@amsunshine Sorry abt the broken link, I was in a hurry and just copied and pasted 
hope you saw couple others posted the link that says UCs are test blind for the class of 2021.
For schools who donât do rolling admissions: Do they look at an application, make a decision, and put the application in the queue to be released with all the other decisions even if it is still 4 months away (and hence, never look at it again bc they only touch the application that one time?) If that doesnât make sense, my son applied to University of Texas August 29th; and his application went from complete to review on September 15th. In past years, most review admits like him, havenât received decisions until mid January-either for acceptances, rejections, or CAPs. So, Iâm wondering if they could have looked at his app in late September, made a decision, and now that decision is just waiting to be updated in his portal in mid January when they release decisions. OR if they might have looked at it, and if his app was on the bubble (because I donât think it was a slam dunk at all for engineering), put it in a âlook at this one again in a couple of monthsâ pile after they see more applications to compare it with other bubble applications. Thanks for any insights as we twiddle our thumbs!
my son only has one school that will interview him, and since itâs a top choice, I was thinking he should âpracticeâ somewhere first. I think the first time he interviews wonât be natural for him. I just tried a mock interview, but itâs not the same when itâs your dad! So my criteria was designed to avoid paying the application fee just for a practice interview. So thereâs no other criteria really.
@DavidRoman I wonder if a family friend, counselor or teacher could serve as a mock interviewer? A lot of places have a limited number of interview spots, and Iâm sure you wouldnât want to take one of those from an applicant who is serious about a school that your S would be practicing with⊠Also not sure itâs a fair to ask an AO (or student admissions rep) to interview someone who has no genuine interest in the school.
Hopefully someone with better insight will comment but from what I understood (from Jeff Selingoâs comments/book) the schools go through and make their decision and the acceptances go âinto the queueâ to be considered together as part of the âshapingâ process. This process is where they look at the whole class and ensure they have their target numbers in the groups they have, for example, male, female, white, asian, african american, math major, history major, legacy, etc.
From what I read, it is much easier to make it through the first decision than to make it through the shaping round, depending on your specific app.
Congrats to your son, and @amsunshine 's D. I talked my Dâs best friend (NMF) (Indo-Pak) into applying and he too has been offered a place in computing scholars program.
S21 is working as a student election clerk today from 7:00 am-7:00 pm, just like he did in the March primaries. I hope he has another positive experience, but Iâm extremely nervous about him witnessing people acting like fools or worseâŠand then there is the Covid thing. Part of me wishes I had told him No.
Our school district has the day off today, as many campuses are being used as polling places in order to provide more social distancing, and letâs face it, heâs 17 and really just wanted to make some extra $$ and have something impressive on his resume lol.
@yearstogo , thank you for sharing your insights! That makes a lot of sense especially for smaller liberal arts schools. It would be a nice consolation prize if kids were told they made it through the first round before they got the axe!! lol Do you think it holds true for larger state universities with 53,000 applications to weed through? Iâm just thinking of the timing of going through all those applications, especially this year with test optional.
@ChillyCow I would guess that it applies primarily to any selective college/university although I really do not know. Many of the groups in these selective colleges have almost identical percentages each year so I imagine that is not a coincidence.
Hopefully someone with better knowledge of the process will comment.
Itâs funny, I have all of these girls over to work on their applications but Iâm really not even much help. Iâm not a great writer, my husband has to check the grammar stuff. I think itâs just that I have been through this before with D19 so they think I know what I am doing. It got hectic and loud and I felt like I did not get to put enough effort into my own D at times but I think it made them all feel better to do this together. The group ranges from the possible valedictorian to top 10% to barely above 50% but they are all so supportive of each other, itâs nice to that.
@Momof3B Congrats on the acceptances!! So exciting to have things happening on here.
@Solstice155 D21 also did a last minute supplemental and when we looked at it it was cute but didnât really answer the prompt enough. I knew what she was getting at so when she was on the date I made some edits to make it more clear. She usually doesnât like me to add anything but she was OK with this, the date must have put her in a good mood.
@havenoidea One of these girls has a mom who is not able to help at all so I started out offering to help her. Then the other girls started to show up little by little. You can all send your kids here if they donât mind a lot of chaos and if you bring extra wine!
@AlwaysMoving Good luck with MIT! I had to look over the MIT app for one friend, that thing is a TON of work!
@amsunshine So exciting - congratulations!!
@JanieWalker Sorry about the stress with the grade, hope your D gets some good feedback from her email!
Most instate flagships will quickly look at GPA, HS, rigor, test scores, and disciplinary issues, and know whether 80% of the applicants are in or out. The OOS pool is more complicated because there are often limited spots and they want diversity.
I talked to an AO for our state flagship once and she said theyâre very familiar with most of the high schools , so they spend less than 2 mins an app.
@momtogkc You are a good person! Iâm sure that these girls really appreciate the moral support and the chance to go through this process together. I wish my daughter could share in something like this. (I have wine and am happy to share⊠
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Thanks for the supportive comments about D21âs dual credit class, everyone. The professor responded saying there is no extra credit, but he is making it possible for her to look through her midterm to see what she got wrong and why. I advised D21 to thank the professor and ask if she can visit during virtual office hours to go over specific issues if there is anything she doesnât understand.
I have a question about FAFSA submission to schools. We filed the FAFSA in early October and it was processed on 10/9. The school that my daughter applied ED to is not showing that they have received her FAFSA as of today, 11/3. I double checked the FAFSA website to make sure we didnât make a mistake and that school is definitely on the list of schools for it to be sent to. Is it just too soon? The CSS profile was listed as received and I did that about the same time. I think the FAFSA website says it takes 3-5 days to be sent. Should she reach out to the AO and ask about it or wait a while longer?
@JanieWalker â yes, to office hours! When my D18 started college her advisor said office hours are the most under utilized key to student success in college, and she encourages all students to use them often.
We as parents need to let our kids know that office hours arenât just for when you are struggling â rather they are a way to stay on track and/or excel.
The story I like to share is my D18 took Calc BC as a junior in HS, and it was kinda rough. She eeked out an A in the class and got a 4 on the AP exam, but her confidence was not high. Partly, the teacher was okay but not great. Anyway, senior year she took some applied math classes through out stateâs STEM high school. In college she got back on the Calc train by taking Calc 3 her first semester but was nervous. There was only 1 other female freshman in the class. From the start, she went to office hours â had a set time each Tues. She got an A- in the class, rediscovered her love for math, and is now a math minor! Happy ending.
@tellis6653
It definitely shouldnât take nearly a month. I did mine around the same time and the school had it three days later. I would contact the AO and FAFSA.
Wow. Why would you do this? Will you edit her papers next year too?
I donât see it as much different than parents who hire tutors to test prep their kids, or advisors to review college essays.
Iâm glad that some families allow their students to tackle the entire college search/application process all on their own. and Iâm glad that other parents assist in the process. Each family should do what works best for them.
Yes, if they ask me to.
We hired a tutor to help with essays. Our D keeps all of her essays on a google doc and shares it with him and with me so I can see his comments. He never ever writes anything for her. When something isnât clear or doesnât work, he says just that - you arenât answering the prompt or this part is too wordy or maybe spend more sentences on this part of your answer and shorten up this other part. That sort of stuff. He will also give advice on topics if she has more than one idea for an answer. Heâll have her write parts of answers with the competing topics and see which ones work best (but usually that exercise in and of itself is enough for her to choose). Any adult can do these things and most kids do have someone else read their essays. If that person doesnât give some sort of constructive criticism then itâs not really helpful. Itâs usually just harder for the critiques to come from a parent!