Lessons learned so far: 2024-2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys have an easier admission to LACs, but they DO NOT have an easier admission to business schools and engineering. Example, the upper middle class, northern Virginia white boy with college educated parents who tries to apply to Virginia Tech for business. Better have impeccable stats. Meanwhile, a girl in his class with much lower stats got accepted for a Classics major.

Kid is fine and doing well at an oos school w a great business program, but don’t tell me that all boys have it easier.

Business/ CS / Engineering are male-dominated majors.

Makes sense.

Anybody know if the gender divide applies to other majors? Like I would imagine if a female just HAS to go to a certain college, applying as a philosophy major would be a good strategy. And guys in same situation might want to apply as French majors.

Yes and no. Philosophy and history are not necessarily undersubscribed — and almost never as undersubscribed as any other humanities major. In that sense, being a female philosophy major (although philosophy is a “guy” major) probably gives less of an edge than being a female French major (which is almost exclusively female); with often 2-3 French majors a year, at best, many of these departments are in serious trouble.

To be sure, a genuine male French major would be a unicorn. But I would assume AOs are suspicious of the male actually majoring in French once admitted. To say the least, the male would likely have to do more than take AP French and be co-President of the French club to make that narrative convincing (and other issues to: did the kid take lots of science, computer science, econ and other electives vs, say, a second foreign language, AP music, art etc.?).

A female may not have quite as high a bar of suspicion to overcome. Not only because all modern languages are female-dominated (classics is more balanced), but French is traditionally the most female-dominated— that whole wistful Paris thing.

One way to convince AOs your son is a legit prospective major is for the kid to arrange a visit with a French professor during a campus visit and to demonstrate a. an interest in studying French and b. the actual ability to speak French fluently enough to take literature classes. French prof will be in touch with admissions if this is a selective private. If your son can do that, they will be in good shape. If your son cannot do that, they aren't going to study French seriously and should be looked at skeptically by AOs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys have an easier admission to LACs, but they DO NOT have an easier admission to business schools and engineering. Example, the upper middle class, northern Virginia white boy with college educated parents who tries to apply to Virginia Tech for business. Better have impeccable stats. Meanwhile, a girl in his class with much lower stats got accepted for a Classics major.

Kid is fine and doing well at an oos school w a great business program, but don’t tell me that all boys have it easier.

Business/ CS / Engineering are male-dominated majors.

Makes sense.

Anybody know if the gender divide applies to other majors? Like I would imagine if a female just HAS to go to a certain college, applying as a philosophy major would be a good strategy. And guys in same situation might want to apply as French majors.

Yes and no. Philosophy and history are not necessarily undersubscribed — and almost never as undersubscribed as any other humanities major. In that sense, being a female philosophy major (although philosophy is a “guy” major) probably gives less of an edge than being a female French major (which is almost exclusively female); with often 2-3 French majors a year, at best, many of these departments are in serious trouble.

To be sure, a genuine male French major would be a unicorn. But I would assume AOs are suspicious of the male actually majoring in French once admitted. To say the least, the male would likely have to do more than take AP French and be co-President of the French club to make that narrative convincing (and other issues to: did the kid take lots of science, computer science, econ and other electives vs, say, a second foreign language, AP music, art etc.?).

A female may not have quite as high a bar of suspicion to overcome. Not only because all modern languages are female-dominated (classics is more balanced), but French is traditionally the most female-dominated— that whole wistful Paris thing.

One way to convince AOs your son is a legit prospective major is for the kid to arrange a visit with a French professor during a campus visit and to demonstrate a. an interest in studying French and b. the actual ability to speak French fluently enough to take literature classes. French prof will be in touch with admissions if this is a selective private. If your son can do that, they will be in good shape. If your son cannot do that, they aren't going to study French seriously and should be looked at skeptically by AOs.

Agree a letter from prof can help. But there are MANY other ways:
- summer French program at T20
- create a capstone project (https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/friends-in-french-a-crimson-student-initiative/)

also a good co-major for these kids of languages is: humanistic studies (princeton) or similar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys have an easier admission to LACs, but they DO NOT have an easier admission to business schools and engineering. Example, the upper middle class, northern Virginia white boy with college educated parents who tries to apply to Virginia Tech for business. Better have impeccable stats. Meanwhile, a girl in his class with much lower stats got accepted for a Classics major.

Kid is fine and doing well at an oos school w a great business program, but don’t tell me that all boys have it easier.

Business/ CS / Engineering are male-dominated majors.

Makes sense.

Anybody know if the gender divide applies to other majors? Like I would imagine if a female just HAS to go to a certain college, applying as a philosophy major would be a good strategy. And guys in same situation might want to apply as French majors.

Yes and no. Philosophy and history are not necessarily undersubscribed — and almost never as undersubscribed as any other humanities major. In that sense, being a female philosophy major (although philosophy is a “guy” major) probably gives less of an edge than being a female French major (which is almost exclusively female); with often 2-3 French majors a year, at best, many of these departments are in serious trouble.

To be sure, a genuine male French major would be a unicorn. But I would assume AOs are suspicious of the male actually majoring in French once admitted. To say the least, the male would likely have to do more than take AP French and be co-President of the French club to make that narrative convincing (and other issues to: did the kid take lots of science, computer science, econ and other electives vs, say, a second foreign language, AP music, art etc.?).

A female may not have quite as high a bar of suspicion to overcome. Not only because all modern languages are female-dominated (classics is more balanced), but French is traditionally the most female-dominated— that whole wistful Paris thing.

One way to convince AOs your son is a legit prospective major is for the kid to arrange a visit with a French professor during a campus visit and to demonstrate a. an interest in studying French and b. the actual ability to speak French fluently enough to take literature classes. French prof will be in touch with admissions if this is a selective private. If your son can do that, they will be in good shape. If your son cannot do that, they aren't going to study French seriously and should be looked at skeptically by AOs.

Only to add that there are two sides to this coin from a school’s perspective: the oversupply/under demand side (French), and the under supply/over demand side (STEM majors and econ). It is nice to have anyone major in French; but if that kid is double majoring in econ or CS, it isn’t much help to the undersupply/over demand side, which is also in crisis.


Of course the kid should not be flagging this potential double major in his application, but if I were an admissions officer I would look at the

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys have an easier admission to LACs, but they DO NOT have an easier admission to business schools and engineering. Example, the upper middle class, northern Virginia white boy with college educated parents who tries to apply to Virginia Tech for business. Better have impeccable stats. Meanwhile, a girl in his class with much lower stats got accepted for a Classics major.

Kid is fine and doing well at an oos school w a great business program, but don’t tell me that all boys have it easier.

Business/ CS / Engineering are male-dominated majors.

Makes sense.

Anybody know if the gender divide applies to other majors? Like I would imagine if a female just HAS to go to a certain college, applying as a philosophy major would be a good strategy. And guys in same situation might want to apply as French majors.

Yes and no. Philosophy and history are not necessarily undersubscribed — and almost never as undersubscribed as any other humanities major. In that sense, being a female philosophy major (although philosophy is a “guy” major) probably gives less of an edge than being a female French major (which is almost exclusively female); with often 2-3 French majors a year, at best, many of these departments are in serious trouble.

To be sure, a genuine male French major would be a unicorn. But I would assume AOs are suspicious of the male actually majoring in French once admitted. To say the least, the male would likely have to do more than take AP French and be co-President of the French club to make that narrative convincing (and other issues to: did the kid take lots of science, computer science, econ and other electives vs, say, a second foreign language, AP music, art etc.?).

A female may not have quite as high a bar of suspicion to overcome. Not only because all modern languages are female-dominated (classics is more balanced), but French is traditionally the most female-dominated— that whole wistful Paris thing.

One way to convince AOs your son is a legit prospective major is for the kid to arrange a visit with a French professor during a campus visit and to demonstrate a. an interest in studying French and b. the actual ability to speak French fluently enough to take literature classes. French prof will be in touch with admissions if this is a selective private. If your son can do that, they will be in good shape. If your son cannot do that, they aren't going to study French seriously and should be looked at skeptically by AOs.

Only to add that there are two sides to this coin from a school’s perspective: the oversupply/under demand side (French), and the under supply/over demand side (STEM majors and econ). It is nice to have anyone major in French; but if that kid is double majoring in econ or CS, it isn’t much help to the undersupply/over demand side, which is also in crisis.


Of course the kid should not be flagging this potential double major in his application, but if I were an admissions officer I would look at the

Sorry. Would look at the transcript for evidence of this other interest, if it is apparent…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

I can echo that the level of detail and the layers of necessary activity took us by surprise, despite having researched the application process and strategies thoroughly. While most applications get done centrally via Common App at first, you get kicked over to the individual college portals upon submitting your application. Depending on how many colleges your DC applies to, this can mean managing many individual portals, each with different requirements. In our case, that meant managing Common App, Naviance (not fully linked with Common App at our school), College Board (for SATs and then separate microsite for APs), registrar's office from 2 different universities where DC had taken courses and needed transcripts sent to each college to which DC applied (again $10-20), one college with its own portal, UCAS, and then all the individual college portals. I think I counted at one point that it was a navigation process between 28 different portals/sites. Now I consider myself a pretty swift administrator, and my DC is pretty on-it, but supporting DCs process really felt like a part-time job (for me) throughout the fall.

I share one particularly annoying learning as a forewarning: If your DC wants to withhold any APs from their score reporting (still officially required to submit upon application at a few schools), you have to download and print out a form, fill it in for each college, pay something like $20 a pop, FAX IT in, and then wait for 10-12 days before you see the updated AP score report in the College Board/AP portal and can send it to the college. Talk about an unexpected nightmare!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

I can echo that the level of detail and the layers of necessary activity took us by surprise, despite having researched the application process and strategies thoroughly. While most applications get done centrally via Common App at first, you get kicked over to the individual college portals upon submitting your application. Depending on how many colleges your DC applies to, this can mean managing many individual portals, each with different requirements. In our case, that meant managing Common App, Naviance (not fully linked with Common App at our school), College Board (for SATs and then separate microsite for APs), registrar's office from 2 different universities where DC had taken courses and needed transcripts sent to each college to which DC applied (again $10-20), one college with its own portal, UCAS, and then all the individual college portals. I think I counted at one point that it was a navigation process between 28 different portals/sites. Now I consider myself a pretty swift administrator, and my DC is pretty on-it, but supporting DCs process really felt like a part-time job (for me) throughout the fall.

I share one particularly annoying learning as a forewarning: If your DC wants to withhold any APs from their score reporting (still officially required to submit upon application at a few schools), you have to download and print out a form, fill it in for each college, pay something like $20 a pop, FAX IT in, and then wait for 10-12 days before you see the updated AP score report in the College Board/AP portal and can send it to the college. Talk about an unexpected nightmare!

Do you mean for example if have five AP scores and don’t want to show the one test where DC got a “2” then have to send the other 4 scores one by one to each school at price per score and per school? But if willing to send all then just pay one (lesser?) price to upload all for all schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

What schools don’t get bashed at some point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

I can echo that the level of detail and the layers of necessary activity took us by surprise, despite having researched the application process and strategies thoroughly. While most applications get done centrally via Common App at first, you get kicked over to the individual college portals upon submitting your application. Depending on how many colleges your DC applies to, this can mean managing many individual portals, each with different requirements. In our case, that meant managing Common App, Naviance (not fully linked with Common App at our school), College Board (for SATs and then separate microsite for APs), registrar's office from 2 different universities where DC had taken courses and needed transcripts sent to each college to which DC applied (again $10-20), one college with its own portal, UCAS, and then all the individual college portals. I think I counted at one point that it was a navigation process between 28 different portals/sites. Now I consider myself a pretty swift administrator, and my DC is pretty on-it, but supporting DCs process really felt like a part-time job (for me) throughout the fall.

I share one particularly annoying learning as a forewarning: If your DC wants to withhold any APs from their score reporting (still officially required to submit upon application at a few schools), you have to download and print out a form, fill it in for each college, pay something like $20 a pop, FAX IT in, and then wait for 10-12 days before you see the updated AP score report in the College Board/AP portal and can send it to the college. Talk about an unexpected nightmare!

I didn't do any of this: I just proofread his essay, his common app applications and logged onto portals with him to make sure he was doing things right. I asked him what about this school, that school, and he was adamant he was not interested. Then admissions started to roll in and he realized oh wow, I could have gotten into more schools! I feel absolutely terrible about it and it literally haunts my dreams. I'm not really sure if I can ever let the guilt go.

[Anonymous]

If aiming for a T25, things generally just don’t “work out” without a lot of planning and thought put into this process. Successful applicants to top-tier selective schools have very cohesive, tight and well-constructed applications that take months of thought and planning. Good essays that resonate and support an applicant profile typically involve multiple, if not dozens, of revisions. Even if you don’t hire an outside college counselor, definitely engage in essay review or assistance. I also highly highly suggest application reviews by former admissions officers to tell you where the weakness is in the application before they are submitted. Some of the things are optical and things you would never think to highlight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have learned that things are not nearly as dire as the people on here seem to think (or want everyone else to think?).

Ditto. You just need to do your research and have realistic expectations. So far DD is 9/10 for the schools she applied to. Still waiting on school number 10. Got great merit at 6 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

I can echo that the level of detail and the layers of necessary activity took us by surprise, despite having researched the application process and strategies thoroughly. While most applications get done centrally via Common App at first, you get kicked over to the individual college portals upon submitting your application. Depending on how many colleges your DC applies to, this can mean managing many individual portals, each with different requirements. In our case, that meant managing Common App, Naviance (not fully linked with Common App at our school), College Board (for SATs and then separate microsite for APs), registrar's office from 2 different universities where DC had taken courses and needed transcripts sent to each college to which DC applied (again $10-20), one college with its own portal, UCAS, and then all the individual college portals. I think I counted at one point that it was a navigation process between 28 different portals/sites. Now I consider myself a pretty swift administrator, and my DC is pretty on-it, but supporting DCs process really felt like a part-time job (for me) throughout the fall.

I share one particularly annoying learning as a forewarning: If your DC wants to withhold any APs from their score reporting (still officially required to submit upon application at a few schools), you have to download and print out a form, fill it in for each college, pay something like $20 a pop, FAX IT in, and then wait for 10-12 days before you see the updated AP score report in the College Board/AP portal and can send it to the college. Talk about an unexpected nightmare!

I didn't do any of this: I just proofread his essay, his common app applications and logged onto portals with him to make sure he was doing things right. I asked him what about this school, that school, and he was adamant he was not interested. Then admissions started to roll in and he realized oh wow, I could have gotten into more schools! I feel absolutely terrible about it and it literally haunts my dreams. I'm not really sure if I can ever let the guilt go.

Haunts your dreams??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

I can echo that the level of detail and the layers of necessary activity took us by surprise, despite having researched the application process and strategies thoroughly. While most applications get done centrally via Common App at first, you get kicked over to the individual college portals upon submitting your application. Depending on how many colleges your DC applies to, this can mean managing many individual portals, each with different requirements. In our case, that meant managing Common App, Naviance (not fully linked with Common App at our school), College Board (for SATs and then separate microsite for APs), registrar's office from 2 different universities where DC had taken courses and needed transcripts sent to each college to which DC applied (again $10-20), one college with its own portal, UCAS, and then all the individual college portals. I think I counted at one point that it was a navigation process between 28 different portals/sites. Now I consider myself a pretty swift administrator, and my DC is pretty on-it, but supporting DCs process really felt like a part-time job (for me) throughout the fall.

I share one particularly annoying learning as a forewarning: If your DC wants to withhold any APs from their score reporting (still officially required to submit upon application at a few schools), you have to download and print out a form, fill it in for each college, pay something like $20 a pop, FAX IT in, and then wait for 10-12 days before you see the updated AP score report in the College Board/AP portal and can send it to the college. Talk about an unexpected nightmare!

I didn't do any of this: I just proofread his essay, his common app applications and logged onto portals with him to make sure he was doing things right. I asked him what about this school, that school, and he was adamant he was not interested. Then admissions started to roll in and he realized oh wow, I could have gotten into more schools! I feel absolutely terrible about it and it literally haunts my dreams. I'm not really sure if I can ever let the guilt go.

Haunts your dreams??

Yes, I have dreams about college many nights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:do your research and if you have a strong application, and get some EA (and merit!) admits in December.

My DD feels GREAT, even with a T20 deferral, given all the love she's received from her safeties/rolling (Pitt, Case, and Vermont) last month.

It's a HUGE ego boost and relief. Don't underestimate it.

This is the best piece of advice we got. DD got a couple of early rolling merit offers which showed her lots of love. It really set her up well for the rest of the admissions season because she would have been fine going to either school if those were her only options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it’s just my kids, but it was way more parental support than I expected. Between remembering deadlines, helping with all the admissions ways each school does things, managing visits and talking through all the highs and lows of the range of emotions, it’s just an exhausting process. I know it doesn’t have to be that way but it was for us. So glad we’re just about done.

I helped a lot and yet not enough. It will be a regret I likely carry my entire life. My ds has been an independent student since middle school so I let him decide where to apply. Instead should have handled everything from A to Z, made him apply more places or actually done it for him. He's going somewhere people here slam every day, and irl I have not heard one positive reaction about it. Now I worry he will carry the stigma of going there forever.

I can echo that the level of detail and the layers of necessary activity took us by surprise, despite having researched the application process and strategies thoroughly. While most applications get done centrally via Common App at first, you get kicked over to the individual college portals upon submitting your application. Depending on how many colleges your DC applies to, this can mean managing many individual portals, each with different requirements. In our case, that meant managing Common App, Naviance (not fully linked with Common App at our school), College Board (for SATs and then separate microsite for APs), registrar's office from 2 different universities where DC had taken courses and needed transcripts sent to each college to which DC applied (again $10-20), one college with its own portal, UCAS, and then all the individual college portals. I think I counted at one point that it was a navigation process between 28 different portals/sites. Now I consider myself a pretty swift administrator, and my DC is pretty on-it, but supporting DCs process really felt like a part-time job (for me) throughout the fall.

I share one particularly annoying learning as a forewarning: If your DC wants to withhold any APs from their score reporting (still officially required to submit upon application at a few schools), you have to download and print out a form, fill it in for each college, pay something like $20 a pop, FAX IT in, and then wait for 10-12 days before you see the updated AP score report in the College Board/AP portal and can send it to the college. Talk about an unexpected nightmare!

I didn't do any of this: I just proofread his essay, his common app applications and logged onto portals with him to make sure he was doing things right. I asked him what about this school, that school, and he was adamant he was not interested. Then admissions started to roll in and he realized oh wow, I could have gotten into more schools! I feel absolutely terrible about it and it literally haunts my dreams. I'm not really sure if I can ever let the guilt go.

Haunts your dreams??

Yes, I have dreams about college many nights.

Where do you wish your kid was going?