oh for sure, and I was at a fancy prep school even with a former AO as an advisor! I ruled out opposite coast and midwest schools (too far, travel seemed daunting). I toured certain Ivys, maybe 3-4 schools slightly less selective than that and picked my favorite and EDd. I did look at my intended major (which did stick!). I had spent a summer on a campus (pay to play!) at a college taking classes and didn’t like that one. My list (had I not gotten in ED) was like 4 other ivys, and 2 schools presently ranked in top 35 on us news - lol. Different world! I was, to be fair, a very top student and if I was same HS today, at same place in class, would be ivy-applying still… though would have to have much better SATs in absolute terms. …though curious in terms of percentiles? no clue what percentile mine was! I was in range of the college, I know, but not super high for it, is my recollection. I certainly did prep much beyond having a book and doing a few practice problems.
I think I went to my advisor like 1 -2 times and said I like these few schools, and they said sure, and put them in buckets (reach, target, etc) and suggested a few and that was about it. lol My parents had NO idea or really input.
It was definitely so different when we went through this process. I keep trying to tell my spouse and mother-in-law (who sometimes offers unsolicited opinions and wrong advice) how different it is now, but I’m not convinced they get it. I did ED way back in the day as well, to a definite reach school coming from a top prep school, but I had some other demographic quirks that I imagine may have boosted my chances a tiny bit. I think because I was only seriously considering 3 or 4 schools, it seemed like a no-brainer and I didn’t even think about a strategy. It’s such a personal family decision when it comes to ED or not these days. We did get to meet with my 27’s counselor, and my kid is not going to ED anywhere as it turns out. I kind of wish he would, but that’s really to settle my own anxiety and not so much because he has a clear favorite. His counselor told him unless he bleeds “insert school colors here”, then he shouldn’t do it. His list is balanced, he likes all of them, so I guess we’ll just have to wait it out. @Frogger73, I’ll happily chip in the next round, especially once March rolls around and the decisions from his reach schools start coming out!
Back when I was in high school I had never even heard of applying ED!
We had a nice visit to his ED school a couple of weeks ago. He was able to meet with a student ambassador in his intended program and they gave him a small tour and then he attended a class. He also met up with one of his friends who graduated from his high school in '25 and attends the university. S27 said he learned a lot of good information from his friend and the ambassador. Visiting confirmed that he definitely wants to apply ED there. He maybe likes the school a little too much because it’s still a big reach. And it’s a school where I don’t think applying ED gives much of an advantage. I really like his supplemental essays for his ED school. His counselor read them and thought they were good too, just suggested a few small edits.
Before this weekend, I was getting worried that S27 was not going to have time to get all his many supplemental essays done by the November 1st deadline. But, he worked really hard this weekend and has good drafts of all the supplementals. His personal essay is mostly done too. Yay for making some good progress! He has an appointment with his counselor tomorrow morning to get feedback on some of the essays (not enough time for the counselor to read all of them). He hopes to be able to schedule another meeting for later in the week. Two of the colleges that are high on his list are visiting his high school this week, so he wants to wait until after the visits to submit.
I don’t think I updated here, S27 got his National Merit situation sorted out from when he should have been a NMSF, but didn’t answer the qualifying questions. We had called when we first discovered the issue, but looking back, I don’t think the person we talked to quite understood the problem because they just said it was past the deadline. S27 filled out the online form to change his qualifying status, and after a few days of not hearing anything he called the National Merit Corporation. The call took less than 5 minutes (he actually called between classes) and they confirmed his status as NMSF then emailed the info to his school. It ended up being super easy. It was a bit of a rush, but he got all his application materials submitted on the deadline. He did hear from two other students and his school who had the same issue. Nobody is quite sure how that happened. He goes to a school where there are a lot of NMSF and most students did not have any issues.
It was a banner weekend for my kiddo, as she finished her supplementals (and let me see them), finalized all the common app entry, and says she finished her personal statement (won’t let me see it, but two reviewers have). Still plans to submit next weekend, but may do it earlier in the week. Whew … it’s not the finish line, but I feel good about her progress.
Things are getting tense around here. D27 had a great stretch of getting into her rolling admit safety, putting together an arts supplement that she feels good about, and feeling confident in her Common App essay. She was actually sorta chatty about the whole process! But now we’re two weeks out from the ED deadline and she definitely does not want to talk about college stuff. The most I can do is joke about how scary Halloween is going to be this year. She had such a great mindset about not falling too in love with one school but once she decided on ED to her top pick and got an enthusiastic thumbs up on her strategy from her college counselor, I think she’s having a hard time not getting very attached to this (very high reach) school. She’ll feel better once she hits submit and it’s out of her hands. All of her schools are ED or RD only, so post-11/1 she plans to take a bit of a breather before diving back into supplementals for her six or seven RD schools.
This is all very different from how I did college apps in my day - I was first gen and was only allowed to go to an in-state public. So no ED or visits or essays. My parents had no clue how any of this worked then and definitely don’t know how it works now, and D27 has requested that I not tell anyone specifics about her process which is driving them nuts. But their college knowledge is limited to Ivys and football schools, so I’m fine with keeping my mouth shut until a deposit is paid somewhere. But I’ll definitely share with all you internet strangers
I wasn’t first gen, but my parents did not help with the college process. I applied to two schools that were within commuting distance. I graduated debt free, but if I the opportunity to do it again I would have taken the loans to go away to school. To circle back to ED, I had never heard of it until I started going through the college process with S27.
I was astonished to learn how old the practice is. The internet told me that by 1960 there were 180+ colleges using binding ED in admissions. Apparently it began with the Seven Sisters in the late 50. Was totally news to me!
… it’s not the finish line, but I feel good about her progress.