- The admissions process is really different than it was in your day. Your child may not get into schools that you (or even their older sibling just a few years ago) got into, even with better stats. Some schools you may remember as “safety schools” are now very difficult to get into.
- If you go to a public school, even a high resourced one, your guidance counselors are likely overburdened, so verify anything they say. For example, ours told us that our kid was out of luck after missing the PSAT during Covid. But I kept digging and found out about the Alternate Entry pathway using an SAT score instead.
- A lot of schools that used to give big merit just a few years ago are now shifting their money to need-based aid.
- Beware that there has been substantial grade inflation since you were a student, and apparently this has accelerated especially in the last 2 years. A “straight A student” is now commonplace. Also the SATs have been renormed. Today’s 1500 is more like 1375 was in your day.
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