My D21 is very happy at her college. She did one application (ED). I asked her if she was curious about what might have happened had she applied to a certain Ivy. She admitted that, indeed, she was. Just one of those things that we’ll never know.
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My D was mildly curious about the other schools she had applied to but was even more eager to put down the deposit and pull those apps after she was accepted ED. She cancelled her other apps as soon as the financials came in and we were sure it would work. That was about 24-hours after acceptance.
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Yes! My son applied ED1 and got accepted. We heard from a few before that and just after (both early action and some schools that I guess answer on a rolling basis) but we will never know about some that he was interested in. (Bowdoin, Bates, Hamilton + more). However, he is thrilled that he got in to his ED1 school. We committed. It is relief to have it done, but both he and I wonder.
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My D22 does not wonder at all. She is that focused on the college where she was accepted ED1. I, on the other had, wonder a lot.
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I would take the ED slam dunk over the unknown any day! But here we are in the other bucket… unless ED2 works out, all will be revealed by April. The list is reach heavy with 15 applications still pending. He’s an average excellent kid with a few solid acceptances under his belt, so it will all work out at the end of the day 
We are very focused on the positives 
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My D21 loves her ED1 school. I wondered if she would wonder if she should have tried for an even higher selectivity school after S22 brother (with similar stats) got into an ivy. I asked her if she wonders and she laughed (and rolled her eyes, she is still a teen) - she loves her school, friends and classes so much and knows now first hand that fit is everything and it isn’t about finding the most selective school you can get in.
Also, due to Yik Yak, these kids hear a lot about students’ experiences at other schools which makes her even more happy about where she is. Of course at my age I don’t understand Yik Yak but I wonder if it could be helpful to prospective students. I guess it is a big thing where she is because there are so many other colleges nearby.
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My ds20 is at UVM and says Yik Yak is very big there, too.
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We wonder because her ED2 app didn’t go to a first choice, nor even 2nd or 3rd choice, nor a top choice, but to the school with the best ratio FA to highest acceptance rate (which is still not very high). The top choices she’s already admitted to but can’t go unless she gets the top scholarship at either one. What if she gets in ED2, and would have gotten the scholarship to go where she really wanted?
That’s the haunting thought now.
She could also get none of the above, and that would certainly end all thoughts about what might have been.
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D22 got deferred from ED1 and decided against ED2 . Looking for options available In couple of months to choose from.
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@UCDProf why would your D22 apply ED2 to a school that is not a top choice? That’s such a huge financial commitment. I’m sorry if I missed something from an earlier post. There are plenty of great state schools with Honors Colleges that provide significant merit aid. Good luck to all our kids! I hope they end up where they will be happy and thrive!
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Sounds like a really tough situtation. I hope it all works out for her!
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I understood it as you do at first, which was my biggest mistake.
“significant merit aid” is relative-- that’s what I didn’t get.
No, once you are below a certain income level the elite and elite-ish schools that meet need without loans are the cheapest option out there, so you are not giving up other opportunities financially (other than full ride scholarships, etc. which is what we are sad about).
She’s got plenty of merits at privates and some states but that doesn’t come close to what a need met no loan school costs.
We didn’t find any states that are affordable with merit as a TO student. She does have U of Arizona, which she doesn’t want to go to, which with merit would cost about the same or only a little more than her ED2. She won’t be sad about missing out on UofA and going to her ED2 school.
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That’s how things worked for my last daughter who had many apps in play (as does my current student!) There was kind of a bracket system going with similar colleges up against each other, and one getting eliminated. 
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I didn’t know they resurrected. I was recently watching a “19 Toxic Tech failures” video (they came in at #11) and it didn’t mention restart when discussing them. I wonder how they’ll avoid the disasters of last time.
EDIT: according to Wikipedia, they aren’t.
On August 15, 2021, Yik Yak announced it would be making a comeback via their social media channels. The app is currently available for download on iOS with plans to release again on Android in the near future. It continues to be a source of cyberbullying.
My kids have heard about Yik Yak but don’t use it. There is a college nearby and I believe that is where some kids originally got access. I understand that the local HS kids use it to kvetch about school and make mean comments about other kids - really toxic so far as I’m concerned.
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This is how I tried to sell the college application season to my D. I told her it was an opportunity for self-reflection – a time to stop and take stock of what she’s done (and be proud of that!) and imagine what she wants to do for the next few years, decide what values are important to her in a school, what kind of students she wants to be surrounded by, and what subjects she wants to learn more about, etc. I told her this is something we all should do now and then at various points in our lives, and the application deadlines just give her a structured time to actually sit down and do it.
I got teenage eye-rolling in response. 
But as we got into discussions about what is important to her and why, I think she started to appreciate the exercise. Of course, as she’s scrambling to finish her final applications this week, she’s getting pretty tired of all this introspection. 
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Re: Yik Yak, I had never heard of it until this past school year when there was a lockdown at D22’s high school because some a-hole kid who had posted a gun (or maybe it was a bomb) emoji in reference to their school on Yik Yak. The authorities found him and he said it was “just a joke.” 
Keep in mind I come from the land of Columbine and there is NOTHING funny about this.
We have one at Brown now, and our 2nd applied ED. With Brown ED so up, and other Ivies’ ED’s down, our theory is that Dr. Jha’s being on TV so frequently drove some name recognition that may not have been there pre-pandemic.
As for DD, she was deferred at both Brown and Tulane, so she doesn’t know what that combination means. Because of what she interpreted as mixed signals, she chose an ED2 lottery school, then wound up shotgunning 18 applications ranging from Ivies all the way up to maybe 200th ranked.
Who knows what will happen, but we’re all glad for the break from applications for a while!
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For what it is worth, the book Who Gets In and Why describes Tulane as being super-sensitive to demonstrated interest.
IIRC, it included a story of an applicant who had multiple interactions with Tulane but was nevertheless deferred because he had failed to show up when a Tulane AO visited his high school. He eventually was admitted after his guidance counselor passed along the attendance records that proved he was absent from school the day of the Tulane visit.
Best wishes for your daughter!
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Yeah. Not sure what to believe, but there are a lot of folks who suggest that Tulane is funny about admits - especially non-ED, high-stats applicants. We made the trip for a visit and her “why Tulane” essay seemed strong, as she referenced her impressions from a both this and a prior visit when her brother was looking.
But we’ll never know the why’s, so she’ll send her LOCI’s to both Brown (choice #1) and Tulane (choice #3), while we wait for ED2 (choice #2), and see what shakes out.
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