Thank you everyone for this perspective. Good advice to to exhale (for now) at deposit time, buy all the tshirts, set the tone for excitement. At the same time, prep for any LOCI letters but keep that in perspective as like a lottery ticket- not worth ruining investment and excitement in 'loving the one you're with.'

AND, yes this has been a slog. Kids waiting to hear in the spring (or later) about an application they largely wrote in the fall, is a LOOOONG drawn out process.

I didn’t exhale until we paid the deposit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I would not expect that this year. Ivy WL were closed by June prior years and some took zero off the WL. Last year was an exception.

Some waitlists took zero last year (2025) as well.
Dartmouth did not move.
Penn CAS did not move.
There may have been more and places like Yale and Princeton took a tiny number of kids (single digits).
Brown and Columbia moved a lot (300+ spots each) which made it feel like Ivy spots were falling off the tree all summer long.

Agree w/Brown and Columbia.
And Duke and Northwestern and Vanderbilt.
But for the latter three, it was mostly boys. Also at Brown, all boys.

Anonymous wrote:co-sign on loving whoever you commit to May 1. buy all the sweatshirts.

I know kids of who were unpacking dorms last year and then getting off the waitlist. But even in years when this happens, it's a small number of kids. Set up a time to look at what colleges require for their waitlists - and then do that. And then just forget it and move on to looking at clubs and football schedules and all the rest.

You can set the tone

This. DS was disappointed last year (needed to go in state due to finances) and the school he ended up at is good, but not a challenging admit (for him.) We allowed him to feel his feelings, but bought all the gear, were super excited for his next stage, and helped DS see all of the positives of attending the school. He is now a sophomore and has found friends, joined clubs, and found his groove.

co-sign on loving whoever you commit to May 1. buy all the sweatshirts.

I know kids of who were unpacking dorms last year and then getting off the waitlist. But even in years when this happens, it's a small number of kids. Set up a time to look at what colleges require for their waitlists - and then do that. And then just forget it and move on to looking at clubs and football schedules and all the rest.

You can set the tone

Anonymous wrote:^ I would not expect that this year. Ivy WL were closed by June prior years and some took zero off the WL. Last year was an exception.

Some waitlists took zero last year (2025) as well.
Dartmouth did not move.
Penn CAS did not move.
There may have been more and places like Yale and Princeton took a tiny number of kids (single digits).
Brown and Columbia moved a lot (300+ spots each) which made it feel like Ivy spots were falling off the tree all summer long.

When do you think? Is your kid in anywhere?

When ivy day comes and the rest of the T10 and your kids get at least one. All they need is one.

Anonymous wrote:This is such a slog! To any kids or parents of kids who got in ED, please enjoy being done for the rest of us!!

You still have to cheerlead to the end through the hard classes and relentless work, and then motivate, still stress believe me!

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking we'd all exhale after the applications are in in early Jan, and all there is to do is wait. Clearly that was wishful thinking. When will it truly all be done, i.e. no more grades to submit, interviews to wait to hear about or not, etc etc. By the end of Feb?

Thank you for thus, I agree, it's a tough slog to the end of the year with max rigor, the unknown and the teachers being unrelenting. I can wait until summer so we can all relax!!

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking we'd all exhale after the applications are in in early Jan, and all there is to do is wait. Clearly that was wishful thinking. When will it truly all be done, i.e. no more grades to submit, interviews to wait to hear about or not, etc etc. By the end of Feb?

This is a large reason why safety selection is important. It takes a lot of the edge off.

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking we'd all exhale after the applications are in in early Jan, and all there is to do is wait. Clearly that was wishful thinking. When will it truly all be done, i.e. no more grades to submit, interviews to wait to hear about or not, etc etc. By the end of Feb?

IME freshman year can be really, really difficult too. So keep holding your breath.

Anonymous wrote:^ I would not expect that this year. Ivy WL were closed by June prior years and some took zero off the WL. Last year was an exception.

My kid got off an Ivy WL May 15th so we got lucky.

^ I would not expect that this year. Ivy WL were closed by June prior years and some took zero off the WL. Last year was an exception.

Anonymous wrote:Last year was different because of the internationals pulling out last minute, visas, gap years, etc.

In 2023 & 2024 had much fewer WL turnarounds. Some Ivies had 0-12 top come off of them.

I had one in 2024 and one this year. 2024 saw a lot of movement and it started "earlier" whatever that means. Dartmouth took a handful off its waitlist and Brown took over 100. I recall that MIT may have taken one? Harvard actually had a few rounds but I'm sure it was for only a few. When you see your child get a waitlist spot on "Ivy Day" you're excited that it's not a no. Except shortly after the reality sets in that these applications were written in fall, submitted in January and they won't hear a final answer until after May, June, July. Hard on everyone even though a rejection feels bad.