Some apps just land well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the magic dust is people skills and good (written and oral) communication. Some people are just naturally born with it, and then hone their skills further. Others, like my autistic son, will never be good at that, no matter how hard they try.

Agree and this is far better than pretending to have an obscure interest to game it. Certainly they are eyes wide open on that tactic at this point. Part of the reason Yale has mentioned selecting people for interviews, to validate it all.

I don’t know anyone in our circle faking an interest.
Maybe they really are interested in Victorian life and English literature? But also in psychology…..but know that they have evidence for both and perhaps more for Victorian English literature so a persona is born. And they’ll study in in some capacity in college.

And you can bet this reader is a great writer. See this type of fact pattern a lot.

I don’t either, but read it on here and other online chatter spots fairly regularly. I just suspect this will be the next non-profit, research, obscure interest thing. If it’s genuine, fantastic and it’ll show.

[Anonymous]

The humanities applicants tend to be much better writers. Their applications generally hit differently.

[Anonymous]

It's very rare for a great essay to be the deciding factor in the age of coaching and AI. More typically, it's the whole package that just feels appealing somehow. And AOs tend to think alike - they're often young women, very woke/liberal, suckers for a sob story. Play to your audience...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids' apps have landed very well. He didn't do any ivies, but just below them. He is STEM but a natural writer. I firmly believe it is his essays that took him from being a kid with great stats to a kid that got accepted.

Same with my kid. An “it” application last year. We didn’t hire anyone independent - no essay coach or private college counselor. I think his true voice showed and was backed up my very favorable recs.

[Anonymous]

We learned after first kid (2023) that you want/need your complete application to tell a whole story not just disjointed pieces that don’t connect. It needs to be authentic to the student - please please please let them write their own essays - and have points that echo across the essay(s), activities, and academic interests. Second kid’s package was much tighter and they overperformed this cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My nephew didnt have the high stats thrown around here. He had a 1440 SAT, 3.7 GPA. Interesting/different EC and amazing essays. He is a hell of a writer. I have not yet met a person who has read his common app essay who didnt cry. Showing smarts with vulnerability just pushed his application to the top. He is finishing up his first year at Princeton.

It’s that vulnerability that makes you cry or catch your throat. I have read one of those common app essays this cycle. That applicant is getting in everywhere.

I am sure your kids are great so no issue there. But do we really want schools filled with people with sob stories? Then people wonder why these campuses have so many students with mental health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2025 parent here. What I am noticing among DC's friends is kids getting into everything or nothing. There are a handful of superstars in the grade, pretty widely known (small school). And even among that cohort, it's pretty clear that some kids are just hitting the mark with AOs. One girl we know has (so far) gotten into UM, UVA, Vandy, Emory, USC, and Hopkins. I predict she'll get into 3+ Ivies. And then similarly qualified kids have been rejected everywhere.
Who knows what the magic is - particularly strong recs, a "story" that hangs together...who knows?

Where did YOUR DC end up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Some kids just have that "it girl" or boy quality. It's fascinating to see this play out over the years. I'm a psychologist. I've watched a young woman I've known since she was 5 years old be a star in every setting she ever entered without even trying very hard. She was and still is a natural athlete, smart, gorgeous (natural blonde of course) beautiful manners, went to the absolute top private school for girls in NYC. Well-liked. Ivy League grad. It's as if angel dust fell on her mother's womb. Then, life does happen to us all. Today, she feels some freedom in telling us she was always uncertain about her gender identity. Tried to foreclose on it by marrying young, then divorced. Now a moderately successful actress. So, you just never know how it's going to work out for those golden kids. I love her and wish her all the best the world has to offer, but no one has a magic carpet ride forever.

You tell this story as if there is something wrong with being uncertain about their gender identity…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Some kids just have that "it girl" or boy quality. It's fascinating to see this play out over the years. I'm a psychologist. I've watched a young woman I've known since she was 5 years old be a star in every setting she ever entered without even trying very hard. She was and still is a natural athlete, smart, gorgeous (natural blonde of course) beautiful manners, went to the absolute top private school for girls in NYC. Well-liked. Ivy League grad. It's as if angel dust fell on her mother's womb. Then, life does happen to us all. Today, she feels some freedom in telling us she was always uncertain about her gender identity. Tried to foreclose on it by marrying young, then divorced. Now a moderately successful actress. So, you just never know how it's going to work out for those golden kids. I love her and wish her all the best the world has to offer, but no one has a magic carpet ride forever.

This is very weird response to a thread about admissions in 2025.

[Anonymous]

Their mother's are witches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their mother's are witches.

Huh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their mother's are witches.

Mine would certainly say that. LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My nephew didnt have the high stats thrown around here. He had a 1440 SAT, 3.7 GPA. Interesting/different EC and amazing essays. He is a hell of a writer. I have not yet met a person who has read his common app essay who didnt cry. Showing smarts with vulnerability just pushed his application to the top. He is finishing up his first year at Princeton.

How did your nephew like Princeton?

[Anonymous]

My daughter wrote some of her Supp essays about witches.

Have an outstanding run here with T10/T20 acceptances…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had an interesting one.
DS applied to 3 Ivies RD last year and no school on ED, only EA.
He was accepted to 1 of the Ivies, 2 SLACs and LSE.

Come Jan 15, I get a call from one of our great friends from college (same Ivy) whom we had lost contact 5 years ago. He tells us his wife is in admissions at this same Ivy and she came across our kid’s name. We reconnected, etc and come Ivy day, he gets his acceptance.

How does this story even belong on this thread. So your DC got in because you knew the AO, there was nothing special about their app.