Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 07:35     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Presumably waiting for April admissions?

It may be you didn't play your hands carefully enough. If full pay and coming from an excellent private, I'd have targeted the better LACs along with Chicago for early admission. Ivies are one in a thousand shot without a hook. USC is a different beast. Michigan is competitive out of state.


I don’t think ED LACs is a good idea. Chicago yes.



3 kids in the top 5% of the class, SAT 1530+ ACT 35+ got rejected at Chicago ED. It is tough.Texas private
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 06:52     Subject: Re:What is going on - really worried
OP please keep us posted. In the meantime, lean into that Pitt acceptance - help your student consider the benefits of this great offer. Visit, when the snow clears. If your student has a balanced list, hopefully there will be more acceptances coming in RD from safeties and targets as well as a reach or two. Would love to know where else your student applied - would you let us know? Stay positive, that’s great news from Pitt, because your student will look to you to help navigate this positively.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 04:38     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is one of my kids, and he keeps saying he should have switched to public for 11th & 12th. His friends from club sports who go to public do a fraction of the work he does, have straight As or A pluses (which our school doesn’t even give), lower SATs and are getting in to much better schools. I do think it matters who he’s competing vs at his school, and they can only take so mah from these smaller privates.


What a terrible attitude of entitlement. It is really self-centered that he thinks of his friends this way instead of celebrating their successes.

Please let them know so they can consider whether they still want to remain friends.



But the teaching is terrible in public. That’s our experience in dcps. The kids often have to teach themselves. The As in APs aren’t easy to come by. And there’s a ton of memorization involved. I hate that they don’t teach writing and research well at all, but it’s not the kids fault. In some schools, they’re no longer reading full books.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 03:50     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:Are all private school parents so clueless?


No, but they definitely are entitled.

“Kid from a good private.”

“No hook other than private school.”

Gross.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 03:43     Subject: Re:What is going on - really worried
How do you know the essays were excellent? Did they highlight 3-4 traits/values that she wanted the admissions officers to know about her? Did they bring depth to some of the extracurriculars? If one of her teachers were to pick up the personal essay off the printer and it had no name on it, would they be able to tell it was your kid simply by reading it?
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 02:17     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kid from a good private - top 30% of class with 1550 SAT and all 5's on APs. Solid EC's with leadership and community service, but no hook other than private school. Applied humanities - rejected ED to Ivy, deferred Santa Clara, USC and UMich. In at Pitt with merit and honors college. Waiting on a bunch more but feeling rather hopeless right now. Essays were excellent. Any thoughts?


At our private a lot of ED acceptances this year were kids that were hooked. Usually it is more balanced. I expect that more acceptances will be forthcoming in RD. They will have to if this year's exmissions are to resemble those of prior years. They have been generally consistent year to year, so I'm betting on this. Not sure why this is happening, but keeping my fingers crossed for your DC.


+1 This year ED is big for hooked. Lots of hooked acceptance. A lot more deferrals unhooked.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 01:48     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Are all private school parents so clueless?
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 01:46     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is one of my kids, and he keeps saying he should have switched to public for 11th & 12th. His friends from club sports who go to public do a fraction of the work he does, have straight As or A pluses (which our school doesn’t even give), lower SATs and are getting in to much better schools. I do think it matters who he’s competing vs at his school, and they can only take so mah from these smaller privates.


If you are at a wealthier public, he'd have the same issue.


Yep.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 01:21     Subject: What is going on - really worried
You will get one or more acceptances on RD. Definitely. Just try to be patient. Then please make sure you come back and tell us. Good luck!
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 00:51     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Everyone was deferred from USC. He will get in there.


No, not everyone. 3,800 were admitted.


At best has a 10 percent chance of being admitted to USC, just like everyone else. No one is rejected in EA, so being deferred doesn’t signal anything,
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 00:49     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:Everyone was deferred from USC. He will get in there.


No, not everyone. 3,800 were admitted.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 00:17     Subject: What is going on - really worried
OP, you can still apply to some colleges. https://toptieradmissions.com/colleges-still-accepting-applications-late-deadlines-for-the-class-of-2030/
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 00:17     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:Pitt is a great school.


Hi OP! I graduated from Pitt in parent times and went to Michigan for grad school.

Your kid will do great at Pitt if that's what comes to be. I have mentioned this on other threads but after working, I got a full ride to Michigan MBA. My husband got a full ride to a Georgetown Master's right after school and my best girlfriend at Pitt went directly to Harvard Law. And Pitt was a great school for liberal arts. I enjoyed English Lit, History, Poli Sci and Art History, along with my Econ major. I got a really well-rounded education, loved to take classes in the Cathedral of Learning, and tried a bunch of fun extracurriculars. The campus had good access to professional theater, art museums, and music concerts, as well as on-campus events. I found students there pretty down-to-earth and I liked that.

Pitt and Michigan are similar in a lot of ways. Pitt places less emphasis on football and Greek life. Although that is there if you want it. Michigan does have a bigger layer of uber-wealthy kids and some say these kids stick together pretty tightly.

As far as Michigan goes, it's true your kid might hear later in the cycle. Although lately the waitlist has been large. Just make sure to get the LOCI form filled out. Also keep in mind that Michigan is fairly transfer-friendly for sophomores. And I bet Pitt distribution courses would match up well with Michigan LSA requirements. I don't know if your kid would even want to transfer but I think that would be a fairly smooth option. Pitt will likely be a better value cost-wise and if a freshman year goes well, there's really no need to transfer. If there's something she's looking for that's not automatically there, she can do a semester exchange or design a course or do an independent study project of any kind. Like this student did:

https://www.play.pitt.edu/maya-jones-creates-18th-century-versailles-court-gown

Good luck to your DC. Try not to stress!
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 00:12     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kid from a good private - top 30% of class with 1550 SAT and all 5's on APs. Solid EC's with leadership and community service, but no hook other than private school. Applied humanities - rejected ED to Ivy, deferred Santa Clara, USC and UMich. In at Pitt with merit and honors college. Waiting on a bunch more but feeling rather hopeless right now. Essays were excellent. Any thoughts?


This was our kid, similar, we are full pay, ACT 35, deferred at MI, rejected from UNC, WL at Vanderbilt, and more, who ended up at Pitt. All I can tell you is, she's happy there. Has made good friends, doing well in school, had excellent internships, etc. Counselor said the schools all thought they were her safetys


Your counselor indicated that Michigan, UNC and Vanderbilt were safeties?
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 00:08     Subject: What is going on - really worried
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kid from a good private - top 30% of class with 1550 SAT and all 5's on APs. Solid EC's with leadership and community service, but no hook other than private school. Applied humanities - rejected ED to Ivy, deferred Santa Clara, USC and UMich. In at Pitt with merit and honors college. Waiting on a bunch more but feeling rather hopeless right now. Essays were excellent. Any thoughts?


This was our kid, similar, we are full pay, ACT 35, deferred at MI, rejected from UNC, WL at Vanderbilt, and more, who ended up at Pitt. All I can tell you is, she's happy there. Has made good friends, doing well in school, had excellent internships, etc. Counselor said the schools all thought they were her safetys


That’s a problem with how she wrote her supplementals then