Rejected from Chicago, Northwestern, Williams, Vanderbilt...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's all hope! We should take the time and think positive thoughts and maybe even say a prayer, seriously. You know you would not want to be in this situation.

Decisions have been made. How would this help? You can hope that they can find peace with some option for next year, but it's not like praying now will change the outcome of these decisions.

[Anonymous]

I think it's safe to assume that her DD did not get in anywhere. Oops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
And if they are not a troll...they are a jerk. Letting your kids be admissions rate fodder for schools way out of their league without any safeties is an act of parental abdication.

But at some point you have to abdicate. Do you need to do anything more than say "All the colleges you've applied to have really low acceptance rates. I know you could do the work there, but the admissions office has to turn down a lot of qualified applicants, and there's a chance you might not get in anywhere. If that happens, what's your plan?"?

[Anonymous]

How about, apply to 2 safety schools and then I'll pay the application fees for the rest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And if they are not a troll...they are a jerk. Letting your kids be admissions rate fodder for schools way out of their league without any safeties is an act of parental abdication.

But at some point you have to abdicate. Do you need to do anything more than say "All the colleges you've applied to have really low acceptance rates. I know you could do the work there, but the admissions office has to turn down a lot of qualified applicants, and there's a chance you might not get in anywhere. If that happens, what's your plan?"?

If I know the schools are all reaches, I don't have to pay for the applications unless there are a few safeties in the mix. If the parent is just handing over a credit card just to placate the kid, that's bad parenting...the parent is a jerk. If you can't confront your kids about difficult situations, you shouldn't have kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's all hope! We should take the time and think positive thoughts and maybe even say a prayer, seriously. You know you would not want to be in this situation.

The point is, I, and many others on here, would not be in this situation because we have enough common sense to insist our kids have a realistic list that includes reach likely, and safety schools represented. Even if her royal highness does not think she could deign herself to the horrors of a lesser school, she may change her tune when acceptances and denials roll around. Believe me, if DS' top choices didn't pan out, he would be happily ensconced at St. Olaf right now.

[Anonymous]

Our guidance counselor suggested finding a "safety that DC loved" and making this a top priority. He told us to do this and the rest would be easier. It was excellent advice.

[Anonymous]

I really want an update from the OP!

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend a gap before paying 30K-60K per year for a mediocre college your daughter is pressuring herself into attending. Apply early decision this fall - Common App will be open in 4 short months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's all hope! We should take the time and think positive thoughts and maybe even say a prayer, seriously. You know you would not want to be in this situation.

The point is, I, and many others on here, would not be in this situation because we have enough common sense to insist our kids have a realistic list that includes reach likely, and safety schools represented. Even if her royal highness does not think she could deign herself to the horrors of a lesser school, she may change her tune when acceptances and denials roll around. Believe me, if DS' top choices didn't pan out, he would be happily ensconced at St. Olaf right now.

I understand. But I am still praying for a "surprise" with an ivy for the OP and her DD. I never give up until it's really over.


Can't you and everyone else take 5 minutes and say a silent prayer no matter how bad it looks now? PLEASE?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ivy Day isn't going to go so well for my DD, is it? She didn't apply to any safeties. Only Ivies and Duke remain.

OP, I feel your pain. My DD had terrific scores, won all sorts of awards (including tech awards and the Wellesley book award), had a really high GPA and was rejected from just about every school she applied to. She did NOT apply to any Ivies BTW. We did use an educational consultant and he told her point blank that white girls were rejected more than any other applicant, unless they had pull of some sort. If she had been Latino or Black, she could have not worked nearly as hard as she did and gotten into every school she applied to.

If that's the case with your daughter, tell her that it's not her - she just did not 'fit the costume'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just being honest, if she's white or Asian, it's not happening. But if she's protected class, it really just depends on what holes, if any, an elite needs to plug.

You are 100% correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she has her heart set on going to one of these schools she will need to do something remarkable during her gap year......not just work a 9-5 job. It will be an interesting opportunity to strengthen her application for next year.

Yes, she must cure AIDS, single-handedly save a 3rd world country, and invent some form of new energy

What cracks me up is being an admissions officer takes what kind of education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's all hope! We should take the time and think positive thoughts and maybe even say a prayer, seriously. You know you would not want to be in this situation.

The point is, I, and many others on here, would not be in this situation because we have enough common sense to insist our kids have a realistic list that includes reach likely, and safety schools represented. Even if her royal highness does not think she could deign herself to the horrors of a lesser school, she may change her tune when acceptances and denials roll around. Believe me, if DS' top choices didn't pan out, he would be happily ensconced at St. Olaf right now.

I understand. But I am still praying for a "surprise" with an ivy for the OP and her DD. I never give up until it's really over.


Can't you and everyone else take 5 minutes and say a silent prayer no matter how bad it looks now? PLEASE?

WTF?! Who are you people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she has her heart set on going to one of these schools she will need to do something remarkable during her gap year......not just work a 9-5 job. It will be an interesting opportunity to strengthen her application for next year.

Yes, she must cure AIDS, single-handedly save a 3rd world country, and invent some form of new energy

What cracks me up is being an admissions officer takes what kind of education?

NP. Why eye roll and snark? PP has a really good point. Someone who got shut out of all the schools to which she applied one year is NOT going to get into those the next year unless something in her application changes significantly. Which means she WILL have to do something remarkable. I'm not sure why you are objecting to that.

Plus, most kids get accepted to their school of choice, communicate with the school, and THEN do the gap year. Like Malia Obama. Doing a gap year and then applying to schools she didn't get into the first time around seems really silly.

Check out that list a PP posted. Now, your daughter might think herself above any of the schools on the list, but there are plenty of good, USNWR top 100 schools on there she can still apply to.