Sorry I misunderstood your post. Good luck to her on those EA’s
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Like many of you have mentioned, my D21 has been cool as a cucumber about the ED decision. It was like she put it out of her mind the minute she hit submit on her app. Her mother, on the other hand, is a nervous wreck! (at least inwardly) I really can picture her happy at other schools, but this one is such a good fit in so many ways (I’m not going to dwell on all the ways).
I think this wait is harder than the one for my D19 because so many things are harder in 2020 with a lot of the fun stuff/coping skills not as available (time with friends, planning family trips, watching kids sports/EC’s etc.).
I agree with @AlwaysMoving, though—so grateful and happy that our 21’s will have a much more normal freshman year in college!
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What schools are coming out tomorrow/next couple of days? So excited for all of you and will cross fingers for good news! D has 7 kids that she knows of that are in ED. Clearly ED is WAY up at her school and we had no idea until it all rolled in. Tulane, BC, 2 Wakes, Dartmouth(athlete), RPI, and more. Yeesh. This is all quite stressful. But super happy for the kids who are in. Last yr this time only a couple of (non athletes) had decisions.
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@inthegarden Good luck!!
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Speaking of being prepared for celebration, a few years ago, my friend bought helium balloons in the her son’s ED school colors and kept them in the car while they were waiting for the news that evening. Unfort., he didn’t get in, so late that night she had to drive to a remote location to pop the balloons where he wouldn’t hear and dispose of them. 
She said it was a sad time, and as a result, she didn’t prepare anything in advance with her 2nd son last year. But then, Murphy’s law, he got into his ED choice!
So, don’t buy balloons and good luck to everyone waiting for news tomorrow!
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I’m new to CC and am overwhelmed by the staggering number of high-achieving students. Real talk: are there (very) average students represented here whose choices are mostly reach schools? My son is an A/B/C student who has 5 honors classes, 2 DE classes, and 1 AP (4 years of Spanish). ECs are 4 years of Varsity XC and track. No club or awards. He has lots of bright classmates, so his rank is unimpressive. He’s definitely ready for college, but I’m afraid he might not get into the schools he wants to go to. Deferrals and Waitlists would be a win in my book. He sent his SAT scores because we just felt like he needed to show that he made an effort to take them. Scores were also very average but beyond the benchmark. He applied to 11 schools, all EA. I know he’s not EA material, but the COVID effect made us rethink our strategy.
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LOL. I think many parents of regular kids read most threads on CC for the first time and do a “Home Alone” cheek squeeze with an “Ohhhh No!” These “Class of 20xx” threads really default to discussions about colleges for high-stats students. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it presents a quandry for parents who want to discuss other types of college application journeys.
Welcome to CC @TheRents522 . After a while, you’ll start skimming past the high-stats threads but digging deep into the regular-kids threads. One thread that is good for parents whose kids are not applying to top-30 or top-75 schools is this one:
It’s for parents of students with a 3.0-3.4 GPA. Occasionally a parent of a high-stats kids will join under the pretense of having a kid who “barely” fits that requirement (3.6UW GPA, but a 4.3 W GPA with a 1460 SAT, LOL) but mostly it is a safe space for parents of regular stats students to hang out, share information, and share a college application journey much different than those shooting for Top-20 schools. There are many situations of 3.2 GPA with a 1080 SAT and such.
Like you, in our household, a deferral from some schools was cheered as loudly as an acceptance from a safety. My son would be like “so they’re saying I still have a shot!” LOL.
BTW, once you settle into that 2021 thread for 3.0-3.4 parents, you might find it helpful to track down the 2020 and 2019 threads for the same groups. There is a lot of good information and tips in those threads. Also, there are recommendations of universities that you might not have considered yet, but which are great fits for your child.
Oh, and regarding the “getting into dream school” worry, I’d suggest not to worry too much. The student’s disappointment stings, but is usually brief. At least it was with my S. And after movein, I think many students forget about the “dream” school and start settling into and enjoying their real school.
Good luck!
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Just to be clear, I didn’t give her a flower for each application as an incentive. She finished her apps in August and September (and November for the U of CA schools). I just thought of the flower idea a few weeks ago, and I give her one for each application deadline that comes around. It’s kind of a way to tell her that I know she is done, and now there is nothing to be done about it since the application deadline has passed, and here is a flower for good luck and as a reward just for your hard work regardless. (She doesn’t care enough about flowers for them to be used as any kind of incentive.)
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Jeff Selingo tweeted something this morning about the drop in AOs calling HS counselors prior to ED decisions are released to discuss their students. From the comments it sounds like schools are using slate. org to communicate with the HS counselors and that is done after decisions are released.
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Thank you SO much for your response - exactly what I needed! I love to cheer for the high-achieving kids, too. Just appreciate having a spot like that for the more average kids.
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I think you meant to reply to @EconPop and his informative post, @TheRents522. (Just wanted to give credit where credit is due).
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Thanks for posting that info. (The timing is ironic since just yesterday is when I wondered if GC’s are given a heads up on decisions.)
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I can’t link to twiiter, but you can search for Jeff Selingo’s account and find the tweet. The comments include admissions deans from a couple of well known schools.
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Yes. 
I started following him after I read your post this morning and read all the comments. Very interesting!!!
They may be talking about two potential unfair situations:
-Private school and/or elite public counselors might get info preferentially over non-elite public schools
-Whichever set of counselors are involved, getting decisions early (before released to the student) allows said counselors to contact AO and potentially advocate for a different decision for a given student, or students. (e.g., accept vs. deferral, or denial).
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I assume just stats, acceptance rate, how many apps they’ve received, speculation about RD round (or ED2 if they have that), things of that nature.
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why would a school feel obligated to call up a high school counselor and give them that type of info? What’s the upside for the AO? I guess if they have a super personal relationship with the counselor and they are turning down a student, they might like to give a heads up so the counselor is prepared when the student gets their answer?
I’d like to hear what others say, but of the top of my head I’m thinking info on what the needs are for the class. One thing they probably know early is info on the recruited athletes, legacy, Questbridge cohort, etc. and how that affects the overall balance they are looking for. An unusually large or small number of high/low income, racial makeup, major choices. For example, something like “we usually have 10 history majors by now and this year we only have one. But we have a full class worth of English majors already.” That’s a big clue what to put for intended major. Even schools that don’t admit by major still pay attention to that.
Also what institutional priorities may be. Growing/shrinking departments, push for more/less preprofessional focus, emphasis on kindness, etc.
I think it is probably mostly clueing them in on what they are looking for this season. Helps both tailor apps and know which kids to steer there. For a HS that normally gets lots of kids into top schools, they can distribute them better. Maybe your SJW has a better shot at Columbia than Brown this year, so you steer her there and the computer whiz to Brown because Columbia recruited a bunch of computer programming athletes this cycle.
Just brainstorming here.
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The upside could be letting them know who they are looking for so they get sent those students.
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@evergreen5 My understanding is that stats about the class are shared. My D21’s counselor places a counselor call for all of his ED applicants so that he can advocate for their admission. My D does not attend an elite school, but she does attend a very small private school in the Midwest. I think it’s good that so many colleges have stopped accepting counselor calls as they’re just one more way that privileged kids have the edge. By privileged I mean small class sizes, tight relationships with teachers, test prep classes, and so on. If the kid at a high school with 3,000 students doesn’t get a counselors call on his/her behalf, then neither should the kid at a small or elite school.
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