It’s really crazy seeing who was denied. I keep telling my daughter it’s a miracle that she was even deferred, given the competition this year.
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I know, I know. My son, who doesn’t get emotional, was feeling like this is a game with no rules. He said that this one student who did everything perfect, worked his *** off, was taking AP classes as a freshman (which is NOT typical at our HS), and had to work really hard for what he achieved - that he was being denied at schools like UW because the school assumed he’d never go there, he’d go somewhere else. He was positive that this student wrote a very fine-tuned essay as to “why Wisconsin” – and UW denied him. I know there are no guarantees in life, and people say, “welcome to the real world, where you can’t always control the outcome” – but this kid DID everything to control the outcome and was still denied.
It also is making me furious reading on other boards/socials that kids are applying ED and not pulling their applications to other schools when accepted ED. College admissions is NOT WORKING because parents are allowing their students to ignore the “rules”. When kids apply to 20 schools and don’t pull their apps when they have their acceptances, or when they ignore the rules of ED – there is a waterfall of consquences to everyone else. It really is mind blowing to me.
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Witnessed this first-hand in my DD’s high school. Kids didn’t pull their apps after ED decision elsewhere and denied other deserving candidates. It’s definitely straining relationships. Because seriously “why would you do something like that?”
And you are so right about this whole “yield protection” situation where colleges think you are “overqualified” or using them as “safety” it’s like the Goldilocks - just right situation. It’s tough for the colleges as well when they are seeing this huge avalanche of applications and have to manage their offer/yield rates. But at least if people would pull their applications after ED acceptance it would take some noise out of the system.
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It ENRAGES me. And has very real world impact to this year’s class and the class of 2026. I keep reading about kids accepted ED who have now changed their minds, and parents are like “typical teenager!” The parents are just as responsible! Breaking the ED “rules” (yes, I realize it is more of an ethical contract and not a binding contract) is actually impacting other students. Since when did parents become so selfish when looking out for their child - yes, your child comes first, but you are actually impacting so many other students and their dreams!
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Wow, i didn’t realize the ED agreements were that soft and you could break them that easily - i thought they were absolutely binding.
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My guess is that despite some real, justified concerns, for some categories of kids, test scores are going to make a strong comeback as the key criterion, with “holistic” hairsplitting being used to justify schools decisions, at least at T50 schools… the demand of so many essentially equally qualified kids so far outweighs the supply of seats.
Regardless of what their PR says, they all have “institutional priorities”, which by definition, at professionally managed organizations, implies “targets/quotas” of some sort and rigidity.
Imo, your kid didn’t get denied, at this level because of yield protection… they got denied because their hair split the wrong way… and you will never know why.
They are binding with no teeth. If a student pulls out of the ED without one of the very few exceptions (financial reasons being one), the school can’t actually do anything. EXCEPT they can basically blacklist the high school and no longer accept students from that HS in future classes ED. Because the guidance counselor has to sign off on an ED application. So pulling out of ED has VERY real consequences, just not to the student who did it.
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My pet peeve is when I see parents whose kid are accepted ED, and then asking for ideas on FB groups on how to come out of it.
Most ED applicants unfortunately are not withdrawing their applications—that’s the reality we need to live with and accept, no matter how bitter.
I really feel there should be a National Level entrance exam by intended major category; that should be the one and only criteria to get out the current mess.
Holistic admissions is a joke, at best!
hi - @Leyla_K 's student didn’t get denied, she was deferred. But yes, I agree with you and this process . . . and likely test scores coming back (they already are, as UPenn and others have announced that they will require them next year). I’m all for level-setting and requiring test scores, but do think that for some majors, test scores have 0.0 predictability as to the student’s likelihood of success…
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yes! And perhaps (1) a common app limit that is more reasonable. 20 schools is insane. Hundreds of thousands of students applying to 20 schools is bottlenecking the process for everyone; and (2) if accepted ED, your other applications go poof. I say this in jest but really, there should be more teeth to the ED process.
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I’m sorry, that last part is absurd, especially at this point in the financial aid process.
We all know the May 1 rule, everyone gets to play by the rules. The waitlist is there to handle the situation you are grappling with.
It’s a totally different story if ED contracts are not being enforced, but, why would you want to be a part of that community, if the school doesn’t enforce it? They darn well have the capability to do so, if not the will.
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Are you saying my point is absurd or that it is absurd that parents are ignoring the ED rule of pulling other applications?
That is assuming you make the waitlist in the first place. What if you are denied because a good chunk of people didn’t withdraw their applications?
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THIS IS EXACTLY MY POINT. I keep getting into it with parents who tell me “that’s not how it works” – meaning, colleges don’t care if students withdraw their applications because they over-accept to get to their yield. But my point is that this year - there are so many more applications going in EA, there are so many more students applying to a ridiculous number of schools, there are so many more kids ignoring the rule to withdraw applications if you are accepted ED, that schools are either denying or deferring WAY MORE students than in prior years, and that we will have tremendous wait lists, and shuffling in May or June - because oh yeah, your student can only accept ONE of the dozen acceptances that were offered. I don’t understand the flippant attitudes of parents who are allowing their students who were accepted ED to just “wait and see what happens with the other 12 schools I applied to - just to see how many acceptances I got.” It is not teaching their children accountability.
Okay I’m sorry, I’ll stop this rant and get off this page. It just was needed this morning when I read another parent on Facebook writing about her “typical teenager” has decided she doesn’t want to go to her ED school and wants to see where else she gets in. My blood has been boiling…
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I like the previous poster’s solution over the one size fits all SAT/ACT solution. But some kids who are just as strong, just don’t do well on standardized tests.
Unfortunately we will never have a perfect method/world, and at this level of demand/supply imbalance, many kids will have to make their way in the real world on their effort/motivation/capabilities, not because they went to an elite college.
Yes, i also want “the best” for my kid, but these elite colleges are way, way overrated in a designer-jeans way…
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I am saying that the whole process is absurd, and banging your head against the wall isn’t going to change it.
The number of kids who sign a contract during ED, then don’t live up to it, is minuscule compared to all the kids who get deferred in ED/EA and don’t withdraw.
Yes, it’s “not right” and the contract should be enforced… but I wouldn’t count on it mattering in any individual case.
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There is no substitute for that. An elite college can give you a slightly better “launching pad” but after that is all on the person and effort/motivation/qualities/work ethic etc. If you are good you will make it.
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I agree to most of your points but also disagree to your point that elite colleges are overrated. This will not be popular with the masses, but my older son attends an Ivy and it has already opened doors that I do not think would be opened had he not been where he is. Yes, students can get a phenomenal education at a state school or elsewhere. But there are opportunities, networks and other perks of being at the “elites” that you just can’t get elsewhere. But we can absolutely agree to disagree! And in any event, I am here on the UW page absolutely hoping my son is accept to UW. It is one of two of his top choices, and he could have put his hat in the ring with the so-called elites but doesn’t want that. And if he had applied the year my older son applied, I am 99% certain he would have been accepted to UW EA.
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You go to another school….
If you don’t make the waitlist, it’s highly unlikely that it was because someone else didn’t abide by their ED contract.
This is all about prestige, not substance.
I do a little counseling in the midwest, have a kid that graduated recently from UW Madison, and I am on their counselor email list. So I just have taken special interest in watching UW Madison’s application process year after year. Though I suspect they are not dissimilar to some other public Us that have gotten more popular with OOS students.
Anyway, I don’t think is exactly accurate. I think these schools maybe try to admit for relative yield. But it’s not as simple “high stat” = “won’t attend”. I think yield is just generally much less lower OOS. So if they can filter out those OOS students that are maybe 20% likely to attend rather than 7% likely to attend (I am just guessing numbers, no idea on exact percentages) that is good for them. So I do think there are reasons they have that long “Why UW” essay. But they also can use historic data out of zip codes, schools, different metros on yield. And they are also trying to build a class drawing from a number of places, fill different majors, etc. So if you are applying from the Bay Area for CS, well there are probably a lot of students that have a similar profile to you and only so many are going to get into UW Madison. Stanley Zhong was rejected from UW Madison in his list of schools. But if you look at his list, they were all reachy for CS and he had 2 very competitive acceptances. Lots of high stat kids applying to lots of schools in the Bay Area. He was rejected by 14 colleges. Then Google hired him. - CBS News
The 75% of ACT scores at UW Madison is 32. 25% of their student body is higher than this. My kid had similar academic stats to Stanley Zhong (though very different ECS - heavy music), was OOS, CS interested (though was a double degree student). And was accepted EA. He also visited campus and had an extremely specific Why UW Madison essay (locations, clubs, faculty members, groups,etc on campus). I think people just saying “your stats are too high for this school” is just not entirely accurate. Stanley Zhong rejected the 2 great schools he had on the table to go to work where his dad works. There is no way he would have attended UW Madison - admissions was not wrong about that. They aren’t right all the time though. But this is why it can be good to see that deferred process through if you are interested and don’t take the process personally. They really will just lose people naturally through that process.