@3SailAway - TY for this much needed encouraging time frame.
I donāt think there is a minimum for the bar to show up. At our HS my S21 was the first to apply to many and we saw his applications show up on the graphs. We also saw his acceptance to one. Strange thing is a few weeks ago someone reported they applied, accepted and enrolled for VT for 2021 application cycle, when I donāt think acceptances were released. So who knows how accurate they are.
I also wish there was a way to see on the graphs/scatter grams if the person applied ED or EA and date they applied. That can make a huge difference in the acceptance.
Iād start discussing with your child how they will handle their freshmen year if COVID is still around in the fall. What classes will they take hybrid/online to make it easier? When will they decide to take a gap year? What are possible things they could do during a gap year? Do they have enough AP credits to get through Bama in 4 years with their 1st year being online and light? You get the idea.
@1intwo2go Naviance has different settings that a high school can choose. Ours uses the minimum settings on the bars. Fortunately, our scattergrams show which prior data points were EA/ED - guess I should be thankful for that.
@3SailAway Thanks for sharing that info. Iām hopeful that fall ā21 will be back to normal but have nothing to base it on.
D21 is ready to start college in fall ā21. She is online PSEO this year at our local flagship and although she would prefer to be in person. The online classes are working out fine and she is able to join chat groups and reach out to TAs. She wants to go out of state and if 3sailawayās timeline becomes a reality, then I will feel even better about it.
@3SailAway thanks for your post, I sure hope it all comes to fruition! We would all love our kids on campus with things as close to normal as possible. @AlwaysMoving thanks, lots to discuss. We were planning on putting down deposit and waiting to absolutely last minute to decide. If gap, plan for working full time at local grocery store and take AoPs online classes, to keep her mind sharp and explore math topics she has not had a chance to do.
@3SailAway In your example above, what would āemergency useā mean?
I have no specific knowledge about Duke However, like most of you probably I am involved with a few organizations that have had to make some radical changes due to Covid. At every one of them, there is at least one change that we have wanted to make for years but havenāt due to the anticipated pushback. And at everyone of them, if you ask the board or administration or whoever is in charge, it is the one Covid thing they smile about and say āand we are NEVER going back.ā It sounds like if they wanted to change the housing anyway, this will be their opportunity to make a permanent change, and do it in a way that minimizes pushback.
I floated the idea of D21 possibly taking a gap year next year if things are still a mess. I think I would have had a more welcome reception to announcing roadkill stew for dinner.
Having said that, it will be on the table if 2021 looks like 2020. But I am cautiously optimistic and hearing similar things to @3SailAway , although her source is probably more credible than mine which gives me more confidence. I am hopeful that schools across the board, K-PhD all institute a vaccination requirement with few and difficult to obtain exceptions. Personally I would advocate for that on all vaccinations and also make it a requirement to get a driverās license or tax refund, but I probably wonāt win that battle.
My D21 is poised to hit send on her CA. She plans to ED to 1 school and EA to 3 schools. She is very independent and has not asked my opinion on her choices. She is a great student and overall amazing kid. She will soar no matter which of these she ends up at next fall. Whatās funny is Iām feeling kind of sad that we are done with this phase as stressful and chaotic it was due to COVID! I thought we would have some great quality time visiting schools and discussing pros and cons etc. Seems like all the online tours, classes and activities have made us less connected. I hope that we will get some normal back by the time they matriculate in the fall?
Finally, the first application submitted at our house! This seems so momentous, even though itās for a school my D doesnāt really plan (at this point) to attend (the honors college of our flagship). It feels huge to have sent it off, though. I spent a long time helping my D proofread the CA over and over and then brought up glasses of sparkling apple juice to toast to as she hit send. She just has to shape up her ED school supplement to get that one off and IF she writes another supplement this week she will send off another EA app. .Those of you whose kids have sent off multiples by now, I send them my undying admiration.
My Dās band teacher is just the best. A few of her schools will take a third, non-core teacher recommendation and he had some technical issues uploading it. He and D were texting tonight to solve the problem. At the end he texted, āThese schools will take you. I will beat down their doors until they let you in.ā ?
Big day today - ED application in! Likelies in! One more EA reach to go!
Plus - he passed his Eagle Board of Review tonight! So proud of him!
Congrats, everyone, for getting so many apps in! I agree with @whyboydanny that everything is kind of anticlimactic since we canāt visit schools; it was such a fun way to bond with D17! As Iāve said before, son is only applying to 5 schools in total (4 he has applied to already EA) and since I can only really see him attending 3 of them, and since 1 of the 3 is a reach, it is really only 2 schools he will probably choose from. He is already in 1 of them and the other is a safety that he really likes and he should find out about that school in a couple of weeks. I feel that all the college research, the SAT prep, the in-person (pre-COVID) and online (post-COVID) college āvisits,ā the essay writing, the worry about rigor, etc - all that work is amounting to something very different than I expected. S21 has no interest in all the great smaller schools his counselor suggested (Lehigh, Lafayette, URochester, Rensselaer Poly), so I guess I should just be happy he will not have too many choices to agonize over even if his reach becomes an option.
Congrats to all those getting apps in! Apply Texas app for UT Austin finally submitted yesterday. Why they have to have their own app and canāt be on the common app is beyond me. So stressful! And more to go with that one with sending in an expanded resume and an additional honors essay. Ugh.
D21 still has a few more schools with short answer Qs to finish, one is her reachy first choice where I just discovered another short answer Q they added for the individual school on their website. ? Test optional = ājust 250 more words please!ā Her HS has also set an arbitrary āNovember 1stā deadline for apps? I can tell you she wonāt get it all done next weekend. And they still havenāt submitted the school report/transcripts she requested two weeks ago. Follow up email sent last night.
Wow could you share the school that is asking for an essay if a student goes test optional? That sort of negates the spirit of TO if one has to explain. Is it Michigan?
@momandslp my daughter has done exactly as your son. Took a look at the more competitive schools she has qualified for through all her work/test scores/ECās and has decided they are not for her. She is also really only applying to 2 schools. Her ED which is a low match/high safety and 1 EA which is a match. The others are just to placate her GC.
Iām happy for her as I believe this plan suits her well. I have a good friend whoās child chose a similar path- got into an Ivy but went to a smaller, closer to home less competitive LAC. She thrived, graduated with honors and has a job with a top consulting company as well as admission to a top 10 grad school.
This is not where I thought she would be at this juncture but she is absolutely sure this is what she wants. Iām proud of her for deciding she didnāt need to reach even though it is the norm at her very competitive HS. Iāve already had a couple of her friends parents ,who heard this is her plan, express their disbelief at her āwastingā her achievements. Trust me there have been a few minutes where Iāve come close to asking her to just throw one of those T20 schools back in the mix just for fun. But Iāve held my tongue because Iāve seen her become so much happier and less stressed as she came to this decision.
My daughter came to this same decision herself last night. No ED, but sheās basically told us that she will be picking one of three schools, none of which are reaches for admission (two of them are reaches for special programs she would like to be part of). She seemed nervous to tell us, but afterwards, her body language was so loose and carefree - then I heard her singing and dancing around the kitchen by herself to Hamilton after I had gone upstairs to bed. Definitely think it was the right call for her.
@homerdog, itās University of Southern California (Dornsife Arts & Sciences), and itās regardless of whether test scores are submitted or not.
From the website (https://dornsife.usc.edu/undergraduate-common-application-supplement/):
This year, we are adding two questions to the Common Applicationās University of Southern California supplement. All students applying to a major within USC Dornsife, as either a first-choice or second-choice major, should select one of the two questions and provide a brief (250 words or less) response. This should be done in addition to the first two writing supplement questions that are completed by all applicants to USC.
And Iām jealous of those of you with kids that have short lists! D21 still has no clear cut idea about what she wants to do - two weeks ago she was firmly set on a science degree of some sort, possibly med school. Now this week sheās back to thinking about animation as a career. As you can imagine schools that do both well are not that common!
As I poke around Common App looking for EA options and check out supplements, sometimes Iām surprised at the ease or difficulty of a supplement relative to the selectivity of a school.
Random examples, Northwesternās Why Us essay is recommended but not required. Obviously itās necessary as a practical matter, but it seems relatively straightforward. Richmond wants minimum 350 words and even Seattle U wants two supplements, one involving discernment and self-reflection. I forgot Richmondās question, but for length alone Iād personally prefer to answer Northwestern. Maybe in the Richmond case, itās because they offer EA and donāt want to be overwhelmed with unserious applicants.