@inthegarden of course as you know W&M is actually bigger than Lehigh. W&M nicer campus, better weather and better student body…of course that is from a Lafayette guy. We hate all things Lehigh.
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Listening to Jeff Salingo and he said he thinks that in the absence of test scores, what he has heard from some AO’s is that they may rely more on proven HS and might take a few more from those because they know they do well. 
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Lol @burghdad, my D is progressive politically and socially, but she has always been a bit of an old soul and loves that ancient ambiance! She is thrilled at the prospect of taking a class in the Christopher Wren building.
But then, she is the same kid who begged me to take her to Disney World at age seven (like all kids) but was not particularly impressed. My Florida friend said you can always find an empty hotel room in Florida so I left the trip competely open-ended and only booked the first two days. After two days at Disney I offered her a third and she shrugged, said it was fun but she was ready to leave. We spent a few days at the beach on Anna Maria Island, and then, heading back up the NE coast, I thought we might as well stop for a couple of hours to see the historic district of St. Augustine. We took the trolley ride through town and visited the little museum. D begged to stay another hour, another day, then another day, and another day! Lol, Loved the oldest one-room schoolhouse in America! “Olde” St. Augustine was her favorite place in Florida. Later she loved reading Louisa May Alcott, collected antique typewriters and phones, preferred classical ballet (“contemporary is too much rolling around the floor”) and learned to play an ancient trombone (sackbut) during a baroque music camp. That’s my girl, So maybe a school like W&M was a little pre-ordained 
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Not saying he’s wrong, but they’ve been saying this all semester and so far all these expert college experts including him have been wrong on everything else, so not sure I would hold much stock in it. People just can’t worry about all of that right now.
They will still run into the issue of many kids from the same high schools applying and then what? Just accepting half as many from each school? So then grades are most important? Which is what was most important before anyway most likely.
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I hope he’s wrong, because that’s really unfair.
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Like what?
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@burghdad, I reminded her about the fact that she hadn’t liked the size of Lehigh but she was not deterred. I guess part of it was just the feeling of the two schools to her (though Lehigh does have those fabulous Gothic buildings). She was also a year younger when she saw Lehigh, so maybe she grew into the larger size. I did lots of playing devil’s advocate before she applied to make sure she was sure.
BTW, Lafayette was her second choice…she really did like it, and would have likely applied there ED2. Today we got a beautifully-designed post card from Lafayette. I asked if seeing it gave her any regrets. Nope, Nope, not a flicker. No looking back…she’s happy as a clam.
As far as the “old” feeling of Williamsburg, I think the spirit of the students belies this. D is finding the students she’s meeting on Instagram on the whole very progressive-minded…(lots of Bernie supporters, for example) which will be a refreshing, happy sea-change for her, coming from a very conservative small town.
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And that’s why I think it’s still better to submit a test score, even if it’s a little lower than you had hoped.
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DS goes to a competitive HS and per Naviance, the same numbers of kids seem to be applying to the same colleges as in prior years with very little variance. There are one or two colleges with a material increase/decrease but mainly it is steady.
Probably not a great indicator though as most of the kids at this HS have very good test scores. Selfishly, I hope many of the schools DS applied to are taking the HS into consideration since it feels a bit unfair that some of the tests we paid for are not being considered…
That’s great, @JanieWalker ! One of my kids’ favorite teachers went to UNH and loved it. It was on D19’s list due to the beautiful campus, world class rock climbing nearby, and the sailing team.
Of course, I think your D will have many awesome choices! 
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D21 has a score from a long time ago that was intended to be a baseline and is not representative of her abilities. 5 SATs cancelled this spring/summer and none available this fall. There’s no way she’s submitting her one mediocre score. If schools say they’re test optional & that not submitting one won’t disadvantage a student, I’ll take them at their word.
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@inthegarden. All good stuff. She does sound Like an “old soul” in the best of ways. I am so happy for her that she found her “place”
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@mamaedefamilia LOL. Campus had too many trees!!
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My S19 and I went to look at a school he wasn’t particularly interested in because it was in the same town as another we went to visit. After seeing it, he said he didn’t want to go to the no interest school because there were too many pine needles all over the sidewalks.
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@MaddieMW These early on profiles are so varied. Brown saw 16% increase in ED and someone on this group quoted 65% of the kids submitted test scores. Cornell saw a greater increase in ED but the opposite range in test score submitted.
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@inthegarden , W&M does have a roommate questionnaire for freshman. I’m not sure what it’s like because D19 was given a medical single (she has severe chronic migraines). I remember filling out my questionnaire almost three decades ago…My roommate was a great match for me—considerate, quiet, and super smart (helped me with geology!). We both had loft beds, but it was so hot in August/September that we put our mattresses on the floor and it felt like a slumber party.
D21 hasn’t joined any of the online groups yet…I’m sure she will, but I hope she doesn’t feel pressure to be constantly present and try to gather “pre-made” friends. I know D19 had a group of online friends but they didn’t end up being the right crowd for her once they met in person. That was kind of hard, except for that her dorm turned out to be a great place to find friendships (as was her Pathways trip). I’m glad your post reminded me of this because I think I’ll encourage D21 to talk to her sister about it. I know D19’s advice will be that it’s nice to have “friends for now,” but for deeper friendships you should just be patient!
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As for a campus having too many trees, D21 wanted lots of trees. But then we re-visited one of her favorites this October, and it just didn’t feel right. One of her reasons: Too many loud leaf blowers 
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Oops, @inthegarden I should have clarified - I was not referring to ED applicants! I would not recommend applying ED sight unseen! And FWIW, had we the chance to visit W&M (which we had planned to do last March, oops!), I imagine my kid might have swooned over it.
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RE roommates: I couldn’t wait to leave high school, go to college, forge a brand new path and have an exciting new roommate. I was a terribly shy kid in high school, with an inner thirst for adventure. I wanted to remake myself. All cliche’s but true.
What a disappointment! I was placed in a room with the one and only student from my high school at that tiny college (900 students). She was nice…very nice, in fact, but we hadn’t particularly been friends and I think she also was looking for a new adventure. I had an interview to appeal the room situation and was told it couldn’t be arranged (and I wasn’t the most assertive kid). The housing coordinator said she had placed us together because she thought it would be comforting for old school pals to be together! Ugh! So, Nancy and I made the best of it and it wasn’t a disaster. But I always felt that old high school thing boxing me in.
A year later I transferred. A bigger school! A few states away! A fun, new roommate who became my bestie! A hall-full of friendly girls who were pals with a hall-full of friendly guys in the next dorm! Those were heady days! That’s really when college began for me.
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@inthegarden I love every single thing about this post. Your D sounds like a gem and I’m so glad she found her place at W&M. I think it’s wise to counsel her against committing to roommate too soon! Also thanks for the info on the supplemental essay.
@NOVAGirl87 ha! Yes, I learned about my college roommate through the mail and I don’t think we even exchanged letters. She and I were very different but it worked. She is still a close friend! We got lucky!
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