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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could be worse. Try explaining to your kid you can't afford Brown, even with the aid package. That's my world.

I'm sorry. FWIW, that was me decades ago, and I embraced no-name school I attended with scholarships, went to a top law school, worked at a great firm (right alongside folks who went to Brown, lol), and have done very well. It hurts, but it isn't the end game either. Wishing your child all the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I were OP, I would hire a private counselor, take a GAP year, keep the SAT scores or try again to move it up. But he shoudl take the SAT II subject matter tests and if he gets close to an 800, send them in. Princeton "highly recommends them" so DS did them. Or maybe even try the ACT. Some kids test better on the ACT than the SAT.

Meanwhile, have your head call around, as suggested. Show demonstrated interest (they are all concerned about yield). Watch those lists of undersubscribed schools. But seriously consider the gap year. It's been a horrible one for everyone I know in the rat race this year.

SAT IIs no longer exist. And the kid's SAT score is high enough for everywhere.

Of course they still exist. https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat-subject-tests/register/test-dates-deadlines. And this year, unfotunately, you need perfect scores to get in. My kid got a 34 on the ACT and ON HIS OWN decided to try for a 36 and got it. That's where you will get the very few merit scholarships left by middle and third tier schools.

Did you read the link you posted? This is from the link;

Alert

SAT Subject Tests have been discontinued in the United States, and will be discontinued internationally after June 2021. Learn more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So they still exist. Post-June doesn’t matter to OP. Keep up.

DO. They don't exist now in the US. Post June they will be canceled internationally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with high scores is two fold:

1. This year, they are not necessarily considering them, or at the very least, not considering the lack of one for a similar applicant who may have had a lower score if they'd taken the test.

2. When you get a crazy high score, you instantly get dreams of the Ivies, the top 20 schools etc. Your counselor buys into this too. Those are always crapshoots and should never be even considered matches.

Its all about expectation setting and your counselor did you a disservice.

My kids went to a public school and had very little advice from their counselors. like none really. No discussion fo what schools to look at and what would be a match. we moaned abut it at the time, but the fact is that my kids had to make their own lists, do their own research on sources like Naviance. Because of this, they found schools they were excited about, even if it would have been classified as a safety.

FYI, everyone makes their own list using resources and Naviance. The starting point at our school is to give that list to your counselor. Without it, you don't get an appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So they still exist. Post-June doesn’t matter to OP. Keep up.

Someone suggested that OP's son take some subject tests and send them in.

They no longer exist in the US. In January, all future administrations were cancelled and fees refunded .

But you can still take them internationally through June 21. OP look at the lists of subject matter tests - are there two or three areas in which she is a superstar? If so, then call them and confirm that an American can take the international ones (I just scanned the info and saw no rule forbidding it but lots of rules about passports). I know someone with three 800s subject matter tests and got into Princeton. And your DC’s fall resubmit could be about flying to Singapore or Hong Kong to take the tests. That would demonstrate grit and desire to attend to me.

Please tell me you are trolling with this level of insanity?

[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

Damn. I'm sorry. It sucks. Try hard for those WL schools. I really think one could work out. Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

12:32 - That post was so amazingly helpful! You are awesome for posting that here. I'm sure it will come in handy for folks during this crazy year.

-NP

[Anonymous]

Google your kids name and look at any of their public social media. Maybe something unsavory shows up. Maybe see if your counselor can read the recommendations, knowing they can’t show them to you. Sometimes the person writing it has all intentions of being nice and comes off totally opposite. Sometimes words like continues sounds like they are just coasting and not excelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could be worse. Try explaining to your kid you can't afford Brown, even with the aid package. That's my world.

DP. Good Lord! Do you really think that's worse? Do you know how many kids' parents can't afford private schools? Are you saying that's the only school your kid got into? I doubt that's what you're saying. If your kid got into another good school but just can't go to Brown, it absolutely isn't worse and not even close to being comparable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's all about playing the yield protection game, then how are kids sending out 20 apps?

They're customizing 20 different apps? Each with a different set of essays, interviews, etc.?

Of course. It is very easy to send out multiple applications with Common App and Coalition App. The basic application is the same, letters are uploaded into the system and are sent with the application. There may be some supplemental questions to be answered or an extra essay.

Yield protection is a thing. Parents often don't realize that they are hurting their kids' chances by having everyone focus on a handful of schools based on US News rankings rather than a careful assessment of whether the school is actually a good fit for the kid. In this pandemic year colleges have been swamped with applications, in part driven by a hope that everyone is at a similar disadvantage because of COVID based disruptions--so why not try for a reach-reach school--and partly from panic that their kid's chances at getting into college have been materially damaged by COVID so they are encouraging them to blanket schools with applications. Some colleges (outside of the top 30) have seen a 300% increase in applications. Think about it. All of these kids cannot go to all of these colleges and colleges routinely admit more kids than they have slots for; estimates range from 5 to 10% overage. Then an additional group of applicants are placed on the waitlist--these are generally kids who meet criteria (or almost) for admission, are felt to have the potential to add something to the student body but maybe the admissions committee has a few questions about grade trajectory, interest, etc. Colleges always want to fill their slots so there is careful thought about the applicant and their likely fit and interest. The problem for some students with good grades and high SAT/ACT scores, admissions committees may look at the kid and think--there is no way s/he will come to this school, we are likely just a safety/extra app, etc. Without documented interest from the student (visits, calls, web conferences, interviews) the college has no way to gauge if this is a serious application, increasing the chance that the kid will be accepted and not attend (thus damaging the yield). Waitlists are no guarantee to fill slots, either--colleges have no way to know if a waitlisted student really wants to attend or if they are hedging their bets by accepting a place on the waitlist. If I offer you a slot from the waitlist and you are waitlisted at three other places that you like better than my school it is likely that you will turn down my offer (again, damaging the yield). Colleges can't go on offering slots to waitlisted individuals until the lists are cleared; by then most students have accepted offers from elsewhere. So the name of the game is to fill your admission slots as quickly as possible with those kids who are close to guaranteed to attend. That is the essence of yield protection.

I hope that you and your son can use this event as an opportunity to build resilience and to think about what might be best for him. If he wants to go to any of the three waitlist options, have him pick the one he wants most and focus on demonstrating that interest to the admissions office. Please remember it needs to be him that takes the lead on this. Not the admissions counselor from his high school. Not you or his dad. Him. His interest needs to come through. He needs to take this opportunity to build a relationship with his admissions representative and to send the clear message that if they admit him, he will attend. Otherwise, have him look at his admitted colleges options with an open mind. He may be surprised that there is something there that he likes--after all, he chose to apply to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ And to demonstrate their commitment to the test policy, colleges have to accept 30 to 50 percent among the students who did not submit a test score.”

Is this true? It would explain all the deferrals and WLs we are seeing at my DC’s Big3 private. My kid has shown me MANY tik toks of kids getting into T20 schools this year - bragging that they only had an 1100 on the SAT or a 26 ACT and just didn’t submit scores. They have hit the lottery. It is a crazy admissions year.

Please don't believe everything you see on Tik Tok

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google your kids name and look at any of their public social media. Maybe something unsavory shows up. Maybe see if your counselor can read the recommendations, knowing they can’t show them to you. Sometimes the person writing it has all intentions of being nice and comes off totally opposite. Sometimes words like continues sounds like they are just coasting and not excelling.

This!!! I think people underestimate the importance of the recs. Also, ask someone to look at his essays. There could be a problem you are unaware of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ And to demonstrate their commitment to the test policy, colleges have to accept 30 to 50 percent among the students who did not submit a test score.”

Is this true? It would explain all the deferrals and WLs we are seeing at my DC’s Big3 private. My kid has shown me MANY tik toks of kids getting into T20 schools this year - bragging that they only had an 1100 on the SAT or a 26 ACT and just didn’t submit scores. They have hit the lottery. It is a crazy admissions year.

Please don't believe everything you see on Tik Tok

It's sad that sentence even need be typed.

"Don't play 3-card monte"
"Don't mix bleach and ammonia"
"Don't stick your head out of a moving vehicle"
"Don't let Wesley Snipes do your taxes"

and of course "don't believe everything you see on Tik Tok".

"https://www.fiz-x.com/20-most-obvious-statements-ever/"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm very sorry. That sounds really tough and the result of a lot of bad luck. I agree with all the posters telling you that you have to get a counselor or head master to work the phone for you on schools that waitlisted your kid as part of yield protection. Even public school counselors have some heft in that situation.

As a cautionary tale for others, I think it means that you have to put in the effort for demonstrated interest to your safety schools. Perhaps make sure to include your parents' alma mater and visit (for us, that was Ohio State). And you definitely have to reconsider what you think is a "match" -- schools like Emory and Tulane can never be a match, even if they were in the past and even if you know kids with lower stats get in.

+1 I told DS to take the approach that interest always matters, even if they say it doesn't and especially for a safety. On the plus side, engaging with the safety through tours, online info session, meeting with the rep when they come to your school can also get the kid excited about the safeties so if those end up being the only options they feel good about it. Also, they need to be clicking on the emails schools send you, spend time on the websites, explore the pages for the major you are interested in. Every school, whether they admit it or not, gets those metrics.

In this ridiculous admissions year, DS got into VT with high stats when lots and lots of other high-stats kids got waitlisted. I don't think anything was particularly stand out about him vs. his waitlisted friends except that he had a mom who nagged him regularly about demonstrated interest (which VT claims not to track, but again, it seems to be the only explanation for the yield-protection-like results at VT)

I'm sorry, OP, it really sucks. I hope the counselor can help work the waitlist or he can explore the safety more and find something to be excited about there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you read his essay? I truly don't get this.

I know kids with much lower SATs who got into the schools on your list.

I'm not convinced that these stats are truthful. Something is not being said.