So I just got an e-mail from Wesleyan as my DD's counselor giving some information about applications this year (she was waitlisted there). What stood out to me was that the median SAT score for accepted students was 750 for CRW and 780 for Math! The MEDIAN!! Obviously that's not a total picture, but my god - this feels like an arms race. My daughter is my youngest so I don't need to do this again (thank goodness!) but I think if I was going through this with another child I would encourage them to step away from the super-selective mayhem altogether. It's just too brutal. Hopefully she gets into one of her remaining schools - which are her top choices - but if not, I am thrilled that she has a choice between a couple of academically rigorous schools that will give her a great education. I'm really completely over the "name" thing. There are plenty of excellent, good-fit schools out there!

Another waitlist there for my daughter as well. Given that she didn’t visit, interview or “demonstrate” the slightest amount of interest she was surprised it wasn’t a rejection - so it almost felt like a small victory lol. We take what we can get, right 😊? Our count now is 5 acceptances, 2 waitlists and 2 rejections - but almost all of the acceptances are at her safeties. I’m really really hoping she’s accepted to Vassar. This has been super hard on her.

"No" from Barnard, which is what we expected.

We have one tomorrow (Barnard), and one on Saturday (Wesleyan). Both long shots! Then Tuesday is Vassar which is ever so slightly more possible because they admit a larger percentage. And final two on the 28th. She is really questioning why she chose to apply to so many selective schools!

She's my #4 (and baby) and the only one of my kids who cared at all about the prestige of a school - she also has the highest SATs/GPA of any of my kids, and maybe those two things are correlated, I don't know. She puts so much pressure on herself that she had an anxiety meltdown in 10th grade at her public magnet HS where she was on an IB track, which is how we ended up homeschooling her - which was best decision we ever made! She is incredibly self-motivated and disciplined and has thrived with the independence and freedom of homeschooling. Part of me thinks that she would do better at a school like Clark where she would be one of the stronger students and could stand out. She almost certainly wants to go on to graduate school, so that might be an excellent platform for her. But we will weigh all of her options once we know what they are!

Yes, no matter what happens from here on out she will be absolutely fine, which is what I keep telling her! It would just be nice for her confidence (and an ego boost) if she had a few other options as well. She's had a challenging time in high school (depression, anxiety, etc.), and has come so far in the last year that I would love to see her get another win. But I am extremely excited for her future no matter what - and I know she'll get there eventually as well!

Yes she is accepted to Fordham, Franklin & Marshall, Clark, Lawrence and Pitt. She really likes Clark a lot (and her best friend just got accepted there today!), and I think once she visits F&M she may be pretty enthusiastic about that as well. But she liked Hamilton even better, so she’s disappointed. Her current favorite is Vassar though so 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

So, so happy for you!!! Daughter was waitlisted at Hamilton :(. She accepted the WL but now she's sure she's not getting in anywhere else (waiting on Barnard, Vassar, Wesleyan, NYU and Dartmouth). Such an emotional roller coaster!

Sending lots of good vibes your way!!

Oh yeah I know that lol. But a girl can wish! It's the lack of transparency in the process that I think makes everyone crazy. You know you need to "measure up" in some way, but it's all so mysterious. So you get sucked into playing these games. I'll be so so glad to be done with it, and I hope that there is some transformation of this process in the near future.

I honestly wish that colleges would get rid of ED. If they want to have an EA option, that's great (we used it to great advantage this year which has allowed for things to be a bit more relaxed as we await decisions). But as far as I can tell, ED works almost totally to the college's advantage. To dangle a better admission rate to a selective school, and encourage a 17 or 18 year old to "fall in love" with a school and commit to it before knowing anything else about other admissions or financial aid is (in my opinion) a particularly maddening part of the admissions process. I'm so glad that after this my family will be done with college admissions. I thought things were bad in 2010 when my oldest was applying, and they have just gotten worse each year.

My daughter just got admitted to Franklin & Marshall!

Franklin & Marshall was a yes! Now she can visit and see if she likes it there (and less than 2 hours from home which makes me happy!) 6 more to go . . .

Yes, Franklin & Marshall @ 7pm. She only applied because I liked it, and there was no application fee for apps before Dec 1 - goosing their numbers I'm sure! We never did a visit so there's no "demonstrated interest," so even though it's a target as far as her stats go I'm not overly hopeful. I actually think she would like it if she gets in and visits so we'll see! Good luck! fingers crossed for you!

My daughter worked her way through Pre-Calc last year without too many bumps. I remember one or two chapters giving her some issues - any time she had an issue she would use Khan Academy, and they would explain the same thing in a different way and it usually broke the logjam for her. She's halfway through MUS Calculus right now (for various reasons she started Pre-Calc in the middle of last year so she didn't totally finish it up until October), and she's had a bit more trouble with it. But with my husband's help the few times that she's had issues ultimately she's been able to figure it out. Any textbooks that basically allow my smart but not-mathy daughter teach herself Pre-Calc and Calculus work for me!

Sending hugs your way - this may be us next week (next decision that we know of is Franklin & Marshall on Monday evening). Based on what I'm reading it's been a very very brutal admissions year.

Vassar

My academically-minded daughter, who admits that she is a bit stuck on the "prestige" of a school, visited Clark University and really liked it, so that's another one to consider (it's one of the Colleges that Change Lives). She was genuinely enthusiastic about it - Worcester has become a "cool" city and the school has innovative programs and excellent academics. I think it's another school (like Lawrence) where the admission rate does not tell the whole story. She was accepted EA with good merit aid, and depending on how things go in the next two weeks she may very well end up there. The application process has a way of shifting goals and priorities as you start to confront what's realistic. Admission to the prestige schools are really lotteries - which is maddening - even for kids with 1500+ SATs and perfect GPAs. I am so grateful that we talked her into applying to some real safeties, and that she has some very good options as we head into the next few weeks and what could be a stack of rejection letters (hoping for at least 1 or 2 acceptances, but trying to prepare for anything). Goucher was on my list as well as a safety, but I could not talk her into applying there!

My daughter did Maya Inspektor's essay class last summer. Overall it was a very good experience, and she wrote an essay that's been pretty successful so far (acceptances and merit aid at all of her safeties). We'll know more about exactly how successful in the next few weeks lol! The main reason I had her do the class was to have someone other than me work with her on her essay! I knew it was going to be a tough assignment for her, and I was so happy to find a way for her to get outside support and validation. It was also so great to get that part of the admissions process done over the summer! It made the whole endless application season go just a bit more smoothly.

My daughter applied to Hamilton so we heard from them directly. I thought they handled fairly well! It sounds like the Grinnell hack was more invasive - yikes!

Oh jeez! My daughter is waiting to hear from 7 selective schools and despite the fact that her stats are good I think it is possible that she will not be accepted to any of them :(. We are prepared for that possibility. She has 1 safety she is pretty excited about, and several other good options as well, but would really like to get into a few of these schools. I know she'll be OK no matter what, but it would be a major blow if she gets 7 "no's."

I did run into issues, but started working on this in November so I gave myself plenty of time to figure it out. I think I contacted 10 schools/school districts before I found places for all of her exams - she's doing 3, and one of them (AP Art History) not super common so I wanted to get it nailed down early. Luckily I live in a very populous area, and one where most schools offer multiple AP classes so I did have a lot of options. I do think it's ridiculous that we have to work so hard at this!

Look at where a Classics major falls in this list from Kiplinger! If you're not someone who would enjoy engineering or computer science (and sadly none of my children have any tendencies in that direction!), apparently Classics is not such a bad direction to go in: https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/business/T012-S001-best-college-majors-for-a-lucrative-career-2019/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3Quc9g3Lvo89sVPYn78swajk2RM8cXVhzEfZLSIU03S4kueZWATFsNnBs As the parent of a senior also considering Classics, I found this a bit reassuring!

I wanted to add one other thought to all the great advice you've already gotten. My daughter was also a pre-professional ballet student through most of High School; she stopped dancing right before senior year. Like your daughter she danced 3-4 hours every day, more on weekends - she also attended 5-week summer intensives, etc etc (I'm sure I don't need to spell it out for you!). For many years she was aiming for a professional career. Unfortunately some major health issues got in her way, and then she gradually got more and more disengaged from ballet even though she was still putting in the time. She stopped dancing partly because she was "done" with it, and partly because of some major changes at her dance school that left her very upset. It was a good decision for her at that time, but not an easy one because of all the years she put in. Pre-professional dancing is such an overwhelming commitment that when kids stop doing I've observed many of them go through a sometimes lengthy period of aimlessness. I wonder if that is part of what is going on with your daughter. It can be hard to "find yourself" again after so many years of having your time so regimented, and having such a clear future in mind. For my daughter, after she stopped dancing she knew she was college-bound so that was not an issue; however, while she's now a sophomore at a selective liberal arts school, and has done well in college overall, she still feels completely unsure of what she wants to do and is having a terrible time choosing a major. Part of that is just her, but I also think that all those years of not having much choice in how she spent her time has made it a bit harder for her. I don't think that's the whole story by any means, but it may be a contributing factor. If so, you may need to continue to be patient with her as she starts to confront the completion of high school. I think that visiting a few schools could clarify things for her, and help her to start imagining a future for herself in one of those places (or not!). And I also agree with others that a gap year may also be a good idea.

For most students most schools do not require subject tests, but for homeschoolers they can be very helpful. The more selective schools my daughter applied to required at least two subject tests for homeschooled students. As others have said, it certainly can't hurt. And you don't need to submit them everywhere if you don't want to.