How much did you do for your kids college applications?

[georgiegirl]

I’ll admit I worked with DD a lot on her essays. I didn’t write them for her, but we did a lot of editing and collaborating and multiple revisions on pretty much every single essay she submitted to colleges. I did a lot of research on college essays and college admissions (listened to many hours of podcasts and read some books.) She wanted to apply to the most selective colleges, so she needed essays that were polished but still authentically her voice. (And her essays are 100% her voice and reflect who she really is.) She did all the pre-application stuff herself (top scores, most rigorous classes, ranked #1, extracurriculars), so why not help her put her best foot forward? She’s super competent, well-organized, and a very conscientious student, and I’m confident she will be successful in college. Yesterday she got accepted to her top choice (she was deferred ED1), and I’m so happy for her.

Annie, I’m guessing your DD’s friend got merit money because she’s first gen, single mom, plus ranked higher and had more rigorous classes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AnnieW625]

…..

As your your daughter’s friend, Annie, there was either an institutional priority there or her transcript contains information you’re not privy to. A $22K discrepancy in merit aid is unlikely to be the result of a parent filling in the common app, even if they did the essays. That doesn’t make it less crappy, but I just don’t think it explains the differences in the aid packages.

It probably comes down to toughness of class schedule TBH or something else that I don’t know (but I know BFF almost as well as I know DD1, and same with BFFs parents knowing DD1). BFF took all honors Spanish, all honors math, and all honors science. I didn’t pressure DD1 to take honors math (she started with geometry in 9th grade after having algebra in 8th grade (Catholic elementary so not advanced; and I had no idea how she was going to do; she would’ve done fine) and she didn’t take honors biology, or honors chemistry but is now in AP biology, and took honors anatomy last year.

I’ll admit I worked with DD a lot on her essays. I didn’t write them for her, but we did a lot of editing and collaborating and multiple revisions on pretty much every single essay she submitted to colleges. I did a lot of research on college essays and college admissions (listened to many hours of podcasts and read some books.) She wanted to apply to the most selective colleges, so she needed essays that were polished but still authentically her voice. (And her essays are 100% her voice and reflect who she really is.) She did all the pre-application stuff herself (top scores, most rigorous classes, ranked #1, extracurriculars), so why not help her put her best foot forward? She’s super competent, well-organized, and a very conscientious student, and I’m confident she will be successful in college. Yesterday she got accepted to her top choice (she was deferred ED1), and I’m so happy for her.

Annie, I’m guessing your DD’s friend got merit money because she’s first gen, single mom, plus ranked higher and had more rigorous classes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I totally get what you are saying. I would’ve done the same with DD1 and her essays if she had let me but she did get into three schools (so far) that required essays with them (one being the one I edited slightly the morning she submitted her application) so they must have had enough heart in them to sound authentic and explain who she is. She has also applied to an honors college for one of the schools she was accepted at so I think she is getting more comfortable with writing about herself. It has been a process to say the least.

Congratulations to your daughter on her acceptance! I was thinking about her yesterday when I saw on College Confidential they were releasing their decisions.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gatorsmom]

Annie, I’m guessing your DD’s friend got merit money because she’s first gen, single mom, plus ranked higher and had more rigorous classes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This is what I was going to come back and say. I think the first generation college student and single mom played a big part. We have friends whose mom came to Wisconsin from Peru as a young bride. English was her third language after spanish and their village dialect. Her American husband died when her 2 boys were toddlers and she raised them by herself until they were in high school and she remarried. The boys are the same ages of my 2 oldest kids and they are all still friends. Her boys were telling us they leaned hard into their first gen story on their college applications. One got a full ride to Marquette, the other got a full ride to Madison. They are smart boys, don't get me wrong, and their applications would have been strong anyway. Their mother was a ball-buster and those boys worked hard on their grades and everything they did (she always thought I was too soft on my kids). But I can't help but think the story of their upbringing played a big part in those scholarships. Whatever did it, I'm thrilled for them.

[essnce629]

Also, if the college you're talking about is a small private university then demonstrated interest is most likely considered and you have no idea how much interest this other student showed. The Why Us supplemental essay often plays a big role in demonstrated interest and many students do these as an afterthought or turn in a Why Us essay that is way less put together compared to their personal essay. From listening to college admissions podcasts daily, admission officers don't like this as it shows a lack of true interest in the school. It makes sense that a student that demonstrated a lot of interest would be offered more merit money as they are more likely to enroll and the job of an admissions officer is to craft a freshman class and meet their target numbers.

You can check the school's Common Data Set to see how much demonstrated interest plays a role. It will also tell you how important class rank, rigor, first gen, an interview, volunteer experience, work experience, etc are in their admissions process. If you're talking about USD, then their CDS says class rigor and GPA are the 2 most important factors ("very important").

Sent from my SM-A526U1 using Tapatalk

[JBaxter]

We didn’t help DS3 at all. I was probably the 10th person to read his essays. He had all his favorite teachers read and give input along with his older brothers He did get tuition covered but that was all for UF He had an additional 20 grand + 4 yr tuition for another university

[hbridge]

DC struggles with technology so I helped get everything organized on the Common App. We worked on the activities section together. DC struggled to sum up activities in 150 characters since their extracurriculars were not typical and required explanation to get the full picture.

That being said, I never even read the essays. School helped some with those, but DC wanted to do them on their own.

You cannot compare students at all. Programs are different, situations are different, whoever read the application is likely different.

[KrisM]

With both kids, they filled out the Common App while I was in the room, so ran some past us. Neither had any idea where, when, etc DH and I went to college. They know where we graduated from, but I took 1 class in the summer at a different place, so had to list that too. We worked on the activities section together to an extent. We talked through how to break up big ones into smaller listings and what to include in the info area. They wrote them. I edited their essays for grammar and sometimes added comments/suggestions if I thought something was just confusing or something. Past that, I help a lot with keeping lists of dates updated and giving reminders of what needs to be done soon. Both DS1 and DD are IB diploma students and have so much to do senior year. DD sees her friends with much less rigorous classes having lots of free time, which she is up late finishing IA essays, the EE, her CAS project, etc. I know many kids are busy, too. Not saying she's the only one. But if I can keep the date list updated and help her managed it, I will.

I think some depends on the school too. DD is on counselor #5 for her 4 years in high school. In September, she technically didn't have one, so put her name on a list and got assigned one for the 5 minute senior meeting. Hers got hired in October, but she has not met her and doesn't expect to at this point. I know some schools do essays in a class, but not here. I've never heard of a teacher reading/editing an essay. Getting a recommendation can be tough. Actually by the time her teacher uploaded the recommendation, she had been accepted to 7 out of 8 colleges. She requested it in junior year and confirmed in senior year. She asked for it to be in mid-October if possible and it was finally uploaded on November 17. So, no help at school on anything college related.

I suggested many of the colleges. And many others that she researched and discarded. I set up tours and travel.

[doberbrat]

I'm another low bar parent. I only know a few of the schools dd1 even applied to. Its both a source of pride and guilt. I'm proud that she can do it all - she is prepared for college. I also feel terribly guilty bc I know kids who had help studying for SATs, help writing essays etc are going to do better. But then I remember that while it may suck, that is how life works. Try to let it go

[hillview]

DS1 did it all himself like 100% (I provided some of the details on things he didn't know for the financial info part). I expect for DS2 I will have to help him more as he is rather disorganized but not filling it out FOR him.

[PunkyBoo]

DS1 did it all himself. He had to ask me some questions, I think ones about H and my college info plus he needed help with some of the race/identification questions (he's half Mexican, I remember some questions about whether he most identifies as Chicano or Latino or other). He asked me to review/help edit one of his essays that he was struggling to get to the right word count. He did everything else himself, until I gave my credit card, and H has done the FAFSA part (but he doesn't get any aid).

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk