@roycroftmom, I can guarantee you @jym626 has met, and friended a student that was needy and deserving. Please don’t assume you know all.
Thanks, @CottonTales. And not to mention additionally the volunteer work done with underprivileged youth in a low income HS. But no matter.
I don’t think so. But in any event, good night!
OP was venting about how exhausting and messy the college application process was for him. I completely agree! It basically consumes at least 18 months of the parent and child’s life between college visits,college research, test prep, scholarship hunting, merit hunting, NPC calculations, essay writing etc etc etc… While the blame doesn’t lie solely with the colleges they definitely contribute a substantial amount, along with the USNWR college rankings. Kids take those emails and snail mails at face value. Maybe they should realize the colleges aren’t being sincere with a healthy dose of skepticism but why would they? If they’re high stat achievers people have been telling them for years that they’re going to the HYSPMetc…and the like. The mailings just confirm it. If you’re not quite “all that” those mailings make you reconsider. Maybe you’ve been too hard on yourself, maybe you should apply. If those colleges think you should apply, they’re the ones admitting the students so they’d know best, and maybe you should. If you have parents that can inject some reality and provide course corrections…that’s great. But not all parents can and/ or do.
In addition, the common app has done its own damage. Back when dinos roamed the earth, applications were hand typed and the elites had significantly more essays than they do today. Kids didn’t apply to 20 schools. There was more self selection. It was more difficult to research large numbers of schools because the internet was years in the future. And the cost of college wasn’t so prohibitive…merit hunting was there but not nearly as critical as it is today.
I can’t see that this process will improve in the near future. The population keeps growing and the number of spots at the most desirable schools are fairly static. More kids chasing fewer and fewer spots as a percentage. Kids apply to more and more schools because of merit, uncertainty of acceptance, FA packages etc… and the rat race will continue.
I’m only a little upset at the 2 colleges that we encouraged our daughter to apply to after doing the NPC, only to have her be accepted and receive absolutely nothing. One of the schools was tip top on her list and we never would have encouraged her to apply if we thought we would end up being full pay. The other one gave wonderful merit to plenty of her classmates with similar or lower stats, but none to our D because she was Engineering and we didn’t realize merit was given out by college. I wish that would have been more clear.
“I’ve interviewed poor, first gen kids for my alma mater and some of them are so supremely talented and filled with promise it makes me cry to think about them.” And I’ve reviewed their apps and many leave our kids in the dust.
Arrogant? I think not. As blossom wrote. humbling. To the max. You can believe in these kids or you can call them “unable.” Think which shows more faith in them.
You don’t know what they accomplish. You’re stereotyping.
If it’s too hard for you, consider that it isn’t, for a whole and varied college class.
That’s taking it rather personally.
You do, when you see them.
When you see them as more than just their family circumstances.
There is an aspect of the American Dream out there, willing to go for it. Not whining.
It’s true the college prep process can be arduous. When you hit Submit, you don’t know results. But you/your kids can be determined and go about this as best you can. Not just call it stacked against you.
I worked this year in an area where a lot of people did not have smart phones and did not have internet at their homes, let alone computers. Some didn’t have email addresses. The library does have computers but their hours are limited and you are limited to a half hour during high volume times. It was a wake up call for me. My dear cousin does not have text services on her phone! College? For most of the kids there, and the stats show it, college is a pipe dream or something you do much later unless you are rich. Getting most of those kids through high school with a degree is a major hurdle. I knew the school track coach who has access to the grades each quarter, and the number of F grades was staggering.
The nearest community colleges are 45 minutes away. Getting a FAFSA completed for a family is a major challenge. To give the area credit, there is limited bus service to those CCs so that one can go there in the morning, stay all day and return in the early evening/late afternoon.
Yes, I’d like to see more money diverted to the CCs, make them free, and extend their services. Though my kids did jump through the selective college hoops, we all well knew who held the cards once the acceptances were released. They applied to multiple schools and could only go to one, so the rest that accepeted them were left holding the bag. No laughing about it, however.
OP posted this thread as a way to blow off steam. By my definition, that means a support group, which is a judgement free zone. Too many posters on this thread need to get off their high horses and stop the “you don’t have a right to be frustrated” posts. If your post doesn’t start with “What frustrates me with the process is…” or “@soandso - I agree…”, please reconsider whether you should be posting it here.
I apologize for raining on the parade. I did not feel that the OP post was so much a blowing off steam as remarking on how the tables turn onto the colleges once the acceptances are out as well as the waitlists. And they do turn. Absolutely. It’s a time that those who are holding a fistful of acceptances truly have the upper hand over the admissions offices hoping to get their target numbers, knowing that some of those acceptances are going to phantoms since a student can only go to one school. It is a moment of power, and I acknowledge it. A great rite of passage for those who got multiple acceptances and lots of choices.
It’s a discussion.
Various posters have empathized with OP.
But some can disagree with those who want to blame colleges, when various options exist.
OP worked it, as best he/she could. That’s different than going into a free for all about the colleges. Most here don’t have more than their own complaints.
Several posters started the claim others are arrogant. Sure, its challenging. But you have many option on how to react to the competition.
@RockySoil -Its probably best to leave it up to the mods as to who/what should and should not be posted in a thread.
As I said way upthread, the “nanny nanny boo boo”, wiggling fingers from ones ears (at the colleges) original post tone may have contributed to the tone of some posts in the thread. Since its a venting thread, there are lots of things related to college acceptances to vent about 
The schools “left holding the bag” are few and far between. I will never feel any sympathy for most of the colleges discussed on CC. They hold the advantage at the beginning of the process and they hold it at the end through the use of waitlists comprised of hundreds if not thousands of students still clamoring for acceptance. For certain there are colleges that struggle with filling their classes but those are not the schools that create the gauntlet students undertake seeking acceptance.
There are almost 500 schools “left holding the bag” this year, with spaced to fill for their freshman class. Many are fine schools talked about on cc.http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2141851-2019-nacac-list.html
That is one reason college presidents and enrollment managers get paid such very generous salaries-to prevent and deal with enrollment and yield issues. There are colleges on the NACAC list that approach $1 million per year for their presidents. Many exceed 500k. They are paid to fix it, or leave.
My response to @vpa2019 was that these schools aren’t “few and far between”. But enrollment management is important for, as I mentioned elsewhere, when yields are below 20% it affects the financial planning of the school.
Roughly 400 out of the current 5300 colleges in the US are on the list.
No, @roycroftmom, its 470 of ONLY the colleges that are members of NACAC. And even if it is every 4 year college (which I doubt, but I don’t have time to double check— feel free to if you care) that would be around 3000 4 year colleges/universities. Thats (a) almost 15%, which is not insignificant and (b) not talking about all unfamiliar schools. I would encourage you to look at the list. You will see several familiar names of respected schools.
But lets stay on topic. No more dancing on the head of a pin please.
**I see you edited your post. Thank you for taking out the snark. But its still inaccurate.
And to be accurate, per the last update of the NACAC list (it is revised when they get additional information) 455 of the 470 or so schools on the list still have space for freshman.
(And if anyone is looking for a job, the NACAC CEO, Joyce Smith, is retiring in 2020).