Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - is schooling in your spouse's foreign country an option?

We are in a similar boat in which I am Asian American and my spouse is from the EU. We are planning on sending children to my spouse's alma mater unless DC gets merit aid from a top choice in the US. We figured this is a good option especially since professional schooling in the US requires a bachelor's first.

Congratulate your son on his likely - he can always go to his likely (or a CC) and transfer but know that hard work and perseverance will pay off in the end.

OP- I also think that if your son takes time off, to perhaps work on finding an academic focus. I used to do college interviews for my alma mater -- a top college that is talked about frequently here. When I think back at students who interviewed with very little career direction versus those who had crafted a nice path that coincided with some of the strengths of my school, it made a difference in how I viewed that student. I said to myself "this is a top college that this student is interviewing with. Could this student come in on day one and fit in/contribute to the conversation?" To make sure that I wasn't too harsh, I had shared my experience generically with a few select alumni at an outing (student name withheld). Oddly enough, they were more harsh than I was. And these were alum who went to the same caliber of top level grad schools (top 10). So I think we pretty much held the same approach to what type of students should get the nod. It wasn't just smarts and top numbers that impressed because many students had that. We wanted the story.

I am sure the same comes across in admissions essays where the student will have to state why they want to attend that school. Emory's stats and reputation have really increased over time. I think that it's hard to go in undecided or without a path of some sort or another, into a top school these days.

Some colleges will care less about career/major direction etc. But others will care because they force the student to apply to one of the divisions/departments for admissions. If you don't get into the division, you usually don't get into that college.We experienced that and it was a tough learning.

Having said all of that, again, I really wish you the best of luck. Your son will find a good path forward. And thanks for sharing so that others can learn.

Isn't part of the purpose of liberal arts education to gain broad exposure and eventually find academic focus? It's nuts, IMHO, to expect a 17 y.o. to know what they want to do with the rest of their life. I'm so glad that wasn't an expectation when I went to school. Being a generalist w.r.t. academic interests doesn't mean someone can't "contribute to the conversation on day one". What nonsense!

--HYPS alum for undergrad and grad

Well, it wasn't nonsense for those students who interviewed with me. Several of them had an idea if they were STEM focused or Humanities/Social Science. I have talked with several students from different types of schools across the DMV, and usually they have some sort of focus, even if it's not 100% in stone. I have some really wonderful interviews. There are some really talented students here in the DMV, and several of those I interviewed got into my alma mater. They were really, really good candidates. And there were those who did not gain acceptance.

Any kid not having some sort of strength out there or display of interest is, in my opinion, going up against a lot of other students who have a plausible path in something or another. Not saying that you have to have it. Just saying that I have seen those with it, and those without it while interviewing for my school.

This may not apply to all schools.

I'm just trying to help.

And yes, my credentials speak as loudly as yours. I am as HYP, etc., as you can get.

Anonymous wrote:I went to my safety and I make a ton of money.

Anonymous wrote:I've worked in secondary schools all of my career and I've never seen a rock star overachiever get shut out of a great colleges. Sure, not everyone can get into Ivies or Duke or even Notre Dame. But there's always the state flagship, Georgetown, NYU or Vanderbilt. No kid shooting for Yale falls on their face and ends up at George Mason.

OP is full of ****.

Anonymous wrote:Kids who are going to be happy and successful are going to be happy and successful at almost any college. Even if there’s something specific he/she is pursuing and they don’t have the program or whatever at the school to which he/she is admitted, the kid on their way to being happy and successful will research and transfer or pick something else.
I’m not saying your kid shouldn’t feel disappointed, but that disappointment won’t derail his/her life if the building blocks are okay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....

Wow, you need to get a grip on yourself. Your whole family is "raging" about you kid not getting into UVA and your sad because you didn't push your DD harder to take classes she hates? That's ridiculous. It's no wonder your DD is upset. Is this the role model that you want to be? Seriously, you are probably making her feel like she's let the whole family down. Please, try to maintain a little perspective.

Ok Karen. Just wait ‘till YOU get passed over for a job. Now, go away.

I'm sorry you are failing at work. It's Friday night so you can drink a few more.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen all too many of your kinds at work. They don’t believe in education. They have other ways of moving up the ladder. And everyone at work find out the genius method because people talk, gossip. These people remain single all their life.

Please stop drinking and go to bed. You truly have zero idea what you are talking about. A cat walking across the keyboard would make more sense.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....

Anonymous wrote:Could be worse. Try explaining to your kid you can't afford Brown, even with the aid package. That's my world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I thought these were the tiers: safety/likely, match/target, and reach/dream. But it seems like several posters have used "likely" as a synonym for "match" instead.

This is the issue when your stats are high. Your match schools tend to have <20% acceptance rate or even lower, which means they are a reach for everyone. Basically, there are more high stats kid than spots in the top ranked schools' freshman classes, and none of them only take high stats kids. This means, every year, high stats kids get shut out of the top schools, and this has always been the case. Many "lower ranked" schools have very high stat students. It is also a problem for a high stat kid who thinks she is too good for a lower ranked school -- she's going to have competition there and may not realize it until its too late.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....

Wow, you need to get a grip on yourself. Your whole family is "raging" about you kid not getting into UVA and your sad because you didn't push your DD harder to take classes she hates? That's ridiculous. It's no wonder your DD is upset. Is this the role model that you want to be? Seriously, you are probably making her feel like she's let the whole family down. Please, try to maintain a little perspective.

Ok Karen. Just wait ‘till YOU get passed over for a job. Now, go away.

I'm sorry you are failing at work. It's Friday night so you can drink a few more.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen all too many of your kinds at work. They don’t believe in education. They have other ways of moving up the ladder. And everyone at work find out the genius method because people talk, gossip. These people remain single all their life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....

Wow, you need to get a grip on yourself. Your whole family is "raging" about you kid not getting into UVA and your sad because you didn't push your DD harder to take classes she hates? That's ridiculous. It's no wonder your DD is upset. Is this the role model that you want to be? Seriously, you are probably making her feel like she's let the whole family down. Please, try to maintain a little perspective.

Ok Karen. Just wait ‘till YOU get passed over for a job. Now, go away.

I'm sorry you are failing at work. It's Friday night so you can drink a few more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....

Wow, you need to get a grip on yourself. Your whole family is "raging" about you kid not getting into UVA and your sad because you didn't push your DD harder to take classes she hates? That's ridiculous. It's no wonder your DD is upset. Is this the role model that you want to be? Seriously, you are probably making her feel like she's let the whole family down. Please, try to maintain a little perspective.

Ok Karen. Just wait ‘till YOU get passed over for a job. Now, go away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....

Wow, you need to get a grip on yourself. Your whole family is "raging" about you kid not getting into UVA and your sad because you didn't push your DD harder to take classes she hates? That's ridiculous. It's no wonder your DD is upset. Is this the role model that you want to be? Seriously, you are probably making her feel like she's let the whole family down. Please, try to maintain a little perspective.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, OP.....read most of first 10 pages, now here...loved the American Exceptionalism questions....

So many themes from the posts resonate: the counselors failing us; wish I had prodded her to take more APs, despite despising history and English; and wish they had not cancelled the SAT she was scheduled for the Saturday 12 hours after lock down started last year(would have made no difference to the pandemic, the numbers in those days were far lower than they are now)....my daughter did Kahn Academy every single day for an hour and a half prepping for three months, because she utterly bombed her first attempt at SAT....then they cancelled the test, schools said they would be test optional, but kids who had good scores from their first try submitted them....I just feel we were doomed from the beginning....our family [grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins all raging about this right now] is super emotional, we've been raging, ranting and crying > 24 hours after finding out she did not get into UVA, after being waitlisted at Tech...W&M will be a hopeless joke. We have to stay in-state due to the VA 529 plan having been paid since birth, and me being low-income. The safeties she's in are safeties for everyone, and she is not excited about them, thanks to the prevalence of snobbiness throughout the DMV that brainwashes so many of these kids to look down on non-elite schools...heck, it's brainwashed me!

That exceptionalism question list was great, because why the hell don't we want a fully-educated country where every single person, without exception, attends college paid for with our tax dollars, and comes out debt-free, ready to serve humanity?

I just constantly see stupid stuff, like removing ALL the native plants in the names of erosion control(?) along the W&OD bike bath in Falls Church, and replacing with monoculture grass: as if all the chickory, purslain, mullein, echinacia, milkweed, etc, wasn't holding erosion at bay ? But more importantly, by providing bee and butterfly corridors with those flowers, we were saving the food supply of the planet...

...but on my bike ride today, I just saw total ecological devastation, replaced by acres and acres of freaking GRASS, and I too, GIVE UP, OP. We are just a stupid country, ignoring obvious ecology 101, because somehow we know better in the name of erosion control or whatever they're doing on the bike path....
I see trees being topped until their deaths, yards with NO TREES, or ONE ornamental tree (final height 5 feet), no flowers for bees that are vanishing faster than I can type this post, and I just think: we are a completely uneducated country and we are doomed, all of us...so what the hell does it matter what college anyone gets into, if we can't see for our nose in front of our face how quickly we are demolishing all the habitats and vanishing all the other species that we are inextricably interlinked with, for our assured mutual survival or destruction?

Because we don't believe in education, and waste so much stupid time watching football and other sports, more and more kids are going to be left out in the cold from college, since the few ivies/state schools cannot possibly educate everyone who needs an education....which means more people will be suceptible to conspiracy theories and more likely to elect demagogues, the next one of whom could be successful at fully ending Democracy in a way that Trump wasn't.

We're stupid Americans, the college process here is stupid, too many smart, caring kids are left in the cold, and because of that, one day we are going to be paying a terrible price, both in the loss of our democracy and the loss of our planet due to consistent ecological destruction, i.e. human made global warming.

Right on, OP, I mourn for your loss. I keep raging and grieving, not sure when it will abate.... but don't sugar-coat it for your son, you both have every right to feel whatever you feel. Thank you so much for starting this thread.....be kind to yourself as best you can for now....