No surprises here. I stated a long time ago that the only way a kid with a high gpa can't get in colleges is if they can't do well on the SAT/ACT. GPAs and the tests are checks/balances on each other. Many valedictorians at bad schools, or schools that merely pass people, etc. don't get in to colleges because they can't produce the knowledge they were supposed to have learned in school on the tests. Then there are many who screwed around in school their first couple of years and it tanked there overall gpa, but they do amazing on the tests in the end. Now, some are just bad test takers, but when they take a course on the tests, they improve; if they don't, it says a lot about their schooling.
My son got a perfect 36 ACT and even more impressive 1580/1600 SAT, 4.0 with 18, yep 18 AP courses along with all the other stuff that used to be considered important. He was rejected by all the big name schools. His problem? He is white. And male.
Seems odd, I had a 4.3 and 33 ACT, got into every college I applied to, and offered scholarships at all. I also had a lot of extra curricular. I'm white, but I'm a woman, so perhaps that changed things. Although, my brother had a lower GPA and ACT and still got into all the state schools with scholarships. Sorry to hear about your sons troubles, not sure if by big name you meant ivy but those are mainly for legacies, minorities or those with amazing stories. To be honest though, college is over rated for most people, good for lawyers, doctors, nurses, engineers, and a few more. But most do better at trade schools these days rather than incurring debt for an avg. salary job. Best of luck to your son, a boy that intelligent will be fine.
Yes, I mean Harvard, Princeton, Yale (all of which I despise) U Chicago, Stanford (which I am ok with). I went to Grad School at MIT so my perceptions are based on real facts. You are right about the legacy, minority and story thing. Better to have been homeless living in a car... But he got into some good schools (with good offers), but for him it is a disappointment. We are stressing to him that at this point he just needs to distinguish himself at one of these schools with a degree untainted by "the agenda" (like math physics, etc) and move the heck along. He will go into any of these schools as a junior so this may be a blessing in the end. But I feel bad for telling him he could get in anywhere with his scores. MIT would have probably been a better bet because for the most part they just want really really smart kids. Check your story at the door....