Oh it’s good to know we’re not alone! Things may still change, as some of those RD apps aren’t due until January 15! And we still have fingers crossed for ED. Haven’t even considered if there’s an ED 2 strategy if needed, my guess is no.
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This is so good, thanks! In your experience, do ED accepted kids often attend admitted student days? My older kid’s early admit school did not hold one (covid year). And I wonder about the utility of it for a kid who’s not still trying to decide in the spring between favorites, but who’s already been committed since December. Running through scenarios in my head right now.
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Somewhere up above I think I related my mild panic attack when I realized I had not really done a good job suggesting visits with an eye to a possible ED II. And frankly, since then we did what we could but I will still wonder if applying ED II will make sense if S24 hasn’t visited all his schools.
But on the other hand, one college has really stood out to him as an ED II possibility after visiting, so if that is still his mindset . . . OK. Just something I personally would not force unless it came naturally.
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Ha! Just accepted school for contract, housing etc. We had no access to their email and filled the recycling with plenty of college brochures.
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It’s nice to hear of a personality a little more like my daughter’s. Even if she had the SATs for an Ivy (she doesn’t, but she’s got some of the other stuff), there is no way that she could go to one. She is a perfectionist (all 5s on the APs so far) and our biggest job as parents has been keeping her from spontaneously combusting in high school. I even get worried about her future if she goes to one of the more competitive top 40s! But ultimately, I trust her to make it through her inner obstacle course.
Agree. I may (but hopefully this is all moot) have to consciously not push a more difficult admit as an ED2, when the reality is, there are no other true favorites right now, and the higher admit rate likelies are places she can see herself and be happy.
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I think the admitted days are still useful to build excitement and a sense of connection. If it’s a big cost and the kid isn’t interested I can see why a family would chose to skip it.
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We’re in the same boat. S24 does have a couple of schools he likes almost as much as his ED school, but they don’t offer ED2 so it’s a moot point. He does have a couple of schools that offer it, but he doesn’t like them enough to commit without comparing all his options so it is off the table as of now.
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Here’s a Christmas gift idea if you have an ED/EA decision prior to the holidays, especially for kids wanting to major in Engineering who love Legos- there are a handful of online sites, such as Brix2Pix, that make custom Lego mosaics. We ordered one of our son’s college logo for him to hang up in his dorm, and he absolutely loved it. Ours was a graduation gift and he really enjoyed putting it together.
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Those of you already talking about dorm decorating, doesn’t it make sense to wait until they know who their roommate(s) are so they can figure it out together?
We are in the same boat w/r/t EDII. My DS24 is now fixated on a school that we haven’t been to but I think has a similar vibe to his EDI. Flights are insane now, and then that school in finals/ on break through when EDII is due. We visited some schools during winter break last year and only one made the cut as everything was shut down and uninteresting. Not sure we can stomach him applying EDII to somewhere he hasn’t been but he signed up for an online tour so hopefully that can provide at least a bit more insight.
The kid also says he wants to apply to Harvard as a lark (would still prefer his non-Ivy ED schools) but this just seems to me like throwing money at the wind. What are the chances of getting into Harvard if he doesn’t get into either of his ED schools? I might tell him he can pay that application fee on his own…
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Re: Ivys, D24 went into the process determined to apply to all the Ivys, bcs “thats what kids at (her school) do”. She has competitive stats, but no hooks for an Ivy. I explained that we would support her in all of her application decisions, but I implored her to actually see what each Ivy has to offer her (other than the name). Once she did this, she eliminated several. She then went to visit an Ivy that ticks many of her checklist boxes, and did not like the vibe at all. One more off the list. She’s now down to two, both of which would be good fits for what she’s looking for in a college education, but both are obviously still reaches.
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To find the admitted student days I just looked up this years dates and schedules and made a best guess as to when it will be in 2024.
For us it looks like:
School 1: didn’t make reservations, safety school, already toured, and not in an area where hotels are scarce
School 2: Driving distance no hotel needed
School 3: Top choice and hotels are hard to come by - made reservations.
School 4: second choice, did not get a chance to tour, would need more info to commit. Made reservations.
School 5: hotels are easy to get here, will worry about this one if accepted and if it’s a top contender.
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My son did an admitted student day last spring, and it was a great experience- his first time flying solo, and he met lots of kids there who were ED admits. When he went off to college this fall, he already knew a handful of kids and actually ate dinner with them his first night. Edit: something to consider, if your kiddo is flying get direct flights and be aware that you can’t usually get hotel rooms if you’re under 21. Our son got stuck in Chicago due to a missed flight on his way back and it was a bit tricky, since he couldn’t rent a car or get a hotel.
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Thank you @Wanderer0! Super helpful - I’m sure for others as well.
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I think it depends on the kid. We didn’t get to do admitted student day at S24’s boarding, which was shame. I think it helps getting that connection and not feeling overwhelmed on the first day. Not sure if we’ll go or if he just goes but I wanted to keep the option open.
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I’ll go out on a limb and guess that most boys don’t coordinate dorm decor with their roommate.
I bought a state flag on amazon for about 7 bucks. I imagine that may be the only thing S puts on the wall, if he puts anything at all LOL.
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Yes, direct flights only if possible. Also, I’ve learned with S24 traveling to and from his boarding school to get one way tickets. Yes, slightly more expensive but can come in handy if you have to make a last minute change on one of the legs. Again I learned that the hard way during his Freshman year and COVID.
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Decorating dorm rooms is huge with all genders. It’s all over TikTok. You should see S24’s room and his pals. They all do it. Those little LED lights are huge. He also has these godawful ugly hangings. To each his own.
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The entire family came down with COVID-19 last week. S24 struggled through it and submitted the UC app a couple of days before the deadline.
Overall, it wasn’t as bad as the first time but everyone was out of commission good 3 days.
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Our entire family had Covid last week as well. S was asymptiomatic but was bummed out that he couldnt play with his friends. Submitted the UC apps last night!
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