College admission woes

Hi Justlife,

Am in the same boat for the first time myself with our son. So cannot advise on the process of getting off waitlist, transfers etc. i have friend whose son is trying to get off waitlist. I believe they are accepting the far away school and waiting for the waitlist for the closer one to clear in a month.

I also wanted to say that despite our planning and getting college counselling advice (we hired someone) for the application process, my son also did not get into his top choice University. He has very high gpa, good sat scores and extracurriculars and still did not even get waitlist in his top school! We were shocked and he was very disappointed. it is super tough competition out there. Or maybe we set our target too high and got carried away. Now I wish we had not put such high reach for my son only to have it all come crashing down. But he is not the only one, many of his friends are going through same thing. But the one college we finally decided for him to go is top for his particular major so despite being far, we are accepting as good thing. also he will not have to struggle super hard for his grades at the start itself as its not super competitive as his first choice. And once they get there and make new friends it will be alright. And in the long run, it matters not just going to top school but how well you do there too. so think positive. Have you visited this far away college to see what its like instead of dismissing as not top choice?

Regarding transfers please check college website. I myself transfered from community college to a University after finishing the first two years in a community college to save on tuition. I had to takte the required courses and keep up gpa. there is usually some tie ups between local cc and nearby univ for the transfers in my state. But the downside (from my experience years ago) was that by doing this 2yr transfer, I felt lost at univ super competitive envirnment after having spend two relaxed years at cc. It would have been better to go straight to Uni. Both places I commuted to from home and so i always regretted not getting to live in a dorm and expereincing that college life.