JMU - EA Decisions Delayed

[Anonymous]

Someone posted the following on CC:

S got an email from James Madison today that they received 1500 more EA applications than last year and decisions will be delayed until they work through all of the extra paperwork.

Curious if anyone on here received a similar e-mail? DD applied but said she did not get the e-mail.

[Anonymous]

Holy crap, why are kids sending out so many applications? This is getting ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, why are kids sending out so many applications? This is getting ridiculous.

Why? Because it's so much easier since the Commom App came along. For most applications the student just does fills in CA once for all, then only has to tailor the individual colleges' essays and those are only 150-500 words. Some programs call for portfolios in art or supplementals like videos of the student playing an instrument or dancing etc. But the fact that almost all colleges now accept the Common or Coalition applications has driven a big uptick in the numbers of applications colleges are getting. Thus is what em we've heard from admissions officers at every college DC has visited.

Don't act like the Common App is so quick and easy. People act like it's a click of button to apply. It takes hours.

Coalition is a beast to get through.

The common app is pretty easy once your main essay is done. For many schools, there are a handful of logistical questions, some want a 150-200 word “why us”, and a few want more extensive supplements.

My dd is applying to 8 schools. None of them required the grades section on the common app, so that makes it even easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, why are kids sending out so many applications? This is getting ridiculous.

Why? Because it's so much easier since the Commom App came along. For most applications the student just does fills in CA once for all, then only has to tailor the individual colleges' essays and those are only 150-500 words. Some programs call for portfolios in art or supplementals like videos of the student playing an instrument or dancing etc. But the fact that almost all colleges now accept the Common or Coalition applications has driven a big uptick in the numbers of applications colleges are getting. Thus is what em we've heard from admissions officers at every college DC has visited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, why are kids sending out so many applications? This is getting ridiculous.

Why? Because it's so much easier since the Commom App came along. For most applications the student just does fills in CA once for all, then only has to tailor the individual colleges' essays and those are only 150-500 words. Some programs call for portfolios in art or supplementals like videos of the student playing an instrument or dancing etc. But the fact that almost all colleges now accept the Common or Coalition applications has driven a big uptick in the numbers of applications colleges are getting. Thus is what em we've heard from admissions officers at every college DC has visited.

Don't act like the Common App is so quick and easy. People act like it's a click of button to apply. It takes hours.

Coalition is a beast to get through.

[Anonymous]

It's not due to the Common App. It's due to the number of schools that students can safely earmark as being "safeties". Whereas once upon a time a student could earmark 4 or 5 universities and have a good shot at getting into them, now it is much more difficult to pick reaches, and safeties with assurance. Students used to pick 8; many are now going for 12-15. Selectivity ratings keep dropping for all schools every year just because the volume of applications rises every year. More than one million international students entered the U.S. to study here last year taking up slots that used to go to American students. Compound that with an environment in which everyone thinks he or she must attend a four year college and you get hysteria. Now toss in the fact that the privates are going for upwards of $75K a year and you have a lot more families going for the value of in-state or OOS schools. There was a surprise surge in applications at Virginia Tech last year, leaving many unhappy families and students who had the requisite scores and thought it was a safety. The same is happening at all in-state schools across the nation. The demand for quality in-state schools is surging.

[Anonymous]

^^ not due to the common application? I don't think you realize how tough it used to be to type the applications.

Nothing you say above is false. But the reasons are more extensive than the few you consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ not due to the common application? I don't think you realize how tough it used to be to type the applications.

Nothing you say above is false. But the reasons are more extensive than the few you consider.

Certainly one used to have to TYPE the applications but what we are seeing take place has nothing to do with the typing of the application - it has to do with the need to submit far more applications (at increasing expense) to more schools each year because the college application process (combined with the USN&WR impact) has made 12 to 15 applications necessary to nail down three or four acceptances from which to choose. And if you are applying to elite schools, you most likely will have to write out multiple side essays in addition to the Common App.

[Anonymous]

My kid applied early action to JMU and got no such email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid applied early action to JMU and got no such email.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Never heard of anyone applying to more than 10 schools..I mean I am sure kds do but not common at our mcps school.

[Anonymous]

Where did you see this on CC? I can’t find it. Neither my senior dd nor any of her friends who applied EA received this email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where did you see this on CC? I can’t find it. Neither my senior dd nor any of her friends who applied EA received this email.

NP here -- did a search on CC and found the post:

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21793972#Comment_21793972

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of anyone applying to more than 10 schools..I mean I am sure kds do but not common at our mcps school.

Wonder if they don’t want to admit it. I’ve learned to take anything parents (other than very close friends) say about this process with a healthy dose of skepticism. Competition, pride, anxiety. It’s a stressful process and people play their own games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of anyone applying to more than 10 schools..I mean I am sure kds do but not common at our mcps school.

Wonder if they don’t want to admit it. I’ve learned to take anything parents (other than very close friends) say about this process with a healthy dose of skepticism. Competition, pride, anxiety. It’s a stressful process and people play their own games.

I know of quite a few applying to 12 - 15 this year. Usually they are those applying to the most selective universities ergo the chances of getting in are the slimmest. https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-many-colleges-should-i-apply-to