Is it worth applying to reaches RD?
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Anonymous
| 4 out of 5 of my child’s T10 acceptances were in the RD round. |
Anonymous
Depends on your kids profile, major, HS…. |
Anonymous
| Those of you whose kids got in to Ivy/Ivy+ in RD, what majors did they go in as and what were their stats? 🙏 Thank you. |
Anonymous
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Like other posters have said there is no reason not to apply to the reaches for RD. You lose 100% of the shots you don’t take.
If application fees are an issue you probably can’t afford those schools anyway (and if you’re very poor you can generally get application fees waived). If energy is an issue then your kid probably won’t do well at those schools anyway since they will have to work particularly hard there to keep up with all the kids who are both talented and hardworking. (Talent is important but when surrounded by talented kids, hard work becomes equally important to do well). |
Anonymous
| I would base the decision on two factors. The most important one is does your child want to go there. The next is can you afford it. If she really wants to go and you can afford the cost of the tuition then I think she should apply. |
Anonymous
| Mine did fifteen reaches RD. 5, 5, and 5. It was worth it to him and he did choose one of the 5. But if he had preferred one of the EA targets, no, he would not have applied to all of those reaches. |
Anonymous
Everyone expects some kind of linear consistency among T20 schools--e.g., the traditional thinking is that if you get rejected from Cornell (8%) or Dartmouth (5%), you have no chance at Princeton (4%), or, alternatively, if you get admitted to Princeton, you must be a shoe-in for Cornell and Dartmouth. But it rarely works out like that in practice. In truth, there's little consistency among the most selective schools (~10%) at the individual level. Look at the results lists on Reddit or College Confidential and you'll find plenty of evidence of this. And, like I said, ED does not meaningfully increase your chances of admission at most of the top schools (although there are exceptions, like Chicago). |
Anonymous
why not? Lots of unhooked people get in to their reaches in RD. Very top kids get into ivy/T10 in RD. one of mine got into all their targets RD(T21-40 types), and 2 of 6 reaches(T20/topLAC) |
Anonymous
So. How would they know if they didn't try? If we heeded that advice, my kid never would have known how successful he would be RD. You can buy the lottery ticket if you have stats in range for the school---or you can decide not to. If you don't want to wonder 'what if' and you really would attend one of these schools if admitted, then I think it's worth the cost of the ticket. |
Anonymous
same for DD |
Anonymous
Can posters whose kids get into Ivies/T10 in RD with no hooks please share stats, kind of HS and whether ECs are tops or normal? TIA |
Anonymous
Public HS, 4.0 GPA/35ACT, EC's are normal -volunteer, music, sports though not necessarily high performing in their sport. |
Anonymous
Top 5% (at time of applying; eventually salutatorian) at a good-not-great public HS, 35 ACT, 12 APs (mix of 5s, 4s, and 3s), eclectic ECs ranging from multiple sports to high-level art to volunteer activities. If he had a hook/intangible, it was that he is a likeable, earnest kid who is very community-oriented and didn't do anything for sake of building his application. |
Anonymous
The stats are one thing - just the price of entry - but it seems like it's much more of a waste of time if your kid just has "standard strong" ECs rather than the insane ones I keep hearing about. |
Anonymous
| My older kid (FCPS HS class of 2021, so a little less recent) got into a T25 reach RD with a 4.1 WGPA and 1440 SAT (submitted). No hooks or outstanding ECs but I’d guess essays were very strong since that’s DCs strength. |