If money was no object, what would you do?
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Anonymous
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Nope - it was my school’s parent night in September and the UVA person’s exact point was “Don’t worry, we know things are different because of COVID so we don’t expect you to visit or do things in person. BUT you have more access now than ever to admissions officers so we expect you to have more contact with us now.”
Not spreading false rumors. |
Anonymous
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People who think colleges didn’t expect students to visit during the summer are kidding themselves. Some colleges don’t really care though but some highly selective ones care a lot.
Also, for most colleges the “optional” interview is not really optional. You should have your kid interview unless they are truly stellar or have a hook already. |
Anonymous
ED2 deadline is Jan. 1 so there is still time to switch the application. Contact your area's admissions rep ASAP. Ours was very responsive when DD had a question. I agree that regardless of whether or not you can pay more, W&M and UVA are hard to beat for value if you are in-state. DD would have liked to try for schools she views as more prestigious, but she didn't quite have the stats and we would have had to take out loans. She will be attending W&M (accepted ED1) and it's been a little tough for her watching friends get into Ivies (though more got rejected), but I am happy that she will graduate debt-free. |
Anonymous
I will talk to the kid and see what they think. Having not visited in person, applying ED seems a little bit scary. But you are right. The Haverfords, Swarthmores, Browns..even if they get in, would be a financial reach. The Ursinus, Allegheny would be cheaper than W&M but in terms of prestige/education, W&M seems stronger. Do you think with their stats, a RD admit is a stretch? Her counselor seemed to think they would be able to get in. 😬 |
Anonymous
Ok folks, so here's your choice. You can follow written advice given first hand and time and again from UVA's admissions office, or you can go with an alleged quote from an unnamed "UVA person" as reported by an anonymous poster on DCUM. I know which one I'm going with. I should add that this alleged quote, even if accurately stated, is subject to multiple interpretations and certainly doesn't mean that UVA has suddenly decided that demonstrated interest now matters. My reading is that the "UVA person" was simply reassuring applicants that they shouldn't hesitate to contact admissions officers on line with questions or concerns that in previous years might have been addressed on a on campus visit. I know which one I'm going with. |
Anonymous
It's the opposite, actually. Highly selective colleges care less rather than more about demonstrated interest because they have plenty of applicants. Sigh. |
Anonymous
| DCUM is such a skewed perspective. Yeah, Ivies+ schools care less. Selective can mean a lot lower tier than that. Like, surprisingly, Wisconsin says it counts demonstrated interest. |
Anonymous
Agree with you that some incredibly selective colleges do care about DI. Wisconsin’s CDS says it did not consider demonstrated interest. Has that changed? |
Anonymous
| I'd go to a religious school....Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College. Morals and compassion are lacking these days. |
Anonymous
Aren't some of the people who may be most in need already profess to their religiosity? |
Anonymous
W&M cares a lot about demonstrated interest. ED is the single best way to demonstrate interest. That's a big reason why W&M's ED acceptance rates historically are so much higher than RD. You do the math. |
Anonymous
+1. Our NOVA HS counselor was blunt: our white/Asian DD stood a decent chance at WM ED w/ just over a 4.0W and a 34 ACT. And almost no chance RD. And she is in ED. Thank goodness. Her friend, a white/Asian female is just under a 4.2W, 1460 SAT and got the same advice. Low match ED, low reach RD. My sense is that WM really wants kids who want it, and not kids who are settling after not getting into UVA. We visited for a special interest forum, and admissions said clearly that they look for interviews (although it may be too late now for seniors— juniors— do it next summer!). And the “optional” essay is not optional. Kids were already on campus, so they didn’t discuss visiting, but I’d be sure to at least sign up for a virtual tour and admission session. But no, OP, I would not have your kid ED. Your kid has to be able to live with the ED commitment, so they need to have visited campus if at all possible, gotten a feel for the school, interacted with the school and feel like they’ll be comfortable there. And preferably been able to visit and rule out other contenders. Although, if you wait until April, that’s a lot of visiting. Plus, I had a 2020 grad. And Grinnell was a top choice. But it’s near nothing else and not easy to get to, so we waited for a decision and said we’d visit over spring break. Then COVID. He was admitted with merit, but was not able to visit. And we weren’t going to send him to rural Iowa without a visit. So, it came off the table, which was disappointing. The past two years should have taught us to to assume colleges will welcome visitors in the spring. For the past two years, most haven’t. |
Anonymous
One negative I can’t pronounce “Ursinus” . |
Anonymous
Thanks. It's surprising when admit rate is some 45% for in state regular decision that it is such a stretch still for so many kids. Ugh. Mine is 1460 sat and above 4w gpa and many APS, governor's language academy and top 10% of class. They are not white, also not Asian. Not sure it they helps or hurts. Ha. If we can get in a visit before Jan 1, might switch to ED but otherwise just hope for the best. |
Anonymous
Same. It's err-sin-nus and not Uranus. My kid was annoyed when I said uranus. |