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sunseeker wrote: Also another thing is if any school is a state school ( but not the state the student lives in) they have to give preference to in-state students first. They have a minimum # of instate students they have to accept. So it is more competitive for out of state students to get accepted. William and Mary and Penn stand out to me as being public. So unless you live in Pennsylvania or Virginia - those school would have been very tough to be accepted.

Good points, all schools work hard at rounding out classes, I think E mentioned that too. My son's core group of friends have been accepted at some pretty prestigious schools like Cornell, Princeton, Brown, Davidson, and William and Mary. We and the parents of these kids heard all about "rounding out the class" when visiting these schools. The issue of acceptances at "state" schools and being instate v. out of state is very true. This is the case at William and Mary but there is nothing state related about Penn that I know of (Penn State is PA's state university). The University of Delaware takes a lot of students from our area. This is a good school but due to being out of state there are some very good students who get a big fat "NO". The PA State Universities (and there are about 14 of them) even wait list students based on where they live or if they are male or female. They don't want a huge percentage of their students from the local area.

If you are a parent with a middle school student here is some advice. Make sure they are involved in quality activities...leadership roles if possible. Make sure they have challenging high school schedules. Getting "A's" with an easy schedule gets you no where. EXPECT and DEMAND a lot of your high school guidance office. We are fortunate because my son's school has the resourses to have their guidance folks keep close contact with great colleges and universities. Much of this is promotion. His school district is well known at many of these schools so the colleges know what they are getting when they look at a student's transcript. Finally, sophmore and junior year, reach out to these schools with some visits. Hope that helps.

Carolinadreamin' wrote:
I personally think 8th grade is too early to take the SATs.

Um, yeah. It absolutely is. I was beside myself when her teacher told me that. I don't think I could look my kid in the eye and ask her to take a standardized test for fun.

Plus, you don't need to be a genius to know my daughter will score low on math, ridiculously high on whatever the other part is called, and get into some artsy fartsy school where she can hone her skills pretending to be an ice cream cone or a shoe or something.

Love the comments... hope they keep coming. Perhaps my daughter should consider Md for starters, and possibly transfer IF if it's not for her

buffettbride wrote:

Carolinadreamin' wrote:
I personally think 8th grade is too early to take the SATs.

Um, yeah. It absolutely is. I was beside myself when her teacher told me that. I don't think I could look my kid in the eye and ask her to take a standardized test for fun.

Plus, you don't need to be a genius to know my daughter will score low on math, ridiculously high on whatever the other part is called, and get into some artsy fartsy school where she can hone her skills pretending to be an ice cream cone or a shoe or something.

It's critcal reading and writing. But not too many colleges are using the writing portion yet.
I bet she would be an amazing (Oscar worthy) ice cream cone! And you will pay an astronomical amount of money for her to learn that skill. The same way I'm paying for a keet to get her undergraduate degree in psych, knowing she's going to a masters/PhD program after that. Now if I can just find that freakin' money tree.........

I work in the admission office at Mount Holyoke College. Application numbers are up for many reasons but the main reason is most schools waive the application fee if the student applies online. With most colleges using the Common App it is easy for students to submit their applications to more schools without any cost.

I've seen a couple of people mention NYU in this thread. If you haven't been there on a visit, you should keep in mind that it isn't your typical college campus. NYU is in Greenwich Village in a very urban setting. Washington Square Park, which is a public park, not part of NYU, is about as close as the school gets to having a quad.


I've spent a fair amount of time in the Village over the years and It's a great part of NYC. But unless you like living in a big city, NYU, no matter how good a school it is, probably isn't the right place for you.

One College you might want to steer your kid away from.

Snooki gets $32K to talk 'GTL' on Rutgers campus

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey's largest university.

The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of the reality TV show "Jersey Shore" $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, as well as the GTL — gym, tanning, laundry — lifestyle.

That's $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers' commencement address in May.

Money for Polizzi's appearance came from the mandatory student activity fee.

Freshman Adham Abdel-Raouf told The Star-Ledger of Newark he thought the price was a bargain given Snooki's popularity. Another freshman, Dan Oliveto, said it was a waste of money.

Snooki's advice to students: "Study hard, but party harder."

pair8head wrote:One College you might want to steer your kid away from.

Snooki gets $32K to talk 'GTL' on Rutgers campus

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey's largest university.

The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of the reality TV show "Jersey Shore" $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, as well as the GTL — gym, tanning, laundry — lifestyle.

That's $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers' commencement address in May.

Money for Polizzi's appearance came from the mandatory student activity fee.

Freshman Adham Abdel-Raouf told The Star-Ledger of Newark he thought the price was a bargain given Snooki's popularity. Another freshman, Dan Oliveto, said it was a waste of money.

Snooki's advice to students: "Study hard, but party harder."

I went there.

Snooki, along with the rest of the clowns on that show, is a waste of human flesh.

pair8head wrote:One College you might want to steer your kid away from.

Snooki gets $32K to talk 'GTL' on Rutgers campus

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey's largest university.

The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of the reality TV show "Jersey Shore" $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, as well as the GTL — gym, tanning, laundry — lifestyle.

That's $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers' commencement address in May.

Money for Polizzi's appearance came from the mandatory student activity fee.

Freshman Adham Abdel-Raouf told The Star-Ledger of Newark he thought the price was a bargain given Snooki's popularity. Another freshman, Dan Oliveto, said it was a waste of money.

Snooki's advice to students: "Study hard, but party harder."

As a Seton Hall grad, I say........uh-huh...........

sorry lime........

pair8head wrote:One College you might want to steer your kid away from.

Snooki gets $32K to talk 'GTL' on Rutgers campus

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The pouf is mightier than the pen when it comes to speaking fees at New Jersey's largest university.

The Rutgers University Programming Association paid Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of the reality TV show "Jersey Shore" $32,000 Thursday to dish on her hairstyle, fist pumps, as well as the GTL — gym, tanning, laundry — lifestyle.

That's $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers' commencement address in May.

Money for Polizzi's appearance came from the mandatory student activity fee.

Freshman Adham Abdel-Raouf told The Star-Ledger of Newark he thought the price was a bargain given Snooki's popularity. Another freshman, Dan Oliveto, said it was a waste of money.

Snooki's advice to students: "Study hard, but party harder."

If I had a student at Rutgers I'd be screaming at the top of my lungs.....

Why straight-A's may not get you into UW this year
In the face of continuing state budget cuts, academic leaders at the University of Washington in February made a painful decision to cut the number of Washington students the school will admit this fall and increase the number of out-of-state and international students, who pay nearly three times as much in tuition and fees.

Soon after the University of Washington's acceptance letters for undergraduate admission went out in the mail last month, the rumors started flying at local high schools.

High-school seniors with top test scores didn't get in.

Students who got into more prestigious schools were wait-listed at the UW.

Valedictorians with straight-A's were denied admission, while out-of-state students with lower grades were accepted.

Turns out all those rumors are true.

A series of worsening revenue forecasts and a $5 billion state budget shortfall have made it even more likely that the Legislature will again slash higher-education funding this year. So in February, top academic leaders at the UW made a painful decision to cut the number of Washington students the school will admit this fall to its main Seattle campus and increase the number of nonresident students, who pay nearly three times as much in tuition and fees.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... ns03m.html

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:I wonder why the applicant numbers have exploded so.... There aren't THAT many more kids going to college, are there? I remember my parents being irked that I refused to apply to Ivy League schools. First, I didn't have a prayer of paying for one, if I did get in, and second, I didn't think it would be a good fit for me... I had Choice One and One Backup, that was it....

That didn't turn out so bad.

Elrod wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:I wonder why the applicant numbers have exploded so.... There aren't THAT many more kids going to college, are there? I remember my parents being irked that I refused to apply to Ivy League schools. First, I didn't have a prayer of paying for one, if I did get in, and second, I didn't think it would be a good fit for me... I had Choice One and One Backup, that was it....

That didn't turn out so bad.

I didn't even have that Jen. I wasn't allowed to go away to school....parent's decision. I really wanted to go to Villanova but instead I had two choices: Rutgers or Seton Hall. I had been to the Rutgers campus and hated it so Seton Hall it was. I applied to the two schools and was done with it. I do have to say though none of my three kids applied to more than a handful. Two were recruited for a sport which actually made the process somewhat more complicated but did narrow the choices. The oldest one knew the moment she walked on the Clemson campus that she would go there but we still made sure she had a few back ups.

I would say that most kids in our school are applying to 8-12 and more than just a few over 25.

SeattleParrotHead wrote:Why straight-A's may not get you into UW this year
In the face of continuing state budget cuts, academic leaders at the University of Washington in February made a painful decision to cut the number of Washington students the school will admit this fall and increase the number of out-of-state and international students, who pay nearly three times as much in tuition and fees.

Soon after the University of Washington's acceptance letters for undergraduate admission went out in the mail last month, the rumors started flying at local high schools.

High-school seniors with top test scores didn't get in.

Students who got into more prestigious schools were wait-listed at the UW.

Valedictorians with straight-A's were denied admission, while out-of-state students with lower grades were accepted.

Turns out all those rumors are true.

A series of worsening revenue forecasts and a $5 billion state budget shortfall have made it even more likely that the Legislature will again slash higher-education funding this year. So in February, top academic leaders at the UW made a painful decision to cut the number of Washington students the school will admit this fall to its main Seattle campus and increase the number of nonresident students, who pay nearly three times as much in tuition and fees.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... ns03m.html

Many flagship state schools have turned to out of state and international students to boost enrollments, boost selectivity, and increase revenue.

Carolinadreamin' wrote:

Elrod wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:I wonder why the applicant numbers have exploded so.... There aren't THAT many more kids going to college, are there? I remember my parents being irked that I refused to apply to Ivy League schools. First, I didn't have a prayer of paying for one, if I did get in, and second, I didn't think it would be a good fit for me... I had Choice One and One Backup, that was it....

That didn't turn out so bad.

I didn't even have that Jen. I wasn't allowed to go away to school....parent's decision. I really wanted to go to Villanova but instead I had two choices: Rutgers or Seton Hall. I had been to the Rutgers campus and hated it so Seton Hall it was. I applied to the two schools and was done with it. I do have to say though none of my three kids applied to more than a handful. Two were recruited for a sport which actually made the process somewhat more complicated but did narrow the choices. The oldest one knew the moment she walked on the Clemson campus that she would go there but we still made sure she had a few back ups.

I would say that most kids in our school are applying to 8-12 and more than just a few over 25.

8-12?!? 25!?! Holy crap. Is that because:
1. Kids are indecisive.
2. Kids are worried they won't get in anywhere so they use the shotgun method (of applying to schools).
3. Kid's parents are making them apply to a million schools because they are insane.

I applied to 5 schools. I didn't apply to schools that I wasn't interested in going to or thought I had no shot at getting in to (including Brown) much to my mother's dismay. The essay on it turned me off.

Hockey Mon wrote:

Carolinadreamin' wrote:

Elrod wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:I wonder why the applicant numbers have exploded so.... There aren't THAT many more kids going to college, are there? I remember my parents being irked that I refused to apply to Ivy League schools. First, I didn't have a prayer of paying for one, if I did get in, and second, I didn't think it would be a good fit for me... I had Choice One and One Backup, that was it....

That didn't turn out so bad.

I didn't even have that Jen. I wasn't allowed to go away to school....parent's decision. I really wanted to go to Villanova but instead I had two choices: Rutgers or Seton Hall. I had been to the Rutgers campus and hated it so Seton Hall it was. I applied to the two schools and was done with it. I do have to say though none of my three kids applied to more than a handful. Two were recruited for a sport which actually made the process somewhat more complicated but did narrow the choices. The oldest one knew the moment she walked on the Clemson campus that she would go there but we still made sure she had a few back ups.

I would say that most kids in our school are applying to 8-12 and more than just a few over 25.

8-12?!? 25!?! Holy crap. Is that because:
1. Kids are indecisive.
2. Kids are worried they won't get in anywhere so they use the shotgun method (of applying to schools).
3. Kid's parents are making them apply to a million schools because they are insane.

I applied to 5 schools. I didn't apply to schools that I wasn't interested in going to or thought I had no shot at getting in to (including Brown) much to my mother's dismay. The essay on it turned me off.

I actually just saw on the news last night that at lleast 25% of students ae applying to 7+ schools. Colleges do appreciate the extra revenue that this brings in and with the Common Application it is much easier to apply to multiple schools. Ah, trends.

OttoCal wrote:

Hockey Mon wrote:

Carolinadreamin' wrote:

Elrod wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:I wonder why the applicant numbers have exploded so.... There aren't THAT many more kids going to college, are there? I remember my parents being irked that I refused to apply to Ivy League schools. First, I didn't have a prayer of paying for one, if I did get in, and second, I didn't think it would be a good fit for me... I had Choice One and One Backup, that was it....

That didn't turn out so bad.

I didn't even have that Jen. I wasn't allowed to go away to school....parent's decision. I really wanted to go to Villanova but instead I had two choices: Rutgers or Seton Hall. I had been to the Rutgers campus and hated it so Seton Hall it was. I applied to the two schools and was done with it. I do have to say though none of my three kids applied to more than a handful. Two were recruited for a sport which actually made the process somewhat more complicated but did narrow the choices. The oldest one knew the moment she walked on the Clemson campus that she would go there but we still made sure she had a few back ups.

I would say that most kids in our school are applying to 8-12 and more than just a few over 25.

8-12?!? 25!?! Holy crap. Is that because:
1. Kids are indecisive.
2. Kids are worried they won't get in anywhere so they use the shotgun method (of applying to schools).
3. Kid's parents are making them apply to a million schools because they are insane.

I applied to 5 schools. I didn't apply to schools that I wasn't interested in going to or thought I had no shot at getting in to (including Brown) much to my mother's dismay. The essay on it turned me off.

I actually just saw on the news last night that at lleast 25% of students ae applying to 7+ schools. Colleges do appreciate the extra revenue that this brings in and with the Common Application it is much easier to apply to multiple schools. Ah, trends.

It's probably a vicious cycle too. Kids apply to more schools so it's harder to get in. Therefore, kids see that it's harder to get in and then apply to even more schools. I wonder if colleges are accepting more kids knowing that a larger percentage are not going to be attendending?

We were at small private libral arts college accepted students day for my step-daughter yesterday. They reported that they accepted about 1,500 to fill a 400 student class. Kids applying to a ton of schools has to give admissions folks fits when they are trying to guess on how many will pay a deposit.

JollyMon66 wrote:We were at small private libral arts college accepted students day for my step-daughter yesterday. They reported that they accepted about 1,500 to fill a 400 student class. Kids applying to a ton of schools has to give admissions folks fits when they are trying to guess on how many will pay a deposit.

Congrats to you and your daughter. And yeah, I'd imagine admissions folks pull their hair out when trying to figure out how many kids will actually attend there school. Then they spend the summer trying to glue it back in.