As we await the decision, a game we have played in our household is putting in the probability of DS getting into school X. The parents and DS did this independently but they seem to match up. It is based on our intuition, the feel and vibe we got from the schools, AOs feedback but also tempered by the reality/competitiveness of the process.
So my question to folks who have walked this path before, how close were you to your expectations. Is there any co-relation between where you thought you would get Accept/WL/Reject vs reality. Were you surprised/shocked/not surprised post March 10th?
We have discussed this, but I’m too scared to make any actual predictions (don’t want to jinx anything!). My husband naively thinks she will get in everywhere she applied. I’m trying to get him to temper his enthusiasm because I don’t want M10 to be a disappointment for our daughter.
As I sit here, waiting eagerly for M10 to arrive, listening to the very wise advice of those who have gone before us, I still keep thinking: really? No correlation?
Is it really completely not related when you have some AO’s with whom you just hit it off, probably because the school just felt so right so your DK and you had detailed, thoughtful questions that reflected genuine interest. And so the essays were crafted just right for the school because the enthusiasm for it channeled its energies into seizing the opportunity to make a case for mutual fit, and (thus) admission. The AO, you are sure, actually really does “love my kid! no for real! I mean it!” and you are sure your kid has at least a strong advocate, perhaps even a raving fan, who will fight for your kid’s place at the table.
And on the other end – there were AO’s who seemed at best pleasant, but perhaps more likely indifferent or unimpressed. No back and forth. No sense of having an advocate in the process.
How can this not be somewhat indicative of results?! I ask myself incredulously. Am I that bad at reading people not to know difference between professional encouragement that will get the applicant to submit versus honest interest and connection?
While I wouldn’t expect admission at every school where we had the adoring AO experience, I would still expect the admissions to skew toward those schools and away from the others where the love was less felt. So to hear “no correlation” in the family’s best guesses continues to blow my mind.
But we were also totally blown away by the SSATs, despite plenty of warnings about how hard it is. So, we are FULLY PREPARED to grab the popcorn and watch how wrong we are on this too. Thanks for sharing, everyone!
Different personalities and styles come into play. Additionally, admissions decisions are not made unilaterally by one Admissions Officer. The interaction with the AO also comes before they have seen the entire application, all facets of it, as well as the application in the context of all applications and their relative merit.
For us the surprise was the number of wait list responses (the majority in our case) So fewer acceptances and fewer rejections than we anticipated…and those were unpredictable as well. Our kid had great stats, (and a great kid) but totally hookless so perhaps more random than usual. A happy ending for us because a top choice was an acceptance…but all those wait lists were a sobering reminder of the unpredictability of the process.
@doschicos@calimex – Yes of course it’s not a one-person decision. But this would still support correlation. (Not prediction of outcome, necessarily.) What is crazy isn’t the fact that an AO gushing doesn’t predict acceptance, but rather the lack of any correlation.
(And not to split hairs, CaliMex, but I don’t think anyone is looking to count chickens prematurely here. What I am hearing is how surprised we are that some healthy looking eggs didn’t make it while some we thought were goners, pecked their way through to health.)
@chase1824 – oh that is interesting about the waitlists. That sounds like a fate that could easily be ours too. (again: cue up the popcorn…)
@ChoatieMom – I believe it. And I believe it will happen one or more times to us on M10. And as much as I would like to think otherwise, it will probably legitimately hurt our feelings. (But better to have loved and lost…)
The interview is just one piece - and not the largest - of the applicant. An AO has an incentive to get the interviewee to follow through with and complete the application.
Frankly, I don’t think AOs for prep schools should gush over any applicant. When dealing with 13, 14, 15 year olds, I think that sends the wrong, and often a false, message. An AO should be welcoming and make the applicant feel comfortable, however.
I also think it is the parents’ role to temper the discussions with their child and make them not weigh any comments, no matter how flattering they are, too highly.
Well, over the weekend I got a message that one of the schools my kid applied to wanted me to upload another document for the FA application. So I figure someone has at least glanced at what was submitted for FA.
Would it be correct to assume that they’d only look at the FA application if you didn’t make the “easy reject” pile?
No, I don’t think they have an easy reject pile. They go over every application and if it’s missing something they will call you. Similar to missing a recommendation they need to have the whole package to make decisions. I don’t think you can read into it either way. IF you were closer to March 10th than I’d say yes, maybe it means something.