I definitely will!
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There was a link at the end of the acceptance letter to give them your size so they could send you a t-shirt.
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Itās been a terrible year college admissions wise for my son and most of his friends. Smart talented great kids getting rejected all over the place. We cast a pretty wide net so he has some good options but the rejections still hurt. He was waitlisted at Williams, which feels like a victory right now.
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Didnāt your son get into USC???
Havenāt these kids been through enough? Now they have to deal with the craziest admissions year ever. My son was admitted to UMass Amherst and BSU, so thankfully he has options, but I just want 1 selective school to accept him to show him that all his hard work paid off, hopefully that isnāt too much to ask. Best of luck to everyone going through this crazy admissions year
I totally get the need for validation for hard work, as I came in with the same perspective. Hopefully, even if your son doesnāt land a reach school, he will still be proud of all the great things that heās done.
I am extremely proud of what heās done, I hope heās proud of what heās done. He/ we feel the message from the selective/schools has been āno matter how hard youāve worked, youāre not good enoughā.
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This year is just difficult, but things have a way of sorting out, the entering class has been through a hardship but by the time they graduate the economy and job market should be very strong. The hard work ethic will be more important in the long run.
He did, thatās why I said he has a lot of options. Most of his friends have not been as lucky. I know if you apply to 10 or 12 top 20 schools even in a normal year you expect to see a lot of rejections, but to give an example, no one from his school got in any top 20ās in the early rounds. This is unusual at his school, and his graduating class is particularly strong. A lot of these kids are typical high test score high GPA kids and with everyone going TO this formula doesnāt seem to be working as well this year.
I totally understand. The rejections are tough, especially for kids so used to success. We knew there would be a lot of rejection, but these are kids whoāve been made to feel their whole lives that their hard work will get them into a top school. Weāre looking at all the great things about the schools he got into and focusing on the positive. Good luck with the remaining decisions!
Thatās not the message! There was a quote on the Colby thread that I loved: āIt is rarely the matter of not being good enough, but rather not needed.ā LACs in particular are striving to build a specific class. A person could get WLed or rejected due to the sole fact that 3 people just like them got in ED, and they donāt need another harpist or rugby champ or whatever else. Thatās why these decisions shouldnāt be taken personally, because a lot of the process is impersonal to the applicant. Best of luck to your son. It sounds like he will do great no matter where he goes.
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I completely understand that these decisions SHOULD NOT be taken personally, but when itās one rejection after another, I think itās impossible to not take it personally.
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I agree. We very much focused on objective criteria, test scores, AP, and school history via Naviance to set our targets and reaches. Kids at our school are getting waitlisted well outside typical ranges. There is still time but the old criteria arenāt a good measure of success in the process this year. Iām starting to think that this is the year colleges decided to break from the testing corporations. It has reshuffled the cards in ways that are less predictable (and a boon for the consulting coaches) going forward.
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Also, as has been pointed out, going test optional really has shaken up the LACs and NESCAC schools since the increase in apps has created much volume that its hard for them to assess yield. The schools have also said that over 50% of the accepted group did not submit test scores. This means these students are likely from schools that historically do not send applicants or have the typical profile of the past. So this is truly an unprecedented year for LACs in particular, so should not take these decisions as anything more than an outlier.
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Have you seen numbers from Williams for this year? Iām starting to think that the large number of '24s who deferred did have an impact on acceptances.
i got rejected as well (my sister is graduating from here this year) and we figured out that the acceptance rate was around 4% this year! So low!!! congrats to all who got in and waitlisted! itās a great school 
On the Instagram for the Williams class of 2025, there is an abnormally high number of deferred '24 students: this likely had a profound impact on who they decided to accept, as you suggested. Man, 2021 was an incredibly interesting year to apply in!! 
IIRC at least 85 students deferred, my D is one and sheās not on the IG page.
I get it. But hopefully in hindsight it will seem less personal. Keep in mind that most of the schools got a record number of apps this year.
Sorta helps me a feel a bit better.
Best of luck to your D at Williams!!
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