Scotland, @chemmchimney?
We actually had a very similar '16 experience to friendlyfamily’s 
I wrote about ED a few months ago and would only add this now. Kid '17 has a list with two or three ED possibilities, but she’s in that “overrepresented” girl demographic, and the low aggregate numbers at very competitive LACs can really diminish the odds, ED or RD. While agreeing with @friendlymom that a “non-strategic” and right fit ED choice can be wonderful if all the pieces fall into place, the December denial or deferral has come into greater focus for me. I’m calmed by the experiences of other school families we know. Deferrals do sometimes turn into acceptances. And better yet, other admission offers present themselves in a context that, almost four months later, may have turned sideways if not upside down. For the choir assembled here on CC Parents, it all generally works out in the end. As BS admission veterans, we know that some of the process is in our control and a lot is not. Appreciating the silver linings is a key point to include when we counsel our children.
One more observation. The college results are in for plenty of former middle school classmates. Lots of them, like probably 1.4 million other of this year’s SAT test-takers, have never heard of kid’s university, a not-so hidden gem. Their view and choices seem pretty narrowly guided by parochial traditions, school counselors, 200-mile or less radius, testing, liberal acceptance rates, etc. Reading national media about the two girls who just hit the Ivy quad- and octofecta, it’s truly impressive that so much ink is spilled for such a narrow subset of the overall population. Hail to the power of branding! Kid '16 did twice visit an Ivy for possible ED, but learned the best fit was elsewhere. Pressure to go Ivy, at his school, is more of an individual, internal thing rather than fueled by the school’s ethos, which is decidedly low-key and they’re all winners. I’ll drink to that. ~O) (not a friend of Bill W., lol)
@Charger78 - not sure it is possible to be more over represented than my dd - white, upper middle class girl from NJ. We should have raised kids in Wyoming.
@friendlymom My daughter went for the “what if” school ED, a long shot for her. ED accept rate was about 32% and the RD accept rate was 8%. She was deferred then denied RD. It does seem unfair that the odds are so stacked in favor of the ED pool. But if I had a child determined to go Ivy, I would definitely want them to apply ED. I also did not realize that you are not given any legacy bonus points at many schools if your child does not apply ED. This is true at UPenn for example. I don’t blame the schools for using ED strategically, it makes a lot of sense for them, but it does stack the deck considerably against the RD crowd when half the class is filled ED as happened this year at UPenn, Tufts, Northwestern, and many other popular schools. Some of those classmates who are surprised Friendlykid didn’t go Ivy are probably wishing they had applied to her school ED! I know at our school some of the kids denied and deferred ED, immediately went ED2 to schools with higher acceptance rates rather than tempt fate further RD. Chimneykid did not want to give up on her number 1 so she applied RD to the rest of her remaining schools after she was deferred.
Like Friendlykid, I think Chimneykid’s teachers may be surprised she is not going to a more “elite” school and I hope her peers won’t express this to her. Multiple teachers told us " I imagine Chimneykid can go anywhere" - she is in the top 15% of her class and has lots of leadership and academic awards. What they don’t know is that her math SAT score was nearly 200 points below her other SAT scores (she has a learning disability in math), she has only 2 APs, and lousy subject test scores. We encouraged her to take the courses that truly interested her rather than chase after APs and we all feel this was the right thing for her but I am not surprised that it appears the far reach schools dinged her for a lower than target GPA- anything below a 3.7-8 at our school for an Ivy ( she had a 3.9 her last semester but climbed up there over time) and possibly a perceived lack of rigor. Many schools just mush together your top math and reading scores and look at the composite, even holistic schools. Numbers still really matter.
Sadly just because you have a superstar at your BS doesn’t mean that the colleges will all see the same star when they put that application into the pile with 20,000 others. (Channeling @SevenDad lol) Lots of kids can tick every box even for the Ivys, and if you can’t tick a box or two then you need some luck. We were never set on an Ivy and would not even have applied to 4 far reaches if she hadn’t gotten in EA at a match school which allowed her to replace some safties with " what if" dream schools. Many kids on CC seem to apply to 17-18 schools hoping something sticks I guess? We applied to 11 I think.
How does one determine any one recommendation is significantly more outstanding than another when pretty much every applicant is packaged as a strong and well regarded student? I know Tufts (my school) judged 75% of it’s applicants qualified to be admitted and their overall acceptance rate is in the teens somewhere, so obviously lots of qualified kids are not getting in. I would also argue that pretty much any decent student at a GLADCHEM could realistically handle the academic demands of an Ivy. Getting accepted is another story as 90% don’t make it. However it is equally true that an imperfect application can get a thumbs up if the fit is right.
Many moons ago my husband applied early to Yale against the advice of his high school counselor; he had as many Bs as As and was accepted with tons of FA (He was in a professional theater company as a teen, had a recommendation from a well known director). I don’t think Cinderella stories happen nearly as often today. I am certain I would not be accepted at Tufts today. I hope no one will pop Chimneykid’s bubble. She is excited for next year and no one at our house is disappointed. She could not have worked harder. She would be happy at any one of the 5 schools where she was accepted. Her friends have all been great so far. The grandparents who helped pay her BS tuition are a little more of a worry. %-(
Congrats to all your children!
Speaking of “possibly a perceived lack of rigor”, sometimes I got the sense my own kids - younger for their grade, coming from a public middle school - were at a disadvantage vs many of their boarding school peers. It’s quite common to see kids from private middle schools more advance in things like math, and the biggest difference would be from the many students coming in as repeats as freshmen and sophomores who were basically a year ahead on the math and science coursework.
@Charger78 - The all-Ivy admits kind of puzzle me. The Ivy schools are very different from one another. How is a kid who is a good fit at Columbia (in New York, emphasis on Core Curriculum), also a good fit at Brown (no distribution requirements) or Dartmouth (in small-town New Hampshire)?
@chemmchimney - I’ve had the same thought as you, that the kids making snide comments about non-Ivy schools are the ones who are licking their wounds over the ED choices.
Even though the numbers are much grimmer for RD than for ED, I heard of many kids whose ED/EA deferrals turned into admits, and also kids who happily landed someplace else after being deferred or denied. Also, you do not need to the the URM, 4.0, all-AP, 2400 SAT jock to get into college. Friendlydaughter is none of those things and did great in the college process, because she found the right fit for herself. Also, I think the advantage of the relationship of a BS with college AO is huge. I suspect that what the school has to say about each kid gets a lot of consideration in this process. Finally, when picking among qualified kids aspects other than numbers come into play too - essays and supplementals do matter.
Congratulations to all!!
@chemmchimney I had to laugh at your Wyoming comment. My mom keeps saying we should move to North Dakota to make it easier for the college process!
This is an example of the mythical “Ivy material”. The student’s profile has some highly desirable qualities to ALL Ivies. It’s not surprising for all 8 colleges to think the same student would fit in their communities. It would be surprising if the student liked all 8 equally. “Ivy material” happens a lot less often than some people make it sound like though. The majority of Ivy admits are not naturally “Ivy material”. Wait until you have a kid like that to say “If you are ivy material, you’d go to an ivy no matter what…” 
@MA2012 During our college tours, we heard many guides say “48 or 49 states are represented here.”
The missing 50th was always North Dakota, 49th South Dakota.
And then we also heard, “We accepted a student from North Dakota this year, Yay!”
I’ve been “eavesdropping” on your conversations about colleges, as I have a Class of '17 kid who’s just starting on the process. I’ve seen a few references to the idea that legacy schools react poorly if your kid doesn’t apply ED. Anyone have a sense of just HOW poorly? It would be Princeton, in our case, if that makes a difference. Our son will definitely be interested in applying there, but I’m not sure that he’ll feel that he wants to do ED and give up the chance to really kick the tires of multiple schools through the revisit day process. If he’s legacy and doesn’t apply ED, is he essentially giving up any realistic chance of getting in?
@soxmom Princeton is single-choice early action, so it’s non-binding and you will be able to do revisits. I would ask them directly about their legacy situation, and believe they will be up front about it. And if you need more feeling for the answer, go to the Princeton thread on the college boards, rather than staying here on Prep.
Thanks, @Charger78. I somehow had in mind it was binding, glad to hear it’s not.
I don’t get the sense that it is seen as a negative if a legacy kid applies RD. It is more that it only helps (if it helps) in the early process. And I was told the same thing from an ivy years ago - I applied regular and was wait listed and told it might have been different if I had applied early. I wanted out of the Northeast so wasn’t really sure I wanted to go to this school anyway.
Chimneykid picked her school!! She revisted the one campus we hadn’t visited first round with some trepidation, but it turned out to be the one. Her people were in evidence everywhere, and she is ordering the sweatshirt as we speak. Thank you to my CC friends for all the hand-holding.
ps. For spirit week, this campus had set up a petting zoo complete with pygmy goats, mini pigs, and baby chicks! Plus free ice cream treats and bubble tea. Chimneykid was less easily swayed by the in this case literal dog and pony show, but the academically engaged yet very down to earth, friendly kids and the enthusiastic professors won her over. They had me, on the other hand, at “Do you want to hold a baby bunny?”
Congratulations @chemmchimney !
Great news for Chimneykid and her family! Congrats!!
@chemmchimney , congrats and please PM me the name of the school because I want to visit! (And my daughter may want to apply…I mean, pygmy goats!!!
)
I brought a baby goat with me to my kid’s softball game last year… she was having a tough week and I thought it would help. Goatling was a huge hit, and I am now known there as “the cool goat mom” 
Going to do that again next week, but with a baby lamb this time. Will be just after midterms, so it will be a bit of a “therapy lamb”…
Friendlydaughter is on her way to revisit day! I can’t wait to hear all about it.
I’m having a really hard time this term. Other than her first term at BS, this has been the hardest part of the whole 4 years. I truly feel like I’m missing out on sharing these special moments and seeing her treasure this time.
It’s definitely a bittersweet time, @friendlymom. I hope your daughter loves her revisit!
@friendlymom , feel the same way! Where we are in the process right now feels more like an ending than simply a transition to another beginning (even though it is). Can’t say why, exactly… Hope your DD had a great day (and at least calls to tell you all about it. Sure beats a “it was good” text!)