<p>I recall reading a couple years back a post by a mother whose finalist D had not been accepted at any QB schools. Problem was, they hadn’t applied anywhere else. The student sounded really resilient and her parents were fully supportive so they were already looking at options (from what I remember, they were not complaining, just telling others not to limit their apps to QB).</p>
<p>Many QB schools are extremely selective. Even being a finalist is no guarantee. Furthermore, students tend to aim for the more difficult admits among the college partners rather than the ones with higher acceptance rates. Even kids with really high stats have such low chances at Ivys/Stanford/MIT/etc. It is not all that surprising that even QB can’t bridge that gap. There just aren’t enough spaces to go around.</p>
<p>ED is fine when you have a clear first choice, but remember…if you don’t get in, you will have to pay for all those other applications. We can’t imagine paying $50 - $60 for apps 10 schools (As a high need family, if he is not chosen for match, or if he is not matched, we will apply to that many schools, so we can compare FA packages.) </p>
<p>Of course it is hard to stick to, but theoretically I tell my S to make his list with wide range of selectivity. We are still top heavy but reading about this year’s difficult, super-competitive admissions cycle is a dose of reality.</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone waiting to get off waitlists, making decisions and weighing financial aid packages.</p>