What is wrong with applying to more schools after getting in HYP REA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD had a ‘friend’ who got into Cornell ED but submitted other apps just to see where else she would get in and then brag about it. Just seems unethical.

The high school won't submit transcripts to other colleges once the ED admission happened. So they are wasting their time.

[Anonymous]

Is there really a school she would go to over the REA? Seems like a waste of time and effort, and to what end?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you’re looking for some type of financial aid/full ride scholarship from another school because of not being able to afford your HYP education, then it’s pretty selfish to apply to more, it’s hurting other kids chances.

No it isn't. Students from the same school do not compete against each other for X number of spots. That's why admit numbers vary from year to year.

You clearly don’t know what you are talking about. You are competing against your classmates. Our private school requires you to treat REA acceptance as binding. Why do you think that is?

[Anonymous]

Odd kid who wants to write more ‘why this school’ supplemental essays during their winter break.

[Anonymous]

My DC and another student were accepted to the same REA school this year. Mine has already committed but the other will apply to more. I hope the other one ends up committing to the REA school as I think 2 for 2 early yield will help future applicants from our school and we have siblings applying in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Aren't there financial aid calculators? So your kid would have known prior to applying what to expect and if your family can afford it (this level of school doesn't usually provide merit aid). So that is an excuse to keep going with applications - which absolutely will hurt her classmates. One or two more schools that your kid really really prefers over the EA school (and that didn't offer EA), or a low level school that may offer substantial merit, sure. But widely applying to all the top schools plus Caltech plus Duke plus...? Are you that financially constrained that taking offers away from other students at your school is worth it?

[Anonymous]

Harvard is a pathetically bad investment. It’s a rather mediocre to poor-quality university which masquerades as still-relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD had a ‘friend’ who got into Cornell ED but submitted other apps just to see where else she would get in and then brag about it. Just seems unethical.

The high school won't submit transcripts to other colleges once the ED admission happened. So they are wasting their time.

They will if the EA deadlines are before the ED decisions come out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD had a ‘friend’ who got into Cornell ED but submitted other apps just to see where else she would get in and then brag about it. Just seems unethical.

It is unethical when ED because the students and parents have signed an agreement to commit. This post is about REA which is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard is a pathetically bad investment. It’s a rather mediocre to poor-quality university which masquerades as still-relevant.

Green eyed monster get ahold of you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD had a ‘friend’ who got into Cornell ED but submitted other apps just to see where else she would get in and then brag about it. Just seems unethical.

The high school won't submit transcripts to other colleges once the ED admission happened. So they are wasting their time.

I believe it was REA as OP mentioned HYP. But a couple of years there was this kid on Reddit who applied REA to Harvard and EA to MIT. His school regularly sent kids to Ivies. He was admitted REA to H but deferred and ultimately rejected from MIT. So his counselor did the wrong thing as one cannot apply REA/EA to Harvard and MIT.

Apparently there’s a clearinghouse that tracks these things and if caught, a college can rescind admission. I don’t think Harvard would care even if they found out about it. He stopped posting so not sure what happened but I was watching to see if they would catch it.

[Anonymous]

i dont see anything wrong with it
college is a big decision, kiddo is right for trying to keep options open
plus if the school is yale, no one wants to attend school in a shithole like new haven

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i dont see anything wrong with it
college is a big decision, kiddo is right for trying to keep options open
plus if the school is yale, no one wants to attend school in a shithole like new haven

So why apply SCEA or RD to Yale if they don't like it?

The OPs kid is trophy hunting after her acceptance to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. And the reality of college admissions today at highly selective colleges is that she is killing the chances for her classmates at competitive schools as she keeps applying for sh#ts and giggles with a HYPS admit in her pocket. CalTech? Really?

This is a bad kid with bad parents. And it's no wonder her classmates have turned on her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD received admission to a HYP REA, and is still thinking about sending off applications to the rest of HYPSM, a few more Ivies, and a few T20s (Duke, Caltech, namely). There was a thread here a few days ago complaining about kids who had been accepted early still trying their shot in RD.

With about a week to go for RD, I had a candid discussion with her about whether or not she wants to apply to these schools, since some of her friends are angry with her for continuing to apply.

I personally see nothing wrong with it. You can't "steal" something that nobody has any ownership of, and nobody is entitled to an outcome that hasn’t been decided yet. Admissions aren’t a zero-sum moral exercise; they’re a process with many independent decisions, yield modeling, waitlists, and thousands of variables no applicant controls. Applying RD doesn’t take a seat away from someone else. It simply preserves her right to make an informed choice later, after seeing financial aid, program fit, and personal priorities side by side. Asking an eighteen-year-old to pre-emptively limit her options to soothe others’ anxiety feels misplaced; kindness matters, but so does allowing students to advocate for themselves. If she ultimately chooses the early school, the system reallocates offers accordingly. Until then, she’s doing what the process allows, and what any prudent applicant would do.

She will only apply to schools that she would have interest in attending over her REA acceptance. There's also the added benefit of being able to negotiate aid. Her older sibling also attended a HYPSM and we greatly benefited financially from being able to compare aid offers. We are of course over the moon for her, but don't want her to be alienated by her friends.

Any thoughts?

There is nothing wrong with this, but I would only do it if there's a realistic chance she would pick one of the other schools over the REA. I did this back in the day. Got into a REA in December. It was my top choice but I was not yet certain. Getting in allowed me to pare down my list significantly. I only applied to 2 more - 2 that I would have maybe went to over the REA. In the end, I got into those too and ended up choosing the REA after an overnight visit and more research and thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD received admission to a HYP REA, and is still thinking about sending off applications to the rest of HYPSM, a few more Ivies, and a few T20s (Duke, Caltech, namely). There was a thread here a few days ago complaining about kids who had been accepted early still trying their shot in RD.

With about a week to go for RD, I had a candid discussion with her about whether or not she wants to apply to these schools, since some of her friends are angry with her for continuing to apply.

I personally see nothing wrong with it. You can't "steal" something that nobody has any ownership of, and nobody is entitled to an outcome that hasn’t been decided yet. Admissions aren’t a zero-sum moral exercise; they’re a process with many independent decisions, yield modeling, waitlists, and thousands of variables no applicant controls. Applying RD doesn’t take a seat away from someone else. It simply preserves her right to make an informed choice later, after seeing financial aid, program fit, and personal priorities side by side. Asking an eighteen-year-old to pre-emptively limit her options to soothe others’ anxiety feels misplaced; kindness matters, but so does allowing students to advocate for themselves. If she ultimately chooses the early school, the system reallocates offers accordingly. Until then, she’s doing what the process allows, and what any prudent applicant would do.

She will only apply to schools that she would have interest in attending over her REA acceptance. There's also the added benefit of being able to negotiate aid. Her older sibling also attended a HYPSM and we greatly benefited financially from being able to compare aid offers. We are of course over the moon for her, but don't want her to be alienated by her friends.

Any thoughts?

There is nothing wrong with this, but I would only do it if there's a realistic chance she would pick one of the other schools over the REA. I did this back in the day. Got into a REA in December. It was my top choice but I was not yet certain. Getting in allowed me to pare down my list significantly. I only applied to 2 more - 2 that I would have maybe went to over the REA. In the end, I got into those too and ended up choosing the REA after an overnight visit and more research and thought.

I think this is the right approach. One or two additional schools if a student would truly pick them over the REA. Learning empathy for others and acting accordingly will get a kid far in life.