college admissions trends and predictions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

[Anonymous]

OP, why was it necessary to point out that your kids are "Ivy/T10?" How does it add to the topic in any way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, why was it necessary to point out that your kids are "Ivy/T10?" How does it add to the topic in any way?

I mean, the family clearly knows what it takes to get into the tippy top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Being full-pay at a 90k+ a year school is the single greatest advantage there is.

It allows you to apply ED, which has significantly higher admission rates.

If you attend a highly affluent public or private school, you likely feed to expensive privates like Boston College, Wake Forest, USC, NYU, Tulane, Wash U, Emory….

Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, ND, and LACs are filled to the brim with private school and affluent kids.

And, back to OP’s question, it’s only going to be more important. Families are increasingly choosing public flagships to save money, which means those private schools are in a dog race to attract full pay students.

I don’t mean to imply that if you’re full pay you will be admitted over a classmate who isn’t. But schools know who to recruit and they will increasingly do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Being full-pay at a 90k+ a year school is the single greatest advantage there is.

It allows you to apply ED, which has significantly higher admission rates.

If you attend a highly affluent public or private school, you likely feed to expensive privates like Boston College, Wake Forest, USC, NYU, Tulane, Wash U, Emory….

Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, ND, and LACs are filled to the brim with private school and affluent kids.

And, back to OP’s question, it’s only going to be more important. Families are increasingly choosing public flagships to save money, which means those private schools are in a dog race to attract full pay students.

I don’t mean to imply that if you’re full pay you will be admitted

over a classmate who isn’t. But schools know who to recruit and they will increasingly do so.

Dumb response — Anyone who needs financial aid can also apply ED since there is a opt out if financial aid doesn’t match the calculator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Agreed. I’ve talked with admission officers and the populations that have increased over time in applications? Rich white and Asian parents. The world is made for rich people now. Not even Disneyland needs to be affordable to the middle class anymore to sustain itself. People underestimate how many wealthy people are around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have a rising sophomore and 2 college-aged kids (Ivy/T10). Back here to start thinking about the process and see what's changed.

Curious if we think that in 3 years, A LOT will be different? Will holistic admissions be gone? It seems that having a memorable story/essays, strong through line from ECs to transcript to LORs was valued/dispositive of outcomes in the past, but in a few years (with AI), won't all of this be moot? AI has changed so much in 12 months, I can't imagine what it will be like in 36 months.

Looking for advice. I can't tell if this is the time to actually get a counselor (we didn't for the first two, but had some essay review at the last minute). With the changing landscape, everything seems up for grabs. What do others think? In 2-3 years, what will the process look like?

ChatGPT will be offering full-service concierge college counseling services, with A-Z coverage. With a click of a button your Common App is ready for submission. Zero stress for students and parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Agreed. I’ve talked with admission officers and the populations that have increased over time in applications? Rich white and Asian parents. The world is made for rich people now. Not even Disneyland needs to be affordable to the middle class anymore to sustain itself. People underestimate how many wealthy people are around.

Being full pay isn’t enough though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Nobody said being full pay means you automatically get in. It improves the odds: controlling for SAT score, being full pay takes you from roughly a 1/20 chance of admission to a 1/5 chance at the same school. Rich people will say that this fourfold advantage is a “myth” because they’re so endlessly privileged they think it only counts as an advantage if they can straight up pay to play, like buying a gold pass at Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Nope. Not any where in the T50 especially the T20/ivy/top4LAC as OP clearly wants for their kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Nobody said being full pay means you automatically get in. It improves the odds: controlling for SAT score, being full pay takes you from roughly a 1/20 chance of admission to a 1/5 chance at the same school. Rich people will say that this fourfold advantage is a “myth” because they’re so endlessly privileged they think it only counts as an advantage if they can straight up pay to play, like buying a gold pass at Disney.

Cite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Being full-pay at a 90k+ a year school is the single greatest advantage there is.

It allows you to apply ED, which has significantly higher admission rates.

If you attend a highly affluent public or private school, you likely feed to expensive privates like Boston College, Wake Forest, USC, NYU, Tulane, Wash U, Emory….

Schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, ND, and LACs are filled to the brim with private school and affluent kids.

And, back to OP’s question, it’s only going to be more important. Families are increasingly choosing public flagships to save money, which means those private schools are in a dog race to attract full pay students.

I don’t mean to imply that if you’re full pay you will be admitted over a classmate who isn’t. But schools know who to recruit and they will increasingly do so.

Ivy/T10 want the percent of full pay lower and lower. Most ivies are already at 55-60% on need baased aid, meaning full pay is down to 40-45%. Full pay was 55% at ivies just 7 years ago. With the new donations and expanding aid highlighted by a few of the ivies and MIT lately, the chase for applicants who need a little need based aid (ie under 300k household income) is on. The endowment tax is a big deal. Navigating how to avoid it is priority. Duke and Chicago are expanding aid as they are able to get closer to what the most generous schools offer(Princeton, Penn, Harvard, Yale, MIT) which is free tuition up to 200 or 250kHHI, rapidly increased Questbridge acceptances which are guaranteed aided and preselected, and the brand new trend of offering some smaller tuition breaks to the 300k HHI range.

You have to go a big step down to get to the point where full pay helps, ie Wake forest and similar, T30-40 range. Vanderbilt and WashU it may help a little as they are newer to need blind, and Vandy in particular targets full pay for the waitlist and fullpay for the 200 sophomore transfers tehy take each year.

Only a fool thinks full pay helps at the very top. It does not. There are far too many willing to pay. It has become a slight negative with the endowment tax issue and will get worse next cycle as more schools do the math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be increasingly desperate for full pay students - especially those private schools that have $90k+ tuitions.

I say don’t sweat it.

Biggest myth on DCUM unless looking at schools beyond the T100.

Are you kidding? You’re quite naive.

Been through the cycle twice in five years from a highly regarded private. Every one who isn't full pay on DCUM, and many who are, VASTLY overestimates how much of an advantage it is in admissions. And VASTLY underestimates how many full pay families there are.

Nobody said being full pay means you automatically get in. It improves the odds: controlling for SAT score, being full pay takes you from roughly a 1/20 chance of admission to a 1/5 chance at the same school. Rich people will say that this fourfold advantage is a “myth” because they’re so endlessly privileged they think it only counts as an advantage if they can straight up pay to play, like buying a gold pass at Disney.

Delulu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, why was it necessary to point out that your kids are "Ivy/T10?" How does it add to the topic in any way?

I think it may be a troll post. No one who has one, let alone two kids, at ivy/T10 needs any anonymous help online. We have two at different ivies unhooked. We did not pay anyone nor ask for random advice after we went through our first. The free advice we got online with the first was to seek out the school counselor and the SCOIR data early, as in after 9th grade. That ended up the best advice. Nothing else was really needed once we saw the data, we knew ours would have a decent shot.
If your student is a top student who is intellectually curious and has intelligence in range, they will already be on track to take all of the rigorous courses and they will want to do it without parental pushing. If they are independently disciplined they will be able to get great grades that put them on the path to have a decent to excellent chance depending on how competitive their high school is. If they are creative and interesting they will have activities they enjoy, they will naturally seek out ways to improve the community around them. If they are kind, considerate and thoughtful in class they will not only have great LOR they will likely get teacher recognition/awards which can help set them apart as long as the school does not give out dozens of awards.