@soxmom , you should speak directly with the CC and sooner rather than later as she can probably be an ally. I agree fully with @doschicos that the CCS have the back stories that don’t come through in Naviance and know about changes in admissions policies and preferences that the general public does not. I know ours picked a few schools for DS that I would not have chosen, and it turns out that they each offered almost $100,000 in merit aid (and earlier decisions as well, a psychological benefit. ) Ours was also happy to present our options to DS which was helpful as he too wanted to listen to her rather than us.
Is it possible that your son has expressed certain preferences to the CC that he hasn’t shared with you? There was one school in particular that our CC did not like for DS because in following up with recent admits, several had talked about how hard partying it was, and she thought it didn’t align with DS’ desires. But 2 of his classmates are there now, so it clearly aligned with theirs…
I feel for you. This is a huge decision and kind of awful process. Our CC said she liked hearing from parents. The alternative is that she is doing her job and feeling undermined by you, right? Because in the end, you’ll have power she doesn’t.
Thought I’d check back in with you all as early action deadlines loom. How’s everyone holding up? SoxBoy wants to apply early, but hasn’t yet decided which of two schools to apply to – nothing like having decisions come down to the last second!
I think DS got 3 applications done today - EA. This weekend is parent’s weekend, and we are driving to visit 2 schools on Mon/Tue, so he had to finish before the weekend. One more is due Nov 15 and one Dec 1 (scholarship deadlines). Then he’ll decide in December if he applies to the rest or removes any after EA decisions.
That would make me super uncomfortable, soxmom, cutting too close. DS1 submitted 3 EAs on Monday (a week to spare, I thought we would do sooner, ha!) Two schools emailed already with the portal access to track the status. Test scores were sent months ago. At our public school, transcripts and letters are sent via Naviance/CA only after Common App is submitted. So those were sent the next day. I’m sure many are submitting applications this weekend.
DS1 also applied to a couple rolling admission schools a few weeks ago and is glad to have an acceptance.
Good luck everyone with all the early applications! :)>-
As of two days ago, DD has submitted all of her applications. She is applying ED to one school and EA to one school and has a couple others that are rolling or regular. Obviously, if she gets into the ED school (fingers crossed!) then she will retract the other applications. Three schools have given us portal access. No news yet…
DD is in public school and the process seems to work the same as it does for @payn4ward .
@soxmom DD is still deciding between two schools - one ED and the other SCEA, both apps due 11/1! The ED school accepts over half the class in the ED round so she definitely feels some pressure to commit now for the admission boost. Ugh! She really likes the ED school and it is a good fit, but she doesn’t have a clear first choice school so I am hesitant to endorse a binding decision. She has been admitted to an OOS public and is submitting several apps for scholarship deadlines before 12/1 to “likely” schools. I truly believe that it doesn’t matter what school she attends because she will make the most of opportunities provided at any of them. I told her this and trust her decision but I’m not sure if it did much to reduce her stress!
Best of luck to everyone for their senior year and college outcomes
Well, here it is Nov. 1st and SoxBoy still hasn’t decided whether to click “submit” on an ED application or not. Lengthy discussion last night on the pros and cons of the two schools he’s debating between, and I finally told him to just stop analyzing the decision so much, go to sleep, and just make whichever decision felt right to him in the morning. But I haven’t heard his decision yet. That may mean he decided not to go with the application due today, and instead do the other school he was considering for ED (which isn’t due until Nov. 15). Or it may mean he hasn’t decided. Or it may mean he has decided, but hasn’t remembered to inform his parents. Sigh.
@doschicos, not a bad point. But he really wanted to take advantage of applying early, and at one of the two schools he was considering, applying early gives a not insignificant boost to your chances of getting in. Turns out he made the decision as soon as he woke up on Nov. 1, but just forgot to text me until I asked later in the day. Sigh again. But he made what I think is a great choice (though not everyone in the family agrees with me, as the other school is one where he has a legacy).
This is the same situation DD was in. She did go ahead and submit the ED app to a “reach” school. She doesn’t have a clear first choice but decided to apply early for the best shot at admission. TBH, I would be thrilled if she is admitted as it will alleviate the college admission/decision pressure for the rest of her senior year. If she is rejected, at least she finds out early and has one less school to worry about. A large percentage of her class submits EA/ED app so that seems to be the prevailing strategy from the GC office. Is that common now for other prep/boarding schools?
At my kids’ BS, something like 70% of the senior class submits at least one early application. In fact, they make a big point of telling kids not to stress out if they’re NOT applying EA/ED, it can seem to them sometimes like everyone’s doing it and there must be something wrong with them if they’re not.
A large percentage apply EA/ED at my kids school too (maybe 80% not quite sure).
Mine knew a few years ago that he wanted to apply EA to his dream school and that held up through researching schools, visiting, etc. He then looked at the rest of the schools and applied early where he could (2 schools). Now he has to work on the rest and see what happens in December. He has two more due before he’ll hear.
DD went back to BS yesterday after a too short Thanksgiving break. She has been crazy busy this fall - some tough academic courses and the added pressure of college applications. She slept a lot over break and obviously needed it! She has four RD apps due 12/1 (for merit) she is still working on, but won’t submit other RD apps until after ED school result mid December. Fortunately, only 3 weeks until winter break!
Mine had a long Thanksgiving break (12 days - goes back tomorrow) then 2 weeks of school, and home for a very long break in December - 3.5 weeks this year which seems longer than usual. He has one app due 12/1 (merit too) and is working on a few more for RD.
My son’s college placement office encouraged kids to use the Thanksgiving break to work on some of their RD applications, even if they’d applied ED somewhere. Sensible advice, but I nonetheless told SoxBoy that I thought he should just take a break from all things college-application-related and enjoy the break (other than having to politely respond to the many relatives asking him about college applications). It’ll be a bit of a scramble on the RD applications if he doesn’t get in early, but I think he’s got a good enough chance that it was worth the gamble. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx him by saying that!
Question from a class of 2020 mom: am I correct in guessing that us 2020 folk need to wait until our kids begin to think about the college search process before beginning our own class thread?
DS1 submitted 3 EAs on Monday (a week to spare, I thought we would do sooner, ha!) Two schools emailed already with the portal access to track the status. Test scores were sent months ago. At our public school, transcripts and letters are sent via Naviance/CA only after Common App is submitted. So those were sent the next day. I’m sure many are submitting applications this weekend.
