Can someone walk me through the SRAR process? Several of the schools that S24 is interested use SRAR rather than official transcripts. Looks like S24 needs to register on the SRAR website once the new “cycle” begins in August of 2023? And then the schools that use SRAR he will have to allow them access to his account? Am I understanding this correctly?
You set up an account. Enter all the classes and grades. List the schools that you’re applying to that require SRAR.
At Common App time, the schools that use the SRAR will be identified as such in the app. When you submit the app to that school, there’ll be a linking that happens. It should be pretty seamless.
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I was unfamiliar with the SRAR before this year. I agree with @Gatormama that it’s fairly straightforward. One note is that the application itself generally needs to be submitted at least a few days in advance in order to be sure that the SRAR to be linked by the deadline.
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and similar but not the same, is the SSAR - used by I think Florida schools amongst others.
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The SRAR and SSAR link to each other, thank god. You don’t have to do it twice.
At least that’s how I remember it. It’s only been five months and I’ve blocked it all, hahah.
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I think UT Austin will release this week
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Sounds like UMiami may release on Friday (but officially they say by 1/31).
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The blogs from popular admissions advisors all say “brace yourselves” because over the past 2-3 cycles, colleges (particularly those with both EA and ED) are increasingly using deferrals to better manage enrollment numbers. Many also use the EA applicants as a way to “preview” what the RD pool will look like and/or to try to “cherry pick” high stats applicants by convincing them to switch to ED2. Feels like the kiddos are pawns in a chess game. But then again, colleges are businesses.
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I think sometimes students and families forget that their individual goals and the goals of the colleges/universities they are applying to are not the same.
Colleges are looking to find applicants that fill institutional priorities who can/will enroll at their college. They aren’t looking to validate applications and egos, nor are they looking for some platonic ideal of a student body.
Students/Families are looking (often times) for the most prestigious schools, with the best financial aid/merit aid, in the right location, with the ideal number of students on campus, with great food options, small class sizes, engaged professors, etc etc etc.
As I learned more about the college admission process (as a parent), I realized that I would classify it as friendly and adversarial. Both college and student are putting their best foot forward to try to appeal to the other ‘person’…but their goals are only slightly aligned. Getting both parties to ‘yes’ often times means that one party isn’t going to get exactly what they want.
You can see it on threads where families whose children were accepted EA are disappointed their child wasn’t awarded merit or didn’t get invited to the Honors college. They got accepted to the school, but didn’t get exactly the offer they wanted (or needed).
This worry about EA/ED being used to “preview” the RD pool, or “cherry pick” high stats applicants to switch to ED2 is, in my opinion, way overblown.
Students aren’t being used as pawns, they are willing and consciously choosing to applied EA/REA/ED to highly selective colleges that are incredibly competitive for all applicants. There is going to be a lot of risk with that strategy. A risk of not getting accepted, a risk of getting deferred, a risk of getting accepted without enough need based aid, or merit aid.
There are ways to reduce risk…but they involved students making different choices.
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I got theived then 
Well, fwiw, my kid was deferred at CWRU and decided not to continue his application. He got a bit annoyed in the last week or so with the emails urging the switch to EDII - as he put it, “If they wanted me so bad they would’ve accepted me.” He saw it as a game, and not in a good way.
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Your child’s experience is exactly the ‘adversarial’ relationship I’m talking about. The school is sending a mass email out to all the deferred students as a matter of course, your son is insulted by the deferral and sees it as a game. That’s exactly my point - the school’s and your son’s interests aren’t aligned.
I believe, if more people understood this from the outset, there would be fewer feelings of insult…though the annoyance at unwanted consumer solicitations would be unabated. I mean, I’m sure you don’t get insulted when a car company sends you flyers in the mail…even if you can’t afford to buy the car so you know the advertisement isn’t going anywhere. You probably shrug and move on…no matter how comfortable the car rides nor how much you might want a new car.
ETA: It also seems like CWRU deferring your son helped him realize that CWRU wasn’t the school for him. Deciding not to continue with the process with Case actually helps your son figure out what he really wants, and helps Case know who is and isn’t actually interested in attending. Seems like a win for both sides, even if they didn’t get to yes with one another.
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Your car analogy was a really good one!
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Kids will start to understand the business angle. Their yield is very low.
The odds of him going with a non binding acceptance are low.
Forcing his hand will bring out the for sures and guaranteed. He may be lost but likely was anyway - at least on a percentage basis. Others will bow to them.
They are far from the only top school that plays this game.
Their goal, above providing their product, is financial like every other business.
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I had surgery last week so have been slow going and intermittently on pain meds which has helped the stress a bit.
I have given up on trying to guess when a decision from a school might come out. With my son having somewhat of a blip in his admissions and him sending in vocal music auditions, hearing seems to be a crapshoot.
Of the schools he academically applied to but was awaiting auditions, it seems he has taken 2 off his list. Small school in a rural or even suburban area are out. (Small to him is less than 5k students.)
At this point I feel clueless to what he really wants and where he might even get in that is affordable for us.
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There’s always last minute options worst case.
Hopefully when all decisions are in tho at least one is affordable.
If that’s it, then you make that call, regardless of size.
Or you apply to a late accepting mid size public with auto merit - hello UAH. Or WCU. They’re out there.
Hope u feel better.
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Some of you might remember that a few weeks ago my son had to reschedule his tour of Northeastern because he broke his foot a couple days before, and he was supposed to keep it elevated. He rescheduled the tour for today, when he is able to get around on crutches. UNFORTUNATELY the weather in Massachusetts today is iffy, and our school district in Central-ish MA canceled school. That means I have to stay home and take care of my two youngest kids with special needs. Since 23 can’t drive with his broken foot he had to reschedule the tour AGAIN.
I mean, on the plus side it was going to be a miserable tour at 35° and raining and on crutches, but on the other hand, I think Northeastern could be a really good fit for him. I think visiting will help him be more excited about the school, which we added to his list a bit late, and also show the school that he is serious.
Here’s hoping nothing comes up that will make us reschedule a third time! 
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I realize I’m probably an outlier on these boards, but I really don’t see college selection and admissions as all that different from buying a car. More expensive than a car for sure, but same process for us.
We helped our children try to figure out what they absolutely needed to have and then tried to figure out which college ‘models’ would get them what they needed at a price we could afford. We looked at reliability/quality reviews…but we don’t have a sense of brand loyalty or need for prestige per se.
We weren’t interested in having to join a waitlist to get the college equivalent of a Maserati, Tesla or other premium car. We weren’t interested in paying more than we budgeted. And we didn’t want to deal with the constant maintenance that high performance colleges (or cars) require.
We searched for the Hondas/Hyundais of colleges. Quality, Reliability, affordability were our watch words. Not fancy, but gets you where you want to go with some surprisingly great luxuries included.
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Sure, it’s kind of like buying a car, and I love @beebee3’s Hyundai vs Tesla analogy!
But it only goes so far. Like, if I went in to buy a car and got ga-ga over a car and applied for financing and they said, nah, your salary doesn’t qualify you for this car, and I was sad and went home, and then they emailed me for the next two weeks saying “Don’t you love this car!?”
I’d be pissed.
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Fortunately, you don’t have to wait in some room waiting for an answer from a college admissions officer. However, they are a lot slower than a car dealership!
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