I think kids need more education on “holistic” admissions: students are not accepted or rejected on some hierarchical basis for individual worth. Colleges want a mix in a class. And then athletes, legacies and so on.
I don’t think it matters whether results are announced all at once or on different days. Someone might even argue it is easier to hear all at once rather then be disappointed on 8 different days.
There is some kind of cultural sickness going on, fueled by financial insecurities and social media in part. Maybe we could get rid of rankings and yield and acceptance rates.
@EyeVeee do you not see the irony in your username bemoaning the over hyping of 8 schools?
Please… would it really be better if over the course of a week and a day (+2 for Stamford and Duke) kids got rejected one at a time. At some point this constant vilification of a highly competitive process becomes nonsense. Parents are responsible for supporting, preparing and encouraging their kids while instilling them with a sense of self worth beyond a cars window sticker. The schools have to deliver bad news and that will be the case regardless of the prose used or timing employed.
It amazes me are societal drive to insulate kids from disappointment while claiming to be preparing them for adulthood. Getting dinged from a few schools will hardly be their greatest challenge in life and our relentless dwelling on it serves no one.
The solution is for kids not to apply to the ivies. I’m not kidding. I don’t understand the mystique surrounding these schools and why so many seem to fall into the trap. Yes, they are eight very good schools but they are not the only eight good schools and they aren’t necessarily the best either. I’ve got to think the parents should take some blame on this. Who told the kid they could apply to all eight ivies and that this was a good idea? Parents should be discouraging this type of behavior.
I believe 3 of the 8 Ivies no longer publish admission stat press releases, but I’m guessing you don’t mean the press releases about admit rates and instead mean the rejection letters/emails/announcement sent to students? So if for some reason a student chooses to apply to all 8 Ivies (considering how different they are, this seems like an odd selection of applications), they’d probably see 7 rejections, assuming they applied REA/ED somewhere in the early round.
I don’t think the format or timing of their rejection letters is the main issue. I think the primary issue is instead the internal and external pressures a small group of children see. Some kids believe their life is over if they don’t get into an Ivy+ college. This partially relates to external forces like parents, high school, and community sending the message that it is extremely important that they get in to an Ivy+ college. This also partially relates to incorrect internal beliefs about the importance of being accepted and/or feelings internal growing pressures over years of placing effort towards the goal of attending an Ivy+ type college.
This isn’t a universal issue. The vast majority of kids do not apply to Ivies and instead favor other colleges… The most applied to colleges are publics, often publics in states/cities with a high population. The upstate NY high school I attended was in the northeast and located in nearly the lowest average distance from the 8 Ivies, yet by far the most popular colleges were publics. Non-Cornell Ivies received relatively few applications. Many high achieving kids attended SUNYs. A few started at CC and transferred. There wasn’t a strong pressure within the high school to attend Ivy+ type colleges, including among accelerated/honors type classes/kids. I expect the atmosphere at certain selective private HSs would have been very different.
It was a similar idea with most parents and the community in general. I didn’t personally know anyone in the community who had attended an Ivy+ type college, nor was anyone pressuring me to attend one or emphasizing the importance of attending one.
These non-Ivy effects are often even stronger for persons living in lower SES areas. One study found the vast majority of high achieving, lower SES kids do not apply to any selective colleges – meaning that if they apply to college, it’s likely a near open admission one. One of my relatives grew up in an area like this and was the first in the history of her HS to apply to a highly selective college (she was accepted).
Again, there is plenty of blame to go around here. There are the “hypors” (e.g., the schools) and the “hypees” (i.e., kids, parents).
The “hypees” do not coordinate on “Ivy Day”. What is the only possible reason for a coordinated release of RD decisions on a single day? HYPE. It helps give further brand strength to this “athletic association”, which in turn heightens the apparent “elite” nature of the “hypors.”
Yes, we the hypees are gullible, but the hypors are the ones doing the hype.
My point is that yes, as a hypee, I am to be blamed for being dumb enough to fall for the hype. But PLEASE do not absolve the colleges: they are the ones affirmatively and actively doing the hyping, most of it legal, but some of it perhaps not.
And when the hypors engage in downright deception when it comes to hype-inducing tools like rankings, well that’s a horse of a different moral, civil, or criminal color.
ETA: I appreciate that there is a lot in this post But, again, the focus of OP is on the coordinated release on one day by 8 separate institutions. Several of us are blaming the kids/parents, but there is a lot of blame to be put squarely at the feet of a lot of colleges (not just the “Ivies”) in fostering/taking advantage of the hype.
Again, not one person thus far has given a reason for the coordinated release of info by the “Ivies”, which is the essence of the OP. Put all issues aside for the moment except this: WHY do eight independent institutions release RD on the same day? Does it benefit ANYONE except the eight universities?
As I have noted throughout, there is blame, but it is 360-degree blame, not just on a gullible ole parent like me.
Ive read the “rejection” letters from some of the Ivys. I do think they try to show compassion and understanding that many of these kids worked really hard for many years.
Suicide is horrible. Kids need better support for their mental health. But that starts at home with realistic expectations and goals.
I wonder how many of the students that have issues have ever experienced disappointment? It is one of the things that competitive youth sports has taught my DD. It hurt when in 5th grade she got cut from the basketball team that she played on the previous year. Of course, there are lots of other issues with youth sports. College acceptance time is one of the first time “bulldozer” parents are helpless.
So, waaay back when “Ivy Day” was considered both a mercy & an exciting day…at least for the prep school students who made up the majority of applicants. A substantial % of my BS class applied to a couple of Ivies (nobody applied to all of them), and b/c yes, Virginia, our CCs did actually talk to AOs at the various schools, most of those who applied got offers. Ivy Day was celebrated by everybody (whether they had applied to one or not) with make-your-own ice cream sundaes (the ultimate dining hall treat) at dinner.
Was it tough on the few kids who applied unsuccessfully? Yes indeedy- but much in the same way that it was tough when you didn’t make Varsity or you were on Varsity and lost the regional championship. It was rare for a student to be gutted on the day- b/c 1) they weren’t seen as the end-all and be-all and 2) the CCs made you apply to 2 safeties, 2 matches and 2 reaches- and the lists were so carefully curated that it was very very rare that a student had only their safeties to choose from.
BUT: that was then, and as we all know “the past is a different country”
Oh, I agree. It’s savvy marketing. I just find it hard to believe that parents/students are shocked when the rejections come in. It’s as if they think the long odds don’t apply to them.
