Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 11:10     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Think carefully about passing up an opportunity to apply ED to a target school. Those targets ended up being reaches in RD
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 11:09     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Opt out of the admissions rat race, enjoy your teen years, and go to an SEC school.


It’s a rat race to get into the SEC schools now.


Vandy is a rat race, UT-Austin is brutal from OOS, UF and UGA have gotten tough as well, and UTK/UofSC/Auburn are no guarantee anymore if you're not a top student. But the rest are still cakewalks. Ole Miss will accept you if you have a 3.0 HS GPA and 24 ACT. Grads are successful, too. Hotty Toddy!
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 11:08     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Anonymous wrote:Her parents have gone through the process one or more times, if you had to advise your rising senior about the college admissions process, what would you do differently this time ?

Mom and dad wont do anything differently. Kids perhaps.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 11:05     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Be more involved and run the entire process.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 11:04     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Strongly Rec everyone apply to a rolling admissions school. DS had admission to Pitt engineering and good $$ by early October. He loved Pitt, felt wanted bc of the $$, and only applied to 2 other schools. (He too opted out of crazy high stress application process.) very nice senior year.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 11:01     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Help DC do a lot of research earlier (for those Why essays for T25).
Review ALL drafts of essays or hire a meticulous essay editor who sees a lot of successful essays and knows what works and what doesn't.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:59     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Make better use of ED1 and ED2
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:56     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Anonymous wrote:Opt out of the admissions rat race, enjoy your teen years, and go to an SEC school.


It’s a rat race to get into the SEC schools now.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:53     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Opt out of the admissions rat race, enjoy your teen years, and go to an SEC school.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:52     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Anonymous wrote:Make some decisions sooner; apply to fewer colleges and do a lot more research on "why x college?"


My child only applied to six. I was a nervous wreck about it but she was right. The key is that she knew she would be satisfied with any of those particular schools. And she hit safety, target and likely in those six.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:51     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
I would have narrowed the list down significantly on the front end, but that's speaking in hindsight. The problem was, my kid didn't really know what she wanted until the very end. So she applied to big state schools, women's colleges, a few Ivys, a WASP school on the list, etc. It took getting in and visiting for her to know really what was and wasn't for her. (And no, the visits on the front end weren't really helpful to that end, even though they should have been.)
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:49     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Nothing at all. Honestly.
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:47     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Make some decisions sooner; apply to fewer colleges and do a lot more research on "why x college?"
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:45     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Apply early decision
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2025 10:43     Subject: If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Her parents have gone through the process one or more times, if you had to advise your rising senior about the college admissions process, what would you do differently this time ?