If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll add that AOs and especially readers are very unlikely to have a degree from a school higher than T100.

I actually was an admissions reader, and I disagree with this claim.

Agree. Most /many went to that school!!

lol no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll add that AOs and especially readers are very unlikely to have a degree from a school higher than T100.

I actually was an admissions reader, and I disagree with this claim.

Agree. Most /many went to that school!!

lol no.

Look at Dartmouth……

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny so many people are saying they would do ED1/ED2. I wish my kid hadn't locked himself into a sub-Ivy ED. I feel like he would have had better choices if he'd held out.

The only people with better choices in RD had (1) niche majors/academic interests; (2) very tippy top of class; (3) national level individual awards or (4) filled a clear void at the university (nationally ranked harpist).

My DC attends a feeder school. About 20% of the class gets into an Ivy. But you have no info about where your child stands vs the rest of the class, and especially since all GPAs are unweighted, Naviance looked like a giant ink blot. My best guess was that DC was at the bottom of the top quartile grades wise, meaning Ivy was within range, but not guaranteed. In retrospect, though, the kids who get screwed in RD were mostly trying for engineering or Comp Sci (don't apply for CS. Just don't). I think being a humanities boy might have gotten him in. Or not. We'll never know. But if we were doing over, I think I'd pass on ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a son, have a non-PhD academic young woman review their essay and supplemental questions. DS is a great writer and enjoys doing it. He liked doing these parts of the application. DD hates writing and hating doing this with a passion. What I noticed was that DDs were much more likely to land well than DS’ app.

DS’ first draft which he thought was perfect was observational, philosophical and persuasive to his statement but was not about himself. He was answering the prompts and questions very academically. I’m sure if the department head was reading them, he would be selected immediately. There was no way this would land with a mid twenties or thirties reader looking at a rubric. His school guidance/college counselor said oh these are lovely. I sent him to his AP English teacher and she told him no way. You have to flip the questions to write about you. DS struggled with this. His next attempt was too beating around the bush, his next attempt he felt sounded arrogant. He finally nailed it. His original was 100% more beautifully written and included deeper analysis. This is the essay to turn in when you are admitted and in class. The final one was far better for the readers. He did very well.

Boys have a harder time writing about themselves, expressing emotion and hitting the right tone. It’s far more likely that a woman will be reading it. As readers spend very little time on each app, nailing tone is very important.

Good advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If kid is a legacy at a WASP school and that school is a clear first choice, then apply ED. My legacy kid was waitlisted in RD but fortunately it was not a top choice for them. Just Hindsight.

Some WASP schools brag about not considering legacy. Legacy probably hurts your app at those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opt out of the admissions rat race, enjoy your teen years, and go to an SEC school.

It’s a rat race to get into the SEC schools now.

Vandy is a rat race, UT-Austin is brutal from OOS, UF and UGA have gotten tough as well, and UTK/UofSC/Auburn are no guarantee anymore if you're not a top student. But the rest are still cakewalks. Ole Miss will accept you if you have a 3.0 HS GPA and 24 ACT. Grads are successful, too. Hotty Toddy!

This two word phrase is among the worst things about Ole Miss.

Flim flam bim bam Ole Miss by damn

[Anonymous]

Do you really believe that WASP schools don’t consider legacy of me that it’s easier to get in ED if you’re not a recruited athlete…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you really believe that WASP schools don’t consider legacy of me that it’s easier to get in ED if you’re not a recruited athlete…

Recruited athlete is a huge help for WASP.

Pomona doesn't consider legacy at all. They were one of the very first institutions to get rid of legacy. Don't know about the other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have narrowed the list down significantly on the front end, but that's speaking in hindsight. The problem was, my kid didn't really know what she wanted until the very end. So she applied to big state schools, women's colleges, a few Ivys, a WASP school on the list, etc. It took getting in and visiting for her to know really what was and wasn't for her. (And no, the visits on the front end weren't really helpful to that end, even though they should have been.)

why weren't they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a son, have a non-PhD academic young woman review their essay and supplemental questions. DS is a great writer and enjoys doing it. He liked doing these parts of the application. DD hates writing and hating doing this with a passion. What I noticed was that DDs were much more likely to land well than DS’ app.

DS’ first draft which he thought was perfect was observational, philosophical and persuasive to his statement but was not about himself. He was answering the prompts and questions very academically. I’m sure if the department head was reading them, he would be selected immediately. There was no way this would land with a mid twenties or thirties reader looking at a rubric. His school guidance/college counselor said oh these are lovely. I sent him to his AP English teacher and she told him no way. You have to flip the questions to write about you. DS struggled with this. His next attempt was too beating around the bush, his next attempt he felt sounded arrogant. He finally nailed it. His original was 100% more beautifully written and included deeper analysis. This is the essay to turn in when you are admitted and in class. The final one was far better for the readers. He did very well.

Boys have a harder time writing about themselves, expressing emotion and hitting the right tone. It’s far more likely that a woman will be reading it. As readers spend very little time on each app, nailing tone is very important.

There’s a lot of truth there, but it kind of contradicts the “be authentic” mantra. Honestly, I think the readers should understand and value such differences more. Forcing an act to get into college is a sad, even damaging, lesson at such an impressionable age.

Soon some schools will resort to AI readers, and they just might be more objective.

[Anonymous]

ED is the way to go, IMO. My biggest regret is making our youngest daughter apply to many national and local scholarships. The national ones were too hard with her stats to ever get, and the local ones are won by the same three kids from her class. Complete waste of time for her.

The only scholarships she was successful in receiving were the ones from colleges like Syracuse and Kenyon, but unfortunately, even with $30K off they are still $60k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
ED is the way to go, IMO. My biggest regret is making our youngest daughter apply to many national and local scholarships. The national ones were too hard with her stats to ever get, and the local ones are won by the same three kids from her class. Complete waste of time for her.

The only scholarships she was successful in receiving were the ones from colleges like Syracuse and Kenyon, but unfortunately, even with $30K off they are still $60k.

I am confused - are you saying she didn’t apply ED and you regret it? If you were looking for scholarships then ED doesn’t seem logical…? Maybe I’m misunderstanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny so many people are saying they would do ED1/ED2. I wish my kid hadn't locked himself into a sub-Ivy ED. I feel like he would have had better choices if he'd held out.

There can definitely be regrets this way. Our friend’s kid ED’d to Princeton, RD’d to UVA. Waitlisted at both and is going to PSU. She would have almost certainly gotten into UVA ED they very much regret wasting ED on Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Rather than saying I would do things differently, I just have a different perspective now compared to before, after my kids went through school.

1. Don’t worry about small differences in rankings or prestige if the school is generally well known.
2. See if the school is a good fit for you.
3. Location matters.
4. Don’t stick with a major you don’t like—find something you enjoy and do well in it.
5. Study hard, but don’t forget to enjoy your time with other activities.
6. Make good friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny so many people are saying they would do ED1/ED2. I wish my kid hadn't locked himself into a sub-Ivy ED. I feel like he would have had better choices if he'd held out.

There can definitely be regrets this way. Our friend’s kid ED’d to Princeton, RD’d to UVA. Waitlisted at both and is going to PSU. She would have almost certainly gotten into UVA ED they very much regret wasting ED on Princeton.

Why didn't they EA to UVA?