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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]as a parent of a current 9th grader hoping to avoid disappointment, is there anything OP's child should have done differently? Be more "spikey"?  Pick a less competitive major?  Or is it just a lottery?  Get more excited about "lower ranked" schools? TIA![/quote]

Be very, very excited about state schools most kids can get into. Talk up the amazing things their graduates are doing. Look around and point out the kind and well-functioning adults in your neighborhood and family who have gone to all sorts of colleges.  Emphasize no college is a magic pill for success. Teach your child that their success lies in their ability to work hard and push through difficulties and that success can be won at any college (or no college at all!) in America. Do not even tour hard to get into colleges or talk about them until you have a foundation of safety and target schools that are a good fit academically and financially and where your child will be excited to go to and where they have a vision of what they will do and try while they are there. This process of discernment will also help your child figure out which reach schools are a good fit and what they are looking for at them, which will also make them a stronger candidate if they do apply to a highly rejective college. [/quote]

In some states it’s more or just as competitive to get into the state flagship and others as a top private. With the price of college so high and merit/aid so unpredictable, state schools are getting apps from everyone that meets the base requirements. This includes all the high stat kids. State schools often distribute admission across zip codes , counties, and schools. So even if your state school has a 40% acceptance and your kid is well above the bar, if your kid is from a high performing school, zip code, or county they could be rejected.

I spent years telling my kid that it’s a lottery, great stats buy you a lottery ticket nothing more. If your kid is high performing, they will likely be in a group that sweeps them into the frenzy. It still didn’t blunt his sadness about being rejected from his top choice especially when they see classmates who were lower stats or lied on their apps get in. The one solace is that they won’t be alone. For every cheering, I can’t believe I got in, there are twenty with higher stats who did not get in. [/quote]

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