Fairfield U…..
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It looks like the majority are saying not to!
Fun post- if not to late you should add a poll 
I am curious what the break down would be!!
My vote is to buy it- but only let it be seen ‘when’ accepted. (Positive/optimistic vibes being sent your kids way 
)
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That is the plan here!
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Interested in the responses here trending against this. I placed my ED1 hoodie order yesterday - if the ball bounces her way on Dec 15, we’ve got surprise merch at the ready for wearing to school the next day! If not, it will be returned and she’ll never know it ever existed. Not a big jinx guy here, but I’ll let everyone know either way.
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This is actually frowned upon at my kid’s high school. Sure, celebrate at home and tell your close friends but don’t rub it in everyone’s face. There are probably kids that had their dreams dashed. Just one way of looking at it.
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I can see how that would be the case in some school settings, but no danger of that in our context. No one at her suburban TX public school has ever heard of any of the LACs that she’s applying to, and if they had, they would wonder why on earth anyone would ever want to go to that kind of place. State flagships are the goal around here, even for the tippy top students, and they generally don’t have ED - most kids here already know where they are going, and in some cases have known for months. So the only ones who would even notice are her close friends, who will be very excited for her.
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Plus, why should a kid lose joy or proudness if that’s the word. She worked hard.
Really the only question here is - what if the student doesn’t get in, is there a financial risk?
If they want the sweat shirt now instead of the next four years, great.
If she can wait a week or month or six, then great too.
Showing up with a - and I don’t know the school - a Williams or Willamette sweatshirt, then great for her.
Nope, not everyone has the same opportunities - maybe because of grades or maybe because of money - but that’s the life we live.
Our school has 1 May as the day everyone wears their school merch.
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And some schools are discontinuing those because not everyone goes to college or can afford college, etc. It’s been an active topic on counselor discussion boards!
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My daughter asked for a sweatshirt when she visited her ED school junior summer. She was wearing said sweatshirt when she opened the decision. Clearly she doesn’t believe in the jinx (and she was admitted by the way). I had a cake at the ready with the school logo on it. I was more than prepared to have a cake throwing party if the decision went the other way so figured that wouldn’t go to waste regardless. Best of luck to those waiting decisions!
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We have something like 98% going on to college - I forget the exact breakdown but something like 84% 4-year college and 14% CC (most planning on CC-UC pathway) -so I don’t think this is really an issue for our school, but I can definitely see why some schools would discourage that.
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You do you but I wouldn’t. You say you can return it. So that’s up to you. I love the idea of school colors /streamers etc if they get in. But might need to return that as well. Nice gift for them if they get in is for them to be able to order one themselves from the schools online store. Might just want to consider that. Or if you’re local to the school a drive over and pick out school garb
We bought the wool felt banners for ours who applied ED, but did not give them to the kids until after they had heard back with positive news. Fortunately it worked out for the two who applied ED, but if they had not been accepted we probably would have offered them on CC to families who had been accepted at some point.
All three ordered sweatshirts online once the acceptances were in hand
Oh gosh, I feel your excitement and if you can secretly return it it would be wonderful!
On one hand I would say don’t do it— and if they’re accepted then you can tell them in the moment of celebration that you’ll order them a sweatshirt and they get to pick it out (because so many schools have multiple sweatshirt options these days!).
But I’m a hypocrite as I did secretly buy a sweatshirt in advance because I saw a fantastic vintage one on eBay that fall, and I bought it as my kiddo had done the early financial pre-read guarantee with the school in July, and the school’s response was a number that was the highest merit award they offer “if they applied and were accepted.”
As it was the admissions officer for our region that made the merit pre-read decision, I took the number they responded with as a very solid sign that my student would indeed be admitted. I never told my kid “well, I think that’s a done deal” when the number came back, I just told them that it was great news, that the number put the school within the financial boundaries for applying ED, and that they should work hard and submit a strong application.
It sure was fun to give them that sweatshirt though when they opened the portal on decision day. 
Best wishes for the outcome you’re hoping for!!
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It’s important to be a good loser, but it’s as important to be a good winner. There are kids that will be crushed and heartbroken by their ED decisions. I think it shows character to consider their feelings. A kid who has good news already won the big prize. They can celebrate in so many ways. Must they also celebrate in a way that makes someone who is less fortunate feel even worse?
If your daughter doesn’t get admitted, how will she feel seeing some of her friends wearing their school swag and talking about how excited they are? If she doesn’t feel worse then I say she must be a pretty unusual teenager!
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I fully agree with this for those in a context where many kids will be eagerly awaiting decisions from selective schools on ED Day or Ivy Day or the like - wearing swag and openly celebrating would be gauche and generally inappropriate. I think CC skews pretty heavily toward this kind of school, but there are those of us out here in places where ED is a essentially a foreign concept and no one will notice or care that a student wore a particular college shirt on a given day, let alone know or care about the non-football school represented thereon. Just a different kind of world.
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True but kids wear sweatshirts with lots of logos. Is it an adult to wear and Yankees shirt if they just crushed the local MLB team ?
If you wear a shirt with a college name, it’s not different. Tons wear college shirts from lots of schools
OP is wearing a shirt, not buying a billboard - which by the way I saw in Scranton, someone announcing their kid was going to Hofstra.
anyway, OP didn’t ask about sportsmanship - just if buying b4 admit was a jinx or not.
I don’t think it’s a jinx. I’d probably weigh how much of a reach the school is and how you think your kid (and you) want to celebrate…and how difficult a rejection will be or if they have other options they’re excited about. I let my kids buy merch from schools they toured and liked to get them excited, even a few they didn’t end up applying to. Rejections are hard, even for the parents. I’d just go with your gut feeling on it.
My kid got WL and didn’t stay on at W&M and still wears her green sweatshirt 
Like most, no matter what, the student will be ok.
I think OP is fine no matter the choice.
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From another thread just now - no jinx:
“We had an incredibly emotional day, so I couldn’t get here fast enough. She was admitted and committed to Lehigh on full tuition! She is tremendously happy and grateful for that. She broke down in tears and laughter when she learned. Consider us a proud Lehigh family now!
It is funny that I ordered Lehigh merch for a Christmas gift even before decision was known and a couple of books on college life ”
Debt-Free Education or Dream School Debt? - College Search & Lists - College Confidential Forums
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