I can’t say this to my kid’s face, of course, but...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still would like to know what OP’s DC did with respect to EF EA. Some of these schools - Tulane or Emory for example - become exponentially more difficult at RD so they go from being likely to reach.

Emory is not a likely for anyone.

Quit trying to reject the thread. I strongly suspect had OP's DC applied ED1 to Emory, DC would have gotten in, esp. if willing to go to the campus in the sticks.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm very sorry. That sounds really tough and the result of a lot of bad luck. I agree with all the posters telling you that you have to get a counselor or head master to work the phone for you on schools that waitlisted your kid as part of yield protection. Even public school counselors have some heft in that situation.

As a cautionary tale for others, I think it means that you have to put in the effort for demonstrated interest to your safety schools. Perhaps make sure to include your parents' alma mater and visit (for us, that was Ohio State). And you definitely have to reconsider what you think is a "match" -- schools like Emory and Tulane can never be a match, even if they were in the past and even if you know kids with lower stats get in.

[Anonymous]

It’s a historically tough year for admissions. You can either take a gap year, lower expectations or get laser focused on transferring. I’m glad I didn’t have a DC in this cycle but if I were OP I would push pretty hard for a gap year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, yield protection is real. Case and Emory are definitely practicing yield protection. Your DC might have a good outcome in the end from the waitlist if a commitment to a school can be demonstrated.

I agree with one PP that for the rest of the world, stats are the determining factor, and the process is more predictable.

I don't know. It really depends on what private OP is talking about. If it's ilke a Whittle, McLean School, or Burke, Emory would be a reach regardless of GPA. If she's talking St. Albans or Sidwell, that's a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, yield protection is real. Case and Emory are definitely practicing yield protection. Your DC might have a good outcome in the end from the waitlist if a commitment to a school can be demonstrated.

I agree with one PP that for the rest of the world, stats are the determining factor, and the process is more predictable.

I don't know. It really depends on what private OP is talking about. If it's ilke a Whittle, McLean School, or Burke, Emory would be a reach regardless of GPA. If she's talking St. Albans or Sidwell, that's a different story.

This is what the SAT is for. He got a 1550. How is that not an automatic in at Emory if that was his first choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar boat. 3.9 GPA at a Big 3, perfect ACT score (36 on all sections), waitlisted at UChicago, WashU and Emory so far. College counselor had called Emory a match/likely for him.

Then get that damned counselor on the phone with Emory admission today and [/b]make them get him off the waitlist or he will discourage any kid from your HS from applying there in the future[b].

And yes, this actually matters. Colleges do not like to see applicants from good HS drop off.

You grossly overestimate the power that a college counselor, even from an elite school, has. With connections, they may be able to help with process, but a threat would almost certainly backfire.

As demonstrated, Emory is having no trouble filling its spots and wouldn't without kids from school X. And, parents with kids at school X who think Emory might be a fit, aren't going to hold back based on the counselor's pride being hurt a prior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar boat. 3.9 GPA at a Big 3, perfect ACT score (36 on all sections), waitlisted at UChicago, WashU and Emory so far. College counselor had called Emory a match/likely for him.

Then get that damned counselor on the phone with Emory admission today and make them get him off the waitlist or he will discourage any kid from your HS from applying there in the future.

And yes, this actually matters. Colleges do not like to see applicants from good HS drop off.

I'm guessing the issue here is that it's not a "good" HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm very sorry. That sounds really tough and the result of a lot of bad luck. I agree with all the posters telling you that you have to get a counselor or head master to work the phone for you on schools that waitlisted your kid as part of yield protection. Even public school counselors have some heft in that situation.

As a cautionary tale for others, I think it means that you have to put in the effort for demonstrated interest to your safety schools. Perhaps make sure to include your parents' alma mater and visit (for us, that was Ohio State). And you definitely have to reconsider what you think is a "match" -- schools like Emory and Tulane can never be a match, even if they were in the past and even if you know kids with lower stats get in.

This is what I don't get. Straight As, 6 APs, 1550 on the SAT, strong essay and recs. How can this not be a match at Emory, Vandy, Tulane? These schools are now filled with valedictorians with 1600s???

Fwiw, my kids are really young so I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm just baffled that a kid with straight As and 1550 can't get into Tulane now. Again, they're filling all their freshman seats with kids who were shoe-ins for Harvard 20 years ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar boat. 3.9 GPA at a Big 3, perfect ACT score (36 on all sections), waitlisted at UChicago, WashU and Emory so far. College counselor had called Emory a match/likely for him.

Then get that damned counselor on the phone with Emory admission today and make them get him off the waitlist or he will discourage any kid from your HS from applying there in the future.

And yes, this actually matters. Colleges do not like to see applicants from good HS drop off.

I'm guessing the issue here is that it's not a "good" HS.

Even if that's true, OP's results are surprising. And even if it isn't true, blackmailing the school isn't likely to be an effective strategy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That's why I despise the American college exceptionalism.

Everywhere else, students are accepted on academic merit, with thresholds for grades and/or exams, which universities tweak for international students with different high school systems.

This makes the most sense, because universities remain places of higher learning, and judging based on extra-curriculars that don't have standardized norms makes comparing students impossible.

So at least in other countries, you know where you are. You're not messed around and have hopes dashed after waiting for months. As soon as you know your exam results, you also know where you're getting in.

I am reposting the following post from CC on American exceptionalism (discussing the Varsity Blues Netflix show):


Perhaps this is part of American exceptionalism, but nobody, even the Europeans who chose not to aboard the ship to to the U.S. some 100~200 years ago, understands American “holistic” admission process. The world thinks, well, it’s snake oil. A few examples:

Why do you have to be a good essayst to earn a spot in university? Shouldn’t you be, like, a scholar or a researcher?

Who is a superior human being: one with 14 APs with perfect scores vs one with 5 APs with perfect scores plus 20 hours per week working at McDonald’s?

Why do you need to check the race of an applicant?

Why should one who worked as a volunteer earn advantage over one who did not - to earn a spot in unversity? What is university? A privilege or an accolade given to superior beings, or a place to advance academia?

What is a good character, as opposed to a mundane one? Why should it matter to earn a spot? What is university? A horse race bet for who will succeed in life (and make donations)?

If you are boring, why should you be rejected?

Why do sports matter to a university? What does football have anything to do with academia?

If your political view happens to be at the diametric opposite end of your interviewer’s, should you be punished and rejected for that, or should you fake and feign? (happened to me once at the Harvard interview.)

Why do universities encourage EVERYONE to apply only to reject 99.9% of them?

Why do universities encourage there is no mimimum GPA required for acceptance, when they know it takes a Jared Kushner to get in with a 2.0?

Why do universities care about their matriculation rates? What relevance does it have to, say, an education? Isnt it basically a childish bragging rights, little else?

Why 100 times more expensive than, say, a German, a French or a Korean unversity education? What does it cost to teach someone, say, English literature, really?

If someone appears so smart that he looks as if he might get accepted to Harvard, why do other schools reject him? Is such practice morally defensible when committed by an educational institution?

What is the name of the university admission game? Meritocracy? Whatever the university needs at the moment?

If an applicant asks Rick Singer to write the entire application on his behalf, is there a fail-proof way to tell, or is this too minor a breach to care?

Why are “unique” and “rare” virtues to universities? Are they in stamp collecting business?

When a university’s advertised acceptance rate is 4%, does it mean the chance for an international, FA, no donation, no legacy pushed ORM would be, like, 0.1%?

Why did they make the selection process so arbitrary? To show that they are anti-elitests?

What happened to OP's DC is the natural outcome of this crappy process, in a crappy year.

Hogwash. It's a bloodbath in the UK and China and places that siphon you off so early, not allowing for any experimentation or growth. The only item I care to address about the above inane list is yes, colleges should reject boring people because it means they are not curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, yield protection is real. Case and Emory are definitely practicing yield protection. Your DC might have a good outcome in the end from the waitlist if a commitment to a school can be demonstrated.

I agree with one PP that for the rest of the world, stats are the determining factor, and the process is more predictable.

How is a rejection yeild protection? Emory does not yeild protect, if they did their yeild would be higher. Emory is a T20 get over it, you're DC is probably not getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm very sorry. That sounds really tough and the result of a lot of bad luck. I agree with all the posters telling you that you have to get a counselor or head master to work the phone for you on schools that waitlisted your kid as part of yield protection. Even public school counselors have some heft in that situation.

As a cautionary tale for others, I think it means that you have to put in the effort for demonstrated interest to your safety schools. Perhaps make sure to include your parents' alma mater and visit (for us, that was Ohio State). And you definitely have to reconsider what you think is a "match" -- schools like Emory and Tulane can never be a match, even if they were in the past and even if you know kids with lower stats get in.

This is what I don't get. Straight As, 6 APs, 1550 on the SAT, strong essay and recs. How can this not be a match at Emory, Vandy, Tulane? These schools are now filled with valedictorians with 1600s???

Fwiw, my kids are really young so I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm just baffled that a kid with straight As and 1550 can't get into Tulane now. Again, they're filling all their freshman seats with kids who were shoe-ins for Harvard 20 years ago?

I want someone to answer this too. This is really bizarre. I know a kid down the street who's mother has been bragging night and day about Emory. 1400 SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had this situation. My suggestion is to really work the waitlists and consider hiring a college counselor to coach working the waitlist. He may get a spring admit.

How could a college counselor help work the waitlist? If there is a counselor that has connections at a particular school, then maybe I could see how someone might be able to put a thumb on the scale. Otherwise, I'm not sure how that would work.

That happened at my high school. The college counselors knew the Deans of Admission and could call them up and pull for kids.

Ever heard of Operation Varsity Blues? LOL...

No, college counselors letting schools know of waitlisted student's strong interest is not unethical. What a dumb comment.

Exactly. That's why you pay Private School dollars...our headmaster also makes calls to work waitlists at some schools (part Penn, Brown, Yale, but also other schools)

[Anonymous]

I totally understand why you're upset. But I think you need to deal with your emotions privately, and follow your son's lead to him and resist the urge to give advice or nudge him in any direction at all.

I don't think the answer is to be optimistic and point out the positives. He's unexcited and (presumably) disappointed. I think you just validate, validate, validate. "I know this wasn't the school you wanted, that must be hard." Even some commiseration might be in order. "I thought you'd have more options too" might be really validating for him. There's no need to put on a happy face if that's not the emotional place he's in, either. And follow his lead. If he starts saying "well, at least the school has X" you say "yeah, that's a good point! That'll be nice." If he says "I just wish I had an option with a more fun student body (or whatever)" you say, "yeah, that is disappointing."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is everyone else doing in his school? Is it the school or there’s something wrong with his application that you haven’t noticed.

This is OP. It has been tough at his school but kids have certainly got in places.

I won’t tell you his entire list in case anyone is reading this and can figure out who he is, but here is a partial.

Waitlist: Case, Tulane, VErmont
Rejected: Northeastern, Vandy, Tulane, Emory

wow, with > 1500 SAT? Isn't it back to being scored out of 1600 again these days? what the heck is going on?

This year, most colleges are either test optional or test blind. So SAT/ACT is the last and the least consideration by colleges. And to demonstrate their commitment to the test policy, colleges have to accept 30 to 50 percent among the students who did not submit a test score.