I can’t say this to my kid’s face, of course, but...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It’s hard to to stay optimistic. He worked his ass off at his private school, got mid-1500 on his SAT, continued his in person volunteering throughout the pandemic (which I was not excited about, but he wanted to do it). He has had one B+ his entire 4 years of college, the rest As. His teachers speak highly of him and I believe they must have written good letters.

His counselor said his list was solid. He’s been waitlisted or rejected nearly everywhere. He has one acceptance to a “likely” and that’s it. Only one place teaming and it’s a huge reach, esp this year.

It’s hard to stay positive, happy, and upbeat for my kid. He is unexcited about the one place he got in. I know I should try to point out the positives of getting in that one place but it is so hard. I wish he would defer and take a gap year. I brought it up once but he said he isn’t interested.

I’m not thrilled with his college counselor at school. She hasn’t even checked in on his to see how he is doing. I give up on that process too. He is crushed. I am crushed for him.

I’d anyone else having this horrible of a situation? And please don’t say, “my love sucks too, my daughter only got into Emory and not Brown” or some such nonsense. His safety he got in is a safety for everyone.

So did he get into a safety or a likely? Those aren't the same. And, even if a safety, it undoubtedly isn't a safety for everyone and some kids I am sure are thrilled to get in there.

More importantly, would he be reasonably happy to attend that school? If so, who cares about the rest. In some way it is flattering to get into a bunch of places, but it can also be hard to make a decision. One place he is content with can ultimately be a perfectly good outcome.

[Anonymous]

OP just have him go to his safety and then he can apply the next year. So hard, but it'll be ok.

[Anonymous]

Emory isn't a safety school for "everyone" though. A lot of people would be thrilled to go there.

You need to tell us the schools or comparable schools if you truly want educated opinions on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It’s hard to to stay optimistic. He worked his ass off at his private school, got mid-1500 on his SAT, continued his in person volunteering throughout the pandemic (which I was not excited about, but he wanted to do it). He has had one B+ his entire 4 years of college, the rest As. His teachers speak highly of him and I believe they must have written good letters.

His counselor said his list was solid. He’s been waitlisted or rejected nearly everywhere. He has one acceptance to a “likely” and that’s it. Only one place teaming and it’s a huge reach, esp this year.

It’s hard to stay positive, happy, and upbeat for my kid. He is unexcited about the one place he got in. I know I should try to point out the positives of getting in that one place but it is so hard. I wish he would defer and take a gap year. I brought it up once but he said he isn’t interested.

I’m not thrilled with his college counselor at school. She hasn’t even checked in on his to see how he is doing. I give up on that process too. He is crushed. I am crushed for him.

I’d anyone else having this horrible of a situation? And please don’t say, “my love sucks too, my daughter only got into Emory and not Brown” or some such nonsense. His safety he got in is a safety for everyone.

This is the part that doesn't make sense. He shouldn't be stuck with a true "safety for everyone" type school if he has > 1500 and near straight As. Did he take APs? How did he do on the tests?

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, OP. It sounds like your son did everything right.

I do believe that everything happens for a reason, and that some day he will look back on this and be able to see the positives, but that’s difficult to see now.

One of my high school teachers always used to say to look at where kids graduate from, not where they started out. He can always look to transfer, if he truly doesn’t like the school he got into. But I would see if he can give it a genuine try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP just have him go to his safety and then he can apply the next year. So hard, but it'll be ok.

I wouldn't go into freshman year with a plan to transfer. That radically changes your college experience. So many bonds and friendships are formed freshman year. If he is happy wherever he goes, he should stay there rather than trying to trade up.

[Anonymous]

He might still get into one or more of his waitlist schools that are matches or low matches (somewhere above safety). He should do whatever he can within reason to express continued interest in whatever is his favorite of those schools. Many schools in recent years are waitlisting high stat kids who likely won't attend. That was my DDs experience last year and it seems more dramatic this year. He should contact the rep assigned to him (by email) or whoever else makes sense and indicate that he WILL attend if he is admitted and that he is truly excited about the school. Visit if you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is everyone else doing in his school? Is it the school or there’s something wrong with his application that you haven’t noticed.

This is OP. It has been tough at his school but kids have certainly got in places.

I won’t tell you his entire list in case anyone is reading this and can figure out who he is, but here is a partial.

Waitlist: Case, Tulane, VErmont
Rejected: Northeastern, Vandy, Tulane, Emory

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It’s hard to to stay optimistic. He worked his ass off at his private school, got mid-1500 on his SAT, continued his in person volunteering throughout the pandemic (which I was not excited about, but he wanted to do it). He has had one B+ his entire 4 years of college, the rest As. His teachers speak highly of him and I believe they must have written good letters.

His counselor said his list was solid. He’s been waitlisted or rejected nearly everywhere. He has one acceptance to a “likely” and that’s it. Only one place teaming and it’s a huge reach, esp this year.

It’s hard to stay positive, happy, and upbeat for my kid. He is unexcited about the one place he got in. I know I should try to point out the positives of getting in that one place but it is so hard. I wish he would defer and take a gap year. I brought it up once but he said he isn’t interested.

I’m not thrilled with his college counselor at school. She hasn’t even checked in on his to see how he is doing. I give up on that process too. He is crushed. I am crushed for him.

I’d anyone else having this horrible of a situation? And please don’t say, “my love sucks too, my daughter only got into Emory and not Brown” or some such nonsense. His safety he got in is a safety for everyone.

What does that mean? Why use Emory as an example?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I give up. It’s hard to to stay optimistic. He worked his ass off at his private school, got mid-1500 on his SAT, continued his in person volunteering throughout the pandemic (which I was not excited about, but he wanted to do it). He has had one B+ his entire 4 years of college, the rest As. His teachers speak highly of him and I believe they must have written good letters.

His counselor said his list was solid. He’s been waitlisted or rejected nearly everywhere. He has one acceptance to a “likely” and that’s it. Only one place teaming and it’s a huge reach, esp this year.

It’s hard to stay positive, happy, and upbeat for my kid. He is unexcited about the one place he got in. I know I should try to point out the positives of getting in that one place but it is so hard. I wish he would defer and take a gap year. I brought it up once but he said he isn’t interested.

I’m not thrilled with his college counselor at school. She hasn’t even checked in on his to see how he is doing. I give up on that process too. He is crushed. I am crushed for him.

I’d anyone else having this horrible of a situation? And please don’t say, “my love sucks too, my daughter only got into Emory and not Brown” or some such nonsense. His safety he got in is a safety for everyone.

He did 6 AP, did really well on 5, choked on one of them (the first online one) and got a 3.



This is the part that doesn't make sense. He shouldn't be stuck with a true "safety for everyone" type school if he has > 1500 and near straight As. Did he take APs? How did he do on the tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Emory isn't a safety school for "everyone" though. A lot of people would be thrilled to go there.

You need to tell us the schools or comparable schools if you truly want educated opinions on this.

You have reading comprehension issues. Emory is a Reach for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is everyone else doing in his school? Is it the school or there’s something wrong with his application that you haven’t noticed.

This is OP. It has been tough at his school but kids have certainly got in places.

I won’t tell you his entire list in case anyone is reading this and can figure out who he is, but here is a partial.

Waitlist: Case, Tulane, VErmont
Rejected: Northeastern, Vandy, Tulane, Emory

wow, with > 1500 SAT? Isn't it back to being scored out of 1600 again these days? what the heck is going on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is everyone else doing in his school? Is it the school or there’s something wrong with his application that you haven’t noticed.

This is OP. It has been tough at his school but kids have certainly got in places.

I won’t tell you his entire list in case anyone is reading this and can figure out who he is, but here is a partial.

Waitlist: Case, Tulane, VErmont
Rejected: Northeastern, Vandy, Tulane, Emory

Is there anything that you can think of as a red flag in the application? Could there have been issues with his essays? Maybe the recommendation letters weren't as strong as hoped? Prior felony?

With the stats that you mentioned, those are some surprising results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is everyone else doing in his school? Is it the school or there’s something wrong with his application that you haven’t noticed.

This is OP. It has been tough at his school but kids have certainly got in places.

I won’t tell you his entire list in case anyone is reading this and can figure out who he is, but here is a partial.

Waitlist: Case, Tulane, VErmont
Rejected: Northeastern, Vandy, Tulane, Emory

Those waitlists sound like yield protection. Have him write a letter of continued interest and maybe will get in off WL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is everyone else doing in his school? Is it the school or there’s something wrong with his application that you haven’t noticed.

This is OP. It has been tough at his school but kids have certainly got in places.

I won’t tell you his entire list in case anyone is reading this and can figure out who he is, but here is a partial.

Waitlist: Case, Tulane, VErmont
Rejected: Northeastern, Vandy, Tulane, Emory

What sort of private school did he go to? Is it in this area? It just doesn’t make sense that, with those stats and good teacher recs, that he would get waitlisted at those schools.