Heck, I got into Georgetown back in 1991, and my midwestern parents told me that it was too expensive. So instead I went to my state university (not a great flagship) and did the honors college. I later went to a Top 5 law school. I am loving my career path.

I'm kind of floored that DH and I are in a position where my kids can even consider applying to some of these schools. Back in the day, a lot of kids were deterred from applying (or did apply and did not attend) because the financial aid was not as generous.

The upshot - if you're going to attend what you consider a mediocre university, there is always the honors college!

Anonymous wrote:Tough week: mostly rejections. 34ACT, IB

UCLA - reject
Berkeley- reject
Hopkins- reject
UNC- waitlist
USC- in

Congratulations! You achieved the goal of getting into a good school. (Your kid made the list, so got to choose what was considered good.)

Think of it that way people. Like marriage, you only need one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno why kids are so disappointed? You need to do a better job setting expectations with them. My kids chose safeties that they could get excited about and applied early so those acceptances were in hand by January. Visit those schools, get excited about them so that if it comes to that being the best available option, a day or two of being bummed is replaced by excitement that they are going to college and one that they are going to and can start at planning for. Both of my kids planned for the worst but hoped for the best.

+1. This is the way to do it. The old method of 3 or 4 reaches, 3 or 4 possibles and 3 or 4 likely’s still works.

I know.

I feel for this mom, because we all love our children and hate to see them down.

But, from when they are young, they should be on the lookout for strong schools at each level of selectivity. And believe it. Not act like their kid just earned some kind of booby prize.

Anonymous wrote:Tough week: mostly rejections. 34ACT, IB

UCLA - reject
Berkeley- reject
Hopkins- reject
UNC- waitlist
USC- in

No as tough as:


USC - rejected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all these “high stat” kids, how many of you are also submitting 4’s or 5’s from
Your AP tests to show that you actually earned the A? Thay may be the difference in many cases. Lots and lots of public high schools are handing out A’s way too easily. And as for SAT scores, does anyone find it weird that 1400
And 1500 scores seem like a dime a dozen these days? The curve is unreal which is even making those seem less valuable. You have to show you earned those A’s so you need AP Scores and you need excellent teacher recommendations.

+1. For anybody reading this who has not had a kid go through the process, a "high stats" gpa--and gpa is very important--at a public in fcps or mcps is a 4.0 uw. If your kid is below that have realistic expectations. It doesn't mean they won't get into a selective school, but they need options. For anybody "unhooked", regardless of their stats, make sure they have a couple of safeties they are excited about attending.

This is true. If you don't have straight As, you are in for a world of hurt. Sadly, this isn't going to help the mental health of highly capable students for years to come. The pressure of one test is nothing compared to the day in day out pressure to never make a mistake or have a bad day. I think colleges have just made the whole mental health problem much, much worse.

Tough week: mostly rejections. 34ACT, IB

UCLA - reject
Berkeley- reject
Hopkins- reject
UNC- waitlist
USC- in

Anonymous wrote:Parent of DC who applied last year. We said the same thing. The waitlists will move. They didn’t. Focus on the acceptances, have hope for the remaining, but don’t hold out for a waitlist. The chances are so small.

+1

Same.

Anonymous wrote:Stop fixating on the same 50 schools.

You can do everything “right” and not be accepted when there are tens of thousands applying for a few thousand spots at these big name schools. That’s just how it is at those schools. There will always be some disappointment at getting rejected, but if you go into the process knowing those schools have thousands of qualified applicants, you wouldn’t be shocked.

The disappointment is avoidable. Expand the horizons and don’t look at schools that will eagerly accept your kid as “lesser” institutions compared to the big names.

No one is shocked. It still sucks to go through it. Yes, the kids have likely schools, even scholarships to them, but face it-- that's no one's dream. They're going to have a moment of mourning their dreams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I really believe wait lists are going to move like never before given the surge in # of apps per student and you can attend only one school. I think schools will dramatically undershoot yield and need to go to the wait list.

I think schools accepted significant numbers ED, but agree wait lists will move. Unfortunately, we likely won't see movement before 5/1, when deposits are due.

Not true. DS was WL at a school and 1 week later moved to accepted. This was 2019 but it’s not uncommon to hear back well Before May 1.

Please. 2019 may as well have been in another century. This and the last election cycle are markedly different from the ones before.

Sincerely,

Parent with relative in the admissions business

Exactly. Test optional has revolutionized admissions.

Or in a good way. After the pandemic many schools will return to requiring test scores.

Test Optional is here to stay. "Revolutionized" is correct. The colleges aren't complaining. The parents who assumed superscored SATs were the automatic golden ticket are.

Anonymous wrote:I really believe waitlists are going to move like never before given the surge in # of apps per student and you can attend only one school. I think schools will dramatically undershoot yield and need to go to the waitlist. I hope she is on a few waitlists. Hang in there. It will get better.

I agree, for some schools this will be very true.

Best of luck OP!!! Your daughter will do great.

Anonymous wrote:For all these “high stat” kids, how many of you are also submitting 4’s or 5’s from
Your AP tests to show that you actually earned the A? Thay may be the difference in many cases. Lots and lots of public high schools are handing out A’s way too easily. And as for SAT scores, does anyone find it weird that 1400
And 1500 scores seem like a dime a dozen these days? The curve is unreal which is even making those seem less valuable. You have to show you earned those A’s so you need AP Scores and you need excellent teacher recommendations.

+1. For anybody reading this who has not had a kid go through the process, a "high stats" gpa--and gpa is very important--at a public in fcps or mcps is a 4.0 uw. If your kid is below that have realistic expectations. It doesn't mean they won't get into a selective school, but they need options. For anybody "unhooked", regardless of their stats, make sure they have a couple of safeties they are excited about attending.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno why kids are so disappointed? You need to do a better job setting expectations with them. My kids chose safeties that they could get excited about and applied early so those acceptances were in hand by January. Visit those schools, get excited about them so that if it comes to that being the best available option, a day or two of being bummed is replaced by excitement that they are going to college and one that they are going to and can start at planning for. Both of my kids planned for the worst but hoped for the best.

+1. This is the way to do it. The old method of 3 or 4 reaches, 3 or 4 possibles and 3 or 4 likely’s still works.

+2. We did it this way and we have plenty of options. Still, knowing they are lottery schools, it’s hard to hear 2, 3 rejections in a row in the same week. It feels personal even though it’s not. For this class, visiting was also limited so it was harder during the application process to figure everything out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I really believe wait lists are going to move like never before given the surge in # of apps per student and you can attend only one school. I think schools will dramatically undershoot yield and need to go to the wait list.

I think schools accepted significant numbers ED, but agree wait lists will move. Unfortunately, we likely won't see movement before 5/1, when deposits are due.

Not true. DS was WL at a school and 1 week later moved to accepted. This was 2019 but it’s not uncommon to hear back well Before May 1.

Please. 2019 may as well have been in another century. This and the last election cycle are markedly different from the ones before.

Sincerely,

Parent with relative in the admissions business

Exactly. Test optional has revolutionized admissions.

Or in a good way. After the pandemic many schools will return to requiring test scores.

Anonymous wrote:For all these “high stat” kids, how many of you are also submitting 4’s or 5’s from
Your AP tests to show that you actually earned the A? Thay may be the difference in many cases. Lots and lots of public high schools are handing out A’s way too easily. And as for SAT scores, does anyone find it weird that 1400
And 1500 scores seem like a dime a dozen these days? The curve is unreal which is even making those seem less valuable. You have to show you earned those A’s so you need AP Scores and you need excellent teacher recommendations.

Mine has many 5s and 2 4s. And near perfect SATs. And a good gpa and activities… people need to stop trying to find fault with these kids who were rejected or WL and instead understand how opaque/random the process is nowadays.

Anonymous wrote:Are all waitlist kids full pay?

Not mine. I am not OP.