Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 18:32     Subject: Re:What sites do you rely on for determining match / safety / etc?
Scoir not helpful because private HS uses unweighted GPA... pretty useless and college counselor agreed! Told us not to go by it and they ranked for my kid. We were so impressed college counselor was so hands on.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 15:34     Subject: Re:What sites do you rely on for determining match / safety / etc?
Collegevine said DC had a 93% chance of being admitted so we considered it a safety but was waitlisted.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 15:14     Subject: What sites do you rely on for determining match / safety / etc?
Anonymous wrote:College Vine, naviance/scoir, cds, and understanding if you have hooks that aren’t represented in that data (eg college vine had a school as a high reach but this school likes sibling legacy and I think this helped ds stand out). You can also pretty easily research which schools love ED, full pay, need more boys, geographic diversity etc


+1 to CollegeVine
Also, College Navigator combines all the CDS data and makes it easy to search/filter
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 07:16     Subject: What sites do you rely on for determining match / safety / etc?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This site provides selectivity ranks, which may help you in placing potential choices into zones of admission difficulty:

https://share.google/lLg2pv6Ul29quEs99


Op here. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome!
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 23:22     Subject: What sites do you rely on for determining match / safety / etc?
Anonymous wrote:Which sites do / did you rely on to look up colleges, especially in terms of what would be safety, match, and reach? Did you rely on naviance only? or are there other sites? DD is looking at naviance but i see there is also niche, have you / your highscool student tried it? Also how accurate are the true cost information in Niche / estimates for scholarships in naviance? Are they reliable at all?

Any other useful sites / apps for looking for colleges and or scholarships?

College vine and my own judgment using acceptance rate and admissions stats. Seriously. Pretty accurate for my two kids. Naviance was worthless because kids' school just lumped five years of data together.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 23:15     Subject: What sites do you rely on for determining match / safety / etc?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not the answer you want OP, but: be admitted in Sept/Oct to a college w/rolling admission. More than one is nice, as a choice. Then, it's not high stakes re: the accuracy of these categories, going forward, and deciding where to apply.


Thank you. I didn't think of that, so that's helpful. But do you sign a contract with the rolling admission college, or do you make a decision later when heard back from other universities that do not have rolling admission?


No contract. You just get to keep the offer open until the spring. apply to Pitt in August.


Or another rolling college / university. Everyone does not need to apply to Pitt

Is there a reliable list somewhere of schools with rolling admissions? I feel like DCUM only ever talks bout Pitt.


There are many, including Penn State and University of Minnesota. I also believe that McGill quickly gets back to applicants.

I have a senior going through the process, and I agree with PP that early wins really help lower the stress level.


Penn State isn't rolling. Hear back by Christmas. Some super high stats kids hear back in November. All depends on the which college the applied to.


Penn State is Early Action with a deadline of November 1. After that date, admissions does become rolling, but the gamble is that the most desirable majors will likely be full or close to full if your application is received after that date.