We seem to have more acceptances than normal for big state schools that are competitive like Michigan and Wisconsin. For T20 schools, acceptances/deferrals seem pretty normal. We haven’t heard of anyone getting into a top school that we wouldn’t have expected pre-Covid.
Although they also said they’ve seen WAYYYY more kids than normal apply to their in-state schools than any year before. So far speaking for my son his acceptances are in line with the schools Naviance profile.
2 Likes
I think any announcements made in May could be poor prognosticators of how things actually look in the Fall.
This is exactly how I feel.
6 Likes
Well it’s going to be awfully hard to choose a school! Ugh!!!
2 Likes
Interesting, @skkm0906 and @homerdog. At least from our 3 data points (!), this is somewhat reassuring.
Our school had much worse outcomes than normal in ED round to top 20 schools. Word on the street is our grading policy last Spring hurt kids – basically everyone got As. I think EAs have been more normal so far.
Sorry guys if my previous post was depressing. I think they are making those plans out of caution, but I will say that my university has more in-person opportunities than most, and has expressed a commitment to that (we have a lot of first gen, etc., who do better with F2F). For us, it means ‘blended learning’ where half the class can be there at a time, due to space restrictions. I have two sons at large universities and they have every single class online this semester (although they are physically at the campuses). So definitely take a look at what schools are doing NOW as a potential predictor of what things might look like in the fall.
5 Likes
My son has had several interviews and most of them are pretty similar.
He usually gets asked what are his academic interest, why does he want to attend the school, what are interest outside of school, what books or movies he likes, and there is always a “do you have any questions for me” at the end.
My son always has 2 or 3 questions to ask about their experience at the school.
Yale admissions has a podcast and the episode on the interview was really helpful for my son. Good luck!
3 Likes
I’m not losing hope yet. If most (all?) are vaccinated at the small/medium sized schools that D applied to, I cannot see online classes happening. Parents paying so much are not going to keep putting up with that if there’s any way to get kids in class.
4 Likes
I’ve been thinking about this because it’s an issue at our HS (which I know has different considerations than colleges). Our HS is planning for hybrid in the fall (they have no choice) and no matter what the format will still offer students the option of fully remote. Which is really expensive to do.
At some point they will have to cut the cord, and kids with at risk conditions (or whatever their reason) will have to do remote school thru an online provider or homeschool.
2 Likes
I’m not losing hope yet either. But I will say, you really won’t know until late summer exactly what things will look like for a particular school. My sons were originally enrolled for mostly F2F classes this past fall, and one by one almost all of them converted to online in the 11th hour. I think faculty were given a choice, and ultimately decided they weren’t comfortable yet being in the classroom. If faculty are vaccinated by fall (supposedly we are 1c) then maybe more of them will want to return to a normal semester. Right now I’m in person with the class split by day, everyone is spread out and masked, zooming simultaneously to the ones at home. It feels a little chaotic, but is going better than I thought it would.
4 Likes
I know. I just hope that, if plans for May 1 change, schools should allow kids to also make a change and request a gap.
3 Likes
I visited Mac with my older kid and can tell you more about it if you want to message me privately. The campus tour felt much more specific (in a good way) about describing what made Mac’s personality distinct. The surrounding area is lovely.
2 Likes
“Yale public health officials estimate that the vaccine could be available to all members of the Yale campus community by April — with student vaccinations possibly starting in the coming weeks.”
At least one school seems pretty confident 
13 Likes
@homerdog I know kids do go to schools they have not ever seen. I do think it is partially kid dependent. My experience with my D21 was she needed to see the schools. She had two potential ED schools that she was absolutely sure were her place and her people. The first was Vanderbilt. Could not wait to go visit and was all in. We were able to visit just before COVID. It was a beautiful day and 10
Minutes in to our tour I could tell it was a no go from her body language. She never even applied. Just did not work for her. Second was Duke- same drill except we went during COVID because I learned from the Vanderbilt experience. Had an amazing visit there- she was able to spend time ‘unofficially’ with a student from our HS who she knows and loves who is a junior. Full tour plus. In car back to airport she said it was nice but not for her. Did not even apply. My point is you need to read your kid. I have another child who was fine going to a school site unseen and that was pre- Covid.
I also think the stress they have been under with remote/hybrid has impacted them. For us schools that were open this year, offered some sort of college experience and were more remote in general made her list- she does not want to be stuck at home any longer and she sees a number of graduates from last year who this has been their experience. I know we can’t read the tea leaves of what is coming next fall. This is what worked for us and she is happy with her choices.
6 Likes
We took a tour of California universities over summer in our RV. We were able to access most schools for the exception of Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Occidental. While all campuses were technically closed, we were able to walk the empty grounds for most which at least gave us the lay of the land and it was good to see surrounding neighborhoods. We thought we could access Loyola Marymount, but as we approached the security booth, John Candy’s doppelganger came out and said, “Sorry, kids! The park is closed!” JK… have watched National Lampoon’s Vacation too many times, but it did feel like the Wally World scene. We pleaded to just do a quick zip around the empty campus and we’d stay inside our RV bubble and just do one loop. Nope. He did give us a map and told us that we could hike a bordering trail and spy inside. Meh, no thanks. From what we could see, it looked nice, but the ridgidity to access compared to the rest of the schools was a turnoff. It was nice to walk some UC campuses - they are so large! I am a Cal Poly SLO alum, so it was nice to revisit and the town of San Luis Obispo is amazing. UC Irvine was the surprise of the trip. Although D21 didn’t apply (because she has her heart set on out of state), we were impressed with the campus, layout & strong STEM presence. We are now waiting on admission results and will go back east to see schools in person. She MUST see the school in person to make a decision. I’d say we will see the schools come hell or high water, but we already braved many California fires & COVID restrictions during the summer college trip, so I’d hate to invite any further calamity. 
Good luck to all. Hoping for speedy vaccinations & smoother sailing for Class of 21!
10 Likes
I’m starting to think that D can only seriously consider LMU if some miracle happens and they can let people walk campus by late April.
Does the admitted lower stat child at Michigan have a legacy connection? They count grandparents and legacy is huge there. My son got into Michigan two years ago. The other kid that got in had very good stats (upper Michigan range) but not like my son ( valedictorian). Also got in but grandparent went there. There were several kids in between the two who were deferred and then waitlisted and then finally withdrew. College acceptances are crazy!
Regarding university fall plans, our S’s ED school held a webinar to greet kids/families and they said they’re expecting masks, social distancing, maybe more f2f classes and “opportunities,” but not school back to normal. We were shocked and were hoping they’re just being overly cautious. I don’t understand why, IF, the students/faculty are vaccinated by then (US is saying everyone by late summer, and there would be vaccine availability for foreign students if they hadn’t had access) there wouldn’t be herd immunity (assuming some can’t/won’t get vaccinated). H is an infectious disease physician and he was surprised.
3 Likes
So I follow Rick Clark (Georgia Tech) and Jeff Selingo, then other AOs comment on their stuff and I start following them. Most are talking about equity issues, and in Jeff’s case, their books. But every once in a while Rick or Jeff will share a little nugget from behind the curtain, and then a bunch of AO’s will chime in.
The discussion I mentioned above was from Rick’s twitter. I heard a podcast by him “College Admission Brief” where he pretty much said 2021 trend of pushing good candidates from the early round with deferrals and will be another pushing some to the wait list, then heavy use of the wait lists and the process going “deep into summer”.
As I mentioned, normally this would be unappealing. However, this year maybe waitlisted kids who get offered a spot will have more clarity about travel and fall plans by that time?
7 Likes