Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its a mess. Terrible.

+1. This system is out of control — admissions and tuition. This year is much worse than even two years ago.

Well 2 years ago all apps were in by the time COVID hit in the states. Last year was the first wave of the admissions mess, this year also, who knows what next year will bring. Happy not to do this again for another 4 years.

Anonymous wrote:Its a mess. Terrible.

+1. This system is out of control — admissions and tuition. This year is much worse than even two years ago.

Last year, it seemed like lots of schools were overenrolled (often causing housing issues) and very few kids got in off waitlists. Maybe this year schools will enroll fewer kids initially and then take more kids from the waitlist? Who knows.

Anonymous wrote:I have a HS junior, and see test optional as a huge contributor to this mess as well as grade inflation.

Kids who would usually have no chance at xx school are now applying. So top schools now see a huge increase in applications. And next tier schools, usually safety, are also seeing a huge increase.

Really tough on kids who have worked hard and are bright, top kids when reach schools are now crap shoot schools, targets are now reach schools and safeties are now target schools.

Yeah, eventually you will have no 'real' safety anymore.

When it becomes clear that testing centers and sites can become accessible to many more students again, I think the pendulum will swing back and schools will begin to require tests. Maybe not all schools as some might make test optional permanent or refuse to consider tests stores whatsoever.

I have a HS junior, and see test optional as a huge contributor to this mess as well as grade inflation.

Kids who would usually have no chance at xx school are now applying. So top schools now see a huge increase in applications. And next tier schools, usually safety, are also seeing a huge increase.

Really tough on kids who have worked hard and are bright, top kids when reach schools are now crap shoot schools, targets are now reach schools and safeties are now target schools.

Anonymous wrote:This is when I wished I let my kids skip grades when they were young. Admissions would be somewhat more normal prior to 2020.

Would you really have wanted your "too young for college" teenager living away from home for the first time, alone in a dorm, isolate during COVID?

Its a mess. Terrible.

This is when I wished I let my kids skip grades when they were young. Admissions would be somewhat more normal prior to 2020.

It is and will continue to be a mess.

Anonymous wrote:The pool of "top applicants" is grossly expanded due to Covid grade inflation. I know this did not happen for every student but there are entire districts where it did happen.
My kids are in DCPS and this senior class received grossly inflated grades for sophomore and junior year. Sophomore year every assignment submitted for two quarters was counted as extra credit and junior year the lowest grade in any class was a B.
Across an entire district, that leads to many more "highly qualified" kids.

Honestly, this is the problem, for our school (public), the grades really wrecked some normally straight A students during covid years. For some kids, the “antisocial” year was very hard. I am afraid that the top schools will just write these kids off. Their reason would be these kids failed to adjust quickly, and that is their so called holistic view.

The pool of "top applicants" is grossly expanded due to Covid grade inflation. I know this did not happen for every student but there are entire districts where it did happen.
My kids are in DCPS and this senior class received grossly inflated grades for sophomore and junior year. Sophomore year every assignment submitted for two quarters was counted as extra credit and junior year the lowest grade in any class was a B.
Across an entire district, that leads to many more "highly qualified" kids.

If the number of seats at schools doesn't change significantly, then the schools will end up with exactly who they would have ended up with anyway; they just have to wade through more files to get there. It is actually the schools that the the top 40K or so kids apply to as safeties that will struggle with yield and waitlists.

Seriously right?! If ivies over admit, waitlist kids will have zero chance. The next few weeks are going to be a rollercoaster ride!

More applications per student, with average going from 8 - 10 to 13 - 15. Record apps at places like Michigan and Wisconsin and also at most Ivies. Same number of applicants. Yield protection all over the place. State flagships postponing large number of students. Yet, at the end of the day the reality is that each student can only accept one college. When the music stops, what do we have? Massive waitlists? Massive use of the waitlists as yields were overestimated (schools failed to factor in rise in apps/student). Dust does not settle until, like, July? Thoughts? I am developing a contrarian view that many ivies will actually over-accept and admit rates will actually go UP for 2022 when it’s all said and done. I know huge number of kids who broadly applied to ivies and state flagships. High stats kids conditioned by the anxiety of class of 2021 doubled their number of apps/student.