College Admissions Results for Class of 2018 - Nightmare or Pleasant Suprise?

[Anonymous]

DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

congrats!

[Anonymous]

It's a good year for first generation college applicants and URMs, because several SLACs and universities are redoubling diversity initiatives now.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a middle schooler here. How does ED/EA work with regards to FA? If a student is accepted early, do they have to say yes or no without hearing about a FA decision?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle schooler here. How does ED/EA work with regards to FA? If a student is accepted early, do they have to say yes or no without hearing about a FA decision?

No, they don't generally . Inability to pay (due to insufficient financial aid package or whatever) is pretty much the only reason you can get out of an ED or SCEA commitment.

EA (early action) is generally not binding.

But this stuff changes somewhat year to year. It may be a whole different game by the time you middle schooler applies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle schooler here. How does ED/EA work with regards to FA? If a student is accepted early, do they have to say yes or no without hearing about a FA decision?

well the FA decision comes out at the same time.
you may be asking is it binding if we don't get the amount of aid we feel we need to attend.
Basically, there's nothing they can do if you decide you can't afford to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

Previous poster, if your student has already been admitted to "his top choice", then he should accept the offer, and pull all three of the remaining outstanding applications from the regular decision pool. The reason for doing so, as explained to us by our high school, is so as not to continue to compete with those classmates who have applied to said schools. At this point your son has been admitted to his first choice, and leaving those other applications outstanding, instead of pulling them at this point, would be solely for the purpose of collecting multiple acceptances for the ego. He can do so, of course, but likely to the detriment of his classmates. Unless it is a large school like Berkeley or Michigan, where it is literally impossible to pull an application once submitted, I would have your son pull all of his remaining applications now that he has been admitted to his first choice. My children were admitted early to one of HPSY, and in each case they pulled all of their remaining applications at that point so as to not continue to compete with their classmates, and possibly take an offer away from one of them for a college they (my children) did not intend to attend over their first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

Previous poster, if your student has already been admitted to "his top choice", then he should accept the offer, and pull all three of the remaining outstanding applications from the regular decision pool. The reason for doing so, as explained to us by our high school, is so as not to continue to compete with those classmates who have applied to said schools. At this point your son has been admitted to his first choice, and leaving those other applications outstanding, instead of pulling them at this point, would be solely for the purpose of collecting multiple acceptances for the ego. He can do so, of course, but likely to the detriment of his classmates. Unless it is a large school like Berkeley or Michigan, where it is literally impossible to pull an application once submitted, I would have your son pull all of his remaining applications now that he has been admitted to his first choice. My children were admitted early to one of HPSY, and in each case they pulled all of their remaining applications at that point so as to not continue to compete with their classmates, and possibly take an offer away from one of them for a college they (my children) did not intend to attend over their first choice.

This makes sense, if you are not eligible for financial aid. But what if there is better financial aid or a scholarship at runner-up school? No reason not to wait until the process plays itself out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

Previous poster, if your student has already been admitted to "his top choice", then he should accept the offer, and pull all three of the remaining outstanding applications from the regular decision pool. The reason for doing so, as explained to us by our high school, is so as not to continue to compete with those classmates who have applied to said schools. At this point your son has been admitted to his first choice, and leaving those other applications outstanding, instead of pulling them at this point, would be solely for the purpose of collecting multiple acceptances for the ego. He can do so, of course, but likely to the detriment of his classmates. Unless it is a large school like Berkeley or Michigan, where it is literally impossible to pull an application once submitted, I would have your son pull all of his remaining applications now that he has been admitted to his first choice. My children were admitted early to one of HPSY, and in each case they pulled all of their remaining applications at that point so as to not continue to compete with their classmates, and possibly take an offer away from one of them for a college they (my children) did not intend to attend over their first choice.

This makes sense, if you are not eligible for financial aid. But what if there is better financial aid or a scholarship at runner-up school? No reason not to wait until the process plays itself out.

Pulling apps only works for people who are full pay. If not you need to wait for RD results to compare financial aid packages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if any of the parents/kids have regret after spending 3 years of high school doing nothing but preparing their applications to these elite schools only to be disappointed.
The countless hours on AP classes, clubs, volunteer hours, SAT tutors, consultants, etc, etc., only to end up at the same schools where kids put in half the effort but enjoyed the 3 years of HS.
To each their own.

When I was young, I actually got into my first choice -- but even so, I wondered what it might have been like to have taken psychology like my friends did instead of calculus, what it might have been like to take an art class since there was never any room in my schedule, what it might have been like to go on a date rather than spending four hours a day practicing the piano, what it might have been like to have had a summer job instead of going to a really competitive music camp every summer where I could practice ten hours a day in a beautiful setting which I never saw from inside my practice room.

I consciously chose not to treat my kids like race horses in the hope of getting an Ivy acceptance. I let them take the ceramics class in high school, take the summer job at the pool, let the kid who liked practicing music for five hours a day do so but didn't force his siblings to do it too. My children will all be employed productive members of society and as a side benefit they don't hate me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

Previous poster, if your student has already been admitted to "his top choice", then he should accept the offer, and pull all three of the remaining outstanding applications from the regular decision pool. The reason for doing so, as explained to us by our high school, is so as not to continue to compete with those classmates who have applied to said schools. At this point your son has been admitted to his first choice, and leaving those other applications outstanding, instead of pulling them at this point, would be solely for the purpose of collecting multiple acceptances for the ego. He can do so, of course, but likely to the detriment of his classmates. Unless it is a large school like Berkeley or Michigan, where it is literally impossible to pull an application once submitted, I would have your son pull all of his remaining applications now that he has been admitted to his first choice. My children were admitted early to one of HPSY, and in each case they pulled all of their remaining applications at that point so as to not continue to compete with their classmates, and possibly take an offer away from one of them for a college they (my children) did not intend to attend over their first choice.

This makes sense, if you are not eligible for financial aid. But what if there is better financial aid or a scholarship at runner-up school? No reason not to wait until the process plays itself out.

Pulling apps only works for people who are full pay. If not you need to wait for RD results to compare financial aid packages.

Every student I know who went on to trophy hunt additional acceptances for their egos were not seeking any financial assistance or merit awards. And in fact all of them ended up accepting their EA or ED first choice. But in the process of seeking out additional acceptances I have no doubt that they impacted their classmates' acceptances into other schools. As I said before, my children were very grateful to have been admitted EA to their first choice HPSY, and at that point decided to pull all of their RD applications in consideration of their classmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if any of the parents/kids have regret after spending 3 years of high school doing nothing but preparing their applications to these elite schools only to be disappointed.
The countless hours on AP classes, clubs, volunteer hours, SAT tutors, consultants, etc, etc., only to end up at the same schools where kids put in half the effort but enjoyed the 3 years of HS.
To each their own.

When I was young, I actually got into my first choice -- but even so, I wondered what it might have been like to have taken psychology like my friends did instead of calculus, what it might have been like to take an art class since there was never any room in my schedule, what it might have been like to go on a date rather than spending four hours a day practicing the piano, what it might have been like to have had a summer job instead of going to a really competitive music camp every summer where I could practice ten hours a day in a beautiful setting which I never saw from inside my practice room.

I consciously chose not to treat my kids like race horses in the hope of getting an Ivy acceptance. I let them take the ceramics class in high school, take the summer job at the pool, let the kid who liked practicing music for five hours a day do so but didn't force his siblings to do it too. My children will all be employed productive members of society and as a side benefit they don't hate me.

^^ I've heard it the other way around just as often if not more often: I wish my parents had pushed me more, how come I never got to go to summer camp, sure some of my friends sacrificed early but now look where they are! And it's a big myth kids who get into excellent colleges did so because their parents treated them like race horses -- most of them pushed themselves - and don't hate their parents at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did not apply ED, but he applied EA and has been accepted to two schools so far. One is his top choice. We are waiting to hear from 3 more.

Previous poster, if your student has already been admitted to "his top choice", then he should accept the offer, and pull all three of the remaining outstanding applications from the regular decision pool. The reason for doing so, as explained to us by our high school, is so as not to continue to compete with those classmates who have applied to said schools. At this point your son has been admitted to his first choice, and leaving those other applications outstanding, instead of pulling them at this point, would be solely for the purpose of collecting multiple acceptances for the ego. He can do so, of course, but likely to the detriment of his classmates. Unless it is a large school like Berkeley or Michigan, where it is literally impossible to pull an application once submitted, I would have your son pull all of his remaining applications now that he has been admitted to his first choice. My children were admitted early to one of HPSY, and in each case they pulled all of their remaining applications at that point so as to not continue to compete with their classmates, and possibly take an offer away from one of them for a college they (my children) did not intend to attend over their first choice.

This makes sense, if you are not eligible for financial aid. But what if there is better financial aid or a scholarship at runner-up school? No reason not to wait until the process plays itself out.

Pulling apps only works for people who are full pay. If not you need to wait for RD results to compare financial aid packages.

Every student I know who went on to trophy hunt additional acceptances for their egos were not seeking any financial assistance or merit awards. And in fact all of them ended up accepting their EA or ED first choice. But in the process of seeking out additional acceptances I have no doubt that they impacted their classmates' acceptances into other schools. As I said before, my children were very grateful to have been admitted EA to their first choice HPSY, and at that point decided to pull all of their RD applications in consideration of their classmates.

What sort of deranged a-hole would do this? I've never heard of such a thing. It's not a question of pulling your other apps you simply don't submit any. Anything else is unethical and insanely assholish.

[Anonymous]

Agreed previous poster, particularly since the Mid-Atlantic/DC region is supposedly currently the most competitive area from which to be applying to colleges, bar none, more competitive even than Silicon Valley or New York metro. Why make it even tougher on your friends and classmates when you have been privileged and lucky enough to be admitted EA into your first choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed previous poster, particularly since the Mid-Atlantic/DC region is supposedly currently the most competitive area from which to be applying to colleges, bar none, more competitive even than Silicon Valley or New York metro. Why make it even tougher on your friends and classmates when you have been privileged and lucky enough to be admitted EA into your first choice?

+1 I would hope the schools wouldn't send transcripts, etc. Truly monstrous behavior.....I am appalled.