ED strategy

[Anonymous]

School sneed to get rid of ED. etc. There should be one pool of applications all due on the same day. This gamesmanship is unhealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s clear on one college admissions thread after another than Big 3 parents are truly unhinged. You know what else was “just talk?” That there was a pizza parlor in NW that was a cover for a pedophile ring. That the election was stolen. Etc.

Chitter chatter among your privileged children that then arrives to you is a very unreliable source as to who is applying where to college, who is applying ED, and who has what grades, test scores and legacy status. You all need to chill out and worry about your own kid.

The simple fact is this: multiple kids from the same high school often apply to the same colleges, and you’re never going to know how many and what their numbers are. Many colleges fill up a large proportion of their entering classes with ED admits. If your kid is well within the zone for a particular college with their stats, and you are full pay, you have as good as chance as any applicant at getting in ED regardless of whether somebody else in your kid’s class has better numbers. They’ll get in, too.

Seriously, Big 3 posters, doesn’t all of your constant competing exhaust you? What are you going to do to fill your time when the kids are gone?

Wow, this is a lot of accusation to place someone you never met with the pizza gate folks. Please be careful, I knew people at a comet that evening.

I am OP, whose kid attends a “big 3” (object to that term, for the record) and my original post was how my kid was staying in their lane and wondered if others would do so too… and I read this thread that most do, within reason. I also appreciated other perspectives like the Yale/Swarthmore poster who reminded me that other kids may have preferences and experiences which lead them to do things differently.

My take on message boards is you can’t categorize a group of people on a few anecdotes, and each post is a few sentences removed from real life. I try to give posters the benefit of the doubt, including you, who I am hoping is trying to provide perspective to others.

(I also want to add, as for competing, my kid helped others applying to same school with their common applications. Kids also routinely proof each other’s essays. So please don’t assume they all have some competitive mindset.)

Ha ha ok. So nice of your kid to help other underprivileged Big 3 kids with their common applications and essays. I’m sure they really needed the help, and that your kid is the best among them and uniquely qualified to do so.

I mean, c’mon now.

I'm not OP but huh?? Kids help each other all the time, working with a trusted classmates to read each others essays. This is especially true for independent-minded kids that don't want a parent involved and who discover that the college counselors can only do so much with essay help. There are just too many essays for counselors to read to give really meaningful feedback (especially to a high stats kid that already writes well) and the counselors rarely know the kids as well as their friends know them in terms of getting a "read on authenticity" of the essay. This PP's statement had nothing to do with helping underprivileged kids in their class. It had to do with trust and being part of a friend community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this should absolutely play a role in where you ED. If there are 10 other kids from your school applying there, and 3 are legacies and 2 are recruited athletes, move on. You're highly unlikely to get in!

At small privates, kids should ask counselor how many others in class are applying. Beyond that, kids talk. This isn't hard to figure out, especially the recruited athlete part. I'm sure big schools are different.

The counselors would never divulge this sort of information at Sidwell.

And to the question earlier about how parents know at Sidwell. I have no clue who is applying anywhere and don't know much about other kids at all. But that Brown incident last year was such drama (on many levels) that I have heard about it from multiple parents and and kids. (plus on DCUM).

Obviously, the counselor wouldn't divulge WHO is applying, just approximate number. Schools that don't do this (apparently, Sidwell and NCS) are idiotic. Could very well have avoided the Brown problem at Sidwell last year.

You can't avoid it when there are enough alumni parents whose kids believe using that legacy is their best shot, or because a particular school, in this case, Brown, was by far and away, the top choice.

Also, if a school does this, then is it fair to the kid who has Tufts or Haverford instead of Brown or Swarthmore respectively, as their top choice?

Ultimately, the kids make their decisions, and it really doesn't matter if there are 0, 3 or 12 classmates applying to the same place.

So, bottom line, you would prefer to make the choice be made based on less information rather than more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this should absolutely play a role in where you ED. If there are 10 other kids from your school applying there, and 3 are legacies and 2 are recruited athletes, move on. You're highly unlikely to get in!

At small privates, kids should ask counselor how many others in class are applying. Beyond that, kids talk. This isn't hard to figure out, especially the recruited athlete part. I'm sure big schools are different.

The counselors would never divulge this sort of information at Sidwell.

And to the question earlier about how parents know at Sidwell. I have no clue who is applying anywhere and don't know much about other kids at all. But that Brown incident last year was such drama (on many levels) that I have heard about it from multiple parents and and kids. (plus on DCUM).

Obviously, the counselor wouldn't divulge WHO is applying, just approximate number. Schools that don't do this (apparently, Sidwell and NCS) are idiotic. Could very well have avoided the Brown problem at Sidwell last year.

I used to think it would be helpful to know this sort of information, but the problem is, it's a moving target. Exactly "when" is it set that they know how many are applying to schools. And if you see a bunch to Brown and they all start to scatter, does it then cascade to another school (or schools)? Also, in sharing this information, does it just favor legacy families who are already getting a leg up? There ARE non-legacy kids that get into these schools. I'm just saying....it would be GREAT to know this sort of information, but I recognize from the other side, it is very complicated and a slippery slope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this should absolutely play a role in where you ED. If there are 10 other kids from your school applying there, and 3 are legacies and 2 are recruited athletes, move on. You're highly unlikely to get in!

At small privates, kids should ask counselor how many others in class are applying. Beyond that, kids talk. This isn't hard to figure out, especially the recruited athlete part. I'm sure big schools are different.

The counselors would never divulge this sort of information at Sidwell.

And to the question earlier about how parents know at Sidwell. I have no clue who is applying anywhere and don't know much about other kids at all. But that Brown incident last year was such drama (on many levels) that I have heard about it from multiple parents and and kids. (plus on DCUM).

Obviously, the counselor wouldn't divulge WHO is applying, just approximate number. Schools that don't do this (apparently, Sidwell and NCS) are idiotic. Could very well have avoided the Brown problem at Sidwell last year.

You can't avoid it when there are enough alumni parents whose kids believe using that legacy is their best shot, or because a particular school, in this case, Brown, was by far and away, the top choice.

Also, if a school does this, then is it fair to the kid who has Tufts or Haverford instead of Brown or Swarthmore respectively, as their top choice?

Ultimately, the kids make their decisions, and it really doesn't matter if there are 0, 3 or 12 classmates applying to the same place.

So, bottom line, you would prefer to make the choice be made based on less information rather than more.

Not the PP you are asking - but the problem is - how stable is that information? People can apply wherever they want from home and decide to switch. And who does it benefit? All those Browns could suddenly switch to Dartmouth or Amherst and then you have the same problem at a different school.

[Anonymous]

Certainly true, but that others may change is also information that could be considered. That is is imperfect does not mean that it is worthless. If DC could not decide between Penn and Dartmouth, but knew that 7 class mates were ED at Penn and was unaware of any at Dartmouth, that could help DC decide. Unless this is some school where 8 kids routinely get in to Penne every year.

[Anonymous]

The adjusting pick based on other kids applying strategy works only if your school's college counselor constantly gives you "insider information" that they do not give to other kids.

[Anonymous]

Maybe - but just a straight -" X number of kids want to apply ED1 to Bowdoin right now " need not be inside information.

[Anonymous]

I’m betting at least one of the posters on this thread is that same one who started the “my anxious kid won’t make it two weeks having to wait for his ED decision, how can I help?????” thread.

Parents, please. Reflect on what you’re doing to your kids.