<p>So, one be changed to RD immediately or your D and her HS could have problems.</p>
<p>Note: the thread linked to in post #855 has the same solution but the situation is slightly different as the OP is in violation of both schools EA/ED policies since Penn does not permit any EA applications.</p>
<p>The more elegant way would be to have the “generous alum” call the development office", the development liaison would then suggest that your son’s application be flagged. Calling Admissions directly might come across heavy-handed and elitest.
I do not think there is any thing wrong with having an advocate for your child. Isn’t it basically what athletic coaches, legacy parents and private college counselors do? I do not think it means the school would take an unqualified applicant, it means your son might get a extra close reading or a little more consideration. Good luck!</p>
<p>Has anyone started a results thread yet? Someone posted a link to the 2015 results thread. It was very depressing but informative. Tons of perfect kids with perfect test scores, high GPAs and incredible awards- deferred or rejected. </p>
<p>While visiting this summer I did notice the incredible diversity on campus. If my child was fortunate enough to be accepted I would be very happy that she was in such a diverse student body.</p>
<p>I am wondering if the public school applicants on here feel as if your high school college counselor advocates for you? It is my understanding that at private schools and the better publics, the counselors have relationships with the different school’s admissions officers and they directly advocate for their students. This issue came up at our high school because our college counselors are newer, overwhelmed or simply inexperienced. My D went to a private school here that is very connected and routinely has its students accepted to the Ivies ( for almost 100 years). This is something that I would like to see change at our public high school. Networking and who you know is how the world works, so why wouldit be any different in the college application process. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I haven’t submitted any FA forms yet because my counselor told me I should focus on my applications since it is unlikely my family will get any aid. However, I put on my CommonApp that I will seek need-based FA. Is it a bad sign that they have not contacted me about missing forms?</p>
<p>Admission officers read the whole file hollistically once a student passes the Academic threshoulds. They look for a sense of satisfaction, entertainment in the essays and the rest of application. 2400 SAT, 4.0 GPA…have no difference than 2300 SAT, 3.9 GPA…</p>
<p>@schoolio I am in the same situation. Admissions and FA work separately. I think they expect some students who apply SCEA to not have their financial aid forms done yet. On the website it says that there is no deadline. I think the person who got contacted was someone who maybe filled out almost all of it and forgot one minor thing. Or they might just have a question about it. I don’t think not getting a call indicates anything. Any other thoughts on this?</p>
<p>@chezmere I feel the same way. I don’t feel like my counselors at my public school are advocates for me. They have thousands of other kids to worry about and definitely aren’t spending too much time on kids who are in the top 1% of the class and are looking to go to elite colleges. Instead, they are more focused on the bottom 20% and trying to get them to even think about going to college. I feel like the counselors at my school have so much to do and just stopping by so that they can get to know you individually is a waste of time for them. This is unfortunate because the counselor recommendations are important However, I’ve heard that college adcoms know that large public schools have this situation and are only looking for general info on the high school/class rank or position in these recommendations.</p>
<p>My guidance counselor only works about 10 hours a week lol. She is part time, and, indeed, she spends the majority of her time trying to get about 60% of the seniors to apply to a community college. At graduation, an announcement is made about each student’s plans after HS. The vast majority say they plan to enter the workforce. A few go to college. One or two join the military. Last year was a big year. We sent one to play basketball at a CC, and one went to play softball at a university.</p>
<p>Earlier I had posted about rank, which I think should be abolished. For example, at my daughter’s school the students can use advanced middle school classes in math and language, many transfer from other schools in the district that have gifted programs or IB starting in 9th grade- all those classes are weighted on a 5 point. This means that none of the regular students have a chance.My D who took 10 APs total, starting in Soph year and has a 4.2 GPA and is 70/370 ( unfortunately Bs in PE and Health brought her GPA down.) Wth would grades in PE matter?
According to her, most of the kids above her in rank do not stand out as intelligent kids with strong critical thinking skills and never participate in class discussion. So how does having a higher rank mean anything? I am open to hearing arguments as to why it might.
Btw this is definitely a fun way to get your mind off the waiting!</p>
<p>This makes more sense to me: UC schools consider only your 10/11 grades. You self report your core academic courses only, they recalculate your GPA giving you credit for APs and honors ( honors only if you went to a Cali school) you include 9th grade but they calculate your eligibility with 10/11. Your test score, GPA and essays are all considered considered.</p>
<p>chezmere: My daughter’s guidance counselor is super helpful and friendly, but they have had very limited exposure to and success with the Ivies. This is primarily due to the fact that maybe only a handful apply each year to the Ivies… and of those, only 1-2 get in. Plus - the HS itself has only existed for 10 years. But it has always been that way in this area. When I was a senior, my HS had the largest graduating class in the state of FL that year (over 1200), but still, no one in the history of the school to that point had ever been accepted to an Ivy. That finally changed the very next year when the QB got in to Harvard. Large public high schools in Florida though traditionally have less than 1% of their graduating seniors who even think in terms of the elite NE universities. And as a result, the colleges themselves likely have a harder time evaluating the students there.</p>
<p>And yes… Ranking is a very tricky thing. Scheduling conflicts can cause rank in class that is determined by weighting to be lop-sided early on… for example, if someone has to postpone taking certain AP/Honor classes until their Senior year vs 10th or 11th. Someone we know even went from 1st to 3rd in the final rank in class solely because he took driver’s ed over the summer versus during the school year. He still got an A, but the timing of when he took the course changed the GPA and thus the Rank. Very strange. But I keep hearing that colleges are focused far less on Rank now versus all of the other key components… so hopefully that is true.</p>
However, I’ve heard that college adcoms know that large public schools have this situation and are only looking for general info on the high school/class rank or position in these recommendations.</p>