I agree the higher up you go in terms of selectivity, the more difficult it is to predict acceptances. This is especially true now that most highly selective schools have gone test optional. This encourages students with low test scores who are otherwise strong candidates to apply.
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so many safeties that are good schools!
think about it. the smaller population states donât have stratified/tiered institutions. They just dont have the kids for that. The safeties in those states attract some of the brightest kids around; kids who are just as smart and sharp as the next. I know two 36 ACT/national merit talented, #1 val kids who attend state safeties. And they will probably do great; and get great experiences and positions. My kid and gf are killing it in NYC - with state safety degrees from the midwest. Itâs sort of shocking.
i guess what iâm saying is that . . . itâs so easy to apply to some of these schools. accept merit. and look at their opportunities. many are no essays. because they are designed for all and the schools arent tiered as there just arenât enough kids for that. There are definitely top programs at some of those schools.
rambling: but saw something recently how several posters from CA think Yosemite is the best national park. it has the most visitors. And . . . california has the most people. Yellowstone/grand tetons is just as amazing, or even more so . . . yet wyoming is the smallest population state; and hard to get to. Sort of the same theory behind my safeties thoughts. Ok, carry on!
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Haha! Iâm from CA and KNOW Yosemite is NOT the best National Park-- not by a long shot. I feel the same about the UCs, but thatâs another matter entirely. I agree there are good safeties in OOS flagships. I have lived other places. Trying to convince my CA born-and-bred kids of this fact is not so easy. They are more likely to look at private safeties and make sure they demonstrate interest.
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Who are these people who think Yosemite is the BEST park? Yosemite is amazing for sure but Yellowstone is just breathtaking and Denali is outstanding. Canât pick Yosemite ahead of those two.
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Keep in mind that no matter how high stat your kid is, nothing tops the institutional mission, which is always a moving target.
If you have a BWRK, this could even be harder because your high stats and potential major may not fill the niche that the school is looking to fill at this time. Also remember that there are many schools that are shifting from the merit aid model to need based financial aid (even if the school is not meeting 100% demonstrated need).
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Zion is beautiful too.
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Can we move on from national parks please.
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Whatâs a BWRK?
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Bright well rounded kid
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Hahaha! Iâd never heard that before! Thanks for explaining it!
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Our D got into Boston College, Davidson, and Colgate and was waitlisted at Wake. I donât think Wake is.a shoo in for anyone. I feel like they really look for fit and, in the end, they were right that D would not have fit that culture. By the time she got the waitlist decision, she had already crossed it off her list. She didnât take the WL spot.
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Likely does not equal guarantee/shoo-in. I think itâs best for the OP to help her kids develop a set of likely admits (where her kids would be happy and do well), not to try to pick one âsafetyâ that is a lock for admission. That said, a student in the top 1% of his HS class with a 1500 SAT and a range of ECs is a very likely admit at Wake Forest.
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Heâs staying Wake is a safety. Wake is very holistic. Interview strongly recommended. Lots of essays (something like seven when D applied) and they love ED (like a lot of colleges). Do you have history from you high school? That could help determine how âsafeâ Wake is or any other school on the list for that matter.
Listen, I get that the OPâs kids say they wonât b happy at some of the schools suggested at safe. My kids felt exactly the same way. Do I think they were correct in that assessment? No, but we didnât have true safeties by most peopleâs definition here either. They did have âsaferâ options based on our schoolâs history. It was risky but worked out.
No one here is going to be able to give you a straight answer on whether the OPâs kids will get into one of the schools on their lists.
Your suggestion to make a list that includes highly likely schools but no true safeties is exactly what we did. Just need to make sure that the OP has good info to determine if those schools really are highly likely. Canât go on GPA and SAT for top 30 schools that are holistic. Leadership and commitment through activities and strong recs are going to be important.
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With test optional and the dramatic increase in applications, the admissions game started changing last year and is really changing this year. The list of schools that are a safety/likely for ED but become a reach for RD is growing quickly. Lots of downside surprises this year for high stat, well-rounded kids. The schools care about yield and donât want to be used as safeties (and donât need to because there are so many applicants). My DS got into 2 true safeties, 2 realistic reaches and has been waitlisted at 2 targets/likelyâŠ. Still waiting for others. His friends are getting waitlisted at the schools that are in the middle/bottom of their lists.
Kids with much lower stats who EA/ED targets/safeties are more often than not getting in.
I would advise applying to 2 ârealâ safeties and the rest of the schools can be in any other category since itâs becoming harder and harder to categorize them.
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Just to update safety(UC) decisions, my DD was accepted at UCD and UCI and waitlisted at UCLA and UCSD. UCSD was a bit of surprise but weâre within our expectations considering this unpredictable college admission process.
UCB and UCSB will be next week.
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We are seeing a ton high stats gets get waitlisted at UCD and UCI. Itâs surprising. This year is so unpredictable especially with the test blind UCs.
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I think even after UCB and UCLA, the other 4 UCs gotten so much more competitive.(well, they are all in Top 40). In addition to UCD and UCI, my DD was accepted to UCSB and UCB, 4 out of 6 with 2 WL. I was expecting 5 out of 6, so I was pretty close and she will probably come off the WL from UCSD. I was able to forecast the outcome because her school had enough data on UC but there isnât much data to forecast anything on all the other schools sheâs applying. Sheâs also accepted to BC but rejected from Williams and waitlisted on Amherst.
Sheâs still waiting on 15 more decisions in a week, mostly T20 schools. If sheâs accepted to some of those, that will lead me to believe that the whole process of college admission has become a game of lottery. If she doesnât, I would need to admit that she really wasnât good enough. However, there wonât be a single thing that I would ask my daughter to do better and more if sheâs supposed to start the whole thing again. I am just glad and grateful that sheâs a fine human being and thatâs what matters most. I wish the best of luck to you and your kids.
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Thatâs a lot if applications! Glad she will have some great choices even if the other 15 donât pan out. I completely agree that I wouldnât change my kids path if we got a do over. They are happy and have a balanced life and good friends. Itâs just very hard to see them upset and thinking they arenât âgood enoughâ. (Experience from older Ds rejections).
Best wishes for your D and thank you for your kind words.
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Be sure to update us at the end of the week.
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Here are some updates going into the last three days of this crazy process and I am so glad itâs almost over.
Accepted - CMU, Wesleyan
Waitlisted - BU, Vanderbilt
Denied - Northwestern
So far, 8 acceptances, 5 waitlists, and 3 rejections.
We have 10 more to go, and there is absolutely no rhyme or reason unless youâre a out of this world scholar and/or talents. Also, I may be wrong, but I donât believe in a specific fit or need for each school.
We have younger D who will be a 9th grader and weâre probably going to take different approach for her college admission after what weâve learned with the first one.
One thing for sure is that I wouldnât want her to do all those ECs and countless service hours just for the sake of college admission unless she really wants to do those and enjoy.
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