It’s not the counselors who are applying for college. So glad the folks who admitted my kids weren’t thinking like that.
Agree. I don’t see the direct line between some kids backing out of ED and adcoms proclaiming some GC must be rubber stamping and that’s that, let’s ignore this hs. There’s more to it than that.
Now that we are at that time in the cycle seeing those threads, how many kids generally decline ED?
I can see both sides, as declining bc of $ usually is bc they got a better offer $ wise or are hoping for one…and other kids got rejected who were ready to actually commit.
My high school had over 6k students. The GCs probably had around 400 student case loads.
The idea that a uni could or would deny a student because of the actions of past students is beyond strange (and sad) to me. I truly hope it doesn’t actually happen.
It makes no sense to me, either. There’s zero “commonality.” They’re not responsible for those kids, and neither set reflects on the other. It’s very strange to me that one would group all of Smallville High students together as though they represented anything other a constellation of strangers whose parents all live in the same 5 square mile range.
"Is it a wonder that adcoms like to admit students from certain high schools? When there are limited seats at those top tier schools and they could fill it 100 times with well qualified students, why should they kill themselves in trying to work with GCs who are just rubber stamping the agreement? "
Because I don’t think their job is simply to reward students whose parents are able to send them to $40K/year private schools or who are wealthy enough to live in the most affluent suburban high schools in the country. They are supposed to cleanse the palate a little bit.
"At our kids’ school, the GC knew about every single ED application. She wrote all the recs, so she needed to know who was applying ED so that those would be done first. "
Another thing I think is stupid. Fill in the blank - Johnny/Mary/Susie would be a great student at [insert your college] because [he/she] is very good at [math/history/language} and also contributes to the community by [editing the newspaper/playing in the band/holding a position in student council]. [His/her] teachers say [he/she] is [smart/disciplined/a hard worker/bright/a leader.
In California, some counselors were refusing to write the counselor recc. Guess they are just too busy with other important responsibilities. Like being truant officers or something.
And of the higher achieving applicants, the research back from 2009 reported that 26% were using independent consultants. Believe it. Or not.
Not not believing it; just saying that that 26% is not distributed equally from one school to another. I’m betting it’s probably close to 100% in some schools, closer to 0% in others.
About half the students at my kids’ former high school are on free lunch; and most of the rest aren’t much better off. Not paying for independent counselors.
Go argue with the head of the independent educational consultants association. He has reported this information in several places. Too bad more people don’t know or use available services. Their loss. As said earlier, there are those who offer pro bono and sliding scale. And those those who are not college bound won’t use the service.
@romanigypsyeyes - with all due respect, how many students from your high school get into top tier schools. My kid’s school had 6 kids admitted to Cornell 6 years prior to when she applied. No one matriculated, and years after no one was admitted to Cornell until when D2 was admitted, but meanwhile, students continued to be admitted to HYPS. We all like to live in our little bubble to think adcoms do not keep track, but they do. No different than corporations when they do not get results from a particular school, they will stop recruiting at that school.
Dang it jym, I’m not saying the number isn’t accurate. I’m saying it isn’t evenly distributed. It would be weird if it was, wouldn’t it? How am I not being clear here?
I’m sure at some schools it is nearly 100%!
It is a very small percentage of students that back out of ED. I am sure adcoms remember who, where, and why.
It is not just at my kids’ private school, but other public schools around our area would not send out transcripts or LORs for RD until they knew the kid was deferred or rejected for ED. It is the way they could ensure it wouldn’t have negative impact on other students in the future. People could still do “illegal” stuff, but at least GCs could say they did the best they could.
Nobody said it was evenly distributed, garland. I didn’t read your double negative on the tiny type of my phone. I guess you are agreeing with me.
Where did I say that? I said that the GCs advised that finances should be considered BEFORE the ED application was sent.
And you know what? I think that is true.
If a family is low income and will benefit from applying to,a school that will meet full need…that is very different than applying ED to,a college that does not meet full need.
The reality is…the costs of these schools, and the level of aid available is no big secret. I find it annoying when students get accepted ED,are middle income, and after the ED fact say their parents won’t pay.
“And of the higher achieving applicants, the research back from 2009 reported that 26% were using independent consultants. Believe it. Or not.”
If I’m reading this right, this isn’t … 26% of all college-bound seniors are using independent consultants. it’s 26% of some sub-set of higher achieving. My Q is - how is that defined, and what % of all college-bound seniors do they account for? If they are just the top 10% of all college-bound seniors, then that’s 2.6% of all seniors and that makes a heck of a lot more sense to me.
How common is applying ED these days? It seems quite common in the forums, but the forums are not representative. The “what college should I apply ED to?” question that pops up often, even though asking that question means that the student is unsure enough that ED does not make sense. But the perception is that ED is a big advantage.
It was worded differently in 2 different places, pg