I did not see my S stressing too much more than usual, but I could see how that could happen! He had half his 12 done by Dec 1, and still struggled to finish for RD…
And he could have eliminated 2 of his safeties and probably a match and 2 reaches. I think the early scholarship deadlines force kids to apply RD so early to schools they might not apply to after they see their EA results. The process forces some of the overkill.
But, coulda woulda shoulda…if I coulda, we woulda changed ED as well!! But no do overs, right?
Congrats to OP and just be happy it’s over:). Good luck!
@suzyQ7 D will be applying to 12-15 schools. General Bio major most schools have. There are literally dozens of schools she would have a great experience at, and get a great education. No Ivys. But searching for merit. I totally get the strategy. I can also see that when the app process is driven solely by the student that the reason for a long list may be different.
Oh goodness… I’m applying this fall and can’t even imagine 16 schools. I’m applying to around 10, I think, and I’m nervous already. Regardless, this was still incredibly helpful. Thank you for sharing your experience!!
To clarify what I meant by expect a a rejection from a safety school,
I applied to a good school (Kalalmazoo) but did not submit my act score. App was free, I knew I wanted to do engineering, so i didn’t send my school
Even though I have a 3.99 gpa. excellent recs, excellent activities, and good classes
honors classes mostly
Ap lang, Environmental both 5’s
Dual enrollment
calc 1,2,3, and now diff eq
pysch,history, cult anthropology, eng
Drafting
I got waitlisted. I did not show enough interest, and with an ACT score of 30 being sent it would of been a very good bet.
But even with a stellar app, I was not accepted.
What I implied is that you should prepare for one rejection, from at least one school. It is surprising but it is okay to be rejected from a couple places. I meant it to be uplifting, or to not punish yourself for not getting into a college you thought was a guarantee.
The advice about not applying to schools you are pretty sure you can’t afford – or where you wouldn’t want to attend if accepted – and about lining up recommendations and starting essays over the summer (!) are solid advice. Of course every situation may be somewhat different. For example, chasing merit scholarships may play a role, or aiming high for need-based aid at more selective schools…but as my grandmother would say, don’t bite off more than you can chew.
OP thanks very much for sharing your experience. It will help future college applicants.
The last paragraph really stood out:
“Also remember that you don’t “deserve” to go to ANY school in the world. Higher education is a gift, and the fact that you have access to it is already good enough. You won’t get rejected because your ACT score was a 34 instead of a 35, and unless one thing is OVERWHELMINGLY good or bad, it’s a combination of things that makes you rise to the top of the pack or thrown into the reject pile. And above all else: everything works out in the end. A rejection won’t end your life, and an acceptance from a safety school isn’t a sign for good things to come. Stay humble, stay hopeful.This process isn’t the end of your life; it’s only the beginning.”
I applied to fifteen schools, and this sounds eerily like my experience. It didn’t help that I took the SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, five AP classes, and was involved in some time-consuming extracurriculars. Yuck.
Part of it was that at the beginning of senior year, I had no idea how competitive I was for anything. One one hand I had a 3.6 GPA, a 2170 SAT, and no idea what to do with my life. On the other hand, I was the cofounder of a startup, had a provisional patent, overcame pretty significant hardship, and was involved in research.I applied to in-state schools, some HYPSM-level schools, some SLACS, and everywhere in between.
Now that it’s all over, I am actually glad that I applied to fifteen schools. I did well on the standardized tests, and I realized that I wanted to do BME/EE and go to medical school. Thanks to the laws of large numbers, I had applied to what quickly became my top choice, and got in with a decent merit scholarship. It couldn’t have gone better.
I agree that anybody considering this kind of thing should write their essays as early as humanly possible. There is no feeling quite like trying to write a college essay on several hours of sleep, knowing you still have hours of homework, knowing that you need to get up at 4am, and realizing that it’s already 11. You develop a strange calm (or maybe it was just emptiness) when those kinds of things happen regularly. The auditory hallucinations are also totally a thing, and are creepy as hell. I kept hearing people calling my name.
get your LOR teachers on board at end of junior year
get at least an outline of essay done by end of summer, preferably a solid draft.
My son’s experience is probably similar to many here: applied to 13 schools: 5 reach, 5 target, 3 safety. He aimed high but not too high (2 Ivies).
Biggest surprise was being rejected by one safety and one lower-target school. Also his EA-target school gave him a deferral, though later admitted. The happy result was being accepted RD to one of his 5 reaches (not one of the Ivies though.)
If anything, this validates the notion that kids these days must cast a reasonably-wide net due to the unpredictability of the process. If Son had applied to fewer schools, he may have missed out on his one reach acceptance. The fact that he was rejected by two ‘safer’ schools shows that nothing is a sure bet. Although Son grumbled at having to do so many apps, I think it turned out quite well.
I also see great value in Early apps. Although it did not work out for this Son (one ED reject and one EA defferal), my older two kids had ED acceptances and then enjoyed very low-stress Xmas and spring of their senior years.
@pickpocket I agree 100%. My D had common app essay done over the summer. Applied and was deferred from ED school. Had 2 EA safety acceptances under her belt by December break to mitigate against stress. Applied to 2 Ivies, 5 RD reaches and 2 more safeties. She was rejected by a safety with SAT average 400 below her score. When we looked at their admit stats on a graph the lower left was red for decline, the middle arc was green for admit and the top right arc was yellow for waitlist, so I imagine it was yield protection. You have to plan for such things these days. She did a lot of apps but spread the work over 6 months. She takes 6 APs and plays 2 varsity sports so she knew time would be a problem if she wasn’t prepared. She is really happy with her destination and I learned a lot of things that I’ll apply when my S goes through this!
The sad thing is, now we see kids who got accepted ED, and instead of relaxing, they start thinking: “Maybe I aimed too low” and start thing about reneging!
S1 was an exceptional student, but as he says “For my demographic, I’m just average”. So it was a tough app season.
S2 is much more laid back, his grades will be way less competitive. I’m thinking with him, it might actually be fun just looking for a good fit he can get into! No prestige angst involved!! (Tho I will admit I wish he could get into Vassar:). I’m guessing he’ll do multiple SUNYs and a few privates and call it a day. The challenge for him will be fit, so the research and visiting will be key, not the apps.
@SeekingPam Yes I often mull over what maybe we should have done differently regarding EA/ED. Truthfully I think our strategy was sound, even though it did not result in an Early acceptance for him.
Our approach: apply ED to a school you would be absolutely thrilled to get into, even if it is a reach. Also apply to an EA school in your target range. Then hope for the best but be prepared for a rush of supplement essays over Christmas and January.
ED: He applied to UPenn. Yes a big reach, but his #1 choice. He would never have a second thought about ‘should have applied to …’ He had a small hook there (summer course with great LOR from professor) and moreover Penn accepts 25% of ED applicants vs only 7 or 8% RD. So this made lots of sense as his ED choice. Denied, oh well.
EA: He applied to NEU. Most of his target schools only offered ED, but NEU offers both choices. He liked NEU a lot and his scores were well above the 75%ile for NEU. Deferred, a surprise to me. He followed up with update letters to the regional AO and that probably put him over the top for RD.
My son was also one of the cases where his RD apps were a little stronger, since first semester senior year he had his toughest courseload and managed straight As, bringing up his total GPA. So as much as I advocate for Early apps, you also cannot always put all eggs in that basket.
Of course this is just my opinion…YMMV. Son ultimately got accepted RD to 5 great schools and one very good safety. He will attend CMU and we are just thrilled.
Ah yes, because this is often debated, I would like to provide a definition to the word “Hook” used in college admissions.
Possible hooks are: low income, first generation, URM, legacy, athletic recruit, child of a donor/faculty, etc.
Hooks ARE NOT: a unique EC, a special LOR, a certain award, admission plans (ED, EA, RD, etc.), having a good interview, etc.
TL;DR? A hook is usually something demographic/socioeconomic, or something related directly to the school itself because you are related to someone there. Any activities you may do outside of school or the like are just a part of your application.
Thank you @pickpocket we are debating on ED. UPenn is not the right fit for K2, I think too much pressure. We are debating between a couple of schools one category below where K2 is a legacy (still no guarantees, low reach with legacy) or trying for one of three reaches.
Based on my limited experience with K1 and friends, it seems that about 80% of the people (your average white kid from Northeast) who apply to reaches who do not really have the stats (are at the 75th%) do not get in ED or RD.
It seems like if you have the stats for a top school and are interesting in ECs or are a legacy you may get in ED. For example had a friend with two kids, one had a 2250, 3.9 GPA and good essays and ECs. Got in ED to an ivy. Her sister had lower stats, 2090, 3.8 GPA but good ECs and Essays. Applied to a school like Williams, Tufts (I forget) ED, deferred and rejected. Got into a bunch of schools one tier lower with merit money or honors college at almost every school RD. The point being that Sister 1 was a match for the ivy even if she might not have gotten in RD so she got in ED. Sister 2 was applying too high with Williams/Tufts and it was a waste of an ED but that was her dream school. What might have made more sense is if she had applied to Lehigh ED (was waitlisted RD), probably would have gotten in. However, Lehigh, while she might have gone there if she had gotten in RD, was not her dream school. If she had to ED there would she have been left wondering?
I have got to agree with @Anonymoose3 - my unhooked high-stat D16 applied to 21 schools: 4 safeties (acceptance rate 40%+), 6 matches (26-40%), 6 reaches (16-25%), 5 super reaches (15% or less). The process didn’t seem too stressful, her grades didn’t suffer, and she gave herself some offers to compare. Results: accepted at 4 safeties, 4 matches, 0 reaches, 1 high reach (will attend). It’s tough at the top for the unhooked - you have to cast a wide net. She hadn’t interviewed at or visited the school she will attend prior to acceptance - too far away, though she did visit in April, after acceptance. If she had made cuts, down to 15 or 12 or 8 or 5, I am not sure her future college would have made the list, due to its selectivity and her lack of demonstrated interest. But they loved her anyway, and she is looking forward to 4 amazing years there.
