I have a question for those of my Appalachian brethren that have kids that are either applying to college this year or have done so recently. Does anyone have experience with kids applying to a flagship institution that receives tens of thousand application? Do these admissions counselors review them all or do they load all of the data into a computer, plop in some algorithms and let the computer spit out the decisions?

Great question, and I have no answer to this.

I would assume that each application gets some level of human interaction, but it could be very minimal, as in a human enters some data into a computer. I do wonder how the free admission application weeks work as far as funding the employees that review the applications.

Thanks. I suspect that you are correct.

A little background, I live in Florida, my daughter has no desire to attend college in Florida but we urged her to apply as a safety net and it is a good school. Found out on Friday that she didn't get in. The letter said that there were more qualified applicants. She is Top 5% in her class (24/527), 4.77 weighted GPA, 1340? SAT, three year varsity athlete (rowing) over 300 hours of community service. She has taken at least 10 AP/Honors classes with A's in all of them.

I can buy that there may have been others more qualified, but one of her classmates got in. A baseline comparison of their academic careers isn't close. I have been telling my child since she was 5 to take care of the academics and the hard work will pay off. But how do explain this?

AppSt94 wrote:Thanks. I suspect that you are correct.

A little background, I live in Florida, my daughter has no desire to attend college in Florida but we urged her to apply as a safety net and it is a good school. Found out on Friday that she didn't get in. The letter said that there were more qualified applicants. She is Top 5% in her class (24/527), 4.77 weighted GPA, 1340? SAT, three year varsity athlete (rowing) over 300 hours of community service. She has taken at least 10 AP/Honors classes with A's in all of them.

I can buy that there may have been others more qualified, but one of her classmates got in. A baseline comparison of their academic careers isn't close. I have been telling my child since she was 5 to take care of the academics and the hard work will pay off. But how do explain this?

I think most schools have an appeals process. At least that way someone should actually review her credentials.

Thanks Moody. I am on the fence with calling them. I don't want to be that parent, but I have an intellectual curiosity of how the process works.

You should call them. Being "That parent" is not always a bad thing. I think your daughter would greatly appreciate your efforts.

You should absolutely call. Mistakes happen, things fall through the cracks, decisions are made by rookies or by people having a bad day...absolutely call.

AppSt94 wrote:Thanks Moody. I am on the fence with calling them. I don't want to be that parent, but I have an intellectual curiosity of how the process works.

You go have a chat with your child's guidance counselor. They should know the process and what the baselines are for acceptance.

Generally the SAT should be 1100 or so with a GPA on a 4.0 scale of 3.25 or better. Top 1/3 class rank with honors or AP classes thrown in and extra curricular activities. IF your guidance counselor is any good they will call and make a case for your child. If you child has some moxie they can go to Boone and request a meeting with the admissions counselor and make their case.

find out what the baseline was for admittance this year from App....YOu can call about that.

Rekdiver wrote:

AppSt94 wrote:Thanks Moody. I am on the fence with calling them. I don't want to be that parent, but I have an intellectual curiosity of how the process works.

You go have a chat with your child's guidance counselor. They should know the process and what the baselines are for acceptance.

Generally the SAT should be 1100 or so with a GPA on a 4.0 scale of 3.25 or better. Top 1/3 class rank with honors or AP classes thrown in and extra curricular activities. IF your guidance counselor is any good they will call and make a case for your child. If you child has some moxie they can go to Boone and request a meeting with the admissions counselor and make their case.

find out what the baseline was for admittance this year from App....YOu can call about that.

I thought he was referencing a Florida school.

hapapp wrote:

Rekdiver wrote:

AppSt94 wrote:Thanks Moody. I am on the fence with calling them. I don't want to be that parent, but I have an intellectual curiosity of how the process works.

You go have a chat with your child's guidance counselor. They should know the process and what the baselines are for acceptance.

Generally the SAT should be 1100 or so with a GPA on a 4.0 scale of 3.25 or better. Top 1/3 class rank with honors or AP classes thrown in and extra curricular activities. IF your guidance counselor is any good they will call and make a case for your child. If you child has some moxie they can go to Boone and request a meeting with the admissions counselor and make their case.

find out what the baseline was for admittance this year from App....YOu can call about that.

I thought he was referencing a Florida school.

The political season had killed me... icant get past headlines

Rekdiver wrote:

hapapp wrote:

Rekdiver wrote:

AppSt94 wrote:Thanks Moody. I am on the fence with calling them. I don't want to be that parent, but I have an intellectual curiosity of how the process works.

You go have a chat with your child's guidance counselor. They should know the process and what the baselines are for acceptance.

Generally the SAT should be 1100 or so with a GPA on a 4.0 scale of 3.25 or better. Top 1/3 class rank with honors or AP classes thrown in and extra curricular activities. IF your guidance counselor is any good they will call and make a case for your child. If you child has some moxie they can go to Boone and request a meeting with the admissions counselor and make their case.

find out what the baseline was for admittance this year from App....YOu can call about that.

I thought he was referencing a Florida school.

The political season had killed me... icant get past headlines

I understand about the political crap. Yes, I am in Florida and I was referencing the Univ of Florida. I wish App was an option but it's too expensive for out of state unless you can go to a private school that has much more financial aid available.

Did your daughter choose a particular major that is popular on this campus. I have no proof of this, but I suspect a particular major may play a larger part in the decision that many may think.

This sounds like a quota situation.

As a comparison, Chapel Hill is notorious for this. I have friends that got into Duke and UVA, yet not unc. However, other friends that were not as involved and/or didn't have the same level of academic standing were accepted to the hill.

Unfortunately, all about numbers (only so many admitted from each county) and demographics.

If you live in a highly populated county, the competition will be steep due to limited available spots. However, if from a rural county with 1 or 2 HS's your chances of acceptance increase significantly.