Isn't this something Harvard isn't least tacitly encouraging by not just going ED instead of pretentious SCEA?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The colleges review acceptances by school. The point to selecting the SCEA ischool s that it is a clear first choice not just a stategic advantage. Fit is suppose to matter. The student has an advantage for admissions for a well-fitting school and the school wins with yield protection. When that same student uses a hook such as first to college or URM to trophy hunt during RD, knowing she will accept the SCEA because it was their #1 choice, it hurts the chances of her classmates during the RD round to land a good fit for them. Waitlist is not done by school. So the people that get hurt are your frends. I think in the ancient past when elite college acceptances were much easier to come by and RD was a real round, some shopping probably did not have the same negative impacts. Today the field is very different.

There is no logic to this statement. If the kid had withdrawn, there is not a shred of evidence that another kid from the same school would be chosen. Also it is more than likely that the RD school may actually pick up the phone and talk to the school counselor, to just let them know and discover that the kid is already admitted SCEA and may just waitlist or deny the kid and move on to the rest of the application. Schools are not dumb. Stop worrying about the other kids, they will be fine.

But OP's child did NOT withdraw from Harvard . . . she continued on to apply to LACs and presumably other Ivies and schools that are difficult to get into which DOES hurt the chances of her classmates. All applicants are competing against those in their own school because each of these institutions want geographic and school diversity. In my DC's private, only one gets into Brown, Harvard, Ga Tech, Pomona, Duke, Princeton, etc. That's why SCEA exists to try and get those students taken care of right out of the barrel and they are supposed to commit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The colleges review acceptances by school. The point to selecting the SCEA ischool s that it is a clear first choice not just a stategic advantage. Fit is suppose to matter. The student has an advantage for admissions for a well-fitting school and the school wins with yield protection. When that same student uses a hook such as first to college or URM to trophy hunt during RD, knowing she will accept the SCEA because it was their #1 choice, it hurts the chances of her classmates during the RD round to land a good fit for them. Waitlist is not done by school. So the people that get hurt are your frends. I think in the ancient past when elite college acceptances were much easier to come by and RD was a real round, some shopping probably did not have the same negative impacts. Today the field is very different.

There is no logic to this statement. If the kid had withdrawn, there is not a shred of evidence that another kid from the same school would be chosen. Also it is more than likely that the RD school may actually pick up the phone and talk to the school counselor, to just let them know and discover that the kid is already admitted SCEA and may just waitlist or deny the kid and move on to the rest of the application. Schools are not dumb. Stop worrying about the other kids, they will be fine.

I can understand why you think that, but it is how it works at private schools.

Anonymous wrote:The colleges review acceptances by school. The point to selecting the SCEA ischool s that it is a clear first choice not just a stategic advantage. Fit is suppose to matter. The student has an advantage for admissions for a well-fitting school and the school wins with yield protection. When that same student uses a hook such as first to college or URM to trophy hunt during RD, knowing she will accept the SCEA because it was their #1 choice, it hurts the chances of her classmates during the RD round to land a good fit for them. Waitlist is not done by school. So the people that get hurt are your frends. I think in the ancient past when elite college acceptances were much easier to come by and RD was a real round, some shopping probably did not have the same negative impacts. Today the field is very different.

There is no logic to this statement. If the kid had withdrawn, there is not a shred of evidence that another kid from the same school would be chosen. Also it is more than likely that the RD school may actually pick up the phone and talk to the school counselor, to just let them know and discover that the kid is already admitted SCEA and may just waitlist or deny the kid and move on to the rest of the application. Schools are not dumb. Stop worrying about the other kids, they will be fine.

The colleges review acceptances by school. The point to selecting the SCEA ischool s that it is a clear first choice not just a stategic advantage. Fit is suppose to matter. The student has an advantage for admissions for a well-fitting school and the school wins with yield protection. When that same student uses a hook such as first to college or URM to trophy hunt during RD, knowing she will accept the SCEA because it was their #1 choice, it hurts the chances of her classmates during the RD round to land a good fit for them. Waitlist is not done by school. So the people that get hurt are your frends. I think in the ancient past when elite college acceptances were much easier to come by and RD was a real round, some shopping probably did not have the same negative impacts. Today the field is very different.

To repeat, the issue is with DC’s classmates. Sure, in OP’s case, it didn’t matter because their DC was not admitted to the other schools. But in most cases, an admittance for one kid from a specific high school does have an effect on other kids from that high school. If that kid turns them down and they go to the wait list, they will not be specifically looking for the second-best kid from that school.

But if OP didn't have any acceptances to those colleges, how could any real harm be done?

Harvard SCEA had a 15% acceptance rate this year. All the colleges mentioned by OP had a <10% acceptance rate for RD students. It might honestly be tougher to get into them. This is not that surprising.

Some students legitimately want to consider their options. They apply SCEA because it confers the greatest advantage, and then they consider their options later. Sure applying to the to LACs is unusual, but it's not like there isn't any possibility in overlap. A handful of students do turn down HYP for a top LAC yearly. Tiny tiny tiny number, yes, but it happens. The environments are different. If OP's child applied solely to Yale, Princeton, Stanford- would that bother you? A ton of SCEA students who get in do apply to the other elites to weigh their options. SCEA is not a binding commitment and it never was.

Not to mention- let's say OP's son did just to hopefully trophy collect acceptances. The end goal is to go to Harvard. If those schools don't fill their class, they'll go to the waiting list and pick someone else who is qualified. That's just how it works. It's not a zero sum game in which turning down an acceptance means a vanished spot all in all.

I don't see how this is as troubling as many here make it out to be, but I would gladly appreciate a reality check/ alternative perspective.