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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Thought this might be helpful for parents of Juniors or younger kids:

1.  Getting mail/email from schools means nothing.  They are just buying names and trying to get applications.

2.  When building a balanced college list, make sure to check acceptance rates for your kid's major, not just the overall rate.

3.  Schools with both Early Action and Early Decision will defer many qualified candidates on Early action - be prepared for this

4.  Coming from a magnet school can be a disadvantage due to high GPA bands on the school profile and competition with other magnet students

5.  Get as much as possible done over the summer before senior year.  This includes the main Common App essay and the activities and honors list

6.  Use the Common Data set for schools to figure out which ones on your kid's list value demonstrated interest and make sure to visit those if possible

7. A 4.0 and perfect SAT/ACT scores won't be enough to get into the most highly selective schools or even the next set down in some cases.  It's close to a lottery unless your kid has done something super spectacular (think student member of the board) or is a recruited athlete.   There are just way too many kids for too few spots in schools that everyone wants to go to.

8.  Make sure your kid reads their email regularly once they submit their applications.

9.  The more selective the school, the more essays there are.  My kid ended up having to write about 20 essays.  Unless your kid is a writer, this will take a lot of time.

10.  Find a school with a high acceptance rate and an early decision notification date to get one acceptance under your kid's belt.  This takes a bit of the pressure off.

[/quote]

I think you meant "early action" for #10, not "early Decision".  Early Decision is binding.[/quote]

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