Mine is applying to large state schools. So far, Accepted at Bama, UNC, UMD, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Deferred from Michigan. Waiting on UVA, Georgia Tech, Berkeley, and Virginia Tech

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Anonymous wrote:Denied at a high match that sibling was admitted to two yrs ago. Deferred at another. Submitted scores at 75th percentile. Accepted to one safety so far.

Wondering if this admission season is some sort of free-for-all. Feeling nauseated.

This is happening at our school too. So many deferrals. Do you think all these deferrals will eventually get in RD or even off the WL in June? With applications up 40%+ at most top schools, they are probably being cautious about over enrollment. Once kids start declining offers, I think it should shift. You can only go to one school and many kids on reddit are applying to 20+ schools this year.

That's all possible, but it'll be a long wait. Really wish I knew whether the deferral - and the direct denial! - were more along the lines of "we didn't think you really wanted to come badly enough" or whether it's "your grades aren't quite as good as your test-optional competitors, so you lose," two different situations.

When reports on early app numbers started to surface, with their huge increases, I was afraid this might happen. And we're not even talking tippy top schools, more like top 40s-60s.

Yes, this is my DC’s situation too. I do think test optional benefits public school kids with very high GPAs and no test scores. My kid has a high test score and lower GPA from a rigorous private that doesn’t weight grades or offer many APs anymore.

The poor's get all the breaks! It ain't right!!

The schools have the profile from your's child's "rigorous private" so they can see the difference in rigor among schools. It's not as big of a dealbreaker as you may think.

People in private schools are blaming grade deflation, but I think schools are just not as interested in private school kids as in the past. I think there is a certain amount of “discounting” that goes on for kids from privileged backgrounds (unless you’re a development case). I understand why people who have sacrificed to send their kids to private school are frustrated by this, but this has been a trend for a while, and it’s just coming to fruition with test-optional admissions.

Both of my kids are strong students and neither of them were aiming for Ivies. Both applied ED to SLACs and got in. For both of them the key was to think hard about the characteristics of the school that mattered to them (size, location, curriculum, vibe), figure out where they could be happy (there's not just one place), and then try to aim accurately in terms of grades/scores/other qualities. The advantage conferred by ED does you no good at all if you aim too high.

In the case of my older kid (HS class of 2018) he had a 4.7/3.9 (weighted/unweighted) and a 1450 on his SATs, with good but not amazing ECs, and got into a NE SLAC with an admit rate in the high teens. He was interested in a place with an open (or nearly open) curriculum and a progressive but not wildly left political climate. He wanted the warmth and community of a small school.

My younger kid, who graduates this year, had slightly lower grades and not quite as many APs as her brother. After a zillion cancellations she took the ACT in October and got a 34. Her ECs were ok. She was admitted ED to a NE SLAC with an admit rate of around 30%. She had some of the same priorities as my older kid, but warmth and community were really important to her.

The situation this year is particularly crazy for the tippy top schools because everyone has gone test optional. Tons of kids who would not have applied if they had to submit scores are now in the pool, and the admissions officers are (I think) being much more conservative in who they admit early. I think my daughter in particular was lucky that her ED choice was a school that was already test optional and therefore had more experience in evaluating candidates without scores.

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Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

How do you figure? I am going to to guess that most on this board fall into that category.

Because wealthy kids test prep. Google and read the NYTimes article on Trinity College. Most colleges rely on tuition for making expenses. When push comes to shove, full-pay with great test scores get into these schools. As the NYT article mentions, however, professors hate this. Generally, low grade, high test score admits don’t enjoy traditional academics. That doesn’t mean they aren’t smart, motivated kids who will do great in “real life,” but they don’t tend to be great class participants.

I have a kid like that and that if not a true profile for everyone. High SATs with no prep, B+ average with all honors and APs at a tough grading school, a few rough spots over the years tanked enough grades to bring the averages down. This is a school where two wrong on a test is a C -- no do overs, no extra credit. Kids with this profile get into schools because the profile is understood in context and they do extremely well in college, finding it much easier than high school.

And this curriculum would not prepare a student to do well on the SAT/ACT?
Is this school private? I suspect that it is.

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Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

I think there's probably some truth to this. But some schools make it really hard to do well in terms of GPA, but the same kids are able to be successful on the standardized tests.

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Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

How do you figure? I am going to to guess that most on this board fall into that category.

Because wealthy kids test prep. Google and read the NYTimes article on Trinity College. Most colleges rely on tuition for making expenses. When push comes to shove, full-pay with great test scores get into these schools. As the NYT article mentions, however, professors hate this. Generally, low grade, high test score admits don’t enjoy traditional academics. That doesn’t mean they aren’t smart, motivated kids who will do great in “real life,” but they don’t tend to be great class participants.

I have a kid like that and that if not a true profile for everyone. High SATs with no prep, B+ average with all honors and APs at a tough grading school, a few rough spots over the years tanked enough grades to bring the averages down. This is a school where two wrong on a test is a C -- no do overs, no extra credit. Kids with this profile get into schools because the profile is understood in context and they do extremely well in college, finding it much easier than high school.

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Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

How do you figure? I am going to to guess that most on this board fall into that category.

Because wealthy kids test prep. Google and read the NYTimes article on Trinity College. Most colleges rely on tuition for making expenses. When push comes to shove, full-pay with great test scores get into these schools. As the NYT article mentions, however, professors hate this. Generally, low grade, high test score admits don’t enjoy traditional academics. That doesn’t mean they aren’t smart, motivated kids who will do great in “real life,” but they don’t tend to be great class participants.

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Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

How do you figure? I am going to to guess that most on this board fall into that category.

+1. I am the other PP asking what schools these are, as we are not seeing these types of results, at least not yet.

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Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

How do you figure? I am going to to guess that most on this board fall into that category.

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Anonymous wrote:OP lots of parents lie too. If kid is aiming for schools in the 50-100 range and is not getting in something is not adding up. Top 50 schools some have insanely low acceptance rates.

I agree that it seems many on this board lie. My child has only received acceptances so far, and I was surprised because his scores seem to be considered average or low on this board. DC is not trying for Ivies, but has a good mix of SLACs with a variety of selectiveness. One sport (his only EC), no hooks, weighted GPA above a 4, but probably a 3.5-3.7 unweighted. I didn't read his essay, so maybe it was out of the park. He is full IB, which many on this board pooh-pooh, but maybe schools care more about that than DCUM thinks.

Thank you for this pp! My DD plays a sport and a musical instrument and that is it. Would you mind listing some of the schools he was admitted to?

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

That is one tell tell sign for high income full pay students.

Echo the congrats!

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has not received a rejection yet (but that is coming, I'm sure). 3.96UW, 4.21W, no test, mediocre EC to include 1 sport, volunteer work thru school, NHS, school ambassador. Only 1 AP but several honors classes.

Accepted at: Santa Clara, Pepperdine, Baylor, Loyola Marymount Univ, ASU (our state school), and St. Mary's of CA with merit - a few have offered significant merit. Offered honors program at ASU, Baylor, and St. Mary's.

Still waiting on: USC (her reach), University of San Diego, Occidental, and Pitzer (she has lost interest in those 2 for some reason).

She went in expecting to get rejected from USC, and while she will be disappointed, she will not be devastated. Given that her list was very reasonable for her stats, I was confident she would have a few good choices. To be honest, I'm surprised that she has several and all with some merit and a few very generous merit. She's a lucky girl.

Congrats! I know girls who loved several of the schools your daughter now gets to consider. She can't go wrong!

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.

Any chance you can share what the targets and reaches are? We are having a really hard time guessing how schools are evaluating this year and results so far are not encouraging. In at safeties, basically.

My DC is a truly mediocre student but has a high SAT. So far in EA at three targets, two reaches, and one safety. Weirdly, denied or deferred at two additional safeties and one reach. No hooks, no rhyme, no reason.