@NateandAllisMom D took ACT on September 19th and had results on September 28th or 29th
To be honest, the subjectivity really only relates to the most competitive colleges in the U.S. since they have such a strong applicant pool. The average acceptance rate at most U.S. colleges is 65%, if you have x GPA and x test scores you are almost guaranteed admission. There is very little mystery to it.
On CC, we tend to focus on the tippy top colleges and since most of the applicants have the highest test scores and GPAs, adcoms need to dig deeper into the applications (maybe that is where the subjectivity comes into play). With that said, getting to really know what competitive colleges look for can really give you an advantage in admissions. Itās not a crap shoot or random, you can increase your odds with some due diligence.
At the end of the day, colleges have institutional needs and you need to figure out what those are and how your students fits into this puzzle.
Thank you @AlmostThere2018. 
Iām proud of my S for staying calm and pleasant during the cramming process. Iām sure your S will get things done. Some people do their best work under pressure. My S had all the time in the world at the end of the summer but wasnāt really feeling it. He has 2-3 more EA school supps to do.
In terms of subjectivity, I was thinking of the individual original readers scoring essays and files. The volume of applications at the publics is so high and they do train the newer readers but everybody has a different perspective and perhaps some bias they bring to the table. I feel like at the privates described in the book, you have a team of two working together and thatās a little more reliable as far as consistency goes. Anyway, a fascinating read about this in the book.
@Solstice155 Sorry so late getting back to the thread. Yes, we stayed in hotels. I would have preferred to stay in one place the whole time but the schools were just too far apart. We stayed in two hotels and I brought tons of clorox wipes to wipe everything down before the girls went in.
@momandslp I thought about letting WF know about the guard but he was also such a nice guy I didnāt want to get him in trouble. Maybe I will send an email. Good luck deciding about Northeastern!
@3SailAway D21 is still saying if Richmond was bigger it would be near the top of her list, I think she just fell in love with the campus. She loves the ides of smaller class sizes but wants that without the small school size - of course that is not going to happen. And it must not be too important to her because she still thinks she is going to love Boulder which definitely will not have small classes! Canāt wait to see what you guys think.
@AlmostThere2018 Hah, I didnāt mean to derail the thread into so much Chapel Hill talk! At this point, after seeing all the crazy stats about OOS kids getting in I am almost hoping D19 decides not to apply -seems like a waste of time! 
@havenoidea Thanks for the info on Richmond, I am hoping I can still talk D into applying as a āmom pickā just in case she changes her mind about the size before May 1st! Have fun on the visit to Duke!
@janiewalker Your D sounds amazing and so motivated! At this point I donāt think my D could even make a list of a dozen schools she likes, she is stressing me out! And I have a question - once admissions are done will you tell us what your Dās EC is? Iāve always wondered what it could when Iāve heard you describe it! I totally get it if you donāt, I think I remember you saying a long time ago it is so unique that it would be easy to find her name? I am just curious.
D21 is definitely a procrastinator! Then again so am I so at least I know where she gets it. Ever since our visits D comes into the family room every day or two and tells me sheās changed her mind on what she wants. 
I said it is good that she is not doing ED because now she can change her mind a million times until May 1st. As long as she applies to a variety of schools and likes her safeties then she will hopefully be lucky enough to have a choice come May. Her latest is that she is sure she will want to end up in Colorado because she wants to be somewhere as different as possible from Florida and she wants the outdoors. Of course there is the tiny fact that she has never been to Colorado but we are trying to plan that sometime before May!
Quick question that I know has been answered here but I canāt find it - what do you write for activities that should have taken place this summer but didnāt due to Covid? D volunteered at an environmental summer camp last year and it was her favorite EC but of course it was cancelled the summer. When she lists it on her resume and on the Comon App does she just write 11th grade and say in the description that it was cancelled or does she put 11th & 12th? I know I read that pages back - sorry for the repeat question!
@momtogkc I would select 11th & 12th and in the text put ā2020 camp canceled/covidā (or something with limited text). They will know that she had committed to that activity but it was subsequently canceled.
Folks, I think I had a bit of confusion and have given some bad advice to my son. We arenāt doing ED anywhere so figured all were RD hence weād try to get all apps in by mid-November. But I just went a re-read about EA and it seems like he should apply EA at every school that offers it. Any reason not to apply EA? I think by missing the significance of EA I just created a lot more work for him due to looming deadlines.
@sccaflagger74 I think if you are ready to apply and for the college you are applying to there is a possible bump for the early round applications then it would seem like a no brainer to apply early. If you are waiting to test and feel that a test score would increase the strength of your application or if there is no boost (MIT specifically says there is no boost between EA and RD) then this would be a reason to hold off.
S returned, feeling good about it and has the rest of the day off except some homework. Said it seemed easier than the practice test on his worst section and he finished all of the sections in time. Fingers crossed. Never thought Iād say grateful to get back to the apps. I canāt wait until everything is in in December.
@momtogkc , you are kind, thanks. D21ās EC actually isnāt that the activity itself is unusual, it is that she has done very unusual and advanced things with it and created other related ECs that branch off of it, and sheās been doing it all her life. Her sister does the same thing - they are a team - and both would show up on Google if I went into detail, so I will leave it at that. That being said, colleges might not give a flying fig or relate at all. Itās not a recruitable sport, itās not a musical instrument, itās not a scientific pursuit, so there might not be any niches to fill with what they do. So who knows how it will impact or not impact their applications. An admissions officer might think Wow Cool or they might give a giant yawn and move on. Hence a large number of applications in the hopes at least two or three of the colleges she really likes like her right back.
@sccaflagger74 I canāt see any downsides to applying EA if a college offers it, as long as 1) your son has not applied Restrictive Early Action to the few colleges that offer it (Harvard, Yale, Stanford) and 2) his application is strong and doesnāt need first semester senior grades to make it even stronger.
Someone else shared this with me -
https://www.ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā /dataverse/early-vs-regular-decision-admission-rates/
it might be helpful to you in deciding if there are any EA apps that you could prioritize over others in trying to hit those deadlines if he doesnāt have time to get all EA apps in on time. I agree with others that it also depends on whether youāre counting on improved test scores in Nov/Dec or Fall semester grades or anything like that to strengthen his application.
Edited to add: I see that the link I tried to post didnāt work. Try googling College Transitions and then go to their link ādataverseā and you should be able to find the tool that compares early vs regular decision rates.
D19 applied EA to all the schools that offered it. It was very nice to start getting back some responses and FA packages to consider (and compare). She had the security of knowing she had a good option, and it made it easier to sort through the later offers from schools that only offer ED and RD.
D21 is planning on the same.
Plus, there can be some relief in just being done with the process. And, D19 had a couple of schools ask for more materials for consideration for scholarships (before she officially received acceptance). It was nice to have the bulk of the applications submitted when those started coming in.
@sccaflagger74 ā agree that if itās not reasonable to do hit all of the EA deadlines, prioritize those he cares most about. You also might be able to find on the CDS for each college which of his colleges give bigger boosts to EA applicants and use that to help prioritize.
My advice is that he not rush through supplementals too much just to hit all the EA deadlines.
@GlobalFencingMom Thank you - that sounds perfect!
@JanieWalker Ahhh - now I am even more curious! 
I get it though, I will just have to imagine them doing some amazing, outdoor activity together. And sometimes a college doesnāt just need to fill a niche, they want interesting people who do cool things.
Thanks all. He took the SAT for a 2nd time a week and a half a go and scores are due back in about 10 days. Only remaining test is the ACT. First crack at it he got a 32 so maybe weāll focus on EA for those schools where thatās an above avg score.
I just wish more schools offered EA!
If he took the Sept SAT, those scores come this Friday.
Villanova extended their early deadlines to Nov 15.
@burghdad Regarding your question about flying, my H took our S on 1 trip, direct flight, and no one sat between them. H is an infectious disease physician and thinks the planeās circulation system is better than your typical restaurant (we wonāt eat inside). Obviously, everyone wore masks, and they had their Purcell.
Our state also requires quarantining for 14 days as well, but we have an exception if you get a covid test within 72 hrs of return and itās negative. So, our S did that. Hopefully, your state has a similar exception (we were able to get rapid turnaround through a lab in the dr to dr way - one of the few benefits these days to being a doctor!).
Have a good trip!
Good luck @sccaflagger74 and @NateandAllisMom!
A little break from the stress of all things college and Covid.
D has 8th period open and has started driving home a classmate a couple times a week who also has open 8th period. As she was dropping him off at home today, He asked her out on a date and she said yes. As he was walking up to his front door (D always waits in the car to make sure he gets in ok) he did a fist pump in the airā¦That put a smile on Dās face and she could not wait to tell me about itā¦so sweet!!! Even during Covid teen romance can blossom