It is a tad tortuous. I had one child go through this REA process 3 years ago and if it’s any consolation, this second time around with another child is no better 
… OK, maybe a little bit. It’s all out of our hands at this point. We have to be ready with our emotions to help them with theirs. It’s not simple but it is doable. Good luck to all.
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We are going through the same situation of having the second kid. Interesting to know whether you did anything differently the second time round in terms of the application? We were pretty clueless about the process the first time round and probably a bit more paranoid this time.
I didn’t do anything too different. How about you? My kids attend a school with great college counselors and their school consistently sends kids to the Ivies and T20 schools. I knew for sure that the counselors at school knew more than I did so my job was/is just to support the kids through their process. The only parental difference between the two is that the first one really cared about being admitted and was stressed about it so I found myself having to temper that expectation and this second one just thinks it will all magically work out thus was still working on essays the day before submitting the application on Oct 30th 
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There was perhaps a greater level of scrutiny when it came to the application. Overall the process seemed much more stressful than it was the first time round - with a year of online school and almost a full lock down situation in the country we live in. Was wondering whether the AOs have been asked to look for different things in applicants than they would have in pre-covid times…
The college counselors at my kids’ school have shared that AOs are certainly aware of the many limitations for extracurricular activities and even have discussed the potential of a slide or slip in motivation and even emotional harm the whole pandemic has had on kids not to mention grief over a lost school year and worse grief over a lost loved one. What the AOs do with that baseline knowledge is a whole other story that we may never know. We just have no control over any of it so I’m just working on being supportive but realistic.
But isn’t that like SAT being optional. The fact that 72% or something had SAT scores means that the ones that strived to make it happen, got in.
Just heard. Apparently they give you your file in 2nd year. A student that got in, 4 in athletics very low in personal but parent legacy is an international politician and was able to get her cool ECs in government. Not uber wealthy parent donating millions, but known politician, so the kid got in even though they ranked her very low in personal.
Test optional is definitely a concrete example of a change due to the pandemic. But “striving to make it happen” can be in the eye of the beholder. At my kids’ school, they were fortunate enough to hold the SAT and ACT back in April on campus during a school day (my kids’ school has been a certified testing center for years). Bottom line all of the juniors (at the time) from their school took one or the other test (they couldn’t take both). This was before kids that age were eligible to be vaccinated. For my kids (twins) one took the SAT one took the ACT. Both did very well on their respective tests. So, kids coming from my kids’ school applying to colleges that request a high school profile, those colleges will be informed in the profile that the school hosted the college entrance exams. So kids that apply test-optional in that case (from my kids’ school) - does it look different for them in the eyes of AOs? I have no idea. As for kids getting admitted for whatever reason, be it legacy, big donations, political… I have no control over that. Schools can accept who they want. All I can do is be supportive of my kids through their process. Every year kids are accepted at these top universities for reasons that are not always clear to the rest of us. I can’t control that.
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You can actually request your file at anytime before you graduate. It doesn’t have to be during your second year! Many of my first year friends have seen theirs. I opted to wait!
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I’m pleased to share that my child was just admitted to the Class of '26 on this REA round. Congratulations to any others also admitted, good luck to those deferred to the regular round, and best wishes to those moving on to other opportunities at all the truly wonderful alternatives!
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Crying deferred applicant in our household this evening. Sigh. Best of luck to all of these students and the great places that they will eventually land for their college studies.
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Deferred here… I read that approximately 80 Percent are deferred. Has anyone heard the same?
Historically, that’s been the case.
My son who is an international applicant is deferred
I was deferred, pretty exciting considering its Harvard!
Deferred. Back to the drawing board! Some questions for the experts in the group:
- Does sending additional materials and LOCI really make a difference at all for the deferred pool -unless of course there is some mind-boggling achievement? The reason I ask is that AOs must have already given the letter gradings for deferred applicants.
- Would AOs really re-reread the deferred pool applications all over again or just refer to the grading given?
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Our DD got in! She wants to pursue Engineering and Public Policy. No hooks. Pretty surreal and In a bit of shock here. Good luck to all!
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How can Harvard defer 80% of 9500 applicants?? So that means 7.9% got in and only 12.1% got rejected?
So am I correct to think that approx 80% of the total EA applicants made it to final committee round? That’s seems way too high. How is this possible when the bar to make it to final committee is so high?
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Yale rejected 57% of all REA applicants. That’s more of a realistic number.
I agree. Less kids stressing out for the next 3 months.
I read from Reddit that Harvard defers everyone from REA to RD even if the applicant is not even qualified in order to boost their low acceptance number. So there’s no way of truly deciphering if the applicant has any chance of getting in or not. This is so cruel!