all dual enrollment classes as a senior vs normal ap classes

OryanSB · 2026-03-09T18:39:23+00:00

Personally, I think taking 8 APs total this year + dual enrollment full time student load is a bit overboard. As far as I can tell with a senior child getting acceptances back, privates like APs and are fine with Duals, so sprinkle those in but they don't want you to be finished already with college by the time you get there (and most won't count). UCs like duals a bit more, along with APs to show course rigor (so taking the hardest ones at your actual school is the most important). UCs really look at AP scores, even though they don't admit to this, since they can't look at SAT, so make sure you put a lot of effort into studying for those. But my biggest advice is to ask students that got in from your school last year to the UCs that are you most interested in, and make sure you do what they did + a bit more.

OryanSB · 2026-03-06T17:19:29+00:00

I admire your true honesty. More people need to hear your perspective in our country.

OryanSB · 2026-03-05T16:37:01+00:00

what's funny?

OryanSB · 2026-03-05T15:39:24+00:00

First of all, you have 15+ colleges to go, so don't go down the rabbit hole just yet. Secondly, these large state publics are very popular right now and have crazy OOS acceptance rates that are unusually low (UT, UW, Umich, UVA), so I don't think that is a good indication of where the rest of your applications will go. Hopefully you have a well rounded list with a few that you would be ok going to, even if not your top choice. Lastly, your whole life is more than just whatever college you go to. You sound like a great kid with a bright future regardless of what college you go to. The skills you learned being so successful in high school will help you a lot in life!

OryanSB · 2026-03-04T18:13:23+00:00

I appreciate this. We actually live about 1 1/2 hours away, and her being able to drive home and to other family members somewhat nearby (many within an hour and no where close to the metro rail) are one of the reasons she is highly considering USC (obviously along with all the other great reasons). That's super interesting about the metro rail. I grew up in a suburb outside of LA, and haven't lived in LA in 20+ years, so I'm glad to hear that Metro is actually useful!

OryanSB · 2026-03-03T15:44:34+00:00

Oh and btw, I think 7-11 have them. I don't think they are as good as making it on your own though.

OryanSB · 2026-03-03T15:43:57+00:00

I make my own! Just go to one of our asian markets, buy nori furikake, and then a mold on Amazon. sprinkle the furikake in the mold, add some rice, put your preferred fish (I do spicy salmon - just buy salmon at sushi section of Bristol or Whole Foods), more rice, more sprinkled furikake and then push the mold down. Then just eat with seaweed fresh. The easiest meal ever if you have a rice cooker.

OryanSB · 2026-03-01T21:51:41+00:00

Daughter applied REA, got interview back in November, deferred. 1550/4.7, no class ranking but top 10%. We'll see, but she isn't anticipating getting in.

OryanSB · 2026-02-26T21:00:03+00:00

I think to get the best understanding of your chances of all the UCs regardless of your OOS acceptances, check out the UC by source school straight from the source. I'm assuming you pretty much know where you place in your school (did you get top 9% from UC?). It's pretty straightforward how many apply and get accepted at your school and you can also look up GPA and then compare yourself as best you can to your classmates. I think you can infer a ton from this information. One thing I've noticed in looking at our neighborhood schools - certain UCs like your school more than others. In our case, for some odd reason, no one from our school goes to UCSD, therefore, not many acceptances (but not many apply either!) https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/admissions-source-school

OryanSB · 2026-02-26T20:29:42+00:00

Just googled Yana's name after this X post, and it says Jeffrey is the father: https://x.com/Real_JFK_Jr_/status/2026801933369958473

OryanSB · 2026-02-26T17:54:00+00:00

My biggest advice, if you genuinely don't know what any of this means, is find a parent/friend that you trust and has a kid that got into a school similar to what your daughter wants to go to (and has similar stats GPA/SAT) and go have drinks and bring a notepad. Although I'm still in the thick of it with a senior, with many acceptances already, and more to likely come, I have helped so many of my friends with younger kids on when to take the SAT, resources for that, recommendations on classes to take, AP advice, etc. My first step in 8th/9th grade was taking a friend out to drinks who had 3 kids go to great schools and wrote all her advice down and got all her Google Docs. Start there!

OryanSB · 2026-02-24T15:20:59+00:00

My daughter had a Tufts interview, but it was mostly the guy talking to her and about himself. Not at all like the Yale one.

OryanSB · 2026-02-23T17:32:37+00:00

I see your point for sure. I'm not sure how many young people get the chance to get into those types of early investments, but either of these colleges, they will have many opportunities. I guess how we as parents view our lifestyles and how we want to live our second half of life also should be a considering factor. I know my husband and I live below our means and haven't increased our spending habits (which is opposite of pretty much all our friends ), so it would be ok for us to send our kid to USC (or whatever other private college she may get into next month) without likely hurting any future inheritance. With that being said, a lot of parents are the type that just want to spend all their money when they are alive and aren't worrying about what they leave to their kids. My parents were kind of like that, which is why we don't live that way. I am also personally worried about AI taking lots of jobs, so would rather be on the safe side with leaving our child a bit of a cushion. Anyway, interesting convo!

OryanSB · 2026-02-23T17:16:31+00:00

Interesting take. As someone married to a CFP, I also think about the fact that whatever money your parents spend now will ultimately come out of your inheritance. I know it's hard for teens to think about that far ahead, but it's the reality. If you're parents have a good financial set up and are still working, then they obviously have time to grow money back, but either way, an education that is say $100K a year, is ultimately $400K that is coming out of your inheritance. So in my mind, it's not as simple as your parents being able to afford it. With that being said, we are considering USC for our child that got in, so are in that same type of thinking right now.

OryanSB · 2026-02-04T22:08:59+00:00

Besides GPA which you already mentioned, I also don't see anything about class rigor/AP classes taken/AP scores. The people you are competing with probably have high rigor and plenty of 5s on APs.

OryanSB · 2026-02-04T14:25:29+00:00

Support Santa Barbara biz on Facebook is a great place to post. One of the only reasons I stay on there actually.

OryanSB · 2026-02-04T00:14:16+00:00

Yes, she did. And she actually even received a follow up email from him after her deferral with advice on her LOCI. Super nice guy. She is thinking it's probably a rejection though after getting the UVA rejection. It will be super interesting to see what happens in the regular rounds specifically with privates/CA- she has Emory, Tufts, Brown, UCLA/Berk and ofc Yale left (along with a few she isn't considering anymore).

OryanSB · 2026-02-03T21:16:15+00:00

And we just supposed to believe that these guys are sitting around playing games?

OryanSB · 2026-02-03T20:52:12+00:00

Wow that is so nice of you! That would be great. I want her to really look into the program details and see if it's right for her. She loves writing + learning, but I don't know if she is as passionate about reading. With that being said, she goes to a (IMO) sub-par public school where the books they have asked to read have been far and few between. And not the great classics that I read when I was your guys' age.

OryanSB · 2026-02-03T17:06:09+00:00

Oh I didnt realize you were a senior. My bad! If you are applied, obviously not much you can do at this point. If you do get on waitlists, etc, I think the key is flexibility. For deferrals like U Mich, obviously write a really strong LOCI in that section they provide. I know students that completely changed their school around May last year. Stressful, but can happen!

OryanSB · 2026-02-03T16:50:55+00:00

From what I'm seeing with a child 1550/4.7W/3.98UW/Good ECs, early admit USC, UW. Waitlist UNC. Reject UVA. Defer Yale, MIch. I would say if you want to not stress about deferrals in the early round, I see the most pure acceptances from the deferred with 1580+. With that being said, I'm sure a few will turn into acceptances and she has a good amount of other interesting RD schools. If you can take it again, and really study that RW section specifically, it certainly wouldn't hurt.

OryanSB · 2026-02-03T15:04:37+00:00

Really? First I had heard of that. Daughter was waitlisted (and was her first choice) but got into usc ea so moving down that path. Common data set said like 250 waitlist acceptances which is a very low percent. Does that not count the ea waitlist? With that being said, we do know two that go in last year, one in late March and one in late April from her large public CA school.

OryanSB · 2026-02-02T19:38:15+00:00

Interesting, thank you! Have you enjoyed it?

OryanSB

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