oh yes, agree @TomSrOfBoston , it’s definitely not “inevitably”. For most schools, even far less popular ones, there are years when not a single wait-listed student gets accepted.
Does anyone know what the acceptance rate is to kilachand?
I don’t know @Bella2018 , but many high achievers didn’t make it in. I was surprised my D didnt. Oh, well.
D accepted to January Boston London program with zero aid. She loves the school, but hard to turn down Emerson with a 30k offer, compared to 70k obligation at BU. Several more notifications in the next 2 weeks, so we’ll see how things shake out.
Does BU send out acceptance packages?
@evb2000 THIS IS FABULOUS! My S applied to BU for the Trustee and/or Presidential potential. His stats are super but did not get aid or merit. 
Trying to figure where he could have been “deficient.” Without a form of aid, he will probably choose elsewhere but hate to give up Kilichand Honors Program. Do you think you had a “hook” – like first year generation to go to college or something like that? BEST TO YOU. This thread is full of overachievers. Happy to see 17 and 18 year old students thriving.
@CatherineF Hello, we will let you know what we think of RPI once we visit, I have heard good things about the school. Did your S apply to WPI or NE?
It’s so easy to get swept away at the accepted student days because they do really sell the school and you leave thinking so what I have to pay more, so what I have another child going to college in a couple of years, this is the best place, my son or daughter can be happy or successful here.
That’s not reality, you have to pick the school your child will be happy at but that can be a school that doesn’t cost a fortune, you have to think in long term you don’t want them graduating with a bunch of loans and you don’t want to go into debt. So basically that’s where I’m at right now I know we can’t afford the 70 k for BU and you know what it wasn’t meant to be.
I know with giving up some things we can afford the mid tier schools that offered merit, and I know she can go for free to Umass D. So we will the visit the ones we can afford and let go of the ones we don’t.
I went to Umass D and now I can afford to send my daughter to those mid tier schools so I ended up doing okay. I think as long as the child has the drive they will do well where ever they get their education. Will they struggle along the way, maybe but I am offering her much more than I was given (as I had to pay my own way). With your Son’s great STATs I’m sure he will get into some place affordable that will really want him and he will do great!
Is Boston ever willing to give more grants/aid?
@CatherineF , I don’t think your son is deficient at all, and he did everything right. College Admissions makes no sense at times. Lots of things are out of our control.
Guaranteed Transfer for fall 2019… Had “Thank you” message. 3.6 GPA and 27 ACT
Is BU considered mid-tier?
It’s so weird that so many people got in to Kilachand but got no scholarships. I was not accepted to Kilachand but got full tuition. Seems like it’d be better for them to give the money to some of the students they want in their honors program.
Colleges are trying to achieve diversity statistics as well as high score statistics. So they may be offering scholarships to students that will help them raise their numbers in certain types of diversity including economic, geographic and ethnic. It’s a crazy game and you just don’t know what they are looking for. It’s not all about grades and test scores.
usnews.com has BU ranked 37 nationally. For comparison, Northeastern is 40, Rutgers is 69, Carnegie Melon University is 25, NYU is 30, and schools like Temple don’t even hit the top 100. If my categories looked like this:
5- Elite
4-Great
3-Good
2-Average
1-Below Average
I would put BU at 4 with a bit of 5 mixed in.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
@CatherineF Thank you so much! I’m not sure I have any “hooks,” especially not first generation to go to college, but I put a lot of work into the two essays for Trustee Scholars because I had a lot to say about the prompts (“One cannot escape the world more certainly than through art, and one cannot bind oneself to it more certainly than through art” and “Something that’s not on the resume”). I wrote about Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath for the first and for the second, avant-garde fashion (Martin Margiela and Raf Simons). I was able to be very genuine because these are things that I have been inspired by for such a long time, and I think that’s what made the difference.
(Out of all the college essays I’ve written, these two I actually enjoyed)
I also read carefully over the description of the Trustee Scholar on BU’s website and kept in mind the aspects they listed as I developed the outlines for my essays. I don’t think BU looks so much at hooks as your writing.
I really hope this helps and good luck!
no
Denied
Hispanic Female
4.3 weighted GPA
14 AP courses (all of them passed with a 4 or 5)
Historian of Model UN club, Executive member of Key Club, SGA, Involved Teens, Spanish Honor Society, English National Honor Society
Over 800 volunteer hours
Job: Waitress at a ballroom/banquet hall (20 hrs/week)
Strong Essay
Okay BU Supplement
Amazing recommendation letters (one of them was from a BU alumnus)
SAT score: 1190 (definitely my worst factor; I really suck at math)
Oh well, better luck next time 
I wish we could all agree to jettison the US News & World Report matrix. It’s baloney.
Oops.
@winky1 Thank you for your kind words. His goal is to have minimal debt. A Masters in Economics here will be $400,000