@headoflife Good luck to your DD. You probably right about "Tufts syndrome ". I am still scratching my head about few mid to lower tier our state schools that didn’t offer my DD admission to honor program. I have a feeling that the two of them we didn’t hear from yet will just reject her right away.
@PAO2008 and @headoflife One thing I learned about Naviance is the scores are an average of the schools accepted applicants. For example, if you have 5 applicants accepted to a school and two have lower GPA/test scores it will pull down the “average” GPA/test scores making the parent/student think the school is within their range. If a school accepts a legacy student, an outstanding athlete or any other student whose GPA/test scores deviate from their mid-50% score for any reason…it affects the “average” GPA/test scores but that information is never detailed in Naviance. At least…this is the information our college counselor gave us in advising us regarding college picks. I was under the impression that the GPA/test scores were for the last student accepted…that just seemed logical to me but I was quickly corrected.
@HappyFace2018 I agree with what you wrote about Naviance. I also think it might work the other way. Our kids GPAs in Naviance are what they had at the end of junior year. But I think the overall results in Naviance for kids in prior years show a 4 year GPA. So kids with more weighted classes senior year might be pulling the average up in Naviance. I don’t know this definitively, however, I know what my older D’s GPA was at the end of junior year and when I look at the graph for the school she ultimately attended, her GPA now looks higher. I can tell it is her stats based on the standardized test score. So the graph alone is helpful but certainly not exact. Using the information under “School Stats” gives a little more depth although again, it is not clear if the GPA numbers are for three years or four. One more thing on GPA’s - in some cases, the overall GPA is lower than expected for a school, but if the student has an upward trend, the school may recognize that and focus mostly on the junior year GPA. My S had his highest year GPA as a junior and I think this helped him. Although is overall GPA is not low, the junior year is very strong. These subtleties make it difficult to completely rely on Naviance. I’ve tried to use it as a tool and see if S is in an acceptable range both for his overall GPA and his junior year GPA.
@HappyFace2018 @PAO2008 I don’t think Naviance is perfect at all, but I looked at the graphs, and on one case, DD was dead in the middle of the pool of accepted kids, with no one with her stats or better having been rejected in all the years the graph reflects. In the other case, she was well above the average, and while not the top of the applicants, close, and no one had ever been waitlisted or rejected that was even close. It is water under the bridge, but I sure feel like I failed her. She may try to take a place on one or both waitlists, but from what I have heard, at least one of the the schools takes at best a handful of kids from the list.
Proud of DD’s acceptances so far: University of Oklahoma (Rolling/NMF McClendon Honors College) back in December, UC Merced, UC Davis, UC San Diego.
“It is gut wrenching. Watching my D and her classmates go through this is painful. Kids you think would be easy choices for college are getting wait listed or outright rejected. On the other hand…last year a student was accepted to Stanford, WashU, UMich and Cornell FULL RIDE and ended up at our state school.”
@HappyFace2018 Any idea why that student ended up at your state school? Which state is it?
@RayznHELL I’ll have to keep the state “confidential” 
I really don’t think the parents clearly understood the difference. I think they equated a full ride at all of the great schools with a full ride at the state school. No matter what anyone told the parents they were completely sold on the state school.
@HappyFace2018 - how did the friend get a full ride at S or Cornell? (And what kind of full ride at WUSTL and UMich?) Was it need-based, because then they do always ask for at least 5-10K per year in student contribution and/or loans.
@fretfulmother I don’t know. I was mentally done in when I learned that the student chose the state school over Stanford. I just couldn’t (and still can’t) rap my head around giving up Stanford and all the contacts/outstanding internships etc.
@HappyFace2018 - In court, they would call your 3rd party story of a kid with FULL RIDE to Stanford, WashU, UMich and Cornell who turned them all down to attend your state school “hearsay,” the credibility of which is in question. You insist on the state being kept confidential too. I do not know which state is involved–but it is in fantasy land!
@RayznHELL Well, sorry to disappoint you. Enjoy your evening.
@HappyFace2018 @RayznHELL - I would also suggest that this friend might have been lying. It looks the same to bystanders if you only get into one school and go there, vs. if you “get a full ride at Stanford” but still go to that one other school. We routinely hear (in real life and on CC) from people who modify the truth for their own purposes. Rejections turn into Waitlists and both turn into “decided not to attend”.
At any rate - I don’t think you have to worry about any kid picking a state school over the full rides claimed, because the story is implausible. (So you can unwrap your head from worrying about that! 
)
I always thought that “full ride” was more of shorthand term than something 100% accurate. One of my DD’s friends has a “full ride” to Stanford. She is in the custody of her older sister and they fall under Stanford’s low income/low assets rubric. Even w/ those “full rides” I think there is a minimal family contribution, but I would still consider it a “full ride.”
Full-ride “need” vs. Full-ride “merit”. Commonly confused. Full-ride to me usually means based on merit…at least that’s what I think of first. I’m not sure what else you’d call the other…
“Full ride” has always meant “student pays nothing,” including housing, fees, etc. “Full tuition” is just as it sounds. These are not loans, but paid in full with no repayment. These could be merit-based or some obscure scholarship because your last name is “Jones” from Huntsville High in Huntsville, TX.
Here’s another possibility: the student may indeed have received a “full ride” at these schools, but this would be based on need. In this case, it might be very understandable for many reasons that the parents might have chosen their state school–their discomfort at sending a child far away when they lacked resources to bring him/her home often or to visit, inability to visit and evaluate choices, etc.
love to learn more about Rollins, DS is visiting for the first time and is accepted and really leaning towards it…rows crew, engineering 3/2 major.
@nettiK4137 Rollins has been mention a couple times in this thread…you can search and PM the commenters. Sorry, I don’t have any information, but have looked at that school a bit via Youtube. Looks like a great campus. Are you sure your son will want to leave after 3 years to complete his engin degree somewhere else??! B-)
Son admitted to Pepperdine, Drexel, Occidental, Syracuse, University of Washington, Washington State University. Waitlisted at university of Miami. There seems to be a record number of applicants that applied everywhere this year.
I just joined today and am very excited to have a place to listen and be heard. I am so bothered by this whole process: no one shares anything! Scores, college lists, acceptances, rejections, wait lists. This could be a bonding experience; but, instead feels isolating. My girl won’t tell her friends and I’m not allowed to tell other moms any good news… Seems odd to me.