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

[Anonymous]

I agree. Naviance adds some perspective to it all. Sounds like my DH experience. He attended public school.

[Anonymous]

I just skimmed through this entire thread. You've already established that OP is leaving out key details. I also wonder if a couple of schools were swapped to keep the student anonymous.

The list of schools (developed presumably with a college counselor) suggest that the student did not have anything pointy about him and that the course rigor may have been insufficient. He may have good grades and good SAT scores, but we all know that's not enough these days.

I'm really sorry OP. I feel your pain. BTDT.

[Anonymous]

This happened to my DC last year - waitlisted everywhere but two "likely" schools. There was a lot of heartache and tears, wondering if all the hard work meant nothing in highschool. It is okay to feel the disappointment, but fast forward, and all is well. They have settled into the school that they didn't think was their "ideal" school, with no interest in transferring. Sometimes the unintended path holds a sweet surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of speculating that the OP is lying which will drive them away forever if they are not lying, and have no effect or benefit if they are....

...or speculating that the kid is smart but lazy and has bad social media...

...or posting some other unfounded, baseless and useless concept...

...can we assume good intent and stay on topic?

Why is that so frickin' hard?

This times a million.

These parents are not "really smart"! Just a$$holes.

And they are ruining this board. There are ways to ask these hard-hitting questions that you just have to know, with grace and empathy. Guess you're too smart for that! So strange, because all of the truly intelligent people I know in real life lead with kindness. Not "being harsh"! #sorrynotsorry

Hmmm....

We didn’t come on the site, bringing our issues... geez, did not know that “what type of classes did jr. take” or “where in general did jr. go to school” was so hard hitting. I think I understand what the problem was with DS.
Sorry to hear he didn’t get in. Like others have said, time for a plan B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of speculating that the OP is lying which will drive them away forever if they are not lying, and have no effect or benefit if they are....

...or speculating that the kid is smart but lazy and has bad social media...

...or posting some other unfounded, baseless and useless concept...

...can we assume good intent and stay on topic?

Why is that so frickin' hard?

This times a million.

These parents are not "really smart"! Just a$$holes.

And they are ruining this board. There are ways to ask these hard-hitting questions that you just have to know, with grace and empathy. Guess you're too smart for that! So strange, because all of the truly intelligent people I know in real life lead with kindness. Not "being harsh"! #sorrynotsorry

Hmmm....

We didn’t come on the site, bringing our issues... geez, did not know that “what type of classes did jr. take” or “where in general did jr. go to school” was so hard hitting. I think I understand what the problem was with DS.
Sorry to hear he didn’t get in. Like others have said, time for a plan B.

That is a 100% misrepresentation of the posts objected to. Do you need them all quoted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Many of those schools require demonstrated interest.

But no tours during covid so that has been set aside in most colleges.

You are so wrong. Attending all virtual sessions, emailing academic departments of interest, writing essays that are truly crafted to that school, talking to that school’s regional rep. Most of these schools on this list are very oriented to demonstrated interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, most colleges only take so many kids from each high school and the college counselor was probably sending all the kids to the same schools. Your son did an amazing job in high school but just because he is in a private, doesn't make him more worthy of an IVY and they look at things like activities, essays and more. It sounds like you weren't being realistic and should have applied to a bigger range of schools and more schools. He has several great options and you should be proud of all of them. Those stat's don't get you into IVYS.

Did you even look at the list OP gave? None were Ivy level.

[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.

New poster but also wondering what the cite is for that – I’ve never seen anything concrete about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - I totally feel for you. My kid who goes to a Big 3 has gotten numerous rejections and a couple of waitlists. He has gotten into one match school and while there is a part of him that's really relieved to be in that school, I think there is another part of him that feels it would be nice to have choices. We didn't visit any colleges this fall due to the pandemic so we were looking forward to making some visits this spring in anticipation of having a choice. I asked my kid if she/he wanted to visit the school they had gotten into and the response was "Why? I don't have any other options and I know I have to go there so I'm not sure I need to visit." I know people on this site will jump on this comment and say that this kid has a bad attitude but lets remember that these kids are 18 years old, had a really tough senior year and are now having a brutal admissions cycle. The wounds are fresh and while I have no doubt my kid will ultimately get excited about the available choice and visit the school, for now it's understandable to be bummed. We're not flawless adults and we don't have the perfect reaction ourselves when we're disappointed so let's not expect this from our kids who are coming out of a horrible year.

Parents do a real disservice to their high stats kids are acting like anything but a tippy top school is not good enough for them. “Top” schools are a total crapshoot unless you are hooked, and you’re just setting your kid up for a whipsaw of emotions to suggest that schools with higher acceptance rates are not good enough for them or their high school efforts.

[Anonymous]

^ “by acting” not are acting ...

[Anonymous]

It is not necessarily the parents. The parents play a role when the kid gets into a much higher school than their stats indicate. ie: there are a couple in our close in NVA "coveted" school who totally depended on being on a team - whether or not they were any good. And they did it, their parents made it happen. The kids at the top of the class are finding a ton of rejections - UVA, VA Tech, the list goes on.

If a kid with over a 1500 and over a 4.2, and several impressive ecs can't get into these schools, something is not right.

[Anonymous]

OP you asked if anyone else is experiencing this situation.
My friend's kid is in the same boat. Well-regarded private school, top stats. His first-choice school only offers regular decision, so he did not apply ED anywhere.

He is still waiting on a couple of schools that I think are near impossible to get into on RD, as they are known to like ED applications.

His mom told me that he might do a gap year. But my concern is that this might be the plan for a lot of kids, and then it gets to be another tough year for everybody.

[Anonymous]

What’s a foundational school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s a foundational school?

GDS term for safety

[Anonymous]

Because of deferrals and an onslaught of apps this year, this kind of thing is happening to a lot of kids I know who would be a shoo in to most of the schools they’re applying to in normal times.