<p>So far (emphasis on “so far”), have only received good news. S1 admitted into his safety and admitted into one of his favorites. He’s applying to a number of other selective schools RD, so we will have to endure the whole cycle to compare options.</p>
<p>K2 received his ED acceptance and he’s very, very happy it’s over! (So am I 
) </p>
<p>For parents nervous about kids receiving decisions at school, I can tell you this: I’ve always admired how everyone on a BS campus rallies around seniors awaiting decisions. There’s a lot of joy and congratulations when someone receives good news but there’s also a wonderful "We’re not going to (really) celebrate until everyone crosses the finish line " mentality that will warm your heart. </p>
<p>Hang in there- fingers crossed for everyone!! Congrats @2prepMom! Woot!! Congrats @GMTplus7!! </p>
<p>Weighing in from a boarding school campus, I can attest that PhotographerMom is correct. News of each new acceptance, deferral, or rejection makes its way around our campus like lightning, and the kids are incredibly sensitive to the feelings of those who are not getting good news. One of my students refused to tell anyone she’d gotten in early to Harvard this week, and she didn’t even update her facebook status because two other seniors (neither of them close friends of hers) had gotten deferred from Duke the same day. Students here are very quick to tell faculty as soon as they hear about their friends’ college news so that teachers don’t get stuck asking about bad news, but can sweep by with a “seemingly random” offer of dorm snacks or a surprise advisory outing if a kid needs a little extra TLC (and I have had kids find me and say “check on So-and-So, he’s feeling really sad.”) I’m always stunned by how carefully the senior class treats each other during these winter months–all those years of them failing to follow the golden rule are forgotten once the admission portals open up, and we have a class full of kids treating everyone with concern and kindness. Why can’t the freshmen and sophomores do this?</p>
<p>I also appreciate that since we’re a “second tier” school, there’s a pretty wide diversity of dreams here. I grew up a total college snob, but I’ve been humbled to see how all these kids are so quick to champion their peers’ first choice schools. The win is when a kid is admitted to his/her dream school, and not so much how high that school ranks.The main question they ask each other is “is that one of the places you really want to go?” I wish I had experienced that atmosphere when I was in high school!</p>
<p>After your recent colleges search, can you recommend some liberal arts colleges and small universities that have strong programs in economics and math?</p>
<p>About forty people from Lawrenceville applied to Princeton EA… it was a bloodbath.</p>
<p>@mmephew Part of the problem with boarding school college matriculations discussed on other threads is that so many students chase the same 20 or so schools. How many Lawrenceville students is Princeton really likely to take? An with some having hooks w/ athletic recruitment, development cases, etc., the chances are impossible for most. Kids that branch out a little, geographically for example, seem to wind up with many options. </p>
<p>@rhapsody17 I’ve probably visited over 35 LACs. The top 20 or so are going to be strong in economics and many of them in math. Some names that come to mind for econ or math are Bowdoin, Hamilton, Haverford, Williams. St. Olaf in MN is VERY strong in math and would be a good safety for many boarding school kids. Any preferences in terms of geographic location, rural vs. urban, other attributes?</p>
<p>13 matriculated to Princeton last year, with 71 having matriculated there over a 5 year period. That’s matriculation, not acceptances, although they should most definitely be very similar to each other there. I don’t know what you mean by the chances being “impossible for most.” Agreed, Princeton is obviously an extremely selective school, but of the few that were accepted through EA this year, none were development cases, and the ones with athletic recruitment had already committed. </p>
<p>So how many of the 40 were accepted this year if it was a bloodbath? How many of last year’s 13 had some sort of hook?</p>
<p>4 or 5, at least that I’m aware of. And since I’m a new sophomore, I can’t tell you what kind of hooks the people of last year had. </p>
<p>Any Class of 2015 EA / ED good news you parents / students can share here? You can also mention any specific hooks you think led to the positive result.</p>
<p>@mrnephew: I think 7-10 got into Princeton early. Which is very low compared to the historical early acceptance rate of ~50% (inside source). The biggest “hook” this year for Princeton is definitely being an accomplished musician, since they just got funding to build a new music building.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we had 7 accepted ED to Columbia, none for athletic recruitment. Last year, they only took two from us, both being athletic recruits! </p>
<p>7-10? That’s actually higher than I had expected. My prefects told me it was bad. </p>
<p>Rhapsody17, I’m sure some of us have good news, but we can’t share so publicly. In the small communities of boarding schools, many peers know where their friends are likely to apply. In such a setting, for a parent to post happy news on this site would be tantamount to announcing his name and address. </p>
<p>Consider, many classmates could likely name the 7-10 students who are rumored to have been accepted to Princeton from mrnephew’s school. If it’s 50/50 boy/girl, that means a father posting his daughter’s outcome would instantly identify her as one of at most 5 students—and over time, posting, little details do creep in which allow people to figure things out.</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone is getting into top 20 schools based only on strong academics, without hooks like sports and music accomplishments.</p>
<p>It depends on each scenario, of course, but I just saw a good friend of mine deferred from Georgetown with a 34 ACT and a 3.8 GPA. Another friend had a 3.9 and a 2370 and was deferred from Princeton, while two of the people that were accepted had a huge music hook and was a tri-varsity athlete. </p>
<p>Agree @Periwinkle. It is really refreshing to see how the BS students handle the early acceptances with such grace. These kids are all away from home when they get the news so if there is disappointment they only have each other. There are no FB posts at D’s school announcing good news and I would not post if she hasn’t yet. April is really the time for celebration at BS once everyone has committed. </p>
<p>If history repeats itself I would say that a large number of those BS deferrals turn into acceptances in March. The numbers for acceptances into certain schools just don’t change all that much from year to year.</p>
<p>Oh and the people I just listed were mostly from my old public school. </p>
<p>
At S1’s school it was very shocking that a star academic performer/athletic recruit was deferred-- this kid was widely regarded as a sure thing.</p>
<p>When K2 called ( to share his news ) he was whispering and it sounded like he was hiding in the bushes. 
</p>
<p>This recent college thread in particular was an eye opener ( for me) : <a href=“Athletes getting in over scholars, fair or unfair? - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1719188-athletes-getting-in-over-scholars-fair-or-unfair-p1.html</a></p>
<p>It was interesting how some (seemingly intelligent people) were quick to disparage something they know so little about ( but in my mind- should know… or at least have some understanding… on some level ). It blew me away. </p>
<p>The student- athlete (ED) pool is CRAZY competitive- especially for certain sports. Most kids meet ( or surpass) the academic standard ( for the Top 20 ) and are incredibly disciplined in all areas of life. Sounds like an attractive candidate to me. ( Not your parent’s student-athlete, people… )</p>
<p>Still… you hear about super star kids ( like GMT described ) and it is shocking ( not just for the super-star and his family but the entire school ). This sort of thing rattles everyone on campus … </p>