My D did not get into any of her top ranked schools either. She was waitlisted at Harvard.
She said she will be fine and I feel very lucky that she is a happy person who is just moving forward.
this year was crazy
@MYOS1634 She is in the University Honors program at UMd which has an assigned dorm. We are doing their admitted students day next week so weâll see what she thinks after that and then decide where to deposit. She did not apply to the honors program at either Ohio State or Penn State but if she ends up at Ohio State she is considering trying to transfer into it.
@adlgel what is your daughterâs major. Did you need aid? I am amazed as your daughter is so amazing.
@infinityprep1234 thanks for the kind words. Her major is environmental sciences (or its equivalent as different schools had different variations of that major). While we applied for aid because we figured it couldnât hurt we did not expect to receive any aid. But we certainly appreciate the merit money she received at the three schools to which she was admitted as that will make those schools 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the schools to which she wasnât accepted. And that what we are viewing as the silver lining to her results,
@VAMom23 â I think you missed reading my whole post, the part where I said that kids need to develop realistic expectations and pay attention to admission rates.
âstand outâ does not not mean âstrong ECsâ
âstand outâ means different.
Something Kid A has that is (a) different from all the rest and (b) likely to be attractive to a college.
For some kids it might be prowess with a ball. But it can be many different things.
But those kids who get into colleges because of their ball wielding talents understand that they have competition, and that they have to target the college that fields a team in their sport that is not already filled with better players
Another shut out story (admitted to one school that is too expensive):
Another shut out story (asking for help, some others are replying, needs low net price):
OP: your posting made me tear up twiceâŠfirst with sadness because of your daughterâs situation (I fear my daughter being in the same boat a year from now), and secondly with joy over her acceptances to some great schools. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
@calmom I didnât miss it. It still makes it seem like there is some way for applicants to make their application âpopâ in the eyes of the AO. I just think that it oversells the applicantâs ability to do so.
Hello All,
I have read this thread with great interest as I have a current senior who has recently been through this process. A couple of points that I think are interesting.
- The idea of safety, match, reach, etc. When we went into this, we looked not only at academic, but also financial fits. I have seen many comments about either getting accepted by colleges that are too expensive or not being able to apply ED (which could lessen change of acceptance) to certain schools because of the need to compare financial aid. In my son's experience, each college's cost calculator was very accurate in determining what we would likely be paying. These were moderately selective to selective LAC's in the midwest (Carleton, Lawrence, Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana College) as well as others. I understand that these calculators can be off in cases of divorce or business ownership, but are there other circumstances where "normal" financial situations get big surprises come financial aid award time?
- The role of the guidance counselor for many of you is foreign to me. My son attends a relatively small, somewhat rural public high school of about 350 students. The guidance counselor doesn't do anything except send in the required documents and write her own recommendation letter- no counseling on which schools to apply to, no contacting colleges on behalf of the student, etc. We did a lot of this leg work on our own, along with the help of CC to get advice on the process (this is our second student going to college-the first at a large public flagship, but our first one looking at LAC's). Is our experience more the norm for many of you?
- Just to be helpful to others about the range of schools schools my son applied to cover all of his bases (and he is a higher stats kid), here is the list of schools in which he applied: Carleton, Lawrence, Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana College, Hillsdale, DePaul, Butler, Xavier, and Illinois State.
Thanks for everybodyâs input along the way for us and I hope this is helpful to others.
WIGopherDad
@WIGopherDad My sonâs HS in Northern VA is bigger than some of the colleges he looked at. And our counselor did exactly what yours did. Paperwork only.
@homerdog
In answer to your âAnyone out there with other LAC options that donât turn down high stat kids? Extra points if they give merit.â
Macalester! My child didnât visit or interview, even with an alumnus, and was still accepted and offered beautiful merit aid, thanks to all their Readerâs Digest money.
There are a number of LACs that have merit aid: Furman, U Richmond, Davidson, and Occidental just to name a few.
@3littlebirds So happy all worked out in the end. She ended up with outstanding choices and would not go wrong with any. Congratulations and big sigh of relief!
A takeaway or two for kids still hoping for options or for future students who go through the college application process: 1) Your HS guidance counselor is in a support role.They do not have the same vested interest that you or your student do. Donât be afraid to own the process. You have the right and the responsibility to.
- While demonstrated interest may or may not formally be considered, yield protection is a reality and for those whoâs kids did not get in but have wait list options, I can share from multiple personal experiences that conveying that an offer would be accepted unequivocally if received matters. Make sure your student makes that clear.
I said some students can, some canât.
Itâs going to depend a lot on what a kid has done during their high school years and/or overall in life. Again, doesnât have to be an amazing accomplishment - just something that sets the kid apart. It was something easy to figure out for my academically lopsided daughter because she diverted from the straight and narrow high school path in a way that would intrigue careful selected colleges; not so easy for my higher scoring son, whose best admission card was NM finalist status which appeals to up-and-coming colleges a lot more than the most selective. It was easy to see from the incoming mail which schools really coveted kids with that status.
Hereâs an article from CNN today about a Houston kid who went 20 for 20 on college admissions â why him? https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/health/teen-college-20-acceptances-trnd/index.html Well, he is a low-income URM - but thatâs tip factor these days,not an auto-admit. The news article says, âheavily involved in his schoolâs debate team, mock trial and student governmentââ debate & mock trial are both competitive endeavors with regional and statewide competitions, so the kid probably racked up some recognition thereâand the combination suggests strong leadership skills. His mom says he only had one B in his entire lifetime, apparently sometime prior to the 6th grade â so safe to assume a 4.0 UW GPA. So a lot of potential, and almost certain to be a highly involved and visible student on campus wherever he goes. So yes, his application probably did âpopâ wherever it landed. He wowed a lot of ad coms, and not a one seemed worried about âyield managementâ. (I think the kid must have had a few safeties or less prestigious colleges in the mix, given his own statement about âhow competitive the process is.â)
@adlgel ~ Have you asked LeHigh about their Spring admit option? My son was WL for Fall but admitted for Spring.
My heart goes out to you and your D.
@calmom the hook. That is the difference. My kid has the same stats (except it was a B+), and awards (debate at regional, state and national level awards), plus others. The article doesnât go into testing. My son only applied to 5 schools because we couldnât afford to do more. My point in my original post was that I see really smart kids with tremendous accomplishments, including the ECs that worked for this young man (and my son) No one could expect much more of them.
Again, @VaMom23 â itâs not necessarily âmoreâ â it often comes down to âdifferent.â
Obviously, the âdifferentâ has to be something of value to the college as well.
Itâs not about the college âexpectingâ more. It is about the application standing out in way that attracts positive attention and is memorable.
âMoreâ puts the applicant in competition with everyone who has similar stats or accomplishments.
âDifferentâ can pull the applicant out of that mass.
One could argue that top-end academic achievement from a 1G/LI background may reflect a higher level of academic merit than similar achievement from an advantaged âupper middle class who will not get financial aidâ background, analogous to comparing the financial achievements of a self-made billionaire to those of a billionaire who started with a hundred million dollar inheritance.