@momzilla2D I’m sorry to hear of the waitlists but your D has excellent choices. I have read that Tulane took a much different approach to admissions this year accepting less students to better control yield. People are speculating that there will be more students pulled from the waitlist. I don’t think it’s as much of a write off as the waitlist has been in past years. Good luck no matter what!
Just a late night post to thank all of you. I don’t post a lot but when I do, everyone here has always been so helpful and supportive. Sometimes I venture out from the threads I usually follow about the schools my D is interested or this thread (my favorite) and browse “latest posts”, etc. Then, I am reminded why I usually limit my exposure. I had a similar experience tonight at a cocktail party with a mix of highly “competitive” parents and lots of acceptances and stats boasting. Thanks again for being here and sharing your stories. I can always count on this thread to help me regain a more grounded perspective.
@rfm512 - I actually skipped the last two meetings with my Book Club because I couldn’t deal with the stressful college talk anymore - lovely people, but just enough already! Avoidance was probably immature on my part, but I enjoyed nice long walks with my dog instead. 
My boys have just landed in Ohio (on their first solo adventure) for their visit to College of Wooster. They’ve had some great acceptances.
S1applied for architecture and was accepted to Pratt, Drexel, Clemson, Catholic,Temple and UMass, and, for schools without architecture, accepted to UD, Wooster and Susquehanna - ALL with merit and several for Honors college. He never did hear back from Penn State. Weird.
S2 applied for music production and accepted to NYU/Tisch/Clive Davis, Drexel, Temple, UD, Susquehanna, Mercy, Wooster, York, and waitlisted for American and Clemson. All came with merit and several Honors college. Very proud of them both.
@rfm512 I’m sorry. i just read your post. I just completely bragged on my boys without any sensitivity to those who may not have had such great results. I am truly sorry. I was so caught up in their flying off on their own for the first time, and basking in pride. I’m not normally that insensitive. Apologies.
@Britmom5 - And I was not talking about happy, normal parent bragging in my post! Just the constant, competitive college discussions that tend to occur within my group of friends - hope your boys have a great trip!
@rfm512 I completely agree. I think people often make the wrongful assumption that because a student chose a less selective past that they were not competitive for acceptance at those selective schools . Everyone’s path is different . Everyone is looking for different things .
@NovaCat -
I was reading through this thread and noticed your post about where your D is thinking of applying for sped.
Since you are in NY, may I suggest the 5 year program at SUNY Plattsburgh, from which my D (who fit the stats of this group) graduated in 2014. She was accepted to Cortland, but opted against it because it wasn’t direct entry, wasn’t a 5 year program and it had a very limited cohort for the urban studies/sped program. The hierarchy of acceptance had white females at the lowest priority. While we understood the need/desire for that, the reality that she stood almost no chance of acceptance into the program led her to decide against it. I would research if that is still the same, since she began college in 2009. My D, who as I said fit the stats of this group in HS, graduated magna cum laude and passed all of the licensing tests (she was the first year of Ed-TPA) with flying colors. There is a lot to be said for direct entry programs.
Also, I am a lifelong NY’er and currently live on LI, so I know tons of kids who attend St. John’s. It’s not worth it for a sped degree unless you get an amazing scholarship.
My D came out of school without debt and, as a result, was able to stop teaching after a year and go into another field. She works in educational technology and her Plattsburgh degree was a big factor in why she was hired.
Good luck to you and your D.
@Britmom5 Penn State was overwhelmed this year with starting both EA and common app. You could call and check that they have not missed his app in the confusion. If you pop into the Penn State waiting for decisions thread you will find all kinds of oddities this year. You are not alone. It sounds like you have some great options though so you might want to let it go. It will be interesting to see what Penn States yield is because with no essay it was easy for lots of kids to just send an app without having a definitive interest.
@Britmom5 Ahhh! No worries!! NO one on this post ever seems do what Im referring to!! Its wonderful to talk about how proud we are of our kids ad all their accomplishments! We and our kids are operating within a very stressful and often unfair world of college admissions. We are doing our best to keep a healthy perspective and that is what I appreciate. Like your kids, my D had a really successful admissions season and I have posted her acceptances with pride! The discussions I was referring to are the long lists of 4.8 gpas, 1580 sats, pages of “published works” and community service…how do these kids actually do all this??? Don’t they only have 24 hours in a day like the rest of us?? One thread I read about a kid that was admitted to a super selective school announced to his parents that he “could not” spend 4 more years in that sort of hyper-competitive mode. Is this really a healthy way to raise our kids? As a culture, is this really how to best raise the next generation??
@rfm512 As a parent of “average excellent” kids - I suspect that some of the ultra achievers have motivational coaches/ paid college advisors/ and pushy parents. Others, of course, are just naturally driven. My kids could not have been busier throughout high school - there was no room in the day for a single extra EC than what they already did. There are few places where I can boast on them, so I’m doing it here relatively anonymously. Lol
@carolinamom2boys I agree! My D and I made a specific decision to look only for fit and pay no attention to rankings. First of all, we did not want to participate in or perpetuate the spiraling and obsessive fixation on rankings based on spiraling and obsessive fixation on stats and diminishing acceptance rates. My D wanted a school that “saw” her and appreciated her and by looking for that, we actually experienced a rewarding and affirming admissions season! For that, I am very thankful!
@rfm512 that’s awesome for your daughter. We took a similar approach with both of my sons. It has worked out well for both of them. It’s not surprising that they will be attending the same school. The level of attention and interest provided to both of them was very appreciated. My oldest was a high stats student who is a member of the Honors College. My youngest does not test well which made him not competitive for Honors. My oldest son’s professors and advisors have also offered great support to my younger son even though he is not a member of the Honors college
@Britmom5 I think you might be right?? My D attended an arts school so she had a full schedule of academics with an arts mastery program in the afternoon for three additional hours every day. After that: dinner, homework and sleep. I do believe much of her success in applications was based on her obvious focus and dedication to her art and one academic area of interest instead of accomplishing a million disparate things. My son had the same experience with music. Maybe that info would be valuable to future parents that follow this thread?? Dedication and focus in a specific area can be a successful and rewarding alternative approach and may be MUCH less stressful in the long run!
@techmom99 thanks for the info. Plattsburg looks like a great program! However I don’s think I have the nerves to add another option to the mix . Cortland is now a direct entry but they do not have a 5 year program. It really makes your head spin when you start comparing programs and different state requirements.
@carolinamom2boys That is wonderful for your boys! Sounds like they are thriving! I’m sure you’re glad they are at the same school as well - very convenient for visits!
@rfm512 I wonder the same thing as far s how much can kids fit in a 24 hour day. My son plays two sports (different seasons) has a job and does the ACE Mentor engineering program. Sports are every day after school with games/meets on some weekend days as well. His job is almost 20 hours a week. There are NO extracurriculars he could possibly participate in that would work with his schedule. In fact he couldn’t even do his winter sport this year without giving up ACE and his job, so he didn’t play. I just do not get how kids can fit it all in their schedules – and get 4.0 GPAs too!
I get not wanting to add another school. It’s good that Cortland is now direct entry. I am sure that my D was not the only accepted student who declined admission for that reason. Maybe Cortland will add a 5 year program. The school my S17 attends, SUNY Fredonia, just added a 5 year option to its teacher education programs. Since he’s not in that program, I haven’t checked to see if it applies to current students, but…
Good luck to you and your D.
One of my S19s was in marching band, concert band, jazz band and choir- the other in drama club and choir. Both had daily rehearsals and practices (as well as games/parades and performances) outside of the regular school day. In fact - the band was not unlike joining the military. In addition to that - they are both the musicians at church every weekend (and have been since middle school), are part of a 4-piece pit orchestra for the local theater, and have their own band which has intermittent gigs locally. Add to that homework, honors society, representing school in skills USA competitions, and volunteer hours - and that makes about 30-hours a day in commitments. Lol. Sometimes I just see them asleep…
@taverngirl and @Britmom5 - I think a lot of it is the type of ECs. I know for my kid, there was a wrenching choice that had to be made after sophomore year: a sport, or theater. Both could not continue. A lot of the high-achieving kids (not all, to be sure) are not involved in the type of EC that sucks up your entire waking life. They’re in, like, Model UN, or debate, or newspaper, or a half-dozen other club-type ECs, plus internship plus whatever summer stuff – and while all of these are laudable and perfectly great in their own right, not one of them demands 8-hour days after school - which sports/music/theater often does.