Predict DS's chances at these schools

[Anonymous]

Duke ED- don't waste your time or ED, hard no
Vanderbilt- very hard no
UVA - maybe
VT - yes
W&M - yes
UNC -no
Mich - yes
Wisc - yes
UGA -yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke ED- don't waste your time or ED, hard no
Vanderbilt- very hard no
UVA - maybe
VT - yes
W&M - yes
UNC -no
Mich - yes
Wisc - yes
UGA -yes

UVA is a little easier than UMich for Va in-state!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke ED- don't waste your time or ED, hard no
Vanderbilt- very hard no
UVA - maybe
VT - yes
W&M - yes
UNC -no
Mich - yes
Wisc - yes
UGA -yes

I would think he'd be fine for UVA. He's way "overqualified." Same for all the rest except Duke and Vanderbilt. He's in the ballpark for those two, but they're reaches for everybody. He should ED to Duke (or to Vanderbilt if he decides he prefers it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

Things have gotten beyond ridiculous for the kids. I long for the 90’s when the thing to do was lifeguard, wait tables, babysit, work in a store. Normal jobs for normal teenagers during normal times. Many of These same teenagers still went on to selective schools with their genuine selves intact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

It doesn't have to be the Library of Congress. Be creative - use your networks to get your kid an internship. The kid with the max APs should be doing AP capstone as a poli sci/history/econ major (and if not, well, probably isn't really competitive anyway).

People need to think harder and be creative. No one here has a roadmap for you. But my kid JUST got an internship last week. There is stuff still out there, but you need to WORK IT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

Things have gotten beyond ridiculous for the kids. I long for the 90’s when the thing to do was lifeguard, wait tables, babysit, work in a store. Normal jobs for normal teenagers during normal times. Many of These same teenagers still went on to selective schools with their genuine selves intact.

These are great activities if aiming for Wisconsin

[Anonymous]

For Duke, keep in mind that they no longer score the quality of writing of the essay. (So if he wants his strong writing ability considered, he needs to find another way to convey that, e.g. through some outside source.)

For UNC, keep in mind that they are officially need-aware now as of this cycle.

For all T20: You're a strong candidate if and only if we can infer high stats from the rest of the application.

To be considered, the student's application needs to be descriptive and tell a story about who this student is as a person and who they will be on campus. "VP of an academic club 3 years" could mean anything and everything. Are they relentlessly curious? Intense and driven? Social and animated? I want to be able to read the ECs and essays and transcript -- even without grades!! -- and get a sense of who this student is.

The stats are good enough to get someone to read his application. Now what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

It doesn't have to be the Library of Congress. Be creative - use your networks to get your kid an internship. The kid with the max APs should be doing AP capstone as a poli sci/history/econ major (and if not, well, probably isn't really competitive anyway).

People need to think harder and be creative. No one here has a roadmap for you. But my kid JUST got an internship last week. There is stuff still out there, but you need to WORK IT.

Go read the posts about kids who applied to hundreds of internships and got none. It works for people who have nepotism...not for everyday people (in late April, in a bad job market).

So essentially this is terrible advice: go back in time and make sure you took AP capstone + make sure your parent can get you a job placement related to your major.

No, this isn't "WORKING IT" - this is it being handed to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

It doesn't have to be the Library of Congress. Be creative - use your networks to get your kid an internship. The kid with the max APs should be doing AP capstone as a poli sci/history/econ major (and if not, well, probably isn't really competitive anyway).

People need to think harder and be creative. No one here has a roadmap for you. But my kid JUST got an internship last week. There is stuff still out there, but you need to WORK IT.

Go read the posts about kids who applied to hundreds of internships and got none. It works for people who have nepotism...not for everyday people (in late April, in a bad job market).

So essentially this is terrible advice: go back in time and make sure you took AP capstone + make sure your parent can get you a job placement related to your major.

No, this isn't "WORKING IT" - this is it being handed to you.

Sorry you are so bitter...everything does work out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

Instead of criticizing, try to be a productive member of society.
Mine your LinkedIn? Help your DC get an internship (I mean, that's what everyone else does, so you should too!) Also, post what your DC is looking for in various closed profesisonal groups, and you never know, someone may create an internship for them/hire them.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/internships-opportunities (Sully Historical Site Intern)
https://www.jssa.org/highschoolinternships/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

Instead of criticizing, try to be a productive member of society.
Mine your LinkedIn? Help your DC get an internship (I mean, that's what everyone else does, so you should too!) Also, post what your DC is looking for in various closed profesisonal groups, and you never know, someone may create an internship for them/hire them.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/internships-opportunities (Sully Historical Site Intern)
https://www.jssa.org/highschoolinternships/

Neither is accepting apps now. Next idea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

It doesn't have to be the Library of Congress. Be creative - use your networks to get your kid an internship. The kid with the max APs should be doing AP capstone as a poli sci/history/econ major (and if not, well, probably isn't really competitive anyway).

People need to think harder and be creative. No one here has a roadmap for you. But my kid JUST got an internship last week. There is stuff still out there, but you need to WORK IT.

Go read the posts about kids who applied to hundreds of internships and got none. It works for people who have nepotism...not for everyday people (in late April, in a bad job market).

So essentially this is terrible advice: go back in time and make sure you took AP capstone + make sure your parent can get you a job placement related to your major.

No, this isn't "WORKING IT" - this is it being handed to you.

Sorry you are so bitter...everything does work out.

It is not being bitter. This isn’t for me. The idea is to be helpful…which can include being honest about ideas, even if they are bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: you’ve gotten some great advice here and I don’t really think there’s anything else anyone can say. I would expand your list. There are schools that will value your kid more than Duke and Vanderbilt.

Your kid should also try to improve their profile to be more competitive and memorable:

- Get a summer internship at library of congress or similar federal library/museum. Tie job into Americas 250th & history.

- Write AP capstone on related 250th offshoot topic tied to niche interest.

- get LOR from both.

This is really excellent advice!

This is really great advice. I am PP with a kid rejected by Duke RD after ED deferral. Being econ major was an issue, I think. Duke recently did loosed that their priorities are humanities and interpretive social sciences.

https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-chronicle-admissions-officers-discuss-enrollment-targets-challenges-in-arts-and-sciences-council-diversity-artificial-intelligence-transfers-academics-20260410

Who are the people saying it is "great" or "excellent" advice telling a current junior to just go get a summer internship at the library of congress/federal library/museum in almost-May, then tell them what to do during that internship (so they can tie it to the country's 250th bday) + take AP capstone to write about it (without knowing whether the kid even took year one of the required two year capstone course)?

This is so stupid. Unless you have nepotism in your favor for the job, this isn't happening.

Things have gotten beyond ridiculous for the kids. I long for the 90’s when the thing to do was lifeguard, wait tables, babysit, work in a store. Normal jobs for normal teenagers during normal times. Many of These same teenagers still went on to selective schools with their genuine selves intact.

These are great activities if aiming for Wisconsin

What’s wrong with Wisconsin? It’s not Duke but it’s an excellent university. No wonder this process is a mess and messing up so many kids- this kind of thinking and ranking and categorizing

[Anonymous]

OP here and just to be clear, I have not complained about any advice -- I truly appreciate all of it. I appreciate the wake-up call, too. Applying ED at UVA has always been a consideration. It was his first choice until we visited Duke. I don't know what he will ultimately decide, but I also think there are a lot of schools where he could be happy. And he agrees.