Is it worth applying to reaches RD?

[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]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The advantage of ED is greatly overstated here. There are certainly some schools at which ED is an advantage (or, put differently, it'd be a disadvantage to apply RD), but for most of the T25 universities and T10 LACs ED offers no real bump.

Anyhow, my unhooked kid's sole rejection last cycle was in ED. He got into 5 schools with lower acceptance rates than his ED school in RD, including a couple Ivies.

"Reaching higher" in RD after getting rejected ED is much more of a dilemma than if you applied EA. You demonstrated the strongest type of commitment when you applied ED, so the natural inclination is to think you have even less chance when applying to highly rejectives in RD.

Can you even explain what happened? Luck of the draw?

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]

Anonymous wrote:DD got into an in-state safety she'd definitely consider. We are waiting for one in-state target and one reach, one in December and one January (applied EA to all three). Is it worth applying to some out of state target/reaches RD or a waste of money and time? Would you wait until the December target decision? If she got into it she'd definitely go there. She has only applied to one safety OOS and one reach OOS.

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]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

And yet my kid applied to 4 Ivies RD and was waitlisted at all. Not one if his friends got into their RD picks

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]

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

same for DD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

same for DD

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]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

same for DD

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

Public HS, 4.0 GPA/35ACT, EC's are normal -volunteer, music, sports though not necessarily high performing in their sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

same for DD

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

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]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

And yet my kid applied to 4 Ivies RD and was waitlisted at all. Not one if his friends got into their RD picks

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.

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.

[Anonymous]

My kid ED to T10 (deferred; then rejected in RD); and then
applied to many other T11-25 type schools and got into four of them in RD...some public some private.

Honestly, probably aimed to high for ED. But it all worked out in RD if you put in the time for really strong apps. The RD apps were stronger than the ED app imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

And yet my kid applied to 4 Ivies RD and was waitlisted at all. Not one if his friends got into their RD picks

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.

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.

You don't need the crazy behemoth ECs for non-Ivies. Look beyond T10....
There are a lot of schools below #10.

[Anonymous]

Only you can answer this, OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

same for DD

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

non-big-3 DMV Private school that sends 3% to Top15/ivy. 1560 not a superscore, all 5s on 7 AP by end of junior year and these included the hardest STEM APs possible, 5 more AP senior year; Valedictorian, state and regional academic accolades/awards, leadership in multiple areas, one EC that was extensive and in music, and longstanding volunteering with impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes.

RD is when my son was accepted to Ivies and T10s last year. No hooks.

He didn't ED anywhere.

And yet my kid applied to 4 Ivies RD and was waitlisted at all. Not one if his friends got into their RD picks

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.

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.

Incorrect. This 'standard strong' stuff is such bullsh*t. Good recs and good essays with typical activities and 4.0uw (or very close 3.9); minimum 35 ACT is enough for many.