Lessons learned so far: 2024-2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In RD, it rarely works out for "oversubscribed" majors (CS, engineering, applied math, business, biology or pre-med). It often DOES work out in RD for niche, creative or humanities majors.

Best advice. Be smart parents.
Understand the competition and who your kid is being compared to in RD.
If an oversubscribed major, ED2 is a MUST.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

My kid was also admitted to 3 T20s plus others. No rejections from any school (though had early acceptance so pulled applications and stopped applying). Private school boy with 1540 SAT, three sport athlete and captain and all conference honors, published research, studio art awards, all 5 AP tests. Humanities major with multivariable calculus and highest rigor (did have 1 B+ on transcript). Full pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

NP. Have not read the thread — as I like to read backwards.

My kid was admitted to 2 HYPSM and I will rarely identify them online as it could be easy to dox, especially if I provide stats, etc. I do sometimes post that my kid got into college A and on other posts I mention my kid got into college B if people are asking for specific advice.

So I don’t think the other poster is making up anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

NP. Have not read the thread — as I like to read backwards.

My kid was admitted to 2 HYPSM and I will rarely identify them online as it could be easy to dox, especially if I provide stats, etc. I do sometimes post that my kid got into college A and on other posts I mention my kid got into college B if people are asking for specific advice.

So I don’t think the other poster is making up anything.

Oh also rejected from one HYPSM, WL’ed at the 4th and did not apply to the 5th. Got in EA/RD to all other schools including Michigan. Had a full ride offer as well. These things happen if the kid is good enough and has a bit of luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

Why do you say this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

My kid was also admitted to 3 T20s plus others. No rejections from any school (though had early acceptance so pulled applications and stopped applying). Private school boy with 1540 SAT, three sport athlete and captain and all conference honors, published research, studio art awards, all 5 AP tests. Humanities major with multivariable calculus and highest rigor (did have 1 B+ on transcript). Full pay.

My test optional humanities kid had a great run as well with 4 T20s. Research. National level awards. Private school and full pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

Why do you say this?

The number of HYPSM acceptances on this board exceeds the population of the DMV so whenever I see quick and pat things like "got into the two that they didn't visit and rejected by the ones that they did" my BS meter goes through the roof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

What was the background of this kid who was admitted to 2 of those ivy or +?

Fictional

Why do you say this?

The number of HYPSM acceptances on this board exceeds the population of the DMV so whenever I see quick and pat things like "got into the two that they didn't visit and rejected by the ones that they did" my BS meter goes through the roof.

LOL. Like everything else on this board, it could be true or it could be BS. I tend to look for overall trends more than any specific example.

Also, keep in mind we're not all in the DMV. And many of us have multiple kids who've been through the process. Plus some may be posting about their kids' friends or classmates without specifically saying so. So the pool of kids is much larger than it may seem. Even so, you are wise to take it all with a grain of salt as some may be imaginary.

[Anonymous]

A lot of the posts here are old and likely not in the DMV.

This thread was linked in a national College FB group

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coming from a top private:

-Admission to top schools is MUCH easier for boys than girls. It pretty much SUCKS to be a female applicant in 2025. Boys this year from our school are getting in with stats way below the girls. (I have 2 boys in upcoming admissions years so I don't say this from a point of sour grapes as an only girls mom or anything)

-Being a legacy with parents who are also VIPs or big donors is huge. I mean duh. But wow, it just is.

-ED is such a crap shoot and I'm not sure how to play it best. My kid went for a top10 and lost (deferred) and now I have no idea how far down she'll fall. She's hoping for RD decisions to schools where classmates with GPAs much lower than hers got in ED (like 3.9 RD vs 3.4 ED). What is the right/best way to play ED? I don't know. TBD in our case.

We are seeing the boys have a much easier time than girls this year too.
It’s really hard for girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coming from a top private:

-Admission to top schools is MUCH easier for boys than girls. It pretty much SUCKS to be a female applicant in 2025. Boys this year from our school are getting in with stats way below the girls. (I have 2 boys in upcoming admissions years so I don't say this from a point of sour grapes as an only girls mom or anything)

-Being a legacy with parents who are also VIPs or big donors is huge. I mean duh. But wow, it just is.

-ED is such a crap shoot and I'm not sure how to play it best. My kid went for a top10 and lost (deferred) and now I have no idea how far down she'll fall. She's hoping for RD decisions to schools where classmates with GPAs much lower than hers got in ED (like 3.9 RD vs 3.4 ED). What is the right/best way to play ED? I don't know. TBD in our case.

We are seeing the boys have a much easier time than girls too.
It’s really hard for girls.

We are finding the opposite so far during early rounds at our private. I wonder if it's easier for strong females in the early rounds before spots dry up?

At our school, the ladies cleaned up at ivy-ish schools at our private during REA/ED: Harvard (2), Yale, Princeton, Columbia (4), Dartmouth (2), Stanford (2), Penn, Brown/RISD (dual program), Cornell! The ladies also did well in the next tier of schools (Wellesley, Barnard, WashU, etc.). Not DMV. Small school, only 100 seniors. Boys did fine with mid-tier EDs (BU, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even when schools don't track 'demonstrated interest', they still seem to look for it in supplemental essays. Make sure that supplementals convey deep knowledge of the school. Based on our experience, I think that matters more than schools are wont to convey.

How does one show deep knowledge of the school without turning the supplemental into a Mad Libs-style laundry list (classes, professors, activities)? I feel like the supplemental essay looks formulaic. Can someone post GREAT supplemental essays (why major, why us)?

thank you!

Ours wrote all of their supplementals in a narrative style-similar to how you answer the common app prompt. Got into all their colleges including Princeton. Potentially just luck of the draw, though.

Yes, everyone does this....with a story/hook, you mean? Did your kid not mention any professors, EC, or anything unique to Princeton in the supplementals?

Not a single one. They just talked about aligned values, how they plan to contribute to the world in the future, and tied it into their broader purpose. It made the applications a lot more cohesive.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS was admitted to 2 of HYPSM he applied to but did not visit and rejected from 3 of the HYPSM he did visit.

Among T20 it is pretty much 50/50 for both categories.

Some wisdom here. Visiting colleges during/before the application stage is overrated!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coming from a top private:

-Admission to top schools is MUCH easier for boys than girls. It pretty much SUCKS to be a female applicant in 2025. Boys this year from our school are getting in with stats way below the girls. (I have 2 boys in upcoming admissions years so I don't say this from a point of sour grapes as an only girls mom or anything)

-Being a legacy with parents who are also VIPs or big donors is huge. I mean duh. But wow, it just is.

-ED is such a crap shoot and I'm not sure how to play it best. My kid went for a top10 and lost (deferred) and now I have no idea how far down she'll fall. She's hoping for RD decisions to schools where classmates with GPAs much lower than hers got in ED (like 3.9 RD vs 3.4 ED). What is the right/best way to play ED? I don't know. TBD in our case.

We are seeing the boys have a much easier time than girls too.
It’s really hard for girls.

We are finding the opposite so far during early rounds at our private. I wonder if it's easier for strong females in the early rounds before spots dry up?

At our school, the ladies cleaned up at ivy-ish schools at our private during REA/ED: Harvard (2), Yale, Princeton, Columbia (4), Dartmouth (2), Stanford (2), Penn, Brown/RISD (dual program), Cornell! The ladies also did well in the next tier of schools (Wellesley, Barnard, WashU, etc.). Not DMV. Small school, only 100 seniors. Boys did fine with mid-tier EDs (BU, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, etc.).

What we've seen in our school: ED1/ED2 is more successful for the strongest girls in class, whereas boys clean up in RD/Wait Lists.