I’m so glad you raise this issue! This is a big problem at a lot of schools. The flipside of this issue is class-size. My D22 is computer science. There was only one school on her list that guaranteed she would be able to get all her classes on time and graduate in four years (Brandeis). Computer science is a very popular major there, but since they make sure everyone gets their classes, the classes aren’t capped in size. As a result, when I pulled up current enrollment for that year and the previous year, I could see every single required class through senior year in computer science had at least 60 students in it. My daughter loved Brandeis, but she does not learn well in a large lecture setting. She needed small class size and so is at a LAC that caps computer science courses at 24 students. As a result, she has not always gotten the classes she wanted, and in the order she wanted them. That was a trade off that we discussed. It really is something to think about! And definitely something to ask on the tours – – ask specifically have you ever not gotten the class you wanted, and what did you do? I have had some tour guides say I just showed up to the class anyway repeatedly and the professor let me in. And that’s good to know if you can do that at a school. At some schools honors can register earlier, at some schools you can register earlier if you’re declared in the major.
For my D 22 and S 24 we spent a lot of time looking at sample four year course plans for the schools they wanted to attend. Schools that otherwise look a lot alike, can be very different at the course/semester level.
Really good point to bring up @MAmomto4. Both D20 and D23 are at SLACs and one thing D20 told D23 over and over before she began this year was to have multiple schedule plans before registration every semester because of issues like classes filling up, certain classes not being offered every semester etc.
I know this will sound like a ton of extra work but D20 recommended putting together a 4 year class plan (she is a planner) and then D23 would know which classes she had to take for her intended major, which classes would work for her general eds that she was interested in taking and what electives were speaking to her across departments.
D23 just finished registering for next semester. She had 4 different plans of courses to take and when her registration time open she figured out which courses were still available to sign up for which fit her schedule. She didn’t get all her first choices but everything she got does move her further along her plan.
Letting you know they are like that the entire time you are there, very focused on the students! My OOS, big city son has thrived there! Congratulations!
Yes, that is what ameliorated the situation for S23 also. He has (mild) ASD and isn’t a flexible thinker. He refused to plan multiple possible schedules before registration (it was just too stressful for him). However, over the summer I sat down with him and we made a really detailed 4 year plan, including listing all the pre reqs for each class and classes for which there were a few options.
When he couldn’t get any of the 6 classes he wanted for next semester 
, after initially freaking out, he went to the Google doc we made for the 4 year plan and started checking for possible classes to fit into the schedule. He was able to get some classes that were his 3rd preferred alternative for a required class, an accelerated version of a math class he needs 
, and a few “non core but required for the major” classes he had planned to sprinkle throughout his sophomore and junior year as easier classes to go with his tougher core classes.
So next semester he is taking 2 different stats classes (the second one has no pre-reqs 
), one music class that had open spaces because it meets in the evening, advanced/accelerated linear algebra , and a couple of business leadership/strategy classes that he was not thrilled about but meet the business requirements for his DS major.
I hope it works out okay! But having the 4 year, detailed plan was critical for him. (Especially because at WPI you don’t get a major advisor until sophomore year, and his out-of-major advisor passed away mid-semester and the school hasn’t replaced her or reassigned the students to someone else.)
I have heard this happening at some schools. However, there are schools that add sections when needed for prereqs or classes that are required for the major, or let everyone off the course waitlist. Both Duke and Penn do this, as do many other schools: they do not use credits to allow earlier registration with sophomore standing, rather they just add space or add sections where needed. If a course is needed for a prerequisite asa freshman, all get in. For upperclass courses needed for majors, the students majoring get priority over someone who wants it as a true free elective. I am sure there are many schools who have different approaches, I just wanted to give examples on ways it is done that do not involve sophomore standing. Completely agree it is important to investigate how registration for necessary courses is handled! No one wants to risk an extra semester due to registration troubles.
How long did it take to process your documents? We uploaded on Friday and they are still not processed.
Still wading through various app deadlines, which I think is fortunate, as it makes the waiting process feel shorter. Just now I was thinking about the ED release date and realized it is likely the day before the Big Competition for S’s activity and S will be at school late into the evening. Will he open the result at school or drive me crazy by waiting until he gets home late at night? I think the former, but I’m not entirely sure.
DS22 had an all day (7am-7pm) tournament the day of his #1 EA release date.
I was quarantined to a small guest bedroom with covid, pacing like a caged-animal/going out of my mind.
He didn’t want the distraction of the decision, so he didn’t check until after he won his tournament.
It was a great distraction for him, but I was bat-$hit crazy stuck in that room, trying not to touch my laptop or check 5million times if he texted me.
He was Deferred, which basically was a Rejection, so we accepted it and weren’t hopeful.
But like they say, Deferred is still in the game, and he was accepted in RD.
Good luck!
Very much so at MIT. They defer around two thirds of their EA applicants, so unlike many other schools it’s genuinely a postponement of decision, not a soft rejection.
If you are not planning to ask for financial aid, do you still need to do FAFSA, CSS Profile, IDOCs, etc?
There are a few schools that require FAFSA for merit awards, but the vast majority don’t require any of these documents. If in doubt, write to the school to confirm.
We filled out the CSS and FAFSA last year for D23 just for the heck of it and knew we didn’t come close to qualifying for anything.
Towards the end of the admission cycle, one of the schools came back with a 3k “grant.” The cost of the school was only about 40K with D23’s merit award (our EFC was double that) but I guess they threw the grant in as an incentive.
Did you get anything from other schools? or just 1 school?
We won’t qualify for anything and have put down no in common app questions (Do you intend to apply for need based financial aid?)
I don’t plan to fill out CSS and FAFSA. Just want to make sure it doesn’t cause problems for admission decisions.
Just the one school. She applied to 13 and didn’t receive aid anywhere else. Merit, but not aid.
ETA we definitely should not have qualified for anything.
It will not be a problem for admission decisions.
Expect some schools to issue blanket email reminders about financial aid documents throughout the admission season even to those not applying for financial aid. And red x’s in the portal showing the financial aid documents were not submitted. Doesn’t matter at all for admission.
Great points!
A related topic which I’ve mentioned to D24 for her to consider in the coming months as she’s deciding between schools is instruction mode. I’m not sure what to really call this, but, for example, at Univ of Arizona, if you look at the Schedule of Classes, some of the large freshman/sophomore survey classes will have different methods of instruction:
- everything in person
- everything online
- ‘hybrid’ - where hybrid = online for some of the time, in person for some of the time. Lots of variation, it seems, with this from 1 class to another. For example, you could end up in a Biochemistry class where ALL of the lectures are pre-recorded, there’s no in-person discussion ‘sections’ each week to interact w/other students or the professor, and the ONLY time you go in person is once a week to take a quiz or test.
D24 already knows that she absolutely needs classes where everything is in person. Online or hybrid formats aren’t going to work for her.
At the 3 LACs she’s applied to, this won’t be a problem because all of their classes are in person. But for the big public universities she’s applied to, it’s a mixed bag.
Some merit-based scholarships require that you’ve filled out the FAFSA (and sometimes CSS Profile).
I uploaded S24 & D24’s docs on 11/1/23. Everything but our 2022 taxes were processed within a day or two. Today, 11/15/23, our tax forms were shown as processed for S24 (they were not yesterday). Our taxes for D24 show as uploaded, but not processed yet.
This was merit money given to incentivize your daughter to enroll. Having filled out FAFSA/CSS had no bearing on this since you say you didn’t qualify for need based aid.
It absolutely won’t.
It was called financial aid, I have the letter, it lists her 22K merit award under Merit Award. And under Financial Aid it lists the 3k “school name grant”.