Do you just shoot your shot everywhere?

[Anonymous]

DD who is a junior with a 35 and 4.5W (and all the “right” ECs and leadership roles but no hook) has been watching this year very closely. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. Kids who seemed perfect got completely shut out. Kids who didn’t appear to have anything “magic” are in at Harvard, Yale, etc. so many great kids didn’t get into reaches but of course, some did. Is the best strategy for top tier admissions to ED/REA to your #1 and then cast a really wide net for RD? I used to make fun of the kids applying to 20+ schools but they seem to be the ones for whom something works out.

[Anonymous]

I am sure there will be a lot of differing opinions, OP, so you need to do what you think is best for your child.

From my DS and his friend's experience at TJ, my advice would be not to waste your ED on a long shot. And your DD grades and scores, while terrific, still make her a long shot for HYP. I would also advise picking a few targets with EA or rolling admissions and get those done early. If her #1 choice is a target school, go ED and never look back.

[Anonymous]

The results from the well-known, most selective schools can't be predicted.

Stop talking about the Ivy League and the top 30 and you have more predictable results.

The best strategy is to have some schools that aren't as selective but that your kid still loves on the list. Don't fixate on the fanciest brands. Focus on what environment is best for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD who is a junior with a 35 and 4.5W (and all the “right” ECs and leadership roles but no hook) has been watching this year very closely. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. Kids who seemed perfect got completely shut out. Kids who didn’t appear to have anything “magic” are in at Harvard, Yale, etc. so many great kids didn’t get into reaches but of course, some did. Is the best strategy for top tier admissions to ED/REA to your #1 and then cast a really wide net for RD? I used to make fun of the kids applying to 20+ schools but they seem to be the ones for whom something works out.

That’s kinda right. The big problem is that high-stat kids apply to too many highly ranked schools. Applying to half the Ivies and another 6 schools ranked 6-25 is nuts! That’s a recipe for disappointment. Spread the applications over schools 1-100. Also, don’t forget SLACs (but don’t just apply to the top 3!).

[Anonymous]

Remember also that admissions is building a class (and ultimately, a campus and an alumni network). So they need the flashy innovators and prodigies and math whizzes, but they also need joiners, worker bees, charming networkers, “let’s build a croquet course on the quad” people, dreamers, naked mile runners, funny story-tellers, etc.

Maybe their marching band is down a few trombones. Maybe their prize faculty hire just got a grant to study underwater basket weaving in Togo, and your DC’s grandmother is Togo’s most renowned basket craftswoman. Maybe they’re full up on surfers but could really use a drag racer, because the admission director’s counterpart at Rival U just got one and will not shut up about it.

Point being, after a certain point, you can’t engineer this. There is an element of randomness in the process, and your DC never “deserves” a spot anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Cast a wide net. Don't get hung up on rankings, have your kid do the research and find schools that they like at every level. Keep expectations realistic and be a positive support system and it will work out. My kid was happy with all of his choices and would have been happy going to any of them so ultimately it was actually a fun and exciting year as opposed to some of the stories I've read here. He ultimately chose a "lesser" ranked school in the end and didn't think twice about it.

[Anonymous]

My kid has similar stats, cast a wide net and still got nothing. Waitlisted a couple of places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD who is a junior with a 35 and 4.5W (and all the “right” ECs and leadership roles but no hook) has been watching this year very closely. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. Kids who seemed perfect got completely shut out. Kids who didn’t appear to have anything “magic” are in at Harvard, Yale, etc. so many great kids didn’t get into reaches but of course, some did. Is the best strategy for top tier admissions to ED/REA to your #1 and then cast a really wide net for RD? I used to make fun of the kids applying to 20+ schools but they seem to be the ones for whom something works out.

Yes, I would. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

all I can say is find a school they love but is not a "reach" (read Ivy) and apply ED. Game over.

[Anonymous]

My kid applied to a huge reach for ED1 (rejected) and a huge reach for ED2 (rejected), a couple of reaches for RD, a couple of matches for RD, and three safeties. He was accepted at his matches and his safeties and rejected everywhere else. He had 5 acceptances and 4 rejections, which hurt his feelings a little but seemed about right to me. If you don't have any rejections, you didn't reach high enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid has similar stats, cast a wide net and still got nothing. Waitlisted a couple of places.

Ugh! Sorry, PP. Do any of the waitlists look promising?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has similar stats, cast a wide net and still got nothing. Waitlisted a couple of places.

Ugh! Sorry, PP. Do any of the waitlists look promising?

If your kid had a 35 and "still got nothing," he/you clearly did something wrong and didn't apply to the right schools. Tons of schools would salivate over a kid with those stats.

[Anonymous]

Honestly it is very stressful to apply to that many schools. I would really try to weed out some.

[Anonymous]

The bottom line is that you never know about the kids who get into the top schools. I would be a millionaire if I told you the amount of times I have heard, but Johnny had horrible grades and test scores and he got into Harvard, Penn, etc. Your kid has NO idea what his peers have done. He thinks he knows, but he really truly doesn't. Cast a wide net-- in other words, don't apply only to reach schools and apply to safeties that your kid will actually want to attend. Also, I wouldn't get too caught up in the prestige of schools because if your kid doesn't get into a school that you and he has obsessed about that is prestigious, he is going to be a very unhappy camper if he needs to attend a school that is, in your opinion, a less prestigious school. That is not a good thing for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid applied to a huge reach for ED1 (rejected) and a huge reach for ED2 (rejected), a couple of reaches for RD, a couple of matches for RD, and three safeties. He was accepted at his matches and his safeties and rejected everywhere else. He had 5 acceptances and 4 rejections, which hurt his feelings a little but seemed about right to me. If you don't have any rejections, you didn't reach high enough.

BS...if you didn't have any rejections, that means you found a good fit or several good fits and didn't look back.