The same would apply to American University and other colleges in or around Washington, DC (particularly Georgetown University and George Washington University).
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The same would apply to American University and other colleges in or around Washington, DC (particularly Georgetown University and George Washington University).
I will give you the perspective from a schools IN Asia…maybe 60-70% asian (Indian, chinese, korean) - ignoring ED for a moment (but in that moment - the big winners were the top10% students - Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, GTwn, etc)
Once you look at RD - it seems like there were winners and then everyone else. The winners WON big…(5+ acceptances in their reach bucket - like across the T30 ) and everyone else won positions on the WL. And this is a school with ultra high achievers and so much disappointment. I’m sure they have some safeties but def head scratching to see what happened.
For the record - my D22 did fine in admissions 6/10 bc her list (and position in class and GPA wasnt in the range for that level of competition.). As an anecdote - one girl who had the GPA/Scores etc to be competitive in T20 was rejected in ED by an Ivy and then pivoted to a select group of SLACs (Tufts, Bowdoin, Haverford, Colgate and more) - and accepted to ALL of them. She just repositioned herself into another bucket of competition within the school and became a sought after applicant vs top student #34 aiming for AMherst, northwestern, cornell, gtown…brilliant pivot if you ask me!
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I am curious how they wrote their “why xyz” college so many times convincingly?
Is it enough to look at the website? Read mission statements? Look at course selections?
DD22 had 4 reaches, 2 waitlists. Quite restrained. I wonder if she had blanketed all T30s, if one would have turned out to be an accept.
Were kids able to carry on with their extra curricular activities during Covid?
For many of my friends in Asia, none with seniors, school wasn’t quite the same 2020-2021.
Just a “post mortem” on my part; i never looked at DD’s essays. Asking what worked to provide support to my younger kids.
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BU used to have a page on their website with excerpts from bad “Why BU” essays. One applicant wrote an excellent essay on the value of a Jesuit education. BC is the Jesuit school, BU is secular. Do your research!
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it really depends - we had 2 months of remote learning in SG and then back to school but in controlled groupings.
Other cities were virtual for 24 months of school or on/off virtual for this whole period. I’d say our ECs suffered (no sports) but if things could go into small groups or stay online (tutoring students in cambodia which was always done online…it continued)
Applying from asia is a very hard competitive pool (in your school , then other international schools, then local schools ) - even before you leave the country to “compete” against the students in the region
A few tips on the “Why us” essays. Mission drives admission. Look at the school’s mission statement and see how you can incorporate those core values in the essay. Try to sound enthusiastic about specific things the school has to offer, i.e. what clubs or organizations they want to join or what specific classes they want to take. Do research such as talking to alumni or reading up on the school (i.e. in the Fiske guide or the Colleges That Change Lives book if applying to those schools). Colleges want to admit students they believe will accept their offer of admission so try to convey genuine interest in their school. Also, one thing we heard from Admissions Officers is they want the essays to be in the student’s voice and they should not sound like a 45 year old wrote them.
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Whether it is you, a guidance counselor, outside counselor, or friends of your kids who will be honest/constructive, I think it is always useful to have someone other than the applicant have a look at the essays. Essays should show, not tell. Sometimes it’s easier for someone who isn’t the author to recognize when an essay is telling instead of showing.
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Agree! But try telling a headstrong 17 year old that who is already acutely aware of how privileged she is and does not want to get help.
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Oh I hear you! No need to hire help if there’s someone in the family or close who can interact well with her. It’s very difficult to navigate providing feedback (or was with my 2022) because they take it very personally and only hear the negative. But - I do believe getting the feedback and revising led to better essays.
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Glad this one is done and dusted. On to the next!
I can understand a kid not wanting their parents to review their essays, but not wanting a mentor of some type (teacher, employer, relative, family friend) who knows the kid is a mistake. I’d also say there might be a bigger attitudinal problem with the kid if he/she is not accepting of feedback and constructive criticism.
A lot of AO’s talk about the authenticity and coherence of the application as being an important aspect of their evaluation. I think a lot of kids write what they think the school wants to hear (and they approach their EC list the same way), and so they end up with essays that are lists of “tells” vs writing essays that demonstrate who they are and what motivates them, and from that how they are going to contribute to the academic and social community of the college. A third party who knows the applicant can opine on “does this essay describe the person I know and why they will benefit the targeted schools”, probably better than the parents.
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Totally true. And at the same time I find this depressing. That kids should have to “package” themselves at age 17. I thought college was for learning advanced writing skills (like how to show not tell), rather than a place only for people who had already mastered these lessons. But no, you should have a team of people to make sure you sound “authentic” and all. And you definitely don’t want to sound like an “old lady” in your essay, like that one kid a few years back who got shut out of everywhere including his safeties (but then took a gap year to rebrand himself and got into MIT.) But maybe that’s just me, a person who will soon enough be an “old lady” myself.
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Unless the third party is familiar with the targeted colleges and what they want to see, the help they may give in this respect may not be that useful. This is probably one place where students at prep schools with well-connected dedicated college counselors familiar with the wants of the targeted colleges have an advantage.
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Argh. But kids don’t have to package themselves if they aren’t applying to highly rejective schools!
If they want admission to a difficult to get into college, why would that be different from wanting to achieve anything else that’s difficult? Why wouldn’t putting a lot of effort into achieving a goal be expected? Effort, btw in my mind, does not mean “packaging”. I don’t think packaging is required for t20 schools, necessarily either. I think packaged kids, and unpackaged kids, can have auccess, and both can be rejected as well.
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When my spouse or I revise our resumes, we have the other one take a look at it. Having someone else take a look at an application essay doesn’t mean that it has to do with “packaging.” Another set of eyes can help point out when you’ve missed some positive qualities about yourself, or a clue that something that is very clear in your own head is not at all clear on the paper, etc. I don’t believe in creating a “packaged” application, but having a second reader is not packaging, in my opinion.
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I agree; I don’t think packaging is necessary for any school. Yes, some applicants are packaged, but some aren’t, even for the most selective schools.
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We didn’t have any adults in that position other than a HS counselor (already explained, no help) or paid (unwilling to accept). Did not think to ask family friends to review. We do have friends who are journalists, writers - all brilliant communicators. We accept that the fault is squarely ours. I think she did show to friends at school. Trust me, won’t make this mistake the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time around.
Also, your comment sounds like a harsh indictment of DD22 as not willing to accept criticism. If anything, she is very unwilling to impose on people. She continued an activity that was canceled during Covid but didn’t want to ask her supervisor for another reference as she’d already asked for something else.
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FWIW, my D had her essay peer reviewed and then got input form her English teacher, along with her guidance counselor. She would have been mortified to show it to an adult outside of school ; )
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Did not mean to criticize your daughter specifically. My comment was meant to be general advice and was just pointing out that some kids (not necessarily yours) may have an issue with constructive criticism. Others could be like your daughter and don’t want to impose, and I apologize for any misplaced insinuation.
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