Lessons learned: 2025-2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is now wishing that they applied to fewer safeties and more targets/mid-reaches.

Kid had a bunch of far reaches and is now feeling like they won't get into any reaches and will be stuck with limited (perfectly fine) options.

Can you name specifics?

Per the school counselor’s recommendation, kid had 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 4-5 reaches.

Kid now thinks 1 safety would have been fine and wished they spent the time on more targets on the higher side. So maybe 1 true safety, 3 easier targets, 3 harder targets, 4 reaches.

Kid has gotten into all safeties and targets so far and has some nice merit options. The reaches all look tough though, based on SCOIR scattergram.

Kid will be fine wherever but wishes they took a different approach.

I have a high stats DC. DC had one safety (Indiana Kelley). DC was prepared to add additional safeties in RD if he wasn’t admitted. Admitted to IU, so no need to add more schools. DC has some great EA admits and waiting to hear from 7 reaches in the next 2 weeks. One safety worked out for DC, but he got a lot of push back from his college counselor who finally agreed to DC’s strategy to add schools in RD if needed.

When was the Indiana Kelley outcome released? The thing is, most EA outcomes aren’t released until the RD deadlines!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is now wishing that they applied to fewer safeties and more targets/mid-reaches.

Kid had a bunch of far reaches and is now feeling like they won't get into any reaches and will be stuck with limited (perfectly fine) options.

Can you name specifics?

Per the school counselor’s recommendation, kid had 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 4-5 reaches.

Kid now thinks 1 safety would have been fine and wished they spent the time on more targets on the higher side. So maybe 1 true safety, 3 easier targets, 3 harder targets, 4 reaches.

Kid has gotten into all safeties and targets so far and has some nice merit options. The reaches all look tough though, based on SCOIR scattergram.

Kid will be fine wherever but wishes they took a different approach.

I have a high stats DC. DC had one safety (Indiana Kelley). DC was prepared to add additional safeties in RD if he wasn’t admitted. Admitted to IU, so no need to add more schools. DC has some great EA admits and waiting to hear from 7 reaches in the next 2 weeks. One safety worked out for DC, but he got a lot of push back from his college counselor who finally agreed to DC’s strategy to add schools in RD if needed.

That would have been a good approach.

Kid did all safeties as EA so a lot of time/energy wasted up front.

Not much to do now but for second kid we will rethink it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is now wishing that they applied to fewer safeties and more targets/mid-reaches.

Kid had a bunch of far reaches and is now feeling like they won't get into any reaches and will be stuck with limited (perfectly fine) options.

Can you name specifics?

Per the school counselor’s recommendation, kid had 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 4-5 reaches.

Kid now thinks 1 safety would have been fine and wished they spent the time on more targets on the higher side. So maybe 1 true safety, 3 easier targets, 3 harder targets, 4 reaches.

Kid has gotten into all safeties and targets so far and has some nice merit options. The reaches all look tough though, based on SCOIR scattergram.

Kid will be fine wherever but wishes they took a different approach.

I have a high stats DC. DC had one safety (Indiana Kelley). DC was prepared to add additional safeties in RD if he wasn’t admitted. Admitted to IU, so no need to add more schools. DC has some great EA admits and waiting to hear from 7 reaches in the next 2 weeks. One safety worked out for DC, but he got a lot of push back from his college counselor who finally agreed to DC’s strategy to add schools in RD if needed.

When was the Indiana Kelley outcome released? The thing is, most EA outcomes aren’t released until the RD deadlines!

Indiana actually came out in mid-January after DC had already been accepted to a couple target and reach EA schools, so the safety was not the first acceptance. I know a lot of kids like to have a few acceptances in hand early in the process, but my kid was fine with waiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.75 or above if not weighted.

Agree with PP. GPA overrides all.

It’s really not that complicated and what schools like UVA looks for - hardest courses ( eg Calc B/C , AP Chem, etc) and A’s

But again - this is only true for T20.

After that really it’s VERY easy to get in - As Jeff Sellingo notes in his book - there are plenty of good schools, but people ( parents)
Tend to fall into the trap of prestige, rankings and yield rate..

GPA is so inflated that you cannot afford a lot of B's

From 9-11the grade, how many Bs are bad?

The average GPA for Yale is comparable to USC or BU.

High GPA is necessary but not sufficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.75 or above if not weighted.

Agree with PP. GPA overrides all.

It’s really not that complicated and what schools like UVA looks for - hardest courses ( eg Calc B/C , AP Chem, etc) and A’s

But again - this is only true for T20.

After that really it’s VERY easy to get in - As Jeff Sellingo notes in his book - there are plenty of good schools, but people ( parents)
Tend to fall into the trap of prestige, rankings and yield rate..

GPA is so inflated that you cannot afford a lot of B's

From 9-11the grade, how many Bs are bad?

The average GPA for Yale is comparable to USC or BU.

High GPA is necessary but not sufficient.

you can't compare GPAs across colleges. Yale is taking kids from elite private HSs with grade deflation.

you can compare via naviance and it would be very unusual to have admits at yale with same profile as BU

[Anonymous]

Just pay attention to the Naviance chart for your high school.

For us, any school where DC's 'blue dot' fell at or below the Naviance GPA line - reject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is now wishing that they applied to fewer safeties and more targets/mid-reaches.

Kid had a bunch of far reaches and is now feeling like they won't get into any reaches and will be stuck with limited (perfectly fine) options.

Can you name specifics?

Per the school counselor’s recommendation, kid had 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 4-5 reaches.

Kid now thinks 1 safety would have been fine and wished they spent the time on more targets on the higher side. So maybe 1 true safety, 3 easier targets, 3 harder targets, 4 reaches.

Kid has gotten into all safeties and targets so far and has some nice merit options. The reaches all look tough though, based on SCOIR scattergram.

Kid will be fine wherever but wishes they took a different approach.

I have a high stats DC. DC had one safety (Indiana Kelley). DC was prepared to add additional safeties in RD if he wasn’t admitted. Admitted to IU, so no need to add more schools. DC has some great EA admits and waiting to hear from 7 reaches in the next 2 weeks. One safety worked out for DC, but he got a lot of push back from his college counselor who finally agreed to DC’s strategy to add schools in RD if needed.

Very wise of you. I wish I had done this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any new wisdom you gathered in the last few weeks?

It appears to be an extremely difficult year for girls. Unless you have a ton of unusual or uncommon awards in an uncommon major.

Without something extremely uncommon / unusual or an early decision application from a feeder private school, being test optional is a kiss of death (even at Vandy).

Beware and be strategic with early decision for girls.

Not universally true. Some colleges have more guys than girls. When we toured Georgia Tech and CMU, we saw 50% asian boys, 20% asian girls, and 30% non-asians but mostly boys. I bet black, white and brown girls get a bump at these tech schools but most girls I know don't want to spend 4 years on these campuses where it's all intense work and little play (unless you count D&D with a bunch of nerdy boys as "play")

Outside of “tech” schools, what other schools follow this anomaly?

we just toured and gtech was more like 60/40 boys
boys 60-white/30-asian /10 other race
girls 60 asian 30 white/10 other race
thats what it looked like to me--engineering tour

[Anonymous]

You must move on from REA/ED deferral. Treat it like a rejection.

The same has been said here many times, and we believed it. But then an AO reached out for another letter, the school counselor said the odds for RD were far above 50/50 good, etc. You want to believe… don’t.

I hope others can learn from our mistake. Fully open the ED2 and RD aperture and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any new wisdom you gathered in the last few weeks?

It appears to be an extremely difficult year for girls. Unless you have a ton of unusual or uncommon awards in an uncommon major.

Without something extremely uncommon / unusual or an early decision application from a feeder private school, being test optional is a kiss of death (even at Vandy).

Beware and be strategic with early decision for girls.

Not universally true. Some colleges have more guys than girls. When we toured Georgia Tech and CMU, we saw 50% asian boys, 20% asian girls, and 30% non-asians but mostly boys. I bet black, white and brown girls get a bump at these tech schools but most girls I know don't want to spend 4 years on these campuses where it's all intense work and little play (unless you count D&D with a bunch of nerdy boys as "play")

Outside of “tech” schools, what other schools follow this anomaly?

we just toured and gtech was more like 60/40 boys
boys 60-white/30-asian /10 other race
girls 60 asian 30 white/10 other race
thats what it looked like to me--engineering tour

We toured CMU which looked 90% Asian and it felt like it lives to its reputation of a school where kids don’t know how to have fun.

Anecdotes about them going to a bar and studying there or to the carnival and just standing not knowing what to do.

One dad on the tour told me it’s very safe there because there are no parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is now wishing that they applied to fewer safeties and more targets/mid-reaches.

Kid had a bunch of far reaches and is now feeling like they won't get into any reaches and will be stuck with limited (perfectly fine) options.

Can you name specifics?

Per the school counselor’s recommendation, kid had 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 4-5 reaches.

Kid now thinks 1 safety would have been fine and wished they spent the time on more targets on the higher side. So maybe 1 true safety, 3 easier targets, 3 harder targets, 4 reaches.

Kid has gotten into all safeties and targets so far and has some nice merit options. The reaches all look tough though, based on SCOIR scattergram.

Kid will be fine wherever but wishes they took a different approach.

I have a high stats DC. DC had one safety (Indiana Kelley). DC was prepared to add additional safeties in RD if he wasn’t admitted. Admitted to IU, so no need to add more schools. DC has some great EA admits and waiting to hear from 7 reaches in the next 2 weeks. One safety worked out for DC, but he got a lot of push back from his college counselor who finally agreed to DC’s strategy to add schools in RD if needed.

That would have been a good approach.

Kid did all safeties as EA so a lot of time/energy wasted up front.

Not much to do now but for second kid we will rethink it.

One potential counterpoint to consider.

My DC was surprised to be offered a full ride (tuition, housing, fees, research funding) from a t100 flagship that has strength in major. DC almost didn't apply and now is considering. Scholarship would not have been an option RD- only with an EA app.

Would a big scholarship offer change a safety on your list?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is now wishing that they applied to fewer safeties and more targets/mid-reaches.

Kid had a bunch of far reaches and is now feeling like they won't get into any reaches and will be stuck with limited (perfectly fine) options.

Can you name specifics?

Per the school counselor’s recommendation, kid had 3 safeties, 3 targets, and 4-5 reaches.

Kid now thinks 1 safety would have been fine and wished they spent the time on more targets on the higher side. So maybe 1 true safety, 3 easier targets, 3 harder targets, 4 reaches.

Kid has gotten into all safeties and targets so far and has some nice merit options. The reaches all look tough though, based on SCOIR scattergram.

Kid will be fine wherever but wishes they took a different approach.

I have a high stats DC. DC had one safety (Indiana Kelley). DC was prepared to add additional safeties in RD if he wasn’t admitted. Admitted to IU, so no need to add more schools. DC has some great EA admits and waiting to hear from 7 reaches in the next 2 weeks. One safety worked out for DC, but he got a lot of push back from his college counselor who finally agreed to DC’s strategy to add schools in RD if needed.

That would have been a good approach.

Kid did all safeties as EA so a lot of time/energy wasted up front.

Not much to do now but for second kid we will rethink it.

One potential counterpoint to consider.

My DC was surprised to be offered a full ride (tuition, housing, fees, research funding) from a t100 flagship that has strength in major. DC almost didn't apply and now is considering. Scholarship would not have been an option RD- only with an EA app.

Would a big scholarship offer change a safety on your list?

Kid did receive decent scholarships at all safeties (all EA) — making them equivalent to in-state tuition. But having only 1 or 2 of those would have been sufficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any new wisdom you gathered in the last few weeks?

It appears to be an extremely difficult year for girls. Unless you have a ton of unusual or uncommon awards in an uncommon major.

Without something extremely uncommon / unusual or an early decision application from a feeder private school, being test optional is a kiss of death (even at Vandy).

Beware and be strategic with early decision for girls.

Not universally true. Some colleges have more guys than girls. When we toured Georgia Tech and CMU, we saw 50% asian boys, 20% asian girls, and 30% non-asians but mostly boys. I bet black, white and brown girls get a bump at these tech schools but most girls I know don't want to spend 4 years on these campuses where it's all intense work and little play (unless you count D&D with a bunch of nerdy boys as "play")

Outside of “tech” schools, what other schools follow this anomaly?

we just toured and gtech was more like 60/40 boys
boys 60-white/30-asian /10 other race
girls 60 asian 30 white/10 other race
thats what it looked like to me--engineering tour

We toured CMU which looked 90% Asian and it felt like it lives to its reputation of a school where kids don’t know how to have fun.

Anecdotes about them going to a bar and studying there or to the carnival and just standing not knowing what to do.

One dad on the tour told me it’s very safe there because there are no parties.

gtech poster here--good to know, will let kid know, touring CMU next month.everything was great about gtech-except the weather

[Anonymous]

I feel like I could make a good guide of safeties for different majors.

This is the main thing for me. Find one great safety. Apps take too long. You need to spend so much time on them. Don't waste your time on a zillion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't listen to your private school counselor's advice. That's the biggest lesson I have learned this year. Do your own research.

Even your public school.one. Those counselors are lazy and useless.