Boarding schools do this. Med schools do this. Many college athletics have signing day.
Many traditions in many areas of life use a particular day. I dont find Ivy Day unusual. Its certainly not new.
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Well the first mistake is applying to all 8 Ivys, which are quite different from each other. I can’t imagine a student that is attracted to Columbia because of its urban location in Manhattan, its strong Core component and highly liberal politics would be happy at Dartmouth in its rural location, more conservative outlook, and without a core.
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The short answer is Ivy Day isn’t a problem. It’s been around a long time….one might even say it’s a tradition.
But in typical fashion because some subset of the student population is now upset receiving multiple rejections (which should NOT be a surprise) all in one day (due to their own decision to apply) it’s now identified as an “issue” and the schools labeled unfair, with sinister intentions and guilty of “brand hyping”.
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Me too. Hopefully they’ll take your suggestion. Nice to start new traditions!
It’s really not the # of APs, but rather the rigor of the APs themselves (not all APs are equal). The original APs such as chemistry, physics, biology, the foreign languages, US and European history, and BC calculus are the traditional rigorous ones. The lesser ones which I think are more money-makers for the College Board are things like AP Stats, Govt, Economics, etc… Rather than taking these, I think one should take the next level non-AP if available (eg multivariable calculus) and focus on the ECs. You reach a point of diminishing returns (the colleges know that you are smart at that point), and now you need to demonstrate what else you bring to the table… Just my 2 cents…
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Where, anywhere, did I say that? My focus is on coordination by 8 separate schools. You actually don’t address that at all.
Sure! Kinda’ tells you something about Ivy Day, doesn’t it!?!
A FEW boarding schools do this. It’s equally suspect there. The other two examples you and others give are national in nature.
Except that many of these schools send “likely letters” (prior to Ivy Day) to those they believe will receive multiple Ivy (and equivalent) offers.
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That’s interesting. It’s been shown that patients are more likely to proceed with a medical procedure if you say there’s a “95% chance of success” than if you tell them that there’s a “5% of failure” (death) - in other words, framing matters. I wonder whether showing rejection rates rather than acceptance rates would change the minds of some college applicants who are considering highly rejective schools (and perhaps even prompt the latter to tamp down on their marketing machines).
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Maybe. I think it’s even more important though to point out that the average stats of the accepted student pool will likely be close to or even identical to those of the rejected pool. Students see their stats are in the range and think they have a solid shot. They might see it differently if they knew that 95% applying had their same qualifications.
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LOL
The fallacy is that they don’t see many more similarly qualified people who don’t get in. I think my D22 was swayed by this to some extent (as…ahem…was I until CC opened my eyes to the reality of it all).
To my D’s credit, she refused to apply to some of the most prestigious US schools (including one that her GC and I really liked for her) because she didn’t think it was a good fit in terms of atmosphere/culture or location/setting.
We basically did this in the UK and, having received a conditional offer in December from one university (her “likely” school but strong in her area of interest) and encouraging signals from two other highly competitive schools, D22 decided to apply to only 3 US schools RD (albeit super reaches). All 3 UK schools gave her conditional offers by end of February (including her first choice overall going in), which made Ivy Day less anxiety-inducing.
I’d also extend it to the RD round, by notifying ASAP those who are eliminated from consideration in the early stages so that they can move on.
I’d second this - having only 1 month probably makes for quite a harrowing April for many families, with having to schedule a campus visit (or visits), decide whether financial commitments are really workable, reflect further on best fit, etc.
Probably sooner than their parents! (My D keeps asking me, “Why are you still on CC debating US college admission?”)
I love this!
You must have incredible willpower! We waited until April 1st (lol).
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I dont think college app should open before August. I think some schools get insane amounts of applications to review.
I see nothing wrong with colleges telling kids they will know on xyz date. As someone else said, kids dont have to open all on same day.
Again, to imply that a rejection from an Ivy is more emotionally damaging than any other rejection is dismissive, elitest, and rude. I think its ridiculous to imply that my kid wont be crushed if hes rejected by his top schools simply because its not an Ivy.
Coffee is hot. The warning label is there. If you apply to an Ivy, you walk into it knowing the decision release date. Music kids can get up to 12 rejections in a day.
Rejection hurts. But Im not sure how much more it can be sugar coated by these colleges.
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One thing these schools should do is abandon “test optional “. That policy has driven a spike in the applications and a drop in admission rates. The other thing I would like to see is a limit on applications through the Common Application so there is less shotgunning
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There is a limit of 20 apps via Common App. However, students can also use the coalition app or a college’s own app. The UC app covers nine colleges. The CSU app covers 23 colleges.
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I often think of this. Probability of getting into any one school is not, theoretically, increased by applying to more schools. Perhaps students who apply to all the Ivies, or apply to 20-50 schools, think the more applications the better the chances. Does this increase disappointment?
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I think the disappointment in rejection issue (regardless of timing) has a lot more to do with parenting and the creation of unrealistic expectations, grade inflation in HS, the watering down of gifted programs and their admission starting all the way back in elementary school. My wife is an elementary school teacher (for many yrs). It’s almost as if gifted has become the norm. Kids that don’t test in are still admitted because parents complain. Move on to HS and way too many kids are taking AP classes. Hurts the kids and the class. Way too many nonqualified teachers are teaching AP classes. On the ball field way too many kids are playing in travel leagues that used to be set aside for the truly excellent athletes (our local little league essentially has closed because every kid is on a travel team - most of them still play at the level of little league but the parents get to tell their friends my kid plays travel ball).
Funny, my daughter attended an “audition in” Performing Arts HS. Four yrs of auditioning and competing for roles with lots of disappointment and some elation based on results. I remember attending a info session led by the program director. A parent asked how many kids are accepted. The answer was basically “depends on how many kids have talent - we don’t field a class just to have kids here”. Hundreds auditioned for a much smaller number of spots. So many parents along the way would grumble at how unfair this was or too much tough love. I always viewed it as reality. Many of these kids are now at top college theater programs after a grueling college audition process - trust me, far worse and WAY MORE involved / difficult than any Ivy college app.
I’m not a "get off my lawn " kind of guy, just a realist. Probably at least half of these kids shouldn’t be applying to the tippy top schools. My other kid was one of those “average excellent” kids, All Everything in HS. Had no shot. Didn’t demonstrate anything really unique. Have a nephew that was accepted to and attends an Ivy. I clearly see the difference in the two kids. Nephew has an insatiable academic appetite for the sake of knowledge. Loves learning. Spent his summers serving as a docent at a science museum (all volunteer). Led a astronomy summer camp class at that museum. Such a deep passion and maturity around learning and his particular areas of interest. S was your typical top student, class pres, sports captain, leader. As his parent, I can honestly say he was an outstanding HS leader and overall contributor to his school, but if I were to chose between the two to admit to HYP, I’d choose my nephew.
The competition is really between those kids, not the masses that have no shot (just my opinion).
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Tradition. Just like almost all boarding schools, and arguably all the “top” ones, release decisions on March 10. By the end of the day, you know the lay of the land and what choices you have the next 30 days to work through.
There is a lot that needs to be addressed in education in our country, both higher and PK-12. We should all be concerned about youth mental health.
But Ivy Day? Nah…
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It definitely increases disappointment. If you ask 10 people out and are rejected every time, you will usually feel worse than being rejected once. And there is a certain twisted logic to spamming the schools with applications. From their POV, the thinking goes that they like so many others have the stats and the ECs etc. to be competitive at these schools so it comes down to how the AO’s subjectively react to things their essays or LoC’s (which they don’t see and assume to be superlative). That subjectivity increases the perception that someone will “connect” with their application even if others don’t. And you see this play out just enough to perpetuate the mythology. I saw a poster just last week who’s daughter was rejected to all of her reaches and even matches except one, but the one was Stanford (with, allegedly, no hook). Kids read that and think, “see, you never know.”
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Really? You can’t imagine that? Plenty, perhaps most, non-fully formed young people (especially strong students) could adapt and do quite well in both of those environments.
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