What regrets to you have to the 2023 college cycle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the net price calculators are totally bunk. One was off by 30k. So DS applied to some schools that, had we known what he price would be, we wouldn’t have let him waste his time or theirs. That said, not sure what we would do differently. There was no way to tell it was going to be so far off.

If you are looking for advice, visit as many as you can but don’t rank them. Just put them in the “apply” or “won’t apply” buckets. My DS grew up a lot senior year. What he wanted in a school end of junior year is not what he wanted end of senior year. Really glad we didn’t ED. It would have made the decision easier when acceptances came out but don’t think he’d have been as happy.

You can appeal the award if it differs that significantly from the net price calculator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the net price calculators are totally bunk. One was off by 30k. So DS applied to some schools that, had we known what he price would be, we wouldn’t have let him waste his time or theirs. That said, not sure what we would do differently. There was no way to tell it was going to be so far off.

If you are looking for advice, visit as many as you can but don’t rank them. Just put them in the “apply” or “won’t apply” buckets. My DS grew up a lot senior year. What he wanted in a school end of junior year is not what he wanted end of senior year. Really glad we didn’t ED. It would have made the decision easier when acceptances came out but don’t think he’d have been as happy.

You can appeal the award if it differs that significantly from the net price calculator.

+1. Always take a screenshot of the NPC in case you need to show it

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m advising my next kid to fight for every half grade in every class. Not a lot of room for error with grades.

Teachers will hate your child.

Not a smart thing to teach them for college either.

Caitlin Flanagan writes about exactly this during her time teaching at Harvard-Westlake in an essay called “They Had it Coming,” in the Atlantic Monthly.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/what-college-admissions-scandal-reveals/586468/

My comment was taken out of context. My DS had a problematically relaxed attitude towards grades. He needed to be focused more focused like all the other kids are. Grade inflation is rampant and B’s don’t cut it anymore

FYI her own sons went to Harvard Westlake then NYU, completing a trustfundbaby major.

She was an English teacher and a counselor at Harvard-Westlake. It was inappropriate to comment on her experiences there

Fortunately, because it’s Caitlin Flanagan, we know that nearly all of it is entirely fabricated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why parents think grade inflation is an issue. If your school consistently does this the colleges will know, because the students will not perform to the level expected of their grades. Your school will be blackballed and will find it difficult to send future students to the school.

Each school has a regional representative that knows the school's track record well.

There are a couple of posters that always say grade inflation at certain schools is a problem for their kid but everyone else understands that the colleges adjust for this issue

It cannot be adjusted for when 40-50% of the graduating class has over a 4.0 weighted. At that point, with a large graduating class, the students are indistinguishable.

[Anonymous]

That’s just not true. A 4.0w is not the same student as one with a 4.5w. Why would you think colleges don’t know this and can’t see it clearly in the school report that is sent in by the counselor as well as by reviewing the kids transcript. Of course they are distinguishable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s just not true. A 4.0w is not the same student as one with a 4.5w. Why would you think colleges don’t know this and can’t see it clearly in the school report that is sent in by the counselor as well as by reviewing the kids transcript. Of course they are distinguishable.

Colleges receive a profile report from each high school with the transcript. It clearly outlines everything the college needs to know in order to make a decision: how high do the GPAs go, how many APs does the school offer, what percentage of the senior class is taking APs. It’s all there. It takes the college reader about ten seconds to figure out rank even if tge high school “doesn’t rank”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s just not true. A 4.0w is not the same student as one with a 4.5w. Why would you think colleges don’t know this and can’t see it clearly in the school report that is sent in by the counselor as well as by reviewing the kids transcript. Of course they are distinguishable.

Colleges receive a profile report from each high school with the transcript. It clearly outlines everything the college needs to know in order to make a decision: how high do the GPAs go, how many APs does the school offer, what percentage of the senior class is taking APs. It’s all there. It takes the college reader about ten seconds to figure out rank even if tge high school “doesn’t rank”

Not true. There is functionally little difference between kids with a 4.5 and a 4.2. And you see that in admissions at these schools with large populations of kids with over 4.0. Admissions appears to be a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Test prep was a waste because their score stayed the same.

Our kid's went down!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s just not true. A 4.0w is not the same student as one with a 4.5w. Why would you think colleges don’t know this and can’t see it clearly in the school report that is sent in by the counselor as well as by reviewing the kids transcript. Of course they are distinguishable.

Colleges receive a profile report from each high school with the transcript. It clearly outlines everything the college needs to know in order to make a decision: how high do the GPAs go, how many APs does the school offer, what percentage of the senior class is taking APs. It’s all there. It takes the college reader about ten seconds to figure out rank even if tge high school “doesn’t rank”

Not true. There is functionally little difference between kids with a 4.5 and a 4.2. And you see that in admissions at these schools with large populations of kids with over 4.0. Admissions appears to be a lottery.

Right . . . then why such detail in SCHEV as to GPAs of the incoming class, say, at UVA last year? Look at the numbers on this page! UVA incoming class last year had a 75th percentile GPA of 4.53, meaning 25% above had higher; median was a 4.40 and bottom 25th percentile was a 4.24. There is a HUGE difference between a 4.5 and a 4.2. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We reached on ED1, got the memo, and played it safer for ED2, which worked out. I think DC is in at the best possible school and most importantly a great fit. If we had reached again for ED2, it probably wouldn’t have worked and DC would be obliterated in RD, just looking at all these kids with 35s and 4.0s getting rejected. Nothing wrong with playing it safe sometimes when you can lock in a very good outcome with high probability! If you’ve got a school that you really like and it’s a target, don’t hesitate to pull the ED trigger

we did same but i am feeling threw in towel. was your dc deferred or rejected ed 1?

Rejected. Actually think DC will be better off and happier at ED2 school, notwithstanding a few slots down in USNWR

Please stop feeding into the USNWR list as if it meant anything.

USNWR does matter no matter how much you cry about it.

It also happens to be a pretty decent representation of selectivity aka how difficult it is to get in there. In that sense it’s useful for reference purposes.

+1
I am sick of the obsession with rankings here on DCUM, but if we're going to use that as some sort of yardstick, it's helpful to use only the USNWR rankings so that at least we're consistent. (rather than some of the sketchier "ranking" sites out there)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have encouraged DC to play the "intended major" game more strategically - pick a major in the college you want that isn't as popular (e.g. for a girl, choose chem or physics instead of bio) and then just do what you want once you're there. Obviously doesn't work for schools that direct admit to a major.

I've read applications. Readers look for classes and extracurriculars that support the proposed major.

Of course they do. This only makes sense if your actions back it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the net price calculators are totally bunk. One was off by 30k. So DS applied to some schools that, had we known what he price would be, we wouldn’t have let him waste his time or theirs. That said, not sure what we would do differently. There was no way to tell it was going to be so far off.

If you are looking for advice, visit as many as you can but don’t rank them. Just put them in the “apply” or “won’t apply” buckets. My DS grew up a lot senior year. What he wanted in a school end of junior year is not what he wanted end of senior year. Really glad we didn’t ED. It would have made the decision easier when acceptances came out but don’t think he’d have been as happy.

You can appeal the award if it differs that significantly from the net price calculator.

As long as you appropriately entered your information into the NPC of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we'd started touring schools earlier and spread them out more.

We did this (starting sophomore year) and were very glad. Made the whole (campus visit) process fun and relaxing.

The application process, of course, still had its moments.

Good advice. So, do campus visit/tours done in sophomore year count as demonstrated interest when applying to the colleges? Do schools keep records of possible applicants who are still in 10th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have encouraged DC to play the "intended major" game more strategically - pick a major in the college you want that isn't as popular (e.g. for a girl, choose chem or physics instead of bio) and then just do what you want once you're there. Obviously doesn't work for schools that direct admit to a major.

I've read applications. Readers look for classes and extracurriculars that support the proposed major.

Of course they do. This only makes sense if your actions back it up.

but I have heard that you should show you have varied interests, so if you are a CS major, they want to see that you also were in some arts club, or something like that. Now, you are saying that they want to see if you joined the CS club?

[Anonymous]

DS had 34 ACT and 4.6 GPA with Regional Sports awards and class president. He only got into into 4 of the 11 schools he applied and NONE he applied were top 20, although all were Top 50 except maybe UCSD and CU Boulder (both of which he did get in). My advice would be to cast wider net, apply to more schools. It has worked out fine especially since he received huge merit at school that ironically were surprised he was even admitted. It is a very strange process. Very unexpected. Still surprised he was rejected at UVa. He is still on waitlist for a different school that would be great option. Apply to 4 more than you think you should!