Parents of the HS Class of 2020 (Part 1)

@Waiting2exhale - Thank you! I don’t remember very much. I remember that there was a bizarre story maybe a decade ago on CC about someone asking what life was like for Jewish students at Vanderbilt while on a tour, and the tour guide answered, “oh, no one would have to know” … and that was contrasted with a NYT article (maybe 5 years ago??) about how Vandy and some other schools were making a concerted effort to undo some of that institutional anti-semitic feel and welcome Jewish students more openly.

There were some implications that the outreach was also a shortcut for getting students who might have whatever study habits or finances one might stereotypically expect. And some other stories about Princeton (I think?) working hard to undo some of its reputation for being unfriendly to I think Latinx students by accepting more.

I apologize for my memory being so incomplete! I don’t remember as much backlash as I would have expected. (For example, nowhere near as much as schools like Harvard got when first admitting women.)

Not sure about you guys, but some of my D’s wealthy friends and acquaintances are getting off waitlists of reach schools and losing their current college deposits to attend. Georgetown, BU, UMiami, Northeastern, etc. I think alot of kids changed their minds this year about going far from home and spots are opening up for full pay kids. I’m sure there is a reduction in expected international students too that is causing havoc on yields.

@suzyQ7 I am following the wait lists too but so far I am still not sure if the wait list acceptances are that much different from previous years. The schools that are pulling heavily from the wait lists are schools that do this every year. The difference for sure is that this year they started pulling earlier but no data yet that they are pulling big numbers. I am noticing that schools that do not regularly use the wait lists are quiet. For example Dartmouth sent an email saying they are full and MIT I think is over-enrolled. Also Cornell said in the NYT article that so far they accepted the usual numbers (just earlier). Things might change after June 1st when the deferral/gap year requests go in. And maybe the summer melt will be unusual. I also suspect some colleges will hurt much more than others. Anecdotally, and from my D’s summer program that had students from all over the US not a single student changed plans because of the situation.

Now that most have picked the school they will be attending, has anyone’s child’s HS have a surprise favorite class pick?
The surprise favorite college pick this year for my son’s school is UNC- Charlotte where the majority are going. I think last year only 2 decided on going there. Many didn’t even apply to the previous years favorite, UNC- chapel hill.

Why do you think that is? Higher cost of attendance, too competitive?

When we toured UNC-CH from CA, my D (and the rest of our family) absolutely loved the college.

Very few public universities can beat it for its academics, great reputation, D1 sports, school spirit, active greek life, smaller size, fun and quaint college town, friendly people, and good weather. Checks a lot of boxes in my mind…

@socaldad2002 I honestly have no idea. I asked my son and he doesn’t really know either. I dont think it was the competitiveness, since I think many that didnt apply, would have gotten in.(in-state)

The only thing I could think of is that UNC Charlotte has done a great job advertising here this past year. I thought cost may be a factor, but I edited this post, since I dont think the two schools are much different in state.

?‍♀️ who knows.

We loved UNC-CH when we visited as well, but alas, (OOS) daughter got a rejection in January.

From daughter’s private New England boarding school, there are a lot going to Northeastern and BU. I’m also surprised at seeing results from both her high school and her former middle school friends here at home, way more southern schools than I would have thought (Alabama, U South Carolina, Wake Forest, Elon). Guess people want to get out of cold (where it snowed in upstate NY today).

My OOS student chose UNC Charlotte over NC State because it felt more UG friendly to her AND it was more affordable. We did not even tour UNC CH due to the difficulty of getting in, even for a NMF in the top 10% of her class with significant leadership in her ECs. Also, negative press around campus controversies the last year or so did nothing to help their desirability among the students and parents I know.

We are not seeing a surprise favorite yet. Not all of the class has announced yet since some schools has extended enrollment to 6/1. Lots of kids staying in state-likely that totals will exceed the usual.

I think our surprise is Clemson. We have about 8 going from a northeast public of about 200 kids. I think only 1 or 2 kids have ever gone in previous years.

We also have an unusual amount of kids going to big southern Rah Rah schools. This from a New England prep. The admits to top 20s are just not that frequent anymore, and for the next level of students, the math doesn’t work anymore for the expensive middling privates in New England… Kids are going for the fun, and cheaper, experience in the large publics in the south.

Same here! More and more students are choosing big, fun sports schools. Clemson, South Carolina are new popular choices. Then there are a ton who go to Maryland, U Miami, tOSU, IU, Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin. It’s funny that even though we are in NY, I don’t know anyone who chose Syracuse. I guess it’s the price tag.

Good luck to all of those navigating the AP exams tomorrow (and the coming days) - the finish line is in sight!

AP Physics C: E&M for mine tomorrow and hoping it goes well so she won’t have to take a science gen ed in college! She got a 4 on Physics C: M last year but I’m pretty sure she needs this one too to fully get out of the science requirement. Was definitely different preparing online but her teacher has been awesome. Even held two live virtual study sessions this weekend!

Good luck to all over the next two weeks!

Yes, good luck to all the AP-test-takers this week! S20 is taking Calculus AB on Tuesday.

DD20 is ready for AP Bio. She will NOT be claiming credit for it unless she decides against MWF school but she wants to do well so her teacher will have good success rates to show off. Let’s hope this new format works well for all.

My son is taking Calc AB on Tuesday as well. It’s his first and only AP class (his HS only offers a few) , so we’ll see how this goes. He’s planning on starting with Calc I in college no matter what so we’re not real concerned about the score…which is good because I don’t think he’s been putting any extra effort into studying for it outside of what his class is doing.

Saturday night he took his college placement tests for Math and Chem and was pretty miffed he didn’t pass the Chem one after being in Chem the past two years, so today he was all grouchy about that.

My daughter has AP govt tomorrow. Teacher had a virtual review. Weird situation for her since school for seniors ends Wednesday and zoom graduation is the 20th. She actually has an AP test that day and one the next day. Daughter also had to take a college placement for math too.

My daughter has taken AP Physics C, AP Gov and AP Calc BC tests so far. She has had friends tell her they have been unable to submit their answers during the tests, though she has not had any difficulty. It is her totally non-scientific opinion that you should not try to submit your answers in the final minute of allowed time - maybe the system gets too jammed up and then there is no time to re-submit. Chrome Books seem to be particularly problematic. I hope this helps anyone avoid having to re-test in June! These kids have been through enough.

^^Son tells me that the images on the iPhone are not in the format accepted by the test, so one must convert those images to a pdf and then submit, or risk losing successful submission even if one does not wait until the last minute. He had two minutes before the end of the exam, had this problem, converted, then submitted with success.