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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised how statistically hard it is to get into a top 30-40 college now. When my husband got into MIT in the 90s, admission rate was somewhere between 25-30%. Now, for our daughter to get into Tufts the admission rate is 10% - so it's much, much harder statistically than it was for her father to get into MIT (which has gone down to a 4-5% admission rate today). And even getting into Skidmore now (23% admission rate) is about statistically the same difficulty as my husband getting into MIT when he did.

We're just floored. There are more applicants to each school and spots are not rising with demand. Everything is harder. We absolutely need to stop focusing on top10-20 as even top 40-50 is too hard now.

Maybe we should be focusing on the top 100 the way we used to focus on top 20, and top 50 the way we used to focus on top 10.

I hate it here.

* adding bold to clarify my earlier comment.

My daughter's top choice is Tufts. She is a junior now and I would have thought it would be a target for her, as she's a high performer and done extremely well in school and on the SAT practice tests. But our school-based counselor is telling us it will be a reach, even with ED (where they take less than half the class).

search here for Tufts.
Lots of good intel for those essays (create a Google doc and paste all of that intel there to parse through); demonstrated interest (even with ED) is super important.

Thank you, that's very helpful to know, and I will do this!

Good old threads:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1261136.page
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1318490.page

Here's some intel that I saved - and read the Tufts Admissions Blogs!!! Its SOOO helpful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tufts/comments/1noxxtu/current_tufts_students_need_your_help/
https://socratespost.com/interviews/tufts-admissions-interview/
https://www.admitadvantage.com/blog/how-to-get-into-tufts-your-university-application-strategy/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tufts/comments/kkd9kt/hey_prospective_students/
https://www.ivyscholars.com/tufts-university-guide/

AO are looking for "love of learning and spark"; 2 rounds of Early Decision (roughly 50% of the freshmen class comes in through ED); test optional (was) real for a long period of time. Try to avoid these oversubscribed majors: Engineering [Computer Science] - 19% of students are in engineering; Economics; Psychology; International Relations; Sciences.

[Anonymous]

I am so thankful to DD that she wanted to ED to somewhere she had good stats for and the process wasn’t that bad and has been basically over for us since December.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised how statistically hard it is to get into a top 30-40 college now. When my husband got into MIT in the 90s, admission rate was somewhere between 25-30%. Now, for our daughter to get into Tufts the admission rate is 10% - so it's much, much harder statistically than it was for her father to get into MIT (which has gone down to a 4-5% admission rate today). And even getting into Skidmore now (23% admission rate) is about statistically the same difficulty as my husband getting into MIT when he did.

We're just floored. There are more applicants to each school and spots are not rising with demand. Everything is harder. We absolutely need to stop focusing on top10-20 as even top 40-50 is too hard now.

Maybe we should be focusing on the top 100 the way we used to focus on top 20, and top 50 the way we used to focus on top 10.

I hate it here.

* adding bold to clarify my earlier comment.

My daughter's top choice is Tufts. She is a junior now and I would have thought it would be a target for her, as she's a high performer and done extremely well in school and on the SAT practice tests. But our school-based counselor is telling us it will be a reach, even with ED (where they take less than half the class).

search here for Tufts.
Lots of good intel for those essays (create a Google doc and paste all of that intel there to parse through); demonstrated interest (even with ED) is super important.

Thank you, that's very helpful to know, and I will do this!

Good old threads:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1261136.page
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1318490.page

Here's some intel that I saved - and read the Tufts Admissions Blogs!!! Its SOOO helpful:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tufts/comments/1noxxtu/current_tufts_students_need_your_help/
https://socratespost.com/interviews/tufts-admissions-interview/
https://www.admitadvantage.com/blog/how-to-get-into-tufts-your-university-application-strategy/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tufts/comments/kkd9kt/hey_prospective_students/
https://www.ivyscholars.com/tufts-university-guide/

AO are looking for "love of learning and spark"; 2 rounds of Early Decision (roughly 50% of the freshmen class comes in through ED); test optional (was) real for a long period of time. Try to avoid these oversubscribed majors: Engineering [Computer Science] - 19% of students are in engineering; Economics; Psychology; International Relations; Sciences.

OMG, thank you!!

[Anonymous]

What surprised me (and disappointed me) most was the stress at the very end. our kid had a great outcome, but despite having several GREAT options going into the end of March, all of the most exclusive schools + Ivy come out in that last wave, and kids can easily get rejected from everything. Then it just leaves a kids disappointed. So the strategy is right (have a few good options early), it just feels like a system that is guaranteed to make kids feel bad. Seems wrong for their mental health

[Anonymous]

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.

I'm getting ready to send my last child off to college, and my first is getting ready to graduate. I agree with this 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised how statistically hard it is to get into a top 30-40 college now. When my husband got into MIT in the 90s, admission rate was somewhere between 25-30%. Now, for our daughter to get into Tufts the admission rate is 10% - so it's much, much harder statistically than it was for her father to get into MIT (which has a 4-5% admission rate). And even getting into Skidmore now (23% admission rate) is about statistically the same difficulty as my husband getting into MIT when he did.

We're just floored. There are more applicants to each school and spots are not rising with demand. Everything is harder. We absolutely need to stop focusing on top10-20 as even top 40-50 is too hard now.

Maybe we should be focusing on the top 100 the way we used to focus on top 20, and top 50 the way we used to focus on top 10.

I hate it here.

It’s these types of parents who are miserable during this process. Open up your mind and there is a whole big world of great schools out there. Setting your sights too high has a large “failure” rate.

[Anonymous]

First my kid aimed for the most prestigious school they thought they had a chance of admittance (50%), and was accepted.

They ended up commiting to a school with a 75% acceptance rate with a highly ranked program for their major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised how statistically hard it is to get into a top 30-40 college now. When my husband got into MIT in the 90s, admission rate was somewhere between 25-30%. Now, for our daughter to get into Tufts the admission rate is 10% - so it's much, much harder statistically than it was for her father to get into MIT (which has a 4-5% admission rate). And even getting into Skidmore now (23% admission rate) is about statistically the same difficulty as my husband getting into MIT when he did.

We're just floored. There are more applicants to each school and spots are not rising with demand. Everything is harder. We absolutely need to stop focusing on top10-20 as even top 40-50 is too hard now.

Maybe we should be focusing on the top 100 the way we used to focus on top 20, and top 50 the way we used to focus on top 10.

I hate it here.

For the standard high stats kid, the cutoff seems to be at the T30 mark. schools in the T30-50 range seem quite a bit easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised how statistically hard it is to get into a top 30-40 college now. When my husband got into MIT in the 90s, admission rate was somewhere between 25-30%. Now, for our daughter to get into Tufts the admission rate is 10% - so it's much, much harder statistically than it was for her father to get into MIT (which has a 4-5% admission rate). And even getting into Skidmore now (23% admission rate) is about statistically the same difficulty as my husband getting into MIT when he did.

We're just floored. There are more applicants to each school and spots are not rising with demand. Everything is harder. We absolutely need to stop focusing on top10-20 as even top 40-50 is too hard now.

Maybe we should be focusing on the top 100 the way we used to focus on top 20, and top 50 the way we used to focus on top 10.

I hate it here.

For the standard high stats kid, the cutoff seems to be at the T30 mark. schools in the T30-50 range seem quite a bit easier.

This was our experience this year too. But I’m not sure it’s true for schools like Tufts that seem to play a lot of games with ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised how statistically hard it is to get into a top 30-40 college now. When my husband got into MIT in the 90s, admission rate was somewhere between 25-30%. Now, for our daughter to get into Tufts the admission rate is 10% - so it's much, much harder statistically than it was for her father to get into MIT (which has a 4-5% admission rate). And even getting into Skidmore now (23% admission rate) is about statistically the same difficulty as my husband getting into MIT when he did.

We're just floored. There are more applicants to each school and spots are not rising with demand. Everything is harder. We absolutely need to stop focusing on top10-20 as even top 40-50 is too hard now.

Maybe we should be focusing on the top 100 the way we used to focus on top 20, and top 50 the way we used to focus on top 10.

I hate it here.

For the standard high stats kid, the cutoff seems to be at the T30 mark. schools in the T30-50 range seem quite a bit easier.

This was our experience this year too. But I’m not sure it’s true for schools like Tufts that seem to play a lot of games with ED.

Tufts takes fewer than 50% ED (maybe it’s 49% tho haha) and 75% of admitted students submitted test scores this year. They do definitely value collaborative/intellectual fit & demonstrated interest tho.

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised most still haven’t learned from the tragedies of teenage suicides resulted from not getting in the Ivies and still normalize the drama of teenagers not getting in their dream college.

[Anonymous]

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.

I'm getting ready to send my last child off to college, and my first is getting ready to graduate. I agree with this 100%.

I can piggy back off this as the mom of a freshman daughter who is about to finish her first year.
My daughter and her friends all have big gripes about their schools. None are overwhelmingly happy--whether they're at an Ivy, other top20, UVA, other state school, liberal arts college, etc.
It's hard being a teen in the era of social media and the era of WAY inflated expectations for college and finding your perfect fit and having the time of your life.

Everyone my daughter knows is still trying to find their life-long, close friends, no one is dating, everyone is struggling with the competition that is inherent in everything on a college campus in 2026.
Parents whose kids are not are either very lucky or aren't getting the real picture from their kids.

For this reason, help your kid pick a school and don't stress too much over which school it is. Nowhere is perfect and it's all kind of hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First my kid aimed for the most prestigious school they thought they had a chance of admittance (50%), and was accepted.

They ended up commiting to a school with a 75% acceptance rate with a highly ranked program for their major.

50% based on Scoir?

[Anonymous]

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.

I'm getting ready to send my last child off to college, and my first is getting ready to graduate. I agree with this 100%.

I can piggy back off this as the mom of a freshman daughter who is about to finish her first year.
My daughter and her friends all have big gripes about their schools. None are overwhelmingly happy--whether they're at an Ivy, other top20, UVA, other state school, liberal arts college, etc.
It's hard being a teen in the era of social media and the era of WAY inflated expectations for college and finding your perfect fit and having the time of your life.

Everyone my daughter knows is still trying to find their life-long, close friends, no one is dating, everyone is struggling with the competition that is inherent in everything on a college campus in 2026.
Parents whose kids are not are either very lucky or aren't getting the real picture from their kids.

For this reason, help your kid pick a school and don't stress too much over which school it is. Nowhere is perfect and it's all kind of hard.

Wow. I have a 2024 son- college sophomore at an Ivy and he and all of his friends are happy with choices. My son is loving it. Not feeling that completion and made some really great friends, involved in a lot.

He deleted social media off his phone this year.

[Anonymous]

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.

I'm getting ready to send my last child off to college, and my first is getting ready to graduate. I agree with this 100%.

I can piggy back off this as the mom of a freshman daughter who is about to finish her first year.
My daughter and her friends all have big gripes about their schools. None are overwhelmingly happy--whether they're at an Ivy, other top20, UVA, other state school, liberal arts college, etc.
It's hard being a teen in the era of social media and the era of WAY inflated expectations for college and finding your perfect fit and having the time of your life.

Everyone my daughter knows is still trying to find their life-long, close friends, no one is dating, everyone is struggling with the competition that is inherent in everything on a college campus in 2026.
Parents whose kids are not are either very lucky or aren't getting the real picture from their kids.

For this reason, help your kid pick a school and don't stress too much over which school it is. Nowhere is perfect and it's all kind of hard.

+1 No place is perfect for anyone, and social media is in part responsible for kids’ inflated expectations of what college “should” be like. Parents can also be reluctant to talk about the harder stuff. There’s that unspoken pressure to tell most people that their kids are just loving college when people ask. College is a huge adjustment and an even harder adjustment now with the social isolation caused by phones/internet/Grub Hub and the competition to get into a lot of things on campus.