Not to change the subject, but who here was going up to visit St. Lawrence?
@Trixy34 itâs @Atyraulove
As others have pointed out, the simple answer to this really is, ultimately, no, but I see something broader in the subthread that this is a part of.
Part of the American mythos (not just American, but itâs really, really strong here, as a number of social scientists can back up) is the idea that if you do what youâre supposed to and work really, really hard, everything will work out for you. Basically, itâs a quite meritocratic idea. And yeah, thereâs the idea that some people are naturally gifted at some things, but others are gifted at other things, so it all works out in the end, especially if people play to their strengths.
If that view is correct, then the answer to the question @rmsdad poses above would be yesâfor those willing to work hard, it becomes a matter of simply cracking the code so that you know where to point your efforts.
Iâm going to suggest that the entire premise is incorrect, howeverâcollege admissions is (like most things in the world) quite emphatically not the result of a meritocratic system. You can be the most brilliant person out there, but ifâto take an example someone else offeredâyour brilliant essay comes up in the pile right after the adcom has read an even stronger one, well, then that brilliance might not shine through. (Or even something more random, like if the adcom just had a stressful encounter with a co-worker or such!)
You can work harder than anyone, and even be more brilliant than anyone, and you canât control for bad timing, or for a demographic blip where an unusually large number of people with similar backgrounds are all trying to do the same thing as you that year, or bad advice from a GC, or coming from a background where you simply donât have the right sort of educational cultural capital to know how to work the system.
All you can do is adjust to the possible, and work from there. Recognize that there are factors you canât control for, and for your deity of choiceâs sake, donât take that fact personally.
Because thatâs an often-unrecognized very real big problem with a meritocratic worldview: If it really is purely meritocratic, then falling short in some way is necessarily a reflection on you. After all, if your successes are the result of your own brilliance, then your failures must be the result of your own idiocy.
And that sort of pressure just isnât right.
(End of rant.)
@mom2twogirls - Thanks!
@mountainmomof3 yes , if you apply ED you can also apply to other schools as an early action or regular decision candidate. You cannot submit more than one ED app. if that ED app comes with an acceptance, you need to proceed to withdraw any apps that have been submitted to other schools.
If the decision comes back and is a deferral/waitlist you can then apply to another school EDII if you want, or submit apps in the RD round.
Some of Ivies and a few other schools use a different method, SCEA or REA, and they have their own parameters.
@1stTimeThruMom I can say what we did in case it helps.
We ran the NPCs for 4 schools d19 was most interested in. Her top favorites were an instate public (UBuffalo) offering EA and Cornell, which offered ED. Both worked in our budget. Her other two possibles were a bit out of budget, although we couldnât be positive about merit.
She first applied to both the EA and ED school, as the ED edged out the EA a bit on her list so if she was accepted she knew which she would prefer. She also went ahead and submitted the RD apps to the other 2 schools as there were deadlines to have them in for merit consideration that would come before ED results were known.
Results came first for the EA UB as an acceptance. About a week and a half to two weeks later she got the ED Cornell acceptance and within a few days they sent the FA package. Included in the info received was the date (about a month later) she needed to either accept or deny her admittance. The only âoutâ of ED was if financially we wouldnât be able to make it work. We took a couple of weeks to talk it out with FA and each other to make sure we knew it inside and out, all costs were understood and potential impacts of outside scholarships. We did not pull the apps in progress nor did we decline the EA school at this point. After about 2 weeks of intense discussions, my d19 was sure and we agreed it would work. We accepted the offer and paid the deposit, then declined and withdrew from other schools before logging off the computer. This was still a couple of weeks before the deadline Cornell have for her to accept her spot.
There are a couple of schools that offer single choice early action or restricted early action. I could be wrong, but I thought the restrictions only apply to other private schools and you can still apply early to other public schools while using SCEA or REA. You would want to double check their policies to be sure of the details.
@mom2twogirls Did your daughter applied for engineering? And if yes, do you mind sharing which other schools did she consider except for Cornell and U Buffalo? Thanks!
@am9799 yes, she applied for engineering. She is planning on Chemical Engineering and wanted to be within a couple hours of home. She also applied to URochester and RIT.
@PurplePlum You gave the âsecret sauceâ, except that itâs not secret anymore, since you have just posted it on CC!
@citymama9 I might take your offer because we found exactly one school to apply and it does not look we are making any more progress.
oops âsheâ found one school to apply and âsheâ is not making any more progressâŠ
@am9799 Absolutely send me a message tomorrow. We visited so many schools, and Iâve read every guide book cover to cover. If you tell me about what sheâs like and what she wants from a school I bet I can give you some names to look into.
Circling back to the discussion of writing. As a high school librarian & previous English teacher, many of my students ask me for help with their class essays/applications/scholarship essays/resumes/etc⊠9xs out of 10 the writing needs a lot of work & itâs due the following day. Iâve come to the conclusion that the prep for standardized writing tests are partly to blame for a. Why kids hate writing b. Why their writing seems like they just want to get it over with. Anyhoo, it is such a problem on my campus that I have organized a writing workshop for seniors that will address what to expect in English Comp 1 & 2 and strategies for being successful. The workshop will be taught by professors from a local university.
Also I wanted to make a book recommendation. It is titled, I Will Always Write Back. The authors are Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka. It placed a lot of things into perspective and touched me so much that it is now required reading for my own kids. (Hazards of having a librarian mama) If you do read it, I would love to hear your thoughts!
A student from my daughterâs school who attempted suicide about a week ago and was hospitalized passed away last night. I feel such a feeling of utter sadness. Sorry to bring anyone down, but hug your kids a bit tighter tonight and let them know they can talk to you about anything.
@crknwk2000 Oh wow. That fills me with sadness too. Sending prayers to you, your daughter and your school community.
@4MyKidz I just bought the book on eBay. Iâm going to give it to my D to read with the address of a new pen pal tucked inside.
@crknwk2000 how heartbreaking. Poor girl and her poor family.
@crknwk2000 - How awful. I am so sorry your community is going through that. My heart bleeds for her family.
@crknwk2000 that is so very sad.
@Trixy34 We are visiting St Lawrence For their April 22 admitted students day. Weâve not visited yet and my S has not made up his mind where heâd like to attend. Weâre cutting it close!
My D17 applied ED and was accepted so there was no last month scrambling.
Do you have intel on SLU? On paper, I really like the high retention and graduation rates, location, and opportunities, including a very high number of Alums in the Peace Corps.
@Atyraulove - we will be there too! S19 just made the trip to upstate NY last weekend for another accepted student day, and his Dad tried to tack on a jaunt up to St. Lawrence, but he was nervous about making it back in time for his friendâs Eagle Scout ceremony (I feel like just yesterday they were little 1st graders). Anyway, so off we will go again!
I have never been up there, but I do know it is very remote. I do know some people who went to SL a long, long time ago - some are very impressive, others less so. But one of those people is someone from my high school - we are now very much connected on FB and enjoy friendly debate and banter. Anyway - brilliant guy, was definitely more of the nerd/goth/dark category in high school (to the extent there was a goth movement in rural upstate NY in the 80s). He was a legacy, and says he loved it. Lots of access to professors. He really speaks highly of it. After SL he ended up at Georgetown for Grad school. Honestly, I think itâs a school that can probably launch whatever career path a person has in mind, as long as they are proactive about it.
I think S19 is feeling the love for another school at the moment, but SLU probably has a slightly better reputation and is a much better deal financially, so we shall make another trek. He just wants to be done with this whole thing, but he was rejected and wait-listed at his top choices and/or he was admitted for engineering and now has changed his mind, and/or we refuse to pay $71k for an undergrad LAC education, so weâre just now seriously looking at the âsafetyâ/merit aid schools.
@crknwk2000 - That is so sad - thinking of you, your family and your community today.