Lessons learned so far: 2024-2025

[Anonymous]

you guys act like most kids get in ED. Most kids get in RD. and if you're not an athlete, change most to the vast majority

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People stress too much about this stuff. Why not just apply to your state flagship and a few directionals? Maybe Duke if your smart. That's what we did back in the 90s. Everyone turned out fine.

Because neither of my kids wanted a school with 15-20K+ undergrads. Because they wanted a school that is great at actual teaching, great at helping kids find jobs and internships, great at getting kids into PHD programs (if that is your next path).

And no, that is not what "we all did back in the 90s". I was poor, but I researched the heck out of schools and found the right ones for me. Then again, I wanted CS/Engineering and Music performance, so those are unique and not many schools are tops in both or actually encourage/allow you to pursue these successfully. I didn't apply to any VA schools back then, because while VaTech would have been good for the STEM, it is not a Music Performance school. I ended up at a Top 10 university, with a T5 music program and a T20 CS/Engineering program with tons of Financial Aid.

[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.

did your school's data show you anything in retrospect? was it truly a longshot? too much in-school competition?
Our private's CCO would have advised an ED1 to a school like Vanderbilt, Rice, WashU, Emory (with ED2 to another) for someone that they KNEW would be a longshot to T10.

Agree. I don’t believe ED is a “crapshoot” if you know what you’re doing.

Applying ED to schools that only accept 1-2k students of course will be a long shot (even if your stats are phenomenal). But if you apply to a school that accepts 5-6k students AND your kid has above the 75% for stats, then your kid has a great chance of acceptance.

It has nothing to do with "how many students the school accepts". It has everything to do with the Acceptance rate! If you apply to a Reach for ED, that means acceptance rates below 20% (most are in the 3-10%), then it is a long shot for almost everyone, because everyone is "top stats/great resume".

SO it can be 1K or 10K students they accept, but if they are only accepting 3-10%, it's a crap shoot for almost everyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED golden era is Dec 20-Jan 20th.

Starting mid February and beyond, a lot of kids sour on that Wash U (etc) ED decision.

This thread is within the golden era .. just read it as such. Lots of kids get into T20 schools during RD. Feelings shifts.

Fair point. Lots of kids get into schools RD and have exciting options to weigh in the spring. ED is still your best bet though if applying to a competitive school that your kid has their heart set on.

And do NOT ED to a school if it is not your kid's top choice. Or if your kid really really wants to hear from all choices before making a decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED golden era is Dec 20-Jan 20th.

Starting mid February and beyond, a lot of kids sour on that Wash U (etc) ED decision.

This thread is within the golden era .. just read it as such. Lots of kids get into T20 schools during RD. Feelings shifts.

Are you saying that kids regret their ED decisions? Because I can see it going a different way (i.e., finding out that students are shut out of schools that take 50% or more of their kids in the early round).

It can go both ways - you'll see that here.

For high stats kids, I see more of them regretting their decisions. A step below high stats, relief about their ED

I think this process is so fraught that there's going to be doubts no matter what you do. My kid ED'ed to their top choice and got in, then wondered later if they should have reached higher (to a HYPSM where they were a legacy). Kid made the choice to ED to the school that was far and away their top choice and the best fit, was thrilled to get in, but STILL had a few pangs of doubt.

It all worked out. Kid is now a super happy first year at the ED school. I don't think the HYPSM would have been as good a fit even if kid had gone for it and gotten in.

[Anonymous]

Visit cold weather schools in winter. One thing to think you like cold weather, another to be standing outside with n Ann Arbor waiting for bus to take you from engineering campus to the athletic center.
Similarly, visit Rice in September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of an edge case—but when looking at undergrad business programs, it's very important to consider whether students are accepted into and matriculate as freshmen directly into the business school.

In my experience, many students and parents don’t understand this, and our private school counselors also failed to mention it as a major consideration. My concern was: what if DC gets sick, has a bad freshman semester, etc., but chose the school based on the business major—then ends up getting rejected from the B-school and is forced to choose another major? UGA Terry was one of those schools. Great B-school, but only a 40% acceptance rate. DC just wasn’t really willing to roll the dice with other great options where they matriculated as an incoming freshman. Now a happy freshman already taking core classes in a great undergrad business school!

Where did they go? DS at UGA and better get into Terry. He passed up a lot of direct admit. He couldn't be happier so it's fine

[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.

How far down she'll fall? Do you hear yourself?!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If doing music supplements, start them early and check the requirements!! Some schools require certain pieces, some do not. Some require music to be memorized, some do not.

+1 Some independent counselors can help with this. Ours did

[Anonymous]

I wish I had not worried so much about certain EC's that I had to pay through the nose for.

[Anonymous]

Take a good hard look at your finances and if your kid needs merit, the likelihood they will get it at the schools on their list. Recommend looking at each school's CDS and sites like Road2College's Compare Offers: https://compareoffers.road2college.com/

We let DC apply to a few schools where merit was possible but not widespread along with financial targets but made it clear what our budget is. I wish there were more targets that DC liked though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of an edge case—but when looking at undergrad business programs, it's very important to consider whether students are accepted into and matriculate as freshmen directly into the business school.

In my experience, many students and parents don’t understand this, and our private school counselors also failed to mention it as a major consideration. My concern was: what if DC gets sick, has a bad freshman semester, etc., but chose the school based on the business major—then ends up getting rejected from the B-school and is forced to choose another major? UGA Terry was one of those schools. Great B-school, but only a 40% acceptance rate. DC just wasn’t really willing to roll the dice with other great options where they matriculated as an incoming freshman. Now a happy freshman already taking core classes in a great undergrad business school!

This applies to all majors. There are plenty of great schools, where 99% of the majors are open TO ANYONE. None of this direct admit or you will never get in to engineering/CS/business/STEm majors. Choose wisely. Given that many kids do switch majors, much easier to be at a school where they can easily do this.
Given that many who switch out of Engineering (Because it's too hard/not their thing) go to Business majors, but that needs to be a viable option at their school.

The Your College Bound Kid podcast recently had an episode on how different schools deal with majors: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-college-bound-kid-admission-tips-admission-trends/id1349060136?i=1000682820473

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of an edge case—but when looking at undergrad business programs, it's very important to consider whether students are accepted into and matriculate as freshmen directly into the business school.

In my experience, many students and parents don’t understand this, and our private school counselors also failed to mention it as a major consideration. My concern was: what if DC gets sick, has a bad freshman semester, etc., but chose the school based on the business major—then ends up getting rejected from the B-school and is forced to choose another major? UGA Terry was one of those schools. Great B-school, but only a 40% acceptance rate. DC just wasn’t really willing to roll the dice with other great options where they matriculated as an incoming freshman. Now a happy freshman already taking core classes in a great undergrad business school!

This applies to all majors. There are plenty of great schools, where 99% of the majors are open TO ANYONE. None of this direct admit or you will never get in to engineering/CS/business/STEm majors. Choose wisely. Given that many kids do switch majors, much easier to be at a school where they can easily do this.
Given that many who switch out of Engineering (Because it's too hard/not their thing) go to Business majors, but that needs to be a viable option at their school.

The Your College Bound Kid podcast recently had an episode on how different schools deal with majors: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-college-bound-kid-admission-tips-admission-trends/id1349060136?i=1000682820473

So, I just listened to this. Is it my imagination or did he not finish the quote from the VT AO? Starting around 37:08. "So here's the quote: 'Here at Virginia Tech, you're going to hear me talk a lot about major specifically. The reason I say that is because major specifically is very important here at Virginia Tech.' Now don't miss this line. This is probably one of the key points I want you to take away after today. Now don't miss the final line. And if you take anything away, it should be this. So hopefully you found this helpful...etc."

I thought he was winding up to tell us the final line. It felt awkward after that. Was the final line edited out? Or was the final line simply that major is very important at VT?

[Anonymous]

Some admissions staff drop a very specific hints about what to include in essays if you pay enough attention. If you reach out to them directly they might provide more.

UMD CMNS college (the one with CS) dropped a hint at any admissions event about mentioning something in the application. I followed up using an anonymous email account and asked for more details and they gave us pretty much word for word what to say in the Additional Information section to indicate a real interest in CS.

VA Tech emphasized over and over again how important they view service to be and dropped hints to emphasize it in the essay.

[Anonymous]

The person reading essays is likely a liberal millennial and has a high chance of being female. Cater your essays accordingly.