@NOVAGirl87 I am SO sorry to hear about your D. What a tough few days for all of you. 
So sweet to hear about her friends.
When I came on here this morning I was over 150 posts behind, I am sure I will miss someone so I will just say congratulations to all of the ED and EA acceptances - Williams, Amherst, Johns Hopkins, Whitman - Iām sure I am forgetting some, but way to go to all of the kids!
D21 was rejected at Middlebury.
Oh no, @GoldPenn! I am so sorry to hear this. Hugs to your D.
@goldpenn so sorry. I hope she can rebound soon and feel good about other options. ED is just hard. So much build up to the decision day and so much heart put into the app. 
Oh @GoldPenn I am so sorry.
My Dās friend got in to UVA (legacy, OOS, she submitted SAT scores)
@GoldPenn ā Iām sorry!! This part is so hard!
@NOVAGirl87 I think youāre right about IB with your daughter. UVA emphasizes that they want to see kids take the most challenging core classes their school has to offer. Some schools are okay with a STEM kind of kid taking hard science and math and more basic English, but not UVA according to whatās been stated. I think they even want to see 4 years of world language, which Iām sure isnāt emphasized at some high schools. I grew up in Texas and back then most people just took 2 years of foreign language. My kids have grown up in Virginia and everyone seems to take 3 or 4. I realize Iām old and things may have changed everywhere, but it occurred to me that for some kids even something like years of foreign language could be a strike against them. Iām really sorry your daughter didnāt get it, ugh. Where else is she interested in going?
Iām so sorry, big hugs for your D.
Thatās interesting, because foreign language is D21ās jam. She took Spanish in 8th grade and switched to German, which she LOVES. She is now in IB German 1 and her German teacher (the same in 10th I believe and this year) did her teacher recommendation. Sheās just not the type A kid that the most selective schools are looking for.
I can see D21 at least minoring in German and I would love to fund a study abroad semester for her.
I think in general college admissions is so much harder for the T50s nowadays. Kids in our area who would have been Ivy material 30-40 years ago are now āsettlingā/self-selecting for schools like UVA. I know I would probably have a low chance of admission at my alma mater with my 33 year old stats.
She has UMW and CNU decisions coming out, and sheās interested in applying to W&M RD. One of her high school friends (and very much a classmate) got into W&M ED without the IB diploma. D21 has gotten into VCU, so she does have one acceptance!
One of my high school classmates and her older brother both went to Dartmouth (I believe they were legacies). They probably had excellent stats, but nowadays they wouldnāt stand out.
Oh I know, getting into top schools back in the day didnāt seem to be so impossible. Mere mortals could do it!
I know some kids at UMW and they really like it. Also, from what Iāve heard CNU has really upped their game with great facilities and residential feel. Good luck to her!
So sorry, this part of the process stinks. Hugs
My aunt is a UMW alumna; she wanted to go to UVA, but UVA wasnāt admitting women undergrads in the mid 1960s, ironically, and Mary Washington College was an extension of UVA then (and an all womenās school).
Funny how things change!
Itās difficult for her father and I too in that neither of us had any rejections. He applied to UVA ED and got in, while I applied to three schools RD and got accepted to all three. Things were so different back then.
In general, this seems to be true for 80% of UVA admits from our instate school: they take at least half of the harder APs and take honors if not AP in all 5 core subjectsā¦butā¦this year (so far) as well as previous years there are some (non-athletes) who get in whose rigor is in the middle or even bottom half of the class. Grades high, though, from these kidsātop 25% ish. It is a very rigorous school (every yr 35-40% enroll in a T30uni or T15 LAC), so maybe that is why?
@GoldPenn I am sorry about Middlebury. Hang in there, better news is on the way later in the process. All our kids will end up going to places that will turn out to be just right for them.
Iām so sorry, both for the loss of your dog and the UVA decision.
My D21 got accepted at Sewanee with an amazing scholarship. We will not have to break the bank to send our youngest to college. She is over the moon as she visited and had her āahaā moment there. She is going and is done.
If you recall she opted out of the high stakes race- did apply to Tulane and Miami FL EA as well so I guess those are competitive but everything else was a match, safety. Reading through all these posts this morning I am so sad for everyone who was declined/deferred. Bowdoin, Middlebury,Amherst, Duke, Rice, UVA - all schools she had considered. Yes your kids will end up somewhere and do well. Itās just this process is beyond brutal and agree nothing like it was even 20 years ago much less the 100 years ago when I was applying!
@whyboydanny thatās great! Congratulations!!
Congrats!!! Is this an ED decision and sheās done? Or will she wait and see. . .
Either way ā great to see this fantastic outcome!
Iām sorry about UVA- D21 also is an AP kid in an IB school. We have similar problem with UNC-CH. Itās not a choice to go to our school and I always feel like the non IB kids are second class citizens. I just shake my head when I hear kidās class rank at our surrounding schools- D21ās rank would be so much higher if she were there. A kid shouldnāt have to take 12 AP just to try to crack the top 10%.