<p>...and you know for a fact that they're not? ;)</p>
<p>Ferny, I know what you mean. At our high school, it seems that Yale has only accepted the valedictorians in the past. So, I too wondered if only perfect grades and near perfect SAT's were the keys to admittance. But I am hoping that top schools will look at applications in total; such as determining if an applicant is an interesting person who knows what is going on in the world instead of just knowing what he/she studied the day before. Just my humble thoughts.</p>
<p>I posted the article because it seems like people forget how much identifying info they post and who might see it. It's not just the admissions officers, it's also your alumni interviewer. I've interviewed three people who I recognized from CC. They had posted chances threads that matched with the resumes they gave me. </p>
<p>I can also verify that people post false info as one of my interviewees posted an acceptance when that person was actually rejected (they notify interviewers of the outcomes for their interviewees). Take the stats you see with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>I think CC is great, but there is also lots of incorrect information floating around. I delurked after a couple years of reading because the misinformation about Yale alumni interviews was making me batty.</p>
<p>You see! It's the Patriot Act in action! :) All jokes aside.</p>
<p>CC is a great place to pick up advice on what fellow kids have done in some things, such as AP's (like finding good books), or SATs, summer jobs, etc.</p>
<p>Don't try to base your info about Yale from equally ignorant pre-frosh. You want a question answered, demand a Yalie! I'm sure we'll be around :)</p>
<p>AdmissionsAddict, do you know if alumni interviews are finally expanding into South Texas? I didn't have an interview, sadly.</p>
<p>wow, admissionsaddict, thank you for posting that. i find it surprising that people feel the need to post lies about decisions...not like anyone is forcing them to post, and not like anyone knows you well enough to care</p>
<p>wait, isn't it just possible that there are more than one "Asian female from a small private school in the Great lakes; 2400 boards, 3.9 gpa" with great ECs applying to Yale in any given year?</p>
<p>Most people give more details than that in chances threads</p>
<p>Until I came to this site, I didn't know about things as simple as SAT II's. My kids' high schools, while pushing AP's and their "benefits," discuss nothing about the admit process and what might be needed for someone who might want to apply past the state schools. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- in fact, in the end both my kids may choose those schools -- but it means we're so lost when it comes to what might be needed if you want to look outside that venue. My daughter has straight A's, including her AP courses (where's she's scored 5's), and she'd have qualified for commendation in the national merit scholarship with her PSAT, except that she's a sophomore this year. We didn't even realize about how national merit was done until we came here ... now she's decided to actually study a bit this summer and see if she might get her PSAT scores up for her junior year. As she took her AP Bio exam her freshman year, we've since learned from CC that it might have been very beneficial for her to take the SAT II bio subject test at the same time. Didn't realize that schools, especially ones she might be interested in like University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, require these for admittance. Thanks to CC I'm more prepared with her than I was with my son, and I know questions to ask her guidance counselor. </p>
<p>Zebes</p>
<p>Avoiding personal privacy issues is easy enough. Just don't give exactly the right information. If you got a 94, post 97 on CC. If you got a 99, post a 92 on CC. If you got 2200, post 2240 on CC. If you work with Amnesty International, put World Vision on CC; if you play golf, play table tennis on CC. You take Biology? take biochemistry! you take Social studies? Take civics! </p>
<p>Seriously, slight variations like this just help people give you the opinion you desire and at the same time keep your private information safe. Granted, there is the chance you accidentally change your stats to match someone else's (it doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen, it recently happened to me), but then again, that's really really rare. </p>
<p>People don't like to lie, but sometimes you have to in order to keep yourself safe.</p>
<p>I might be naive but I seriously doubt that the Yale admissions offices is mining Facebook and myspace for inconsistencies in applicants' files. Frankly, each person's file has several (albeit limited) layers of convergent information. If there are inconsistencies, calls are sometimes made (see some of the other threads). If a guy claims to be the volunteer cooridnator for his local soup kitchen when in actuality he only served a couple of times, that will PROBABLY sneak pass. If a person claims to be intellectually curious but his recommendations are lukewarm -- that'll be noticed.</p>
<p>It's not as if they're a corporate HR dept. looking to fill 20 slots for sales reps. They'll sift through the 1000s of resumes, interview 80 and narrow it down to 40. Could they google 40 finalists? Sure -- two employees could do that in one day. But think of the sheer volume of apps that Yale (and others) receive. Maybe there's some web spider program out there that is designed to catch negative "buzzwords" in teen chatsites or myspace or facebook -- but at this point, I don't see yale admissions officers as bothering with such a device -- they have enough info to sift through.</p>
<p>My name's fairly obvious, but in the end nothing I post on here is going to make me appear negatively in the eyes of adcoms. Unless they don't like the mere fact that I'm on here. Oh well...</p>
<p>If not for CC, my D would certainly not be be a Junior at Bryn Mawr today. She came from an over crowded urban high school with a sorely taxed guidance dept. Any inclination to go beyond our state university system is met with a decidedly blank stare most of the time. D's counselor was miffed and mystified as to why she would apply to "so many schools" (and thereby generating more work for her). CC explained why that might be an advantage. She would still have ended up at a great school (William and Mary) had we not logged onto College Confidential, but she would not have landed at her perfect match. Thanks, Roger and the folks at CC!</p>
<p>poetsheart, I know exactly what you mean about high school guidance offices. I heard lots of remarks about students who sent out many applications because it increased their work. </p>
<p>I also agree about CC, our guidance office gave no information about SAT II's, which schools might be better for certain majors, when is the best time to take the SAT I for college app purposes, when updating an application is important, etc. </p>
<p>Our counselors also have their biases about colleges. One student was told flat out by his counselor that he would never get accepted to a certain ivy league school. He got in. This same counselor told others that to be admitted to Yale or any other top school, you need to be a national winner in some area. She says things with such conviction too. It is almost like she enjoys destroying your dreams. Well, hopefully, she will continue to be shown how wrong she is.</p>
<p>Here at CC, I have actually become more hopefull about my child's admittance to colleges because I learned that the valedictorian may not be the only one that gets accepted, and 2400 SAT's are great, but other aspects are also important in an application. So, thanks CC.</p>
<p>Although this site may not be accurate, it still serves a purpose. The sheer amount of opinions is a positive attribute.. Many people cannot afford a trip and cannot talk to students at a prospective school, and these opinions, although not wholly representative of the school can help people decide to go or sway the opinions. And in that, i believe people are able to open their eyes to the opportunity that lies in front of them and the alternatives that may be viable. </p>
<p>Although i would agree that members should take other comments and facts with a grain of salt, if one sees an opinion/fact as a determinant or important factor to a decision they will be making, then it at least gives them a starting point for THEIR own research</p>
<p>The worst aspect of this site it the put down of wonderful universities (UCR, cal states....list goes on)</p>
<p>I second southpasdena. Frequently, CC'ers can get a bit carried away with their posts and say some of the most outrageous things. So please bring your saltshaker when you lurk. There are other sites with a more civil tone and more helpful advice but the shear volume of info on CC makes it a good place to visit on your college research tour. </p>
<p>I also agree that if CC could limit or eliminate the put-downs and mean things some people post about non-top-tier colleges, it would be a much better site.</p>
<p>Finally, I would highly recommend that the "other" colleges frequent this site to provide helpful and accurate information to the discussion. The John Hopkins rep has the right attitude. Just changing misconceptions and myths would be a huge benefit alone.</p>
<p>haha yeah the whole yale lurking is kind of creepy.</p>
<p>caring isn't creepy! Lol</p>
<p>But I totally agree with what it said about the 'What's Your Chances' forums.</p>
<p>I was kinda depressed for a while after reading it and already made plans to go to a city college, haha.</p>
<p>Yeah, the Chances threads really freak me out... make me think that I have absolutely no chance, since half the people here are 2400- valedictorian - 800 -800- 800 national sports/academic teams - 1000 hours volunteer work in random places like africa - leadership in five clubs....
oh man. </p>
<p>But a friend told me that most of the people here are in the top 25% of the people accepted. Is that correct, you estimate?</p>
<p>lol I think it's more like top 2%.</p>