OP I too had jitters throughout my DS’s senior year. There were so many unknowns and too many lasts to experience. All I can say is that once his plans were made and I could begin planning for a particular school, and actually “seeing” him there a lot of those jitters went away. He picked his school for good reasons so that worry was completely gone. He was getting excited about going so those worries were gone as well. Now that we are through the first semester I can honestly say that yes it was hard to see him go but when he is back he is still my charming son and we will all be okay. I wish you and your family all the best and highly recommend you join the Parents of 2017 thread. I think you will find plenty of the commiserating you were hoping for there.
Any update?
Reading through this thread really hits home for me and my son. The posters are so right about there being so many fabulously smart kids out there with top grades and top SAT scores. It was really a shock to me to find out that what was considered a fantastic GPA when I was in school is now just average when one is looking for Merit aid.
I will second all the comments about picking an acceptance and financial safety. A school he is a shoe in to get in and afford. Will it be a school like a CC he feels is beneath him? Sure. But welcome to the reality check. If that is the only school that took him then there you go. Maybe your not the hot shot you think you were. That is coming from a Dad with a 4.0GPA student as well. I tell my son now, guess what? Everyone has a 4.0 GPA, your not special so get over it!.
@MassDaD68 Part of the issue is grade inflation, too. Back in my day, 4.0 was the very highest one could get and rarely attained. At least that’s my excuse for my GPA back in the day. 
My excuse is that I didn’t do my homework…
That’s my reality, @intparent, but I’m still living in a state of denial. Shhh, don’t tell my kids. 
Like everyone else in this thread, I wish the OP’s S good luck. UChicago has posted that ED II decisions will be released Feb 15, so he’ll have some results soon.
It is hard though to read someone who seems incredibly unrealistic about college admissions. Williams a match?!! On top of everything else, Williams is one of those colleges that fills almost half of its class in the early round. That makes it very unwise to try to figure out “reach,” “match,” or safety from the OVERALL stats. Her S’s math score is well below the median math score of those accepted early to Williams. http://communications.williams.edu/news-releases/12_12_2016_earlydecision/ I’m not saying that the OP’s S won’t get in–just that IMO it’s a reach, not a match.
Lets hope though that the news is good on Wednesday and her S’s college search is done.
@jonri people think LACs are easy to get in due to higher acceptance rate, which is unfortunate since the kids that apply usually want to go to a small, isolated school.
^I’m guessing the kid is the musical equivalent of a chess grandmaster who grew up in poverty.
That changes the odds.
But nevertheless anything with 30% acceptance is a reach.
When I read the profile I immediately thought St Olaf, but the deadline’s passed.
I’d have picked a safety with admissions in the 35-45%, but if the kid is really okay attending the super safety school… he’s not me.
And if he’s having second thoughts, there are still pretty good colleges like Allegheny, Wooster, or Creighton accepting applications.
If push comes to shove, there’s always the NACAC list May 6th.
So, we’re all going to worry about this kid with such a risky list and a safety that doesn’t match his skills but ultimately things will be okay. I hope the parent will come back to update us. 
It’s also hard to “transition” to being a parent without a kid when so much of a parent’s life revolves around children (overwhelmingly so at times). I think it really helps to think about it and plan, especially when school starts and there’s no “back to school”,to plan for with him/her, to plan music and treats after dropping the kid off at college, to change expectations for when they return, to hope they’ll text at least once a day like you made them promise but not nag them if they don’t. All of that really takes time to process for the parent. It helps in knowing that if we raised them right, they’ll come back, and that we’re all better off than if we stunted their growth by keeping them close.
Am thinking the OP’s kid did not get into UChicago ED II. 
She posted today on the MIT forum with a question, and UC decisions came out yesterday. So probably waitlisted (as they do with most students who don’t get admitted in the ED rounds). But maybe she will come back and give us an update?
@intparent I’m hoping he at least gets into Berkeley. He should based on his stats, right?
No, Berkeley is not a foregone conclusion for anyone, and his status as a homeschooled student puts him at a disadvantage in terms of being able to predict anything. The UC’s have a very specific set of requirement, including a guaranteed admission policy (to the system, not a particular campus) - for students who have completed the approve A-G coursework with a specific combination of GPA & test scores-- but homeschoolers generally are applying via a different route, relying on their test scores to qualify. His scores qualify him, but don’t guarantee admission. If he had included a less selective UC as a backup, then he’d have a safety … but apparently he didn’t. His combined test scores are mid-range for Berkeley, which accepts less than 18% of applicants.
He may very well get accepted – but it’s a “maybe” not a “should”.
I didn’t realize Berkeley was that competitive. That’s a shame. @calmom
^ Well, CA has more people than Canada and 75% of England’s population. Plus Cal’s highly-ranked nationally and very highly regarded internationally.
It’s interesting to read a thread written in such a rational, intellectual voice that is also sporting some serious cognitive dissonance.
I wish you well, and I applaud the other posters who were able to convince you to have your son apply to a safety.
Good people on here.
I know of a homeschooled kid whose dad had a blog with info about his process. He had good scores (perhaps math and verbal reversed from the OP), a number of good SAT Subject tests to validate coursework, classes at community college and one of the lower-ranked UCs, and really strong ECs in drama and Maker-related stuff. His highest-ranked UC that accepted him was UCSB. (Still a good program.) I don’t know much about homeschool applications, but from that story it seemed like the UC application isn’t structured to the benefit of homeschoolers.
On the issue of the application to the “safety” school - I haven’t read this entire thread and don’t know if you named the school, but many schools consider demonstrated interest and may wait list or defer the “best” applicants if they haven’t shown a little love. So in the spirit of locking down that safety - I’d suggest a few extra contacts with that safety school. Not too late to visit if it is nearby, touch base with the applicant’s own admissions counselor with a good question, and maybe even communicate directly with a computer science professor.
On the main point made by the original poster…YES YES this is an incredibly emotional time of year for ME as a parent, as I see my second (out of 2) child wind down her days in high school. I’m finding myself much more enthusiastic about the obligations that I used to find a little annoying, like driving carpool to sporting events. Now, I’m totally into it. Loving every second. It will be TOUGH to see this phase of my daughter’s life come to an end. But she is ready.
The problem with admissions to UC Berkeley for homeschoolers is the same as the problem for everyone else: sheer numbers. Berkeley got over 101,000 applications last year. California is so large that there are almost as many separate high schools as there are spots in the entering class at Berkeley. That means that the average high school gets about one of its students into Berkeley each year.
Add in the fact that the UCs have made a deliberate decision to emphasize grades and course rigor and deemphasize standardized test scores. They want the valedictorian from every school in the state to have a shot at a Berkeley degree.
Of course, there are six UCs ranked in the top 50 (Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCDavis, UCIrvine) so a great education is available to all the top California students - just not necessarily a spot at Berkeley.
I’ve worked with a number of homeschooled students that got into UCB (I’m a private college consultant), and the common denominator is that they were all rather “super-star-ish” in one way or another; ie. top/very strong test scores (including subject tests and APs), ECs, and excellent essays.
I have seen many instances of students who got into one of HYPSM get denied from UC Berkeley. So, yeah, it’s pretty tough school to get into.