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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So what should we do as parents of juniors.  I have a high stats junior...really am a bit flummoxed as to how to advise him.  [/quote]

1. If in any way possible, have your child apply ED
2. Take the most rigorous courses your child's school offers, starting in 9th/10th grade (so the path to do so actually begins in middle school)
3. Hope your child can create a theme to their applications and that this theme shows why they are applying to the schools they are applying. So, the classes they took and did well in, their extracurriculars, their essays all directly tell a story of said theme. Bonus if their teacher recommendations hopefully also touch on the same theme (this is of course impossible to know but if your child is solid the recommendations should). It is all about telling a story. And regarding extracurriculars, being the captain of a high school sports team or president of some high school club is not a way to distinguish anyone's application from the crowd
4. Encourage (strongly) that your child reframes from talking too much with their peers about all-things-college as it only creates stress all around. This will be near impossible but worth it if pulled off.
5. Make the college visits fun. They really can be fun and that will set the tone to all that follows.
Good luck
[/quote]

6. Focus 90 percent of your energy on safeties. Find safeties, fall in love with safeties, visit and show them lots of love so they know you are interested, apply early and be sure to give a good answer for the essay that asks "Why do you want to come here?" Do not visit top tier schools. Seriously. They know they are desired and are not tracking your interest like lower tier schools often do. Visiting only feeds your child's pipe dreams. You can visit them later if your child is admitted.[/quote]

7. When determining safeties and targets look at acceptance rate differences between ED and RD and be aware of differences in acceptance rates for intended major.  There was one school that dd was considering that once we learned the RD rate was 18% when overall acceptance rate was 28% (or something like that), it was clear it would be a big reach since ED was not an option for us financially.

8. See if child is willing to branch out and apply to places that maybe aren’t as popular from their HS.  I think a pp was into something with the “hot” schools where you look at Naviance and the number of kids applying has taken off and the percent getting in from your school starts going lower.[/quote]

Agree with #8 - DC into a much higher ranked school (which DC cared about even when we tried to de-emphasize) as they picked one that is less popular with HS classmates who are more narrowly focused by region. In ED1, other parents seemed to question. After the gauntlet of the last few months, parents compliment the strategy. [/quote]

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