I agree with choosing safety schools with $$ offers rather than end up in debt. It’s the age old question then: what happens to these kids morale ? Why did they have to work SO hard to go to such safeties?
I am still going to wish and hope there is some light going to come our side 
for 3 more weeks and see what happens.
Thanks to all those who replied to my emotions.
Yield protection, inasmuch as it exists as a real thing, is typically ascribed to private universities perceived to be just below the very top tier that are unduly concerned with their rankings (thus its other name, Tufts Syndrome).
OOS admisson to top publics can be very competitive (Georgia Tech, for example, only admits 15% of OOS applicants), so it is not uncommon for high-stats candidates to be turned down, especially for competitive majors.
Yep I agree. Our kids will see friends with lower stats then they achieved going to these elite schools. Friends who are either super rich and can afford $70K per year, or friends that are “poor” and have a $0 EFC, or similar income friends who will be graduating with tons of student debt. Several months ago I was right where you are at now - it isn’t fair to them.
But, if they choose an affordable good school over an unaffordable elite school, their hard work means that they will get tons of merit aid and be able to go to the less prestigious school for very little cost, graduate debt free, and not have their parents die early of financial stress.
@KevinFromOC We are very similar statistically to you. We decided to forgo the high prestige schools. Our journey is over and our student will be a Presidential Fellow at Miami of Ohio. We are thrilled. Hope your student finds their perfect fit academically and financially. Big debt is no way to start life after undergrad if you can make it happen!
We, too, are a “doughnut hole” family. The choices are tough, and there is no one right or wrong answer. We all have to make our decisions with no benefit of foresight, and no re-dos.
On our part, we will be leaving the Vanderbilt’s CV offer on the table, so our son can attend his top choice and best fit for more than twice what it would cost to attend Vandy (50K for MIT after need-based scholarship vs 25K for Vandy after CV).
Yes - MIT - I would arrange a way to pay for that. Absolutely!
If this round only brings rejections (please God, no), she will have to take a hard look at her safety vs. the OOS option she has. It will be about a 1/4 of the price if she chooses her safety over the other one. However, I am choosing to believe she’ll have at least one good option with this round. And totally concur with @pathtotruth’s comment asking why these kids are working so hard to be the best only to be getting deferred from yield protected schools (because their stats are HYPSM-level), yet getting deferred from the HYPSM and ending up at their safeties? It doesn’t seem right.
Having hard time dealing with denials of supposedly “merit” scholarships with perfect test scores, perfect grades, tons of community and athletic ECs, etc., while others with lower stats get the “merit” scholarships. Is “merit” now a mere euphemism for “holistic”?
Our D also received a rejection email yesterday for CV scholarship and knowing our EFC is high we know we won’t get any need based aid from any college. Knowing this then the admission decision at Vandy is pretty academic now as we won’t be able to afford to send our D to Vanderbilt at full cost when we have several very strong alternatives at almost half the cost - UMD, Purdue and VT for example. We are OOS for all of these but cost is still around $35-40K after scholarships.
Going to be a tough decision for our D as she had Vanderbilt in her top 3 but it’s going to be too expensive with no merit award.
Any others that STILL haven’t heard about CV one way or the other? My son hasn’t gotten an email (including spam folders). He was accepted ED II. He may reach out to his AO if he hasn’t heard by the end of today.
This is happening to my son for admissions at the state schools that he was most excited to get into. “Holistic” appears to mean “most predictable”.
It is really difficult to predict merit awards that aren’t automatic.
DS has perfect stats and multiple national and international awards in STEM extracurriculars, is an MIT and Caltech admit, received CV at Vandy, and was a Stamps semifinalist at Georgia Tech - but got zero merit at Pitt and Purdue (though admitted to honors at both).
Go figure ¯_(ツ)_/¯
There was a message board post on the Virginia Tech message board about somebody that was a finalist for their Davenport Engineering scholarship (200 finalists, I believe), but got waitlisted for admissions. Seems logical to me ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I can tell you from my friends’ kids’ experiences that going to top-tier university does not help much in getting into med school. It is harder to maintain a high GPA and they told me it was hard for them to prepare for MCAT due to the workload. One kid chose to go to our local state school with a prestigious scholarship by declining Harvard and Princeton. He got into his pick of medical schools with full funding and goes to Duke medical school now (University Chancellor wrote a recommendation for him).
These are all commonly told stories on CC and I suppose it’s comforting to know that so many others are experiencing the same roller coaster. I can’t imagine a state school practicing yield protection since that is inconsistent with their mission. However, I do see large numbers of high stat students being rejected by state schools while lower stat students gain acceptance thanks to the arcane process knows as “holistic admissions.”
Highly selective schools use their very limited merit aid to attract students who might otherwise attend HYPSM. This helps them improve stats and, subsequently, their ranking. They also use it along with financial aid to attract URM’s so they keep Uncle Sugar off their backs. But make no mistake, these schools are singularly focused on attracting full pay students to keep the cash flowing. If you want to attend one of these schools, and you are not fortunate enough to win one of the few merit scholarships, you’d better be on either end of the economic spectrum. As is usually the case, the middle class end us SOL.
State colleges and universities exist to serve the middle class. Thank goodness for that. Most state flagships are highly selective almost to the level of the so called elite private schools - this is absolutely true in my state of Florida. You just have to be willing to deal with a large and more impersonal culture; with more students in the classroom; on-line classes, and professors who are rarely available. JMHO, but I think these meat grinders are much better at preparing students for the real world while not leaving them (or their parents) massively in debt. Take it from someone who did leave undergrad with a heavy debt burden - moving on to grad school with no debt is a wonderful thing. And really, in today’s global economy – which is more competitive than any time in history – graduate school is what really matters.
Don’t get me wrong, I want my kids to have the best undergrad education and experience possible, which is why I pushed them to excel in HS so they at least have a shot at the elite private schools. But if that doesn’t work out, I’m confident that UF will provide them with everything necessary (and more) to compete with those who attended elite private schools for a place within the best graduate schools.
My thought is quite simple, pay less (or none) to attend undergrad. Pay BIG $ to Top university Grad school. 
Make sense?
Some state schools are using the same logic of “yield protection” but not for the same purposes. It’s not about keeping their stats, it’s about making sure they don’t over-accept students. It’s about choosing the students that they are more likely to accept their offer, as opposed to those that might only be applying for “safety”. It makes sense for the schools, but certainly not for the high-stat kids that actually wanted to go there.
That consideration may be valid for pre-law and pre-med, but STEM grad schools are either fully funded or not worth attending.
As a person that hires a lot of STEM graduates, I agree with this. I prefer somebody with a BS or maybe a 5-year MS over somebody with a doctorate. Especially, if they have some internships or co-op experience during their undergrad years.
Our state flagship is obsessed with the US News rankings so I would be surprised they use this method for managing enrollment and ensuring a bed for everyone matriculating. However, it would certainly be an effective tool for determining the correct number of admits. But at what price? The stats are a key driver for rankings so, again, I would be surprised by a school foregoing the opportunity to lure high stats kids simply to ensure enough room for all who enroll. But this could also explain why many higher stats kids are staring at rejection letters while lower stat kids get confetti. The holistic thing along with the entire process remains a mystery to me so who knows…