I so hear you. My son had offers at 6 schools, mostly NESCAC. He chose the one that is most academically rigorous, at least in our minds, to commit. He’s strong academically but there’s a little worry that he’s not strong enough, even though we’ve been told Admissions loved his pre-read packet and his application. He has to keep his grades up because it’s been known to claw back offers. On the outside chance this falls through not sure where he stands. He’ll likely to be able to walk on but not likely to get coaches support for RD.
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Yes, in our 17 year olds mind, he’s already in. We annoy him with our worry. Buddy, it ain’t over until it’s over.
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I saw a great instagram post from Lisa D’Amour who writes and talks about teens mental health and other things - and today she had an instagram story to not be “more excited/disappointed than your kid when they get their college decision.” Basically, match their energy. My D24 is not a high achiever, so her reach might be someone else’s safety, but I am still anxious for decisions. She did everything EA to have it done and have decisions early, and if her top choice doesn’t come through we can revisit other options. She’s only applying to 4 but has gotten an acceptance already (probably 4th on the list, but it was a boost to get a ‘real’ acceptance to add on to the community college that she’s been accepted to as well.)
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I wish there was an actual decision date for S’s ED1. Right now it’s just by so and so date.
A lot of guessing going on in forums as to when the date will actually be.
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Same here - D19 is waiting to hear back from med schools. Might even be more stressful given the uncertainty.
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While I do plenty of obsessing about college admissions every day, I am surprisingly relaxed about S24’s upcoming ED results. He is a pretty level-headed kid and is not “in love” with his ED school - it was just his favorite by a narrow margin among a set of SLACs he likes. We would all be thrilled for him to get accepted, of course, but I’m not completely convinced that he might not fit in even better at one or two other schools. And his opinions about colleges still seem to be evolving enough that there might be some real benefits to attending admitted student days wherever he ultimately gets in.
The toughest part will be the ED2 decision if we get bad news on Friday. S24 is a legacy at a SLAC that is high on his list, and his counselor has strongly recommended applying there ED2 if the ED1 school does not work out. But that school is also barely less selective than his ED1, so S24 has mentioned that he might be tempted to apply ED2 to a less selective school if ED1 doesn’t work out, to play it safe. I really hate the way this process encourages overanalyzing and second-guessing. I would happily deal with a longer wait and more essays in exchange for eliminating early decision!
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S24 is the same. His EA was his fourth choice school. Doesn’t mean he won’t be disappointed if he gets rejected, but will reassess essays and ecs for applications going forward. We are taking EA as a trial run.
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My niece is going through the med school app season and it is quite intense. Good luck to your D!
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S24 did not do a ED but has done multiple EA’s. Two of the EA’s should be out before Christmas but both of those not the top of the list for S24. Many of his top choices come out in Jan/Feb and The UC’s in March.
Since he does not have a top choice we will have to wait until March but if he gets into some of the Schools he did EA to in Jan that will help a lot with stress/anxiety.
I am not so stressed now but I expect Jan to be pretty stressful.
Good luck to all those waiting for ED results in the next couple of weeks.
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Joining this group because I love reading all the funny posts and everyone is so supportive of one another.
Anyone else have a kid who is overly confident? Any time I say something about college S24 likes to reply something along the lines of, “well, my grades and test scores are good so I’ll probably get in.” I find myself reminding him about all the low acceptance rates, and I hate being so negative but I feel I have to balance out what I feel is his naive optimism so he isn’t too surprised by the results.
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My kid has been very confident all fall, since she sent in 4 apps including one ED at the end of October. She says she is “manifesting” by speaking and thinking positively. She has always been a pretty positive person and is approaching her apps the same way, but she knows the acceptance rates so I think keeps her doubts to herself.
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If anything, mine is under-confident. There are schools that should be safeties where they are nevertheless waiting with bated breath, unsure if they’ll get in.
Part of it is the nature of audition-based programs, for which there’s no such thing as a safety. But that uncertainty is bleeding over into the non-audition programs, too. I think it’s easy for them (and me, if we’re being honest) to think in terms of worst-case scenarios when nothing seems certain.
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It definitely makes it much more difficult. My S21 is a bfa acting student and the prescreen process seemed so random that there was a lot of under confidence. He wound up having crazy results and things improves as he started to have yeses. Hugs to both of you.
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We are manifesting in our house as well by drinking out of the school-logoed cup every day…
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Is your kid MY kid?!! This is SO our life… lol
Ooh good idea! We don’t own any merch. Yet.
I have to admit it’s much more pleasant to be around her positivity than the doubting voices in my own mind I’ve lived with for my whole life 
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So for fun, I’ve been checking the CC forum of D24’s ED school. You know, it’s where the parents with normal kids that check their portals to find out if they have been admitted — when the decision is released — post. (But instead my D is waiting patiently for three days until she finishes up school work. And somehow NEVER even mentions that waiting decison!)
This is such a bad idea. Parents post their student’s stats and then I mentally compare. Admit? Deny? Defer? It’s terrible. There are so many factors beyond these quickly listed stats. But it’s what we do. We want to quantify this. Make it make sense.
And it’s 8:30 am in East Asia, so the bar is definitely not open.
Really appreciate the advice of matching our reaction to our kid’s reaction. She will be brave, I know that. She also really loves her ED2, so that helps too.
This waiting is … fill in the blank. Ugh comes to mind.
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Just made an old fashioned with orange bitters and vermouth. Any reccomendations on bourbon?
It’s not a Friday but we dont know when the decisions will come out so making an exception.
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