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re: Some girl from my high school got into Harvard. Does it really make a difference?
Posted on 4/15/23 at 3:50 pm to HouseMom
Posted on 4/15/23 at 3:50 pm to HouseMom
quote:yep. When Sallam Bin Al Sahin is needing a COO for his family’s Emerging Markets Investment Group, he ain’t posting that on Monster.com . He going to remember Jack Davis , his buddy from (Insert Top 5 School) and call him up.
The benefit comes from the global business connections said child would get from moving in those circles.
0
Posted on 4/15/23 at 5:21 pm to Springlake Tiger
quote:My son's friend got a 36 on ACT and was rejected. My son got a 35 and merit finalist. His "reach' schools were Michigan and UNC Chapel Hill, he got waitlisted at Michigan and rejected at UNC. At some point this has to be about equity and not merit.
Harvard only selects the best or the best connected high school students. future employers know this and basically just hire them because they know Harvard has already screened them in the admissions process.
This post was edited on 4/15/23 at 5:22 pm
Posted on 4/15/23 at 5:49 pm to CAPEX
quote:
I guess I'm asking how is it worth parents donating millions of dollars for their kid to go there? Does it economically pay off if your parent donates >$5m to the school just so you can go there?
You’re more likely to get in for possessing some quality that is unique to the general student population. From what I understand Harvard is fairly cheap to attend. Tuition is based on family net worth. Stanford and Princeton are the same way.
Posted on 4/15/23 at 6:00 pm to achenator
quote:
My son's friend got a 36 on ACT and was rejected. My son got a 35 and merit finalist. His "reach' schools were Michigan and UNC Chapel Hill, he got waitlisted at Michigan and rejected at UNC. At some point this has to be about equity and not merit.
Dude, I got a 35 on the ACT.
It's practically the bare minimum lol. The lawsuit revealed for students with a 35 ACT who were Asian or White, the acceptance rate for kids with a 35 ACT was 12% and 30% for a kid with a 36.
The girl from my school who got into Harvard had won national awards for mock trial and poetry.
Getting a 35 is essentially meeting the standard. You have to be somewhat brilliant to get in.
Other two kids I know who got into Harvard had won lots of research awards and science fairs.
This post was edited on 4/15/23 at 6:02 pm
Posted on 4/15/23 at 6:13 pm to achenator
quote:
35 and merit finalist. His "reach' schools were Michigan and UNC Chapel Hill,
I have a very hard time believing someone with a 35 got rejected from UNC and Michigan, they are great schools but not that great.
I have a friend from HS that went to Princeton and he got in everyone but Harvard and MIT. But his parents are both from a South American country. He is very smart but he is not 36 and I don’t know if he got a 35 smart.
Posted on 4/15/23 at 7:51 pm to baldona
quote:Believe what you will, it's the reality in my house right now. I don't know when your friend went to college but it sure seems different now. 35 was my son's composite all 3 times he took it. one B on his report card in freshman year. and a 4.45 weighted. Admittedly he only has a couple of extracurriculars compared to some of these kids. Heck, I believe the acceptance rate at Auburn is something like 30 percent. He of course got accepted there and got an Ok merit scholarship package but nothing like they were offering in Tuscaloosa which is where he'll be going
I have a very hard time believing someone with a 35 got rejected from UNC and Michigan, they are great schools but not that great.
I have a friend from HS that went to Princeton and he got in everyone but Harvard and MIT. But his parents are both from a South American country. He is very smart but he is not 36 and I don’t know if he got a 35 smart.
This post was edited on 4/15/23 at 7:59 pm
Posted on 4/15/23 at 7:53 pm to CAPEX
quote:and more nonwhite male it seems
You have to be somewhat brilliant to get in.
Posted on 4/15/23 at 9:32 pm to achenator
I feel like people tell themselves this.
I do it too.
'Oh, it was because I was Asian that I didn't get in.'
But plenty of people who are white do get in. Yes, it is much easier for certain demographics but that doesn't mean you can't get in.
A 35 ACT is absolutely nothing to brag about. It's frankly the bare minimum - tons of kids get it every year. I got a 35 ACT score (narrowly missed off 36 and I took it 1 time, not 3 times) but I was nowhere near talented enough to get in.
I also had a perfect GPA (like not a single B across my entire high school career), a few regional awards, an internship at a financial firm but nothing too fancy.
I didn't deserve to get in. You should see the profiles of some of the kids being rejected from Harvard - people who've written research papers, won national awards etc.
I do it too.
'Oh, it was because I was Asian that I didn't get in.'
But plenty of people who are white do get in. Yes, it is much easier for certain demographics but that doesn't mean you can't get in.
A 35 ACT is absolutely nothing to brag about. It's frankly the bare minimum - tons of kids get it every year. I got a 35 ACT score (narrowly missed off 36 and I took it 1 time, not 3 times) but I was nowhere near talented enough to get in.
I also had a perfect GPA (like not a single B across my entire high school career), a few regional awards, an internship at a financial firm but nothing too fancy.
I didn't deserve to get in. You should see the profiles of some of the kids being rejected from Harvard - people who've written research papers, won national awards etc.
This post was edited on 4/15/23 at 9:35 pm
Posted on 4/15/23 at 10:23 pm to CAPEX
From what I see, schools have a cut off with ACT score. MIT and ivies it’s a 35. Most of the other prestigious are a 32. After you check that bubble they look at refs, personal statement, and extra circulars. You admitted he doesn’t have much of that and that will eliminate him from a bunch of schools. They want well rounded students. Also a 4.45 weighted is low these days. I know students taking 6-7 AP classes a year starting 11th grade. Plus if it’s not an AP it’s mostly honors. To be top of your class you need around a 4.85. That’s why he didn’t get into those schools. ACT is just one metric and he was low all every other metric
Posted on 4/15/23 at 11:30 pm to CAPEX
quote:Sure tons of kids get it but it's still top 1.5% of people taking the test. Where did you end up going? I guess part of it may be a weakness of a Louisiana school LOL My son and his friend have taken every honors and AP class offered at the school. My son is very conscientious of $ and wants to take advantage of the most bang for the buck he can anyway. if you got a 35 the only time you took it, there was no want to try to get the 36? The only reason my son took it 3x was because he wanted a 36 badly bur it just wasn't happening. He didn't take it 3x to get to that point off a 35. His friend that applied to harvard had way more extracurriculars than my son including starting a charity, just not enough, I think he's going to ND.
A 35 ACT is absolutely nothing to brag about. It's frankly the bare minimum - tons of kids get it every year.
This post was edited on 4/15/23 at 11:46 pm
Posted on 4/15/23 at 11:39 pm to tigerbacon
"Also a 4.45 weighted is low these days. I know students taking 6-7 AP classes a year starting 11th grade. Plus if it’s not an AP it’s mostly honors. To be top of your class you need around a 4.85. That’s why he didn’t get into those schools. ACT is just one metric and he was low all every other metric."
Yeah like i said above, there are not enough AP and honors classes at his school to get a GPA that high. I thought National Merit Finalist would have been enough for UNC and Michigan though. He did get some good scholarship offers from some smaller schools like Fordham. He took the 5 year presidential scholarship at Alabama and will be taking the STEM-MBA program. He's happy that he's earned a full ride, will have no debt and will have enough 529 $ to start his life even after paying penalties if he decides to do so.
Yeah like i said above, there are not enough AP and honors classes at his school to get a GPA that high. I thought National Merit Finalist would have been enough for UNC and Michigan though. He did get some good scholarship offers from some smaller schools like Fordham. He took the 5 year presidential scholarship at Alabama and will be taking the STEM-MBA program. He's happy that he's earned a full ride, will have no debt and will have enough 529 $ to start his life even after paying penalties if he decides to do so.
This post was edited on 4/15/23 at 11:58 pm
Posted on 4/15/23 at 11:58 pm to CAPEX
quote:
A 35 ACT is absolutely nothing to brag about.
bullshite.
Posted on 4/16/23 at 12:27 am to lynxcat
quote:
Bull shite
Maybe in whatever rarified air circles that CAPEX hangs in it is normal but it's better than 98-99% of people that take the test.
Posted on 4/16/23 at 3:38 am to achenator
I'm obviously talking about for Ivy League schools, not for the average person.
I didn't think I needed to make it obvious. A 35 ACT is obviously good when you compare it to the average person but that's no accomplishment when you're applying to top schools. It sounds arrogant but no admissions officer will care about a 35 when they've seen lots of high scores.
Look, I know 3 people who got into Harvard and I realized I don't even compare.
I had no national awards, no debating contest wins, no ISEF science wins, no Regeneron etc.
I was so angry that I got rejected at the time. I wanted revenge, that's how angry I was.
But it's life. While I'm very jealous of the girl I know who got in, I can't complain that she didn't deserve to get in.
I didn't think I needed to make it obvious. A 35 ACT is obviously good when you compare it to the average person but that's no accomplishment when you're applying to top schools. It sounds arrogant but no admissions officer will care about a 35 when they've seen lots of high scores.
Look, I know 3 people who got into Harvard and I realized I don't even compare.
I had no national awards, no debating contest wins, no ISEF science wins, no Regeneron etc.
I was so angry that I got rejected at the time. I wanted revenge, that's how angry I was.
But it's life. While I'm very jealous of the girl I know who got in, I can't complain that she didn't deserve to get in.
This post was edited on 4/16/23 at 3:44 am
Posted on 4/16/23 at 7:27 am to CAPEX
quote:
You have to be somewhat brilliant to get in.
This isn’t true. There are kids in Harvard who earned 1200 or so on the SAT.
Posted on 4/16/23 at 9:19 am to CAPEX
its not about what you know its about who you know
Posted on 4/16/23 at 9:31 am to umrebel2009
If he’s at a school where he took all the ap and honors classes and the GPA can’t get up to a 4.8 then you should of been honest with your kid and Said we as parents messed up if the goal was the elite universities. You should of sent him to a better high school. Mind you his gpa might not be higher. Because those schools are tougher and grading is tougher. Also the elite colleges know @bout grade inflation and will concentrate their acceptances where they know the high school is tough and grades mean something at
Posted on 4/16/23 at 10:07 am to achenator
I won't say where because I've revealed where I work in my post history and in what team but it's fairly mid-tier. From those two things, it would be very easy to pierce together who I am. I've broken a few of my company rules regarding discussing investment things so I'd rather stay on the safe side.
Not gonna make anyone go wow or anything like that.
Not gonna make anyone go wow or anything like that.
This post was edited on 4/16/23 at 10:10 am
Posted on 4/16/23 at 11:46 am to tigerbacon
quote:Do you mean "elite schools" like ivy or Michigan/UNC/GT? He was never interested in being in the NE. Michigan and UNC were his "reach" schools but he probably wouldn't have gone had he been accepted. His older brother went to school up North and the transportation has not been easy. Like I said, the kid still has his tooth fairy money and wants to get out of school and grad school with no debt and his six figure 529 intact. We sent him to the best private high school within an hour as far as i'm concerned so we did what we could there. He did good enough to get a 35 and National Merit Finalist so we are very proud. He'll be fine.
If he’s at a school where he took all the ap and honors classes and the GPA can’t get up to a 4.8 then you should of been honest with your kid and Said we as parents messed up if the goal was the elite universities. You should of sent him to a better high school. Mind you his gpa might not be higher. Because those schools are tougher and grading is tougher. Also the elite colleges know @bout grade inflation and will concentrate their acceptances where they know the high school is tough and grades mean something at
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