<p>With my son, one school was sending emails at 12:01 on March 11 (which was a Monday, March 10 was a Sunday, so it was an odd year). We all waited up and checked together. It was a school we thought he would get in, so together we checked and as expected, it was good news.<br>
We came home together and checked the mail. He received 3 large envelopes and 2 small. Usually the 2 small are “bad” news and for him they were wait lists. We opened them all together. He opened the one he already knew about last.
My daughter will probably be home that day, and with March 10 mid-week, we don’t know if one of the schools will be mailing that day, or on the 9th. One she can get online on the 10th and they mail on the 10th. We’ll check that together.</p>
<p>GemmaV, are you working at one of the “top schools”? Are your apps up this year?</p>
<p>The day DS’s big envelope came he was at school. I grabbed it from the mailbox and drove like a maniac to interrupt him in the middle of biology class! When he and the other kids in the class saw the big envelope they all knew what it was and gave him a standing ovation. Best day ever.</p>
<p>@Benley, yes apps at Hogwarts are up. :)</p>
<p>Thanks GemmaV. The reason why I asked was because a CC memeber posted that one of the GADES saw a 10% decrease of applications this year. I am still wondering which school that could be.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine letting my kid stay home from school just to get results, or interrupting them at school (sorry cecil!). They aren’t allowed to miss school for anything except being really sick. That’s the rule in our family. It’s not just about what they’d learn that day, it’s about respecting education. But that’s just us, to each his own. </p>
<p>Plus, if you make a super big deal about it and don’t get in, it could be really lame to be sitting around, feeding on disappointment, and getting behind in class to boot!</p>
<p>I think it is important to discuss the possibility of rejection with your child before the envelopes arrive.</p>
<p>Benley, remember that that info was from a December conversation. The final apps weren’t in yet but that is what the person thought at the time.</p>
<p>Oh sure catg, I am not holding you accountable! 
Just curious if something like that really happened - that’d be an interesting topic to talk about here on CC don’t you think?</p>
<p>Agreed! and it is still possible as I look at the seeming randomness with college app levels this year. Why are some schools up so much why others are down? Who knows.</p>
<p>I’m a little concerned for so many of these kids that are applying to the top schools looking for aid. Many seem to have no safeties and I’m afraid it will be a bloodbath here on the 10th. What do you think?</p>
<p>Then Blue gets to spend 4 more years staring at whitewash walls wishing she was elsewhere. Or more likely we move and I get to do the same thing on another continent. I didn’t apply to safties because we won’t get full aid and my parent won’t go through financial hardship foranything less than 1st tier. Plus, they don’t get how hard it is to get in and nothing I say to the contray will convince them. Apparently, my credibility on my chances was shot when I predicted my SSAT would be in the 70s.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is such a thing as a safety when you need FA. I don’t mean that then it doesn’t matter what schools you apply to. I just mean that what might otherwise be a safety becomes a reach when you need FA. That’s why it’s important for a student to apply to a range of schools, provided they would be happy at all of them.</p>
<p>If I learned nothing else on CC, it is the above.</p>
<p>I, too, am really nervous for some of the kids that only applied to the tippy top schools. I hope they are successful with all my heart, but I am “concerned” as well.</p>
<p>For kids with a plan B (a good public school or a day school) who wouldn’t settle for anything less than the top few BS (rightly or wrongly), this is how the game is played - high risk and high return. It sounds like they are fully aware how difficult this will be especially when they need FA. This awareness would help them cope the possible disappointment coming on March 10 so I wouldn’t worry about their “mental well-being”. On the other hand, I truely believe some of them are very strong candidates and have a serious shot for the top schools. If they do get in at least one of their dream schools with enough FA, that’d be huge victory. (I know people who applied to only 1 or 2 top schools and still got in.) That’s why we call it a rollercoaster ride!</p>
<p>I stand corrected. What I have just described is a “live or die” ride! ;)</p>
<p>I must emphatically disagree with Gemma above. Maybe I misunderstood you, so if I did, I beg your pardon in advance, but from a certain viewpoint, your advice is not good. Ok, so lets say that the student was rejected as potentially too immature, and he/she opens the envelope alone and freaks out, alone. These are 13 and 14 year old children!!! Maybe the kid thought he could take rejection, but he couldn’t. I still cry at some rejections myself. I am far from immature. I’ve managed college, grad school and working as a lawyer (traveling for business too). What were you thinking??? It is one thing to address the letter to the child. It is another to just let the kids run with it. I can’t believe that you really meant what you said.</p>
<p>Parents, just so that one opinion of an admissions rep does not sway what you think is right for your child, I wanted to note that at least one school (which is considered a very good school) that my child applied two a couple of cycles ago said that it was their specific recommendation to open letters or emails as a family. Opening an envelope alone, without parents at least nearby, could be disaster for some kids if it is negative. I no longer have the letter with the exact wording, but it was something to the effect of don’t let the kid do it without some supervision available.</p>
<p>For anyone still reading I found the letter in my email folder. Here it is in relevant part:</p>
<p>“Selecting a school should be a process that involves your family. I strongly encourage you to have a parent or guardian with you when you access your decision just as you might when you receive your mailed letter. This advanced notice is provided so that you and your family may plan accordingly.”</p>
<p>Tried to stay off this site but with only ten days to go no such luck. I might as well sleep with my computer of late. (By the way, I will not let my child on CC. She has plenty to do without obsessing compulsing here) She is a full FA candidate, absolutely Loathes her present ( luckily highly rated ) public school, and is, I believe an excellent candidate for any school. </p>
<p>Reality…Shes fourteen and possibly about to have the biggest disappointment of her young life. My job is to help her put it in some kind of healthy perspective, if needed. </p>
<p>The advice from Anothermom is well taken.</p>
<p>So many qualified candidates, so few beds.</p>
<p>I’m totally jealous over these understanding supporting parents. Although the banning from CC, not so much… It seems the majority of CC kids (see thread Together or Alone) are opening it on their own, or at least that appears to be the plan.</p>
<p>Disagree with anothermom2, emphatically! Gemma didn’t suggest that the parents should “just let the kids run with it [the trauma of coping with a thin envelope].” She just said that the kids own the process and that parents should not stand in between the child and the letter. </p>
<p>I don’t believe that 13/14 year old kids are these fragile creatures that require the presence of the parent during the opening to soothe and comfort and make the boo boos go away. If they’re that sheltered as to require immediate parental intervention, what the heck are they doing applying to boarding school?</p>
<p>Of course parents will be there, hopefully in advance, to put wins/losses in context and support their child. But intensive helicoptering is not required.</p>