This is true but what many schools (Stanford is one) did was take a lot of students off the waiting list on the condition that they attend classes remotely. Those students essentially filled the virtual seats left empty by deferrals.
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Also, some schools wouldnāt grant deferrals to those admitted off the waitlist. (Williams did this; I imagine other schools did, too.)
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Thatās an interesting solution.
I think the TO impact will affect BS students. If more kids apply, there are more applicants. Itās not as though they have 5 spots reserved for X BS. Additionally, schools are looking more closely at 1st gen, URM and other factors.
Kids might need to have a solid plan of what they want before the application cycle begins. Thatās hard because Covid has locked everyone down for a while. I can actually see some '22ās applying to a huge number of schools to balance the uncertainties.
There is a lot of anecdotal information floating around regarding the impact of covid on admissions this year. We wonāt really know how it all shakes out until RD this spring. I think many parents (irrespective of whether or not their kids attend BS, private school or public school) are worried that their childās admission chances to selective schools are diminished this year. I donāt have a BS kid or a senior (jr/fr) but, anecdotally, a friendās kid (who attends a top BS that regularly sends multiple kids to multiple Ivys each year) was deferred at their REA Ivy and this is a fantastic kid - top of the class, awesome grades, high test scores, great EC and an incredibly compelling personal story. Most years this student would be admitted. As a result of the deferral around 15 apps are in the mix for RD - far more than initially planned (and at the suggestion of the CC). Those of us with kids coming up behind are also curious about how it will shake out and whether the effects of covid will impact our kids admissions landscape as well. Itās a tough time to be a teenager without a doubt.
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Yes, that is what I was trying to say.
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Twas the year before āRDā
And all through our house
Every creature was anxious
Even my spouse
It was a good 9 months before the āEDā was due
We have expanded the āsafetiesā
To more than a few!
There will be no Ivies
We are realistic, not dejected
Without a good hook
Our kid will be rejected
Two sports will not get kiddo recruited
There are too few spots on the bench
This COVID pandemic
Really threw in a wrench
We are hoping that maybe a coach will say:
āWait a year, you will see -
There may be more room after a year of PG!ā
For some of us on here, itās been a long ride
From Revisits to RD
We need other parents on our side!
So fasten your seat belts
Be supportive, not a (rhymes with mole)
Remember, I am always buying
If youāre in the 19th hole 
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Sorry - it was timeā¦
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Thanks @Golfgr8 Iāve missed the poems on this site.
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OMG, Itās not even close and I could use a drink on the 19th hole. Made me laugh. Thanks so much.
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I agree that it is more of a crapshoot than it has ever been, but there has been way more waitlist movement at top schools in the last couple of years than in the past and I imagine it will be amplified even more this year with everyone who did not get their ED/REA school applying to more schools than ever. But in the end, everyone can only matriculate at one school, so it will have to work out one way or another. One thing that I have heard/read at every college panel/discussion is how being TO gives all the power to the schools to push their institutional priorities, whatever they may be.
As far as athletics, it is a complete mess from what we see. More so for the Ivies and SLACs that pretty much gave up on athletics this year entirely than D1 schools that did/are having a season. So many kids took leave or gap year to stay eligible (and/or avoid zoom college) that there is little room on the rosters unless you are a superstar. And I have heard of so many kids who are planning on repeating a grade (11th usually) or doing PG year because the spot is not there. We even know a couple 22ā who were recruited but told to PG as their spot would not be available till 23ā class. So this will trickle down for quite a while, depending on the school and sport.
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Thanks@417WHB - appreciate the validation and back up on this. We are hearing the same thing. We know 3 students from ā22 who are strong athletes and are being advised to PG for the reasons you mentioned. Know a couple of ā22ās who are getting offers from Ivies, but they are āsuper starsā within the top 10 in national rankings.
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This is jamming up kids currently playing in college too. Spots that should be opening up for them are not opening up because upperclassmen are staying on. Thatās going to lead to some transfers. If my son was at just about any different college, he would probably be at least seriously considering putting his name in the portal. Iām afraid he is going to end up good enough to place at the D1 tournament, but not good enough to make varsity. But without getting into the weeds he has a couple of things that are very unusual and specific to him that make a transfer impractical.
I have to think there are a lot of kids in this situation, and most are not going to have the impediments to transfer that S has. So your HS juniors and seniors donāt have to just worry about who is staying on the roster, but also which kids the coach may pick up through transfer, because even though they are high caliber their playing situation has gotten bleak because they play behind some kid who should have graduated a year or 2 ago.
Sorry Iām bringing more negativity to the table. Weāve had a couple really frustrating covid related problems in our house in the last 24 hours and Iām just extremely agitated right now. Our kids are being asked to make tremendous sacrifices for our parentās generation. And I get it. I support it. But it is still extremely frustrating. And once vaccines are widely available, I am going to not be supportive of restrictions. These kids have done their part, it is time for the adults to step up. If you canāt do that and get vaccinated, then if you get sick thatās on you, they shouldnāt still be under major restrictions in the fall.
Rant over, sorry.
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Know of similar situations where this past fall coaches asked some recruited kids to not apply ED but wait an entire extra year to apply ED, and to just ātrustā the coach - because previously admitted college recruits took a year off.
A lot of time shifting going on.
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Thinking back on our sonās experience with college counseling and what Iāve shared here, I thought Iād Google to see what his counselor is up to now after leaving Choate and had to laugh when I stumbled across her reply to a NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling) question:
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I would like to apologize to all the people I may have offended over the years with my extreme bluntness. I swear it comes from a place of good intention.
This is what we so appreciated about her, but Iām wondering if her ābluntnessā about the inner workings of the process was related to her exit. She was a gem in any case and is now director of college counseling at another school that is lucky to have her.
I donāt envy anyone going through this process during the pandemic which has surely made all aspects more difficult and unpredictable, but I do hope that parents here feel comfortable coming back to share their perspectives after all outcomes are known.
Best of luck to the BS classes of '21 and '22, many thanks to those hard working counselors who are using their deep experience and knowledge to help each of their students make their best matches, and hugs to every parent who worries along the way. Weāve been there, and itās not fun until itās over.
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We have a similarly blunt counselor at Choate this year and itās been great so far, from our perspective. We had a parent group meeting with him recently and there were several āyou arenāt going to want to hear this, butā¦ā discussions. That style resonates with our family, but it may be much for some to handle, particularly if they thought the college application process would be rainbows, butterflies and ivies.
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I wonder if your child and I have the same counselor!
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Ours was blunt but caring. And that made her very trustworthy for both parents and student. No need to read between the lines on anything. And as I have said before, we wanted to build a shrine to her by the time the whole thing was over.
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Wow, blunt college counselors are surprising to me. Ours (at NYC prep school) were very diplomatic as are most of the other ones I have met. While there is certainly talk about how hard some school may be to get into for any given student, they never say donāt apply. And may encourage some strategic thinking for ED/REA round, but if you donāt want to hear it they quickly move on. The only non-negotiable thing is balanced list - you are not allowed to just blanket Ivy league with applications, or top 20 USNWR schools or whatever. Your list must include a handful of target and likely schools, and healthy number of realistic reaches (4-5?) - as approved by guidance office. If you have all that, a super reach or two is fine, however long shot it may be. And yes every year there are some surprises, in both directions, which is why the counseling office knows better than make any definitive calls.
Blunt is great. Bring it on. Weāre paying for expertise and we donāt have any so we love hearing from an experienced GC. That being said, not a fan of the everything will be fine talks and things are different this year. Yep, we all understood that around March/April.
Best communication is honest *including I donāt know but Iāll try to find out" Seems like we have a good fit with the CG. Itās a tough job for sure. But they all seem to know the drill. And, Iām actually kid is 2022 since 21 was uncertain in so many areas. Still uncertain but others have gone that way ahead and came out the other side.
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Seems like we are all going to know a lot more by May or so when the RD results come back for the ā21ās. Donāt envy the college counselors trying to navigate the current landscape.
I spent the afternoon fantasizing about a mock up for a college tour this summer that takes us through 10 states. Forget about kiddo. I just want to travel!!!
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