What has surprised you - as your kid comes to the end of this process

[Anonymous]

Don't panic when the deferrals and denials start rolling in early. But DO use this as an opportunity to make sure you apply to enough schools (like 15+ or even 20+ if possible) and a good variety of schools.

My applicant had 7 deferrals/rejections beginning from ED on and then just got into 2 schools that are ranked higher.

It is just so random, especially with top30 schools.

[Anonymous]

I think full pay helped my kid get into all the public schools she applied to, except UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't panic when the deferrals and denials start rolling in early. But DO use this as an opportunity to make sure you apply to enough schools (like 15+ or even 20+ if possible) and a good variety of schools.

My applicant had 7 deferrals/rejections beginning from ED on and then just got into 2 schools that are ranked higher.

It is just so random, especially with top30 schools.

💯

[Anonymous]

Yep.

Reddit is just full of kids like this:

No/waitlist: BC, Wash U, CMU, Notre Dame, UVA,
Yes: JHU

or
No/waitlist: JHU, UCLA, BU, UNC, UVA, MIT
Yes: Michigan

You can jumble these schools up any which way and there are countless examples.

It is very RANDOM at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep.

Reddit is just full of kids like this:

No/waitlist: BC, Wash U, CMU, Notre Dame, UVA,
Yes: JHU

or
No/waitlist: JHU, UCLA, BU, UNC, UVA, MIT
Yes: Michigan

You can jumble these schools up any which way and there are countless examples.

It is very RANDOM at the top.

Is this bc of class shaping? Only some schools need a kid with that profile in RD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep.

Reddit is just full of kids like this:

No/waitlist: BC, Wash U, CMU, Notre Dame, UVA,
Yes: JHU

or
No/waitlist: JHU, UCLA, BU, UNC, UVA, MIT
Yes: Michigan

You can jumble these schools up any which way and there are countless examples.

It is very RANDOM at the top.

Is this bc of class shaping? Only some schools need a kid with that profile in RD?

One you have the stats, a lot of it is about how your essays happen to strike the reader who happens to be assigned to read your application. Which is naturally going to be quite random.

[Anonymous]

This forum FREAKED me out. I thought from reading here that getting into good schools would be impossible. I thought it would be a ton of work for me as a parent.

My son did all of his applications himself. He’s in at Villanova, TN, auburn and CUboulder. He had good but not super impressive stats- 3.7 GPA and 29 act. Private. Lots of varsity letters not no notable hooks or unusual ECs.

Found the hype to me massively overblown about difficulty. He applied to 4 schools and got in to 4 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum FREAKED me out. I thought from reading here that getting into good schools would be impossible. I thought it would be a ton of work for me as a parent.

My son did all of his applications himself. He’s in at Villanova, TN, auburn and CUboulder. He had good but not super impressive stats- 3.7 GPA and 29 act. Private. Lots of varsity letters not no notable hooks or unusual ECs.

Found the hype to me massively overblown about difficulty. He applied to 4 schools and got in to 4 schools.

Yes, the sky-is-falling attitude applies to a tiny fraction of colleges, most of which are sprinkled along the Atlantic coast.

If your ego can handle going to a school in the south, midwest, Rocky Mountain area, the admissions crisis evaporates & you can easily find beautiful colleges with capable professors at affordable prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep.

Reddit is just full of kids like this:

No/waitlist: BC, Wash U, CMU, Notre Dame, UVA,
Yes: JHU

or
No/waitlist: JHU, UCLA, BU, UNC, UVA, MIT
Yes: Michigan

You can jumble these schools up any which way and there are countless examples.

It is very RANDOM at the top.

So, if you apply to enough T50 schools, you'll get accepted to at least one of them. Is that it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I contribute as the parent of a recent college grad and college junior? What I learned is that college flies by and your child can be happy at more than one school. Goodness of fit matters way more than prestige. Also, if your child creates a realistic list that includes multiple targets and safeties, you won’t have to fear being shut out. I don’t know of one single student who was rejected everywhere. As a matter of fact, every student I know has had a choice of where to attend. The only people who seem to be miserable are those who are status conscious. There will never be enough slots at the top schools for every qualified applicant so it’s just a lottery. Accept that fact by freshman year of HS and your child will be far less stressed.

This 1000%.
And those who pick safeties but their kids don't really 'like those schools". It's totally up to you to pick actual safeties your kid would be happy to attend. And yes, even a 1580/4.89647 with excellent ECs can find a good safety. You just have to look beyond prestige as the main driver. Once you do that, your life is easier

Agree in theory, but it’s hard. Have the benefit of looking back now, but my overachiever was not yield protected at safeties and targets so wonder how true that really is. Got into top schools, and the waitlists came from the schools that don’t like to be backup for ivies/t10. They were never going to be happy with a safety, but would have made peace with free. Not saying it’s right, but some just aren’t going to be able to be truly happy at a safety and want to be pushed by their peers in that environment.

Not being truly happy at a safety is one things, but there are a couple hundred schools where a high stats kid can find a similarly driven academic peer group.

DP - Examples? Curious if we’re missing out on anything.

DP. St Olaf is an absolute gem, and under most folks’ radar.

See this comment at least once a week on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I contribute as the parent of a recent college grad and college junior? What I learned is that college flies by and your child can be happy at more than one school. Goodness of fit matters way more than prestige. Also, if your child creates a realistic list that includes multiple targets and safeties, you won’t have to fear being shut out. I don’t know of one single student who was rejected everywhere. As a matter of fact, every student I know has had a choice of where to attend. The only people who seem to be miserable are those who are status conscious. There will never be enough slots at the top schools for every qualified applicant so it’s just a lottery. Accept that fact by freshman year of HS and your child will be far less stressed.

This 1000%.
And those who pick safeties but their kids don't really 'like those schools". It's totally up to you to pick actual safeties your kid would be happy to attend. And yes, even a 1580/4.89647 with excellent ECs can find a good safety. You just have to look beyond prestige as the main driver. Once you do that, your life is easier

Agree in theory, but it’s hard. Have the benefit of looking back now, but my overachiever was not yield protected at safeties and targets so wonder how true that really is. Got into top schools, and the waitlists came from the schools that don’t like to be backup for ivies/t10. They were never going to be happy with a safety, but would have made peace with free. Not saying it’s right, but some just aren’t going to be able to be truly happy at a safety and want to be pushed by their peers in that environment.

Not being truly happy at a safety is one things, but there are a couple hundred schools where a high stats kid can find a similarly driven academic peer group.

DP - Examples? Curious if we’re missing out on anything.

Every single state flagships will have a group of highly academic, top achieving kids.

Exactly. What many people in the DMV don’t understand is that in most states, most of the smartest high school seniors AREN'T poring over spreadsheets filled with info on top-30 schools, & they aren’t applying to 15 colleges.

They might apply to 3 or 4 schools, but they usually have no intention of attending anywhere but their state’s flagship or another good in-state option, like Michigan/Mich State, Indiana/Purdue, Colorado/Colorado State, Arizona/Arizona State.

[Anonymous]

No, you DO NOT need to apply to 15-20 schools, what a waste of time and money. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 targets, and 2 safetys your kid would be happy attending. No more needed if you are being realistic about chances

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, you DO NOT need to apply to 15-20 schools, what a waste of time and money. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 targets, and 2 safetys your kid would be happy attending. No more needed if you are being realistic about chances

Disagree, I think it really depends on various factors. If we had a do-over, applied to way too many safeties and targets. Got in all and were rejected shortly after it was clear wouldn’t attend. No regrets on lots of reaches and glad there were a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, you DO NOT need to apply to 15-20 schools, what a waste of time and money. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 targets, and 2 safetys your kid would be happy attending. No more needed if you are being realistic about chances

Disagree, I think it really depends on various factors. If we had a do-over, applied to way too many safeties and targets. Got in all and were rejected shortly after it was clear wouldn’t attend. No regrets on lots of reaches and glad there were a lot.

Same. Had we not had all of those reaches, wouldn't have great options....some were late additions.

[Anonymous]

That it matters how much your high school has a recent history of being “liked” by a college. No matter if the stats and the application are great, if the college doesn’t traditionally take many or any from your school, it is that much harder. Not a deal breaker but helps to set expectations