<p>My gut tells me that my d will be accepted to at least a couple of her schools. The more gut wrenching question for me is whether she will receive enough money to actually attend.</p>
<p>couldn't agree more with emdee.</p>
<p>My gut feeling last year was also wrong, but we kinda rationalized that the place that wanted her knew what they were doing, and if they thought they were a good school for her, they probably were, whereas a school that didn't accept her wasn't the right place anyway. Where this rationalization fails is on the waitlist---they like her, they think she'd be a good fit, but there's no room...</p>
<p>My gut has been telling me so strongly for the last few weeks that my son will not be accepted that I'm already planning on how to deal with another year of public school. :(</p>
<p>Don't lose hope now. It really is nerve wracking to just have to wait, but there are surprises both ways (good and bad) for many (most?) when the decisions come in. Even after that there are schools with rolling admissions/late admissions after March 10 for determined applicants.</p>
<p>@neato-</p>
<p>Do you find it a bit curious that you're been getting these feelings over the past several weeks? Few weeks ago? Okay. This would be around the time that all essays were completed, last minute visits were taken, PFS forms were processed if you filed them and applications were mailed. It is during this point when frenzy ceases and our minds were rendered "idle", at least as it pertains to the BS application process. I think the idle mind is fertile feeding ground for the betrayal of gut feelings (of course I know our minds are not idle, we have millions of other thoughts which consume our days/nights, just idle in terms of the application process). </p>
<p>To further illustrate, let's play a game. This game has only one rule and it's a simple one: Do not think about a white bear. We can think about anything else except a white bear. So close your eyes, deep breath and banish the thought of white bears from your mind. Guess What?
You've just lost the game. I just lost the game. Trying to avoid thinking about something be it a white bear or a pile of rejection letters leaves our minds stuck in a recursive loop of self-consciousness and our attempt at repression turns into an odd fixation.</p>
<p>I honestly do think that your gut feelings are incorrect in this instance. I truly believe this is a case of the "white bear syndrome" masking as intuition at a time when we're most vulnerable e.g., the period from the end of January to March 9th when there's not much to do but imagine.</p>
<p>Just hang in there. We'll know soon enough. I sincerely hope that everyone gets acceptances and the necessary resources to attend their favorite schools. </p>
<p>P.S. no jokes about the white bear theory, 'kay? :)</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement. It's been kind of an icky two weeks in general. Everything will be OK one way or the other.</p>
<p>How do you get that bear to go back in it's cave and hibernate until March 10?</p>
<p>Child #1--we thought she'd get into all (8) of the elite preps she applied to. Rejected, accepted w/o FA, or waitlisted to EVERY one! Horrible, horrible, horrible. Worst fears realized...actually those fears were never on our radar.</p>
<p>Gut feeling for Child #1--they would fight over her and she would have lots of choices. Dead wrong! </p>
<p>Child #2 (six years later)--considered two elites for a bit until we rec'd SSAT scores that were not in the range. Instead chose one safety and three solid match schools. Withdrew app from safety when told there would be no FA if accepted. Three match schools accepted. Happy faces all around!</p>
<p>Gut feeling for Child #2 (last year) was right on. We hoped and prayed he'd be accepted and "knew" he was an excellent candidate. </p>
<p>Don't know if this helps put anyone's minds at ease or makes it worse. If so, my apologies. None of you need more stress right now. We were educated consumers with process for Child #2, but complete novices with Child #1. That made all the difference. It was all about the match and seeing our kid for who he is and choosing schools accordingly.</p>
<p>@baseballmom, Knowing what you know now, would your first child still have applied to the same schools? I guess what I'm trying to get a feel for, (and since you mentioned altering school for your second after getting ssat score), do you think that your first child was a good candidate for the schools to which he/she applied or do you think that they were a little out of her league? </p>
<p>Do you chalk you success with your second to finding the right fit? Or do you think that you just didn't realize how incredibly selective the top schools were, or maybe both?</p>
<p>Sorry for so many questions! PM me if you prefer.</p>
<p>So, I went to edit my last post and the computer froze. </p>
<p>Baseballmom, I re-read your post any realized that you pretty much answered all my questions in the last sentence! My apologies.</p>
<p>neatoburrito-
Knowing what we know now, she would have applied to two top schools and three match/safeties, which, of course, depends on what is a match for the kid. BUT, that said, since the adcom at Andover most definitely mislead us, she would have applied there in the "what if" scenario. We were told she was the best applicant to walk through his door in two weeks! REJECTED! </p>
<p>FYI-she played cello, soccer, danced ballet, jazz & tap, had roles in competitive community theater productions, A/B+ student, great recommendations (so we were told by teachers). Her SSAT scores were in the 85 range.</p>
<p>She was WL at Deerfield, accepted at Loomis w/o FA, rejected at Governor's (when I called they said if not for FA need she would have been accepted), rejected from Andover, Exeter, Taft, Choate, St. Pauls. We didn't look below the top schools. She was a perfect candidate for so many other schools.</p>
<p>With Child #2, we looked for schools that would feel lucky to have HIM and not the other way around!</p>
<p>Did #1 eventually get into Deerfield?
What percentage of domestic waitlisted kids at the top school do you reckon get in eventually?
To get through waitlisting what do you do? Tell the school of choice that you are my 1st choice and I am not going anywhere else that has offered? Negotiate and offer to pay more tuition?</p>
<p>This is the first time I've posted, but I've been following this discussion. To Baseballmom- on FA. I've been curious about that. Even schools which claim to be need-blind must take FA into consideration; in fact at one school, the interviewer was an associate dean of FA. You mention that your D would have been accepted to a school if not for FA. I'm wondering now if applying for FA will hurt my D's chances at her school of choice. It looks from the SSS report as if we will not qualify anyway, but we felt encouraged to apply.</p>
<p>@sarum
No, she didn't come off of Deerfield's WL--. Also, somewhat of a correction--she was WL for FA at Loomis and they told me to stop calling them (I called every week and a half) and that it was unlikely she would receive aid!</p>
<p>So, of the 8 schools, there was no option since we needed FA. In desperation I contacted the admissions director at a school in our area that we had not considered to have a talk about what we might have done wrong. When he heard my D's stats, he said that they'd love to have her at their school and she was accepted within 48 hours. This was post April 10. They had a bed and we had a kid!</p>
<p>@mimsy
I do believe that not applying for FA increases the chance of admission. It certainly does if the school does not claim to be need-blind. At most need-blind schools, why is it that the amount of FA awarded is about the same amount each year?</p>
<p>It just seems unlikely that the pile of accepted kids would require the same amount of FA dollars every year. There have got to be two piles right from the start. Those that don't need it and those that do.</p>
<p>would you think it's best to tell your kids your got feeling? or not? do you think it would discourage them if you thought they'd get in but ended but being flat out rejected to every school?</p>
<p>I've told my son that even though we think he's a great candidate for the school, there is no guarantee and we don't get to decide. He knows the odds. He has a good idea of the competition and he knows the impact FA can have. I think he'll probably fall out of his chair with shock if he is accepted (as would I). This is not because he's unqualified - just because of the enormity of the opportunity and good fortune. We are all expecting a waitlist, at best. I do hope that I am wrong. I think he could contribute a LOT and I think he did a reasonable job of conveying that during his interviews, etc.</p>
<p>As the final showdown is drawing closer, the thought of sending him hundreds of miles away to the kind of place (boarding prep school) we didn't even know exist in real life a year ago (well, a little exageration but you get the idea) is really getting to us. We feel as if it is just about to happen, getting really scared and worked up. This is a blessing in a sense as it lifted huge pressure we once felt. My S is still enthusiastic but we secretely are half-hearted now. If he is rejected, waitlisted or accepted with no FA whatsoever things would be easy, he woould be disappointed but being a realist as he is he'll get over it in no time especially given the fact that he's accepted to an excellent day school with scholarship already. However, if he gets accepted with limited funding, that'd put us in a tricky situation. Just how hard we want to try to make it happen would be a big question to us; and then of course we need to justify our decision both to us and to him. p.s. what scares us most? He's too young (almost youngest in his grade), especially after we knew that there were so many repeaters. I do think now that it might be a good idea to have him apply as a 9th grade repeater next year if he's still interested by then.</p>
<p>wateretester-
I'm with you! As the big day draws nearer I get more nervous about sending my son away. My son would be a repeat 9th grader and while I know he will be fine, what about me?<br>
I'm just going to be thrilled if out of the 8 he applied to one of them accepts him with the aid we need. His stats sound a lot like baseballmom's D with a lot of the same school names. It's so hard finding a good fit for a child when you live so far away from them all. Hopefully we picked at least one or two that will want him!</p>
<p>Applicant here.... I seem to have a swing from "OF COURSE" to "why the hell do I bother applying"... It depends whether I have been on CC too much that day or not (I'm above average, even by CC standards, but you know that random kid who who gets perfect everything cured cancer, aids and is Obama's kid...)</p>
<p>Yea I beat that kid up in a dark alley last night. His name's kevin right?</p>