@whyboydanny Congrats! My D21 also applied to a few harder schools but her aha moment also came at a more safe school. I know she will be fine anywhere so I just want her to be somewhere that she is really happy. Sounds like your D found that perfect fit!
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I think D21 just wanted a more balanced high school experience. She could have probably done the IB diploma with few issues, but maybe the stress would have been too much.
It makes me curious how students at non-IB schools do at college admissions. Do some schools take more from IB than AP? Is there a balance? Are they unwittingly creating a situation in which kids have to go outside of the neighborhood school?
@GoldPenn I am so sorry, hugs to your D.
There is local school with an IB program and honestly the kids that do not want to do the program, but want a chance to rank in the top 10% do not go there. We have an open enrollment school district so you can enroll at any of our schools .
@NOVAGirl87 Iām sorry about your D21 not getting her first choice. High schools all handle IB and APs differently. My D21ās school does not allow freshmen or sophomores to take AP classes. Junior and seniors are limited to three APs and one honors. The school places a relatively large number of kids at T20s every year, so colleges are clearly not penalizing students for the limited number of APs.
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@NOVAGirl87 At non-IB schools, I think students just take AP classes in subjects of their choice. Iām not sure how many AP classes need to be taken to be considered, āmost rigorousā and maybe it varies by school. Someone can correct me if Iām wrong. The thing that makes IB so rigorous is that every class is an IB class and then thereās TOK and the extended essay and CAS. A number of students in my Dās school have dropped the diploma this year due to stress. My D really dislikes IB.
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I am playing catch-up on this thread todayā¦ just read 200 posts. I am afraid I will miss someone soā¦
Congratulations to all the accepted kids 
!! It is time to celebrate all the years of hard work that led to this exciting day.
Big hugs and positive thoughts to those deferred/denied. And to the parents who are also disappointed and trying to support your kids through a difficult time. 
My D has a long way to go as she will be comparing offers in April (we hope) so I will be here with you all until the end and look forward to hearing your journeys and sharing ours. All our kids will find their place in the end. I just wish it were an easier process.
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Thanks. I read this to my girls and one said, āYes, it says they wanted to move far away from their parents.ā lolol! 
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@GoldPenn I am so sorry, that just stinks.
āTough year for early decision applicants all around and next week a lot more hearts will be broken.ā
Actually, for some ED applicants the fact the colleges going TO might have actually helped them this year than in the past, especially if they are great students but just donāt test well. This admission cycle will be good for some students and will not be good for others. I think test optional gave a lot of students āaccessā to some top colleges who otherwise might not have had a chance. Might be a good thingā¦
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I agree wholeheartedly with you that Rice is brutal. @AlmostThere2018 our D18 was waitlisted there and when we looked more closely, we felt that for us OOS Latinx was no hook at all there. @AOP1925 a deferral is a huge accomplishment. My fingers are crossed that the Spring admits will bring good news to tough outcomes families are dealing with. 
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It really makes me wonder how they choose which schools are IB vs. AP. Some families with multiple children have kids going to two different schools, depending on whether the child wants AP vs. IB. Itās such a racket.
@2Devils Maybe. Thatās strange based on everything they say. I know legacy is supposed to help some. My daughter applied EA, so no news for awhile, but Iām hopeful (in state, high stats). I do hate it when grades are rewarded over rigor, probably because my older kids always took hard classes but had plenty of Bs. Oh well, everyone is happy where they ended up!
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@socaldad2002 Yes, definitely a plus for kids with more middle of the road scores. I think TO was really intended for kids who didnāt have access to the tests, but clearly the option is being used strategically. It will be interesting to see how things change going forward.
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My kids both did IB at a public urban high school. It used to be quite difficult for non-IB kids to rank high ( although there were the same number of AP options available so they could if willingā¦ ) the district which is mostly low income and low performing ( Dallas) just changed the ranking system to only using core subjects and only so many of each ( used to be top 24 credits) to try to equalize throughout the district with different plans such as dual credit, AP, IBā¦ I donāt know if it will be more fair or not. It was not fair though that that changed it mid cycle for my DS21 but oh well. I know at our comprehensive high I am sure IB only will still be considered the most rigorous. It has worn both my guys out, although most of grads have appeared to transition well to college ( especially the writing).
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I do think it is a big plus for some kids. I saw on Scoir that someone got accepted to a school and their ACT 6 points under the 50%. I do not know the situations, but I am assuming that the score was not reported. Also, I am not judging, maybe that was a first try and they were not able to test again. But when you look at the sacagrams for just the 2020-2021 kids it does stand out.
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Thank you for the encouraging comment! I never got a chance to see Whitman myself, but my son got to go out and tour the college earlier this fall. He felt that it was just the right place for him, and applied ED. I canāt wait to go visit him next year!
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What makes me mad is every year we have an AO from UNC come in and tell us they only really want to see 4-5 AP classes or IBā¦um anyone taking only 4 APs has no chance to get in from our school.
D18 was full IB with some AP, she loved it and it paid off for her. D21 had other interests and didnāt want to tie herself down with the workload. D21 also had no interest in UNC-Ch, so we didnāt really worry about it, but for all the other kids, my heart always goes out to them because there is no way they can take all of them.
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My D has a few colleges she is getting more interested in and we are trying to figure out how many credits she will bring in from AP/dual enrollment. Iāve looked on each college website. The AP charts seem a little more obvious with what class it would be the same as at their college and lists a course #. Does that mean she would get the # of credits that the similar class is worth? Are her AP classes then listed somewhere on her college transcript? The dual enrollment credits is another storyā¦each college she is applying to has a list that shows what classes they accept from the college she is doing the dual enrollment. If she has classes that arenāt on that list, is it a sign that they donāt accept it for credit at that college or would someone need to look into whether it could be accepted for credit. At 2 of the colleges, I did not see āMultivariable Calculusā listed on the equivalency/credit list. Would it be wrong/annoying to have her email each of these colleges to get an exact answer about what credits she would get credit for? Who would she email-admissions officer? She does have a pre-admissions counseling session (30 minutes) with one of the schools next week.
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My understanding is that schools will determine credits and placement after acceptance. They do have published lists of APās they generally take. There was a long discussion on CC about med schools and what has to be taken as an undergrad and canāt be ācreditedā out. Some depends on major- I know many, including one of my own- had to take calculus over at the college level but was given some credit for the AP score. Different schools within a particular college/uni will have different credits as well.