Maybe there are fewer ED applicants, fewer foreign applicants (who tend to post in those threads) or it’s just too hard to try to read the tea leaves this year with the new variables (or lack of them). I’ve noticed that, of those who post, fewer seem to be posting stats and ECs, which makes the threads less useful anyway. This year is a whole new ballgame. I think we’re kind of holding our collective breath! Me, I think I’ve gone kind of numb (but in an oddly pleasant way). My D’s school would have released decisions last night had it followed their historical pattern. Now, will it wait a full week or release during the middle of a week? No one seems to know so it’s better not to feel the anxiety. I’ve busied myself this morning ordering stocking stuffers (which normally I shop for in brick-and-mortar stores). Anything to distract myself, though I can’t seem to resist the urge to pop into CC several times a day anyway!
DS did not want to ED anywhere but has quite a few EAs out there and this household is very nervous…he has two coming up in the next week or so that will determine if he ends up submitting another 4-5 before the RD deadlines…Good Luck to ALL!!!
@inthegarden and @AlwaysMoving Agree. The ED threads seem awfully quiet. I remember when my daughter applied 2 years ago and when students were offered interviews it was going nuts because those who were not were all worried. It was random of course. Then, financial aid and what was being asked and not, also drove people nuts. I do think a lot of the people on the forums were internationals so wonder if for need aware schools if those apps are down hence the pages are less active. There will be less aid available for them.
The flip is also how many schools are reporting increased applications. But, so far that seems to mainly be EA schools. Even if it’s ED schools, as was reported, it is appearing to be that more better quality local/in state students are applying and less out of state and/or lower quality students are applying. From kids at our school applying to greater reaches than at other times, I can believe it. I have no idea where my son stands because of that. This was supposed to be a somewhat low stress year, but instead it’s become more high anxiety as we have no clue what is going on.
Also, I think it’s a sign of low apps when so many schools have pushed application deadlines for a myriad of reasons. Not sure I believe that so many have had problems all of a sudden with their portals. Some of these are top schools. Some of these also pushed back the date a month before applications were due without stating a reason, just “because”.
I have a friend who’s daughter got into every school she applied to early on, including her reach schools. She’s a slightly above avg student with an ACT around 30 and they were so surprised she decided to apply to a much higher reach. This is what I’m talking about. So there are kids like that, who may also say what the heck, I’m going to go for the gold and apply to Harvard ED because why the heck not. They also won’t post stats most likely because they probably are really a crapshoot for being accepted.
@homerdog I agree with you re college apps. With my son’s course load, anything generic I am happy to just deal with and take care of. He plays tennis at night (before that shut down) and between his school activities and classes, why should he waste his time on some generic college stuff like creating a google doc, etc. I work at a school which was remote so I was stuck at home anyway. As for the CA demographic info I gave him one of my older kids app so he could just copy that stuff without asking me questions about when I graduated, the address of work, etc. Then after he applied, we agreed on usernames and passwords and I entered it all in and set up the portals. Once he is accepted the rest is on him and I don’t have access to their accounts or emails. That’s a “sticker shocker” for a lot of parents and kids who are used to too much helicoptering from parents who miss a lot of deadlines of new freshman things, so people need to find the happy medium. This kid thank god is my most independent. My oldest, would’ve never survived, lol. For that I realize it was probably a good thing he skipped college. They do all grow up eventually!
I’m seeing similar anecdotal cases. D has a friend who was all settled on Oregon State, but figured with TO what the heck? She has an app in to Harvard, and maybe BMC (she was debating last I heard). May do a few more. IDK her scores, but she is what I would call bright but not academically exceptional. I don’t know her grades, I would guess mostly A’s with some B’s, lower part of the top 10% of the class.
More anecdotes, a kid who normally I would expect to ED or REA, held out for RD and is sending a bunch of apps out. URM, 35 ACT, underrepresented state, decent EC’s. Brother at MIT or one of the Ivies I don’t remember. I’m sure he gets a bunch of acceptances, although he is the kind of kid who gives fits to AO’s too. A good catch, but will probably have 10 acceptances so 90% of those schools he just hurts their yield.
It will be really interesting in 6 months to see how this all played out. Right now though since it’s my kid and she won’t get a do over, I would really like a bit more clarity! 
Yes, exactly. Your second example just jogged my memory about someone we know who couldn’t decide whether to apply to Duke ED or another school ED and kept going back and forth. Duke doesn’t take many from our school ED, maybe 1 a year so it’s a huge gamble. Last I heard the kid decided to not apply anywhere ED and wants to have many choices and is applying to a lot of schools. I think this student is National Merit Semi Finalist so probably also has a high ACT and my son has said she is probably Top 5 in the class, although they don’t rank. I would love to see how that shakes out.
In my first example, schools like Wisconsin and Michigan are the reaches so many are indeed upping it a notch.
I think my son if he doesn’t get into his ED school, is going to widen his pool in the two weeks he will have and apply to a lot more schools than he initially planned and see what happens since at that point there is no binding commitment and he will have more time to visit if accepted.
@MommaLue Put a tab for each school’s applicant portal in the bookmark bar of your browser. That should make it easy to do a quick check.
Does anyone know how to check this thread and have it go to the last post you read, rather than the beginning, or the last post you made?
I’d be interested in that, too.
@3SailAway @Creaky When looking at the list of threads under Latest, over on the right is a column titled Activity, with the time since the most recent post (“2m” or whatever). Click that number.
Hmmm…I have bookmarked the discussion, and when I go to the 3 bars thing in the upper right corner, if there’s new posts it comes up under Unread and then I click on the discussion name and I go to right to the end of the thread. It’s working pretty well, actually.
Hello everyone, new here. I have an only, D21, who has applied ED to the school from which her father and I both graduated undergraduate and where her father received his PhD. It’s a state school that is extremely selective, fortunately she applied in state.
Needless to say, I’m sweating bullets. Her grades are stellar and she has taken a variety of classes, harder each year, but her school does the IB diploma, which she opted not to do. However, she has taken many IB and AP classes and her grades seem to improve each year.
Excuse me while I find a paper bag to breathe in. At this point I’m almost wishing that she wasn’t interested in our school. She has already gotten into one of her safeties.
ED applications at the school are up 35% this year, further fueling my anxiety.
Yep, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!
You’ll be fine and d21 will be too. I’ll eat my hat if she is denied with that great profile and close connection/understanding of the school community. Hopefully it came across in her writing and recs. They are the wildcards.
@NOVAGirl87 UVA? W&M? Good luck to your daughter!
Welcome!
This waiting is horrendous. I hear you on a brown bag for breathing.
I wish we could all sit in a circle around a firepit and play silly games and eat yummy treats until the decision time finally arrives.
It’s hard to concentrate on much else. (And watching college football is not even helping pass the time.) And my Christmas tree is all barren, minus lights, and is begging for attention but I have none to give it.
H looked at swag online but has no intention of buying any. Said it will be Murphy’s law that if S gets in for ED the online sales will then be over, haha.
Losing it. May make Ghirardelli brownies.
Twist my arm. Wine added to the menu.
Murphys Law: all swag that might be of interest in a week or two will be back ordered (to June 2021) given that your search yielded “only 2 left”.
Size? Color? Style? 
UVA. Her ECs are the three Cs: Church, cello and the restaurant where she works starts with a C. She has social anxiety but had taken the initiative last year to work with her teacher for one class in which class participation was a big part of the grade, so I mentioned that to her counselor as part of the parental input, especially since she ended with an A in the class, an HL IB class.
I just worry that the lack of the IB diploma will hurt her. She’s a very mature and responsible kid otherwise, just a dream child. I swear I was much worse, so I’m glad she turned out better than me.
She definitely tailored her one supplemental to Charlottesville and I can see her being very involved in Madison House (big UVA volunteer organization), given her church involvement (a lot of teaching the younger children, who adore her). When she asked one of her teachers to write a recommendation on her behalf, the teacher said that she “would love to,” so I took that as a good sign.
Still trying to not worry too much, at least one school has accepted her! She applied ED to UVA, EA to UMW, VCU (accepted) and CNU, and will apply to W&M 1/1 if not accepted ED to UVA.
It’s fun being here and I’m holding my breath for you with EDs. We are going to be in this for the looong haul with our spray approach. S doesn’t even have any time to work on his reach essays this weekend because there is so much homework. We will be those parents with no hotel reservations. Sigh. Good luck to all!
Meanwhile we have his negative Covid test and will be in a new Cali lockdown while he returns to in person. Crazy times.
I broke down and purchased one item from my daughter’s ED. If it doesn’t come to be, I will quietly throw it away. It wasn’t expensive. If she does get in, she will love it.
My son asked me today why I was pacing around the kitchen and I had no clue that I was even doing it. I can’t wait until the kids get to find out where they are going and we can all relax for a month or two until the new stresses begin! 