Or what mistake would you not repeat? Which you would like to advise someone? For me, I did not know about good opportunities/significant merit scholarships available from Honors Colleges at various state schools. Had I known before, I would have liked to have visited several of these good Honors Colleges campuses before and did a better job of “selling” these schools to my kid as more serious considerations. Not forcing them upon my kid but do a better job of introducing them.
I applied to 12 schools. I have been accepted to 9 and rejected by 1, waiting on decisions from the last 2. All of the 9 schools that have accepted me are offering scholarships ranging from $10,000 a year to $26,000 a year. Yet I still feel so jaded about this entire process as I have learned that the truth is that colleges are playing a complex numbers game when they decide who to admit. Sure, they want kids that make them look good, and sure, they want kids who are unique and have something positive to bring to their campus; however, they also focus heavily on quotas, yield, and finances. What is the chance this kid will go to our school? Will this kid make lots of money when they graduate? Etc. And I hate it so so so much. College is rigged. Students are nothing but dollar signs. I have completely lost interest in all of the schools I applied to and will likely look less to the academics than wherever I feel I would be happy.
Imagine playing 1 v 1 basketball for the first time against a pro who plays everyday. That’s college admission for students going up against universities. It’s the first and last time for prospects, yet admission offices play ball daily. You’re going to make mistakes, it’s going to cost you, just by how much is the only question.
My mistake was omitting the section on current high school coursework on the application (although it was on the transcript). This generated a rejection letter from a top choice which represented a solid value.
Everything is random. Always strive for great things because there’s always a chance. Never lose hope because there’s always a chance
Really visiting and liking my “safeties”. No one is above a college, no one is too good for a school. If you really dread it you don’t apply.
“I hate it so so so much. College is rigged.”
I felt pretty much the same way about admissions and college costs in the US.
Probably the most noteworthy thing that I saw was how arbitrary and random and “based on things the student can’t control” the admissions process is in the US. I was shocked to see students with unweighted 4.0’s turned down from a top LAC when their friend with an unweighted 3.5 in the same courses got accepted. I did not see their essays, but it was pretty obvious what the schools were looking at.
Also, how different admissions in in the US versus Canada. With great grades, great test scores, and great recommendations, the difference is like night and day. Admissions in the US is horribly stressful for students. Admissions in Canada for the strong student comes down to just deciding what school to attend. I wonder why the US is willing to put so much stress on our kids.
I was mildly shocked to see a student applying to 25 schools, but under the circumstances I sort of understood why (she did get into several that she liked).
For me, it was letting parents read my essays. My parents completely took the voice out of my essays and there wasn’t much I could say about it as they were the ones paying for the apps.