special.” and he and several other white friends commented about how black/urm scholarships were <em>all</em> unfair, and they should apply to some. One friend stopped speaking to me when I told her that I felt that it was wrong, and just because I was hispanic, didn’t mean I had recieved any scholarships.</p>
<p>This girl, quite literally, stopped being my friend because “I was too liberal.” and I didn’t agree she had to work harder in the admissions process just because she had to write down her extra-curricululars (a standard request from colleges.).</p>
<p>I have never had so many people act so racist towards me or things that affected me (and things that didn’t, as blackface became a new punchline to show off their white guilt), and I was shocked. (I look pale.) I worked as hard, or harder than these friends, and suddenly this became a problem. I do not talk with them anymore.</p>
<p>IRL, I have been surprised at how competitive it has become for Asian students and for women of all races. Some of these students face their own hardships that are not taken into consideration in the application process.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I am not Asian, and I have both son and daughter who have gone through the process.</p>
<p>i was surprised at all the different systems for grading for ap/honors etc across the different regions of the country as i saw posted on cc…followed by surprise that colleges have not appeared to develop a standard on how to account for all these differences…which affects merit determined by gpa. (my sons school give unweighted only)</p>
<p>yet despite that…i was surprised and humbled by the amount of merit scholarship money he has been offered.</p>
<p>surprised at how often the schools on my son’s careful crafted list changed in order of preference, </p>
<p>surprised that even though we carefully calculated what we could afford, even in this past year that again has changed…and despite multiple discussions re costs, son still holds out hope for schools over that limit.</p>
<p>Their have always been students of the rich who waste tuition but to see it happen with those who parents skrimped and saved is unbelievable. My d has had two roomates who failed to apply themselves and wasted thousands of dollars. I still can’t get over it.
I can’t fathom students borrowing money and then not applying themselves. Don’t they get the connection! Do they fail to see themseves as consumers? Would they buy a car and walk away from it?</p>
<p>Having gone through the process twice now, I would say I was surprised by how many kids we know who do not have ultra high numbers or achievements got into top universities, including the USNWR top 10. I was also surprised after reading about all the angst on CC how laid back most of the kids and parents were where we live. I was also somewhat surprised how level-headed and matter-of-factly S2 managed the whole process. The level of maturity, analysis, and care was truly surprising; he did not let prestige or rankings affect him, choosing a school he thought was a better fit over a highly ranked and much more famous school. I learned to trust the kids.</p>
<p>Initially I was surprised at how expensive schools had become since I attended. Then I was surprised at how competitive the student body had become to get into top schools. Last I was surprised at how “entitled” students now feel. When I went to school I KNEW the financial restrictions. Now everyone assumes they will get to attend their dream school because it would be unfair if they can’t.</p>
<p>Actually, the worst demographic in college admissions is to be a white female. More females apply to college than males. Many collegs have 660% females and 40% males and do not want to tip that balance any further. So, take a white male and a white female student with identical stats - I guarantee you the male student did better. We are seeing this pattern very clearly at our school this year. The girls with stellar stats are doing well - but the more average girls - say a B GPA and average test scores - they are getting WL everywhere. Speaking of which, WL seems to be the new deny. Not seeing that many kids with denials - but boatloads of WL.</p>
<p>I was surprised by how much snail mail comes to the house. I was expecting the marketing to be mainly via websites and email (we get plenty of that too). </p>
<p>I was surprised by how much information and guidance was available on this CC website. I learned a lot by just reading but eventually started doing posts and PMs/emails too. Thanks to all of the parents who shared so much helpful info!</p>
<p>I’ve been surprised by the seeming randomness of acceptances, where a student will be accepted at school A and rejected at school B, even though school A is more selective than school B. </p>
<p>I was surprised how many students with scores/grades in the top half of the 25-75 percentiles, and above the 75th percentile, who get rejected at some schools. It wasn’t until I saw scattergrams that it really hit home.</p>