“On the one hand, I feel better about her wanting to ED there. She said that she is now positive it is her first choice. On the other, I feel like that is like me declaring that I want to marry Taylor Swift.”
@dadof4kids this made me laugh this morning! I think it’s great she has a solid plan, and a backup. We were told “Like your likelys” at an info session, and it really resonated with us.
I didn’t do the quote correctly, I guess. Newbie skills showing!
@dadof4kids So she’s applying ED to Amherst sight unseen? Whoa. It’s like we are back in 1985 when kids actually did that. I wonder how many other kids will do that.
And it’s hard to not fall in love. We begged S19 to not do that. I swore we would only take him to safeties and matches and not show him any reaches in person but we vacationed in Maine one summer and swung by Bowdoin. He didn’t let on that it was a favorite because we had been lecturing him for a year to not have favorites. Yet, when he opened that portal and saw the yes, he looked at me and said he didn’t need to see any other acceptances. He still had maybe 7-8 more schools to hear from at that point and some were still pretty reachy but he knew what he wanted.
@dadof4kids I think your daughter sounds like a great, well balanced kid! You do have to take time to enjoy things once in a while. She’ll be a great addition to any campus!
Sat down with DS to discuss fine tuning the list and he says currently his #1 preference is not to be in a crowded area. Great, just when we decide to limit to Cali / West.
It was interesting to hear more about Michigan. That was the only school S toured last summer and didn’t like.
Got a reply to my email from the principal of the high school where my daughter is supposed to take her SAT on Aug 29th . They are not open for testing on that day! No information from CB yet. Was on ph. for a long time before it got dropped twice. Looks like CB is trying to emulate the success that ACT had in July.
@dadof4kids What if when you finally meet Taylor Swift, you don’t even like her?
That’s what concerns me about ED without visiting, especially at a small school. Of course your D could transfer, but may miss out on merit aid at schools she might have liked- if that matters.
I don’t know what’s best. Just thinking aloud bc we’re facing the same issues. Crazy times.
@dadof4kids - my D16 did a fly-in there and really liked it. The campus is lovely. My S21 also visited the campus last summer and said it was nice, and will probably be on his list (but who knows bc his list is always changing).
I don’t know if this applies to you or if it still is true - but they do provide Amherst-backed loans for students at reasonable rates. I don’t know if any other school that does this.
Well, at least the principals are returning emails and phone calls when we all try to get in touch with them. I did spend some time on CB’s website and, at one point, I stumbled across a page that was supposed to show cancelled locations but nothing was there. Are there any seats at other schools you can grab?
Our district is starting 100% remote with potential to switch to a hybrid where the kids who opt for that can be in school two days per week (half of kids going T-W, half Th-F) later if cases are lower. I’m not at all optimistic that they’ll be back in the building in the first semester if at all this year 
Most students won’t have an opportunity to visit before EDing. Especially students from far away, and that should impact the geographic diversity. I live in Colorado and our school sends a lot of kids to NE LACs, but you have to wonder how many will apply ED this year.
My D has a friend that is flying to the NE to tour LACs next week, and it sounds like she will do a facetime “interview” with an AO at each school during her self guided tour.
That sounds like a great way to nail demonstrated interest.
D21 doesn’t know anyone EDing right now. At least they have not made that decision yet. I would say it’s usually the top ten percent (70 kids) that even consider it and maybe 40 kids or so ED somewhere and get in. She knows a lot of those top ten percent. And they all “talk” so I think she’s got a good pulse on it.
Some are athletes and they are still messing around with athletic depts trying to see how recruiting could work out. Some swimmers were glad to see swimming is a go this fall because they are being watched by recruiters and some of them will likely ED once they get direction from a coach. But non-athletes using ED? She doesn’t know any.
I don’t know which LACs those are. I don’t think NESCACs are allowing anyone on campus at all.
I’m getting this through my D, so the real world details are sketch. I know she’s looking at Williams for example, but maybe she will just check out the town?
@dadof4kids We visited Amherst with my oldest kid and I applied there myself when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I can see why she fell in love with it. And FWIW, I feel like the information one gets from online sessions is comparable to what you’d get in real life, especially if you are visiting when school is not in session. Schools of interest have been very proactive in connecting my kid with current students if she wants more information. There are numerous videos available if one wants to get a sense of what the place looks like.
General impressions: the campus and surrounding area are very pretty and green and the college is adjacent to the town of Amherst. You can also access nearby Northfield (where Smith College is located) through a shuttle system that circulates among the Consortium colleges and U Mass. If your child likes small town living and outdoor recreation, she should be fine. There are abundant hiking opportunities nearby, although the “mountains” will look more like hills if you’re from the mountain west. Amherst has done a great deal to diversify at all levels - income, race, international students, etc. The dorm we saw was very well appointed and spacious. Students we met were smart and varied in background - the spectrum included poor neighborhoods in NYC to boarding schools from abroad. We didn’t try the food.
We toured many SLACs with our older kid and TBH, I found the mid Atlantic/New England ones to be more similar than different in most cases. Yes, there will be subtle differences in the overall student vibe and there will be outliers that have a distinctive flavor - I’m thinking of places like Wesleyan or Swarthmore for liberal politics or Haverford/Bryn Mawr for Quaker ethos. I know kids that have loved Bates and disliked Bowdoin and vice versa. However, I’d feel relatively sanguine about ED at Amherst for the reasons I already mentioned, especially given that there are two towns and four campuses explore (five if Hampshire survives). And finally, considering that campus visits are not happening for the foreseeable future, what will she have to compare it against?
@AlwaysMoving I guess people can walk around campuses but even that is being discouraged. Here’s Williams’ site. All campus visits cancelled through Dec 31.
@dadof4kids My niece just graduated from Amherst and absolutely loved her 4 years there (well…3 3/4) and was sad to leave. Her older sib also went there and loved it too. Both were very different kids–one a STEM kid and the other English/Econ and both got amazing job offers out of Amherst. Both got involved with various clubs some with no previous experience (crew, for ex) and made many close friends including w some professors. Beautiful campus in a vibrant student friendly community in the Pioneer Valley. And that new $250 mil science center…just wow
Our school is about 500 per class, and I’d guess in normal years there is 75-100 ED or REA applications. This year the number of ED apps has to drop because of visiting, the virus, and the economy. right? The only thing I’m sure of is this year will be different.
@AlwaysMoving Our D still wants to go see the schools we planned to see on spring break - Richmond, Wake, and Davidson. She thinks it would be helpful to just walk around but not helpful enough to decide on ED. She’s been highly involved in watching multiple student panels, tours, info sessions for every school on her list but still wouldn’t be comfortable with ED. If we walk around, she can’t get in buildings, eat at the cafeteria, go to class, etc. I sort of want to just go but she’s applying to all RD no matter what. In fact, those apps are almost done with just one more short essay to go for Wake. We may as well wait until spring and see if she gets in I guess.