Anonymous wrote:No to Duke, Vandy and UNC. A shot at the others

Correct

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and just to be clear, I have not complained about any advice -- I truly appreciate all of it. I appreciate the wake-up call, too. Applying ED at UVA has always been a consideration. It was his first choice until we visited Duke. I don't know what he will ultimately decide, but I also think there are a lot of schools where he could be happy. And he agrees.

I’d look hard at NAviance/scoir for your school to see if Duke makes sense, making sure to account for athletic recruits.

Athletic recruits may be real outliers in terms grades/scores. Athletics at Duke are serious business and the athletes are at a caliber that would be known by everyone in their entire HS. By contrast, there A LOT of legacies in this area and these aren’t always known. And while their GPAs and scores are still likely very strong — Duke doesn’t need to reach far down the ladder to hit a really smart legacy kid — Naviance may give you a false sense of your position. Duke is taking straight As and highest rigor and mid 1500s from its legacy batch. So it may look like your grades and scores are strong, but be careful that those acceptance dots aren’t double legacies. You’d need something really really extra to move the needle.

Wisconsin—likely/ target—they let you indicate 2 majors for consideration and once you are accepted, swapping isn’t too hard so pick the ones that make sense for your ECs/coursework, but make sure the 2nd choice is an easier admit. Visit school and write customized why Wisconsin essays.

No knowledge of UGA, but you might want to pick one more super safe safety just in case.

Anonymous wrote:OP here and just to be clear, I have not complained about any advice -- I truly appreciate all of it. I appreciate the wake-up call, too. Applying ED at UVA has always been a consideration. It was his first choice until we visited Duke. I don't know what he will ultimately decide, but I also think there are a lot of schools where he could be happy. And he agrees.

I’d look hard at NAviance/scoir for your school to see if Duke makes sense, making sure to account for athletic recruits.

Duke and Vandy will be highly unlikely but to have any chance at all, he could ED1 Duke and ED2 Vandy and hope for a waitlist to work off of.

UVA—reach—depending on their admissions stats from this year (first year of no essays) ED may only help a little but if he likes the school the best of the rest, it might be worth it.

Michigan—reach—tour in person, write some amazing very specific why Michigan essays, get the app in on the early side

UNC—consider indicating willingness to start via Global Launch

VTech—even though a likely, make sure time is spent on their essays—they like volunteerism/ community.

William and Mary—likely/target—tour in person. Sign up for a student interview. Chat with admissions to convey interest. We toured on a random November day and were one of three families that day and had great access to the admissions folks for our region.