I just read this old post from @2prepMom
Is this a joke or is it real? Do they really try hard? How can you really decide if you get too many acceptance? (We might well imagine a too good outcome rather than all denials until the Marth 10)
that sounds like a SNL skit…
We found schools really lovely on revisit days . . . . . warm, welcoming, and full of pride in who they were and what they offered. Lots of humility and appreciation for the choices students were making and that it was hard. And also lots of awareness that each student was lucky for acceptance and those not accepted were very similar. We had no obnoxious pandering, just overall fun and gratitude for the choices.
It’s this aspect of the admissions process thats the most amusing to me. When conducting interviews its as if both parties are selling themselves, the students are trying to get in and the schools are trying to get you to be interested, even if theyll ultimately reject you
For the vast majority of applicants, receiving “too many acceptances” is not an issue! If you look at the threads post-M10 for last year and prior, you will see that plenty of well-qualified kids did not gain admittance to their schools of choice. Many were shut out completely ( which is why you will hear some of us say “Cast a wide net” again and again).
Wishing everyone the results they hope for on M10 this year.
My rational self agrees with you that too many acceptance probably won’t be an issue. I saw the threads and did cast a wide net. Still my irrational self can’t stop being delusional, especially while daydreaming.
3 years ago when we went through this the first time I heard stories of schools sending out all sorts of gifts. DS was accepted at 2 boarding schools and they each sent a small package - with thing you might expect, pen, school sticker, etc. At revisit day he got a t-shirt. One local day school sent a book to all accepted students, the other didn’t send anything but had phone calls from a current student and teacher in his favorite subject. He did get a few personalized notes from schools too. He went to one day and one boarding school revisit. Both had food, class visits, some programs for parents, etc. Boarding school had an ice cream social/variety show the night before revisit. Yes the tables are turned at this point and the schools want students to choose them, but we didn’t feel that kind of pressure the OP mentioned. Good luck on M10 - we are waiting for day school results for DS2.
My son went thru this 2 years ago. He ended up with acceptances everywhere.
Deerfield sends a nice package with a poster and green white M&Ms. Hotchkiss sends a nice package. All of the schools give out nice goodies on revisit days like t shirts umbrellas, etc.
We also received a lot of phone calls from fellow parents, students, etc asking my son to enroll. It actually became somewhat of a nuisance.
But once your child makes a decision and let’s admissions know the communications cease.
^ He ended up with acceptances everywhere. ^
Can you believe that I already feel guilty for applying too many schools? I cannot help projecting my own opinion of my daughter, which is perfect and exemplary in all ways, to admission officers who would be sad and feel betrayed for not getting her. I feel guilty as if she is already admitted to everywhere. It’s funny as my wife has the opposite worries, while daughter doesn’t seem to concern much.
It seems that on M10, some kids get in everywhere while others get rejected across board. Winner takes all.
Being an athletic recruit, or a URM (such as a Hispanic with a hook), or a Full Pay (with a hook) seems to be the first camp. A WRK (well rounded kid without a significant hook) with a significant financial need or an ORM (Chinese or Korean ethnicity ) who did not cast a wide net but instead applied to only the usual suspect schools belongs mostly to the second camp.
Good luck to jwalche daughter! I would stay off CC for now.
^ Being an athletic recruit, or a URM (such as a Hispanic with a hook), or a Full Pay (with a hook) ^
No, No and No
" WRK (well rounded kid without a significant hook) with a significant financial need or an ORM "
Almost Yes, Yes and Yes. At least she has significant arts achievement and college credits.
Haha, I feel less guilty now. It’s fortunate that she cast a wide net.
^ I would stay off CC for no ^
I will try 
The more I read these forums on prep school the more worried I get about my daughter’s chances. Her SSATs are about 5-10 percentile points lower than the median of most of the schools she applied to (median reported as 65%). While I think she has wonderful qualities like a great sense of humor, compassion, and leadership skills, and is enthusiastic about school, sports and activities, she hasn’t won any awards or been a highly ranked athlete or musician. She loves sports and plays on town teams, loves science and community service, is a great “people person” and interviews well, but seems nothing like the kids on these forums who sound so impressive to me! Hoping some of the schools she is applying to have some space for kids like her!
@payn4ward What is your sense about URS (underrepresented state)? How much weight does it carry? Would you compare it in pull to URM?
@GoatMama I don’t know… I think someone mentioned that URS are states starting with vowels. Idaho, Iowa, Arkansas, Alabama, and Nevada, Mississipi, Louisiana, N & S Dakota, etc.
Illinois is not. Texas, Michigan, CA, and Colorado are not URS.
So an Oboe player from North Dakota with underwater basketweaving skills may work??
Actually we have a local underwater basket weaving club.
So change that to Underwater Tuba player.
Yes, I know which they are. I was just wondering if you knew how much of a hook an URS is. GoatKid is URS, recruited athlete, strong SSAT and grades, several ECs (music too though not oboe!), and somewhat bilingual in the obscure language of my country of birth. Alas, sizable FA is needed, so anxiety runs high in this household.
BTW, have you noticed the map hanging in the lobby of Exeter’s Admissions building? It shows where Exonians come from. We made a point to stick a pin in the heart of our URS! Knowing that’s the only time we’ll ever set a foot in that building, we seized the opportunity to redeem our URS! 
^ map hanging in the lobby of Exeter’s Admissions building? ^
We saw that. Just how ORM Koreans were, even among Far Eastern countries, somewhat discouraging! OTL
I do remember the map @GoatMama.
I hope it works out for you. I hope your AO says at the office,
“Listen, We got the first Exonian from GoatState and I love GoatKid!”
@mass2020mom, don’t worry too much. Not every kid has all those accolades. I felt the way you did when my oldest son was applying to BS. He’s a nice, above-average-but-not-superstar-in-anything-he-does white kid from New England. He has literally never played a musical instrument in his life, other than when the entire third grade had to learn how to play the records. He likes sports but is not a star (as evidence by the fact that even as an 11th grader, he’s still mostly on JV teams). He had never won any award for anything prior to applying to BS, other than having a shelf full of “participant” trophies from Little League baseball and community soccer. He had never done any community service work, other than the modest project required in his 8th grade class. He didn’t have any particularly outlandish interests or hobbies.
And yet, the school that he’s at now still managed to see that he was a perfectly great 14 year old kid, who had the potential to make the most of the opportunities he’d get at BS and grow into an interesting, engaged, analytical, thoughtful student. Which, I’m proud to say, he has. And now he actually has some passions, and has won a number of awards and honors. But he still doesn’t play any musical instruments.
^ map hanging in the lobby of Exeter’s Admissions building? ^
We stuck a pin but I think that represents visitors and not students since its in the Admissions Building. DD was born in a country where there were no pins as we couldn’t smoosh on the board for our popular New England state:) At Hotchkiss they have a similar map, but I believe its students as it was located near the library if I recall.
@payn4ward GoatKid is not very skilled at promoting herself. While I support her “I yam who I yam” attitude, I am not sure how much track modesty gets during admissions. Sitting in waiting rooms and going on tours, we observed an insane amount of pandering, prepared questions (“How are the values of Andover reflected in the curriculum?” a 13 year old would ask. Really? GoatKid wants to know how do kids make sure they’re not late for class in the morning…), pseudo-academic exhibitionism (“I can’t sit idle. I have to work on math problems while I wait for my interview”, with piles of textbooks spread across the waiting room). I don’t know the admission outcomes of these kids, but I hope they are not representative of most BS students. Who wants to go to school with self-absorbed people, after all?