College application regrets

[Anonymous]

What are your biggest regrets from the college application process?

[Anonymous]

Not paying more attention to targets and safeties

[Anonymous]

Not applying to larger schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not applying to larger schools

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not applying to larger schools

Can you expound on that? Thanks

[Anonymous]

None. None at all. We have four kids. We helped each come up with but small and realistic lists of safeties, targets and reaches and didn’t freak out about anything because we knew it was just college, not an arranged marriage, and that they’d all be just fine.

Three of our kids were high achievers, but it wasn’t like they were going Ivy League. One applied to Brown, knowing she wouldn’t get it but figuring what the hell. Didn’t get in but got into several top LACs and ended up accepting a big merit offer to Grinnell over Carleton and William & Mary. Two others ended up at UVA after also getting into Tech and JMU and a few top privates that they concluded weren’t worth the money.

The one kid we had who wasn’t a strong student academically for a variety of reasons was nevertheless the best test taker of the bunch. Only applied to a couple of schools and ended up at VCU and loving it, as did we.

I think all four combined applied to fewer schools than one typical DCUM kid. It’s hard not to get caught up in the whole frenzy or to recognize that when it comes to colleges there is more than one perfect “soul mate.” But if you can do that you’re much better off.

[Anonymous]

Not finding more match schools outside of texas ($$$)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not applying to larger schools

Can you expound on that? Thanks

I am not the PP, but, if your kid wants to go to a selective SLAC, they should pick one to apply to ED and then apply EA to any others that offer it. These schools are small and getting so many applications that it is a numbers game and it is not in your favor. They take most of their class ED, so you are at a real disadvantage if you don't have an ED school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not applying to larger schools

Can you expound on that? Thanks

My kid ended up at a school with ~2000 students and felt very isolated and bored

[Anonymous]

Our DC just graduated from a SLAC. We thought a small school would be a great fit. But, the school and town became much too small. Small academic dept and if just 1-2 professors leave, it has a big impact. DC developed a medical condition and specialists were far away and the school was not equipped to help (ie: no help with transportation, dietary needs). Overall, it was not a positive experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not paying more attention to targets and safeties

I don't understand why families can't do the math and understand that most likely this is where their kid will wind up.

Of course those categories matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not paying more attention to targets and safeties

I don't understand why families can't do the math and understand that most likely this is where their kid will wind up.

Of course those categories matter.

+1
I don’t feel sorry for kids with good grades that don’t get any acceptance letters in the mail

[Anonymous]

No regret.

In retrospect, we had the perfect strategy.

We looked beyond college. The kid wants to work for big tech, one of the FANGs. He applied for those schools that could maximize his chance of getting into those big tech companies given his ability and budget constraint.

Now he is happily working for one of the FANGs, the good one.

We believe colleges are like hotels. In a vacation, say, you want to go to a place. Well, you won't tell friends that you want to visit a hotel or have a vacation in a hotel. Your destination is not a hotel even though you need to stay in a hotel during a trip.

You want to have a good experience in a hotel. You meet people in any kinds of hotels. You do not want to have a bad experience. Still, they are hotels. They are not the purpose of your trip.

[Anonymous]

My DS has a mild regret that he did ED to a target and didn't apply to a reach school but he loves his school.

My DD has a mild regret that she didn't go to a smaller school, but she also applied ED but to more of a reach. She is happy just had a tough first year and wonders if a smaller school would have been a better fit. I went to a small school and I don't think she's right, but you always wonder.

[Anonymous]

PP here. My DS got into a reach and is very happy. He did apply to a range of schools and had good options. My point was as it was our first time, we started out looking at too many reaches, which I think is easy to do. Towards the end of the process he started leaning into more targets and safeties. Now with our second, he is paying more attention to those non-reach schools, earlier on. Nice to do that so he can visit more in person.