College counselor aiming too high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Boston landscape I think it pretty similar to competetive suburban public’s but without uva, WM, or UMD cp. wash u is a good suggestion it maybe push for ed. What I want to avoid is the kid thinking he may have a real change at mit/harvard/stanford, blowing his ed shots and then not getting into a wash u or tufts in rd.

Our neighbor here applied ed to brown and was rejected, did a bunch of ea at t50 and hasn’t gotten into a single one. He was deferred from a school ranked 50-60 ea that I think he considered a soft target almost sure thing.

if the student would happily attend a public university, I feel like it’s less of a risk to ED their dream school. They can still apply EA to public universities. They can look at McGill, which is more stats driven, potentially get into an in-state option that includes honors college and possibly merit, and maybe get OOS acceptance to Wisconsin, UGA, UVA etc as well. The kids I know that used their ED on a T15 lottery school didn’t have their ED hopes pan out but they all ended up with a good public school acceptance before RD came out. And in one case the deferral in ED became a RD acceptance.

[Anonymous]

Two questions:

1) Where do the kids from your HS who are similar to your kid go?

2) When you talked to this counselor's references, what did they say about the counselor's advice? Did they feel the counselor was well-informed and honest? Would they hire her/him again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is going to be valedictorian or salutatorian at his competitive public high school in suburban Boston. After hearing horror stories from others, I have been prepping him to use ED wisely, not aim mit etc, and expect to not even get into t20 or most t40 schools rd. We just hired a college counselor who recommending keeping Harvard and Stanford on our teach list. Now he likely won’t Ed to a school like tufts thinking those schools could be possible. He is a full pay white boy and has no hook and lackluster ecs without leadership. Are these schools possible? Is this college counselor leading us to disappointment?

If you trust your outside counselor (and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t since presumably you hired them for their expertise), don’t let your DC ED to someplace that isn’t his first choice. My DC was very tempted to ED0 to UChicago after attending a fully funded summer program there. DC’s high school counselor encouraged them to take the (almost) bird in hand. DC’s outside counselor, whom we trusted much more than the high school counselor, recommended DC shoot their shot at their first choice HYPSM. DC was accepted early, but even if that hadn’t worked out, I’m sure they would’ve landed just fine in RD at another great school. 17 year olds, especially high achieving ones like your DC, shouldn’t operate out of fear.

[Anonymous]

I would ask your independent college counselor, whether or not you have anything to worry about with the DC’s extra curricular profile.

I’ve seen several valedictorians who get into no schools other than several selective flagships and targets because of the lacking narrative. And that may be ok, but just beware and see what you can do there?

[Anonymous]

Perhaps the paid counselor could suggest some last-minute ECs?

[Anonymous]

OP-
First off congratulations, your DC has worked hard which gives him a shot at many colleges and pretty much means he will end up at one of the many fabulous schools he applies to.
As others have pointed out your own HS' placement will be much more informative than anything we can share. Having said that the admission rates at the top tier are tiny and also unpredictable.

I would just caution you against steering him to ED if it isn't what he wants (mine '25 senior really didn't want to, didn't and in the end had Ivy+ options and was thrilled- he did have strong EC's, leadership/awards + GPA and SAT). Tour schools, have him engage with students and content from schools he might want to ED to and where that matters, he might decide to ED. Another very common strategy is to swing for the fences with SCEA/REA application to one of the HYPS and then EDII to UChicago/Rice/Tufts if that doesn't happen. Make sure he understands the risks and opportunities but let the choice be his in the end- he is the one who has to live with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Boston landscape I think it pretty similar to competetive suburban public’s but without uva, WM, or UMD cp. wash u is a good suggestion it maybe push for ed. What I want to avoid is the kid thinking he may have a real change at mit/harvard/stanford, blowing his ed shots and then not getting into a wash u or tufts in rd.

Our neighbor here applied ed to brown and was rejected, did a bunch of ea at t50 and hasn’t gotten into a single one. He was deferred from a school ranked 50-60 ea that I think he considered a soft target almost sure thing.

Curious about this neighbor-how does this happen? Assuming the kid had a reasonable basis for aiming high.

This is happening to kids I know (not in Boston area). Though deferred from highly selective ED, so I think apps are pretty strong. I don't know - some combination of yield protection and the EAs not having supplementals, so there are too many interchangeable apps? Just too many kids applying? It sucks though.

clarifying - in the cases I know, it's not straight rejections (though some), but lots of deferrals from EA.

I think in some (many?) cases the schools just can’t get through all the applications by the EA deadline, so they defer a bunch and read them later.

[Anonymous]

How much are you paying the outside counselor?

[Anonymous]

I agree w the counselor.

Your kid is getting into WashU or Tufts RD (or similar). Why not applying SCEA to something they really want. Plus EA to some flagships.

my unhooked white boy is at yale now. it's not impossible.

I agree you gotta have your kid find a way to weave past ECs into something this summer to make it look like a genuine story. Can be STEM-y, can be public policy, can be whatever. But you need a story.

Top kid at a suburban Boston is no joke. That's Vandy ED at a minimum.

[Anonymous]

I have a senior in DC and two step kids outside boston - one now in college, one a junior. The markets are almost identical in most ways. The kids are not, obviously.

It sounds like you are selling your child short. ED is for a reach. Your kid should be reaching for the stars. Valedictorian should not be wasting it on Tufts fgs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Boston landscape I think it pretty similar to competetive suburban public’s but without uva, WM, or UMD cp. wash u is a good suggestion it maybe push for ed. What I want to avoid is the kid thinking he may have a real change at mit/harvard/stanford, blowing his ed shots and then not getting into a wash u or tufts in rd.

Our neighbor here applied ed to brown and was rejected, did a bunch of ea at t50 and hasn’t gotten into a single one. He was deferred from a school ranked 50-60 ea that I think he considered a soft target almost sure thing.

But this has nothing to do with whether he applies SCEA to HYPS or ED to a T15-30 school, as he could apply EA to the T50-60 schools concurrently. Your neighbor likely is not a high stats kid, or has messed up something in his applications.

[Anonymous]

I bet the college counselor figures out a way to improve the student's ECs. Seriously, this is what they are paid to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet the college counselor figures out a way to improve the student's ECs. Seriously, this is what they are paid to do.

A lot of counselors don't actually do this....and you don't find out until too late. You want someone who does "profile development".....

[Anonymous]

Some schools seem to be more stats driven and others more holistic. They all say they are holistic, but realistically some are more than others. Ask your counselor about this. If your child likes a stats driven public, you could shoot your shot at a Stanford REA and EA the public.

Also carefully read Stanford's REA policy. Students can REA at Stanford, and EA USC as Stanford has made that private exception for USC).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is going to be valedictorian or salutatorian at his competitive public high school in suburban Boston. After hearing horror stories from others, I have been prepping him to use ED wisely, not aim mit etc, and expect to not even get into t20 or most t40 schools rd. We just hired a college counselor who recommending keeping Harvard and Stanford on our teach list. Now he likely won’t Ed to a school like tufts thinking those schools could be possible. He is a full pay white boy and has no hook and lackluster ecs without leadership. Are these schools possible? Is this college counselor leading us to disappointment?

Any updates before ivy day? What level of school your DC got into? Could you report it here?