<p>Ask your guidance counselor if you qualify for fee waivers for your applications.</p>
<p>I think Andison applied to Oberlin's conservatory.</p>
<p>I don't think I can waive any apps. I have one little sister and my dad makes 50-60K. Our school is pretty small and poor, but we're not actually that poor, just not that well off. Also my town is not rural (pretty big actually, but smallish school due to a weird school choice re-districting thing).</p>
<p>I had better stop myself there before I give away my location and then my identity.</p>
<p>Mount Molyoke will waive their fee if you apply on line.</p>
<p>If money is going to be a real issue then you will definitely need to trim your list because application fees, sat scores, profile, stamps and envelopes for recommendations, your mailing supplemental materials, etc can run up a bill pretty quick</p>
<p>Also consider that you will have to release SAT scores to each school at a cost of ~9.50 per school (mount holyoke is SAT optional. You will have to file the CSS profile as most of the schools on your list will require it for need based aid which means an additional $5 per application (since you already filed it for yale.</p>
<p>padad, just wanted to say that I thought you wrote a really nice and heartfelt response to the OP and I hope that she shows it to her parents. Your D is lucky to have you as a dad (I know, you feel lucky to have her as a D :) ) Hope she had a great first term at her school.</p>
<p>Regarding safeties, I have a son at UVM whose stats were far below yours. You would almost assuredly be accepted and also would probably be offered a spot in their Honors College (special classes, programs, beautiful new dormitory). Burlington VT is a great college town and the campus overlooks Lake Champlain to the west and the Green Mountains to the east. Very outdoorsy. Would it be a good fit for you? That would be tough to say without a visit and without investigating what their Honors College could offer you but you could put an app in and visit this winter. </p>
<p>My son had applied to Clark (which actually was his top choice) and did not get in but I had a good feeling about the school. I am sure they would love to get an application from an excellent student like you. </p>
<p>As a Smith grad myself, I hope you have taken a look at Smith since you are considering Mt Holyoke. Both fine schools. And yes, Northampton was a great town to wander around when I was taking a break from my studies all those years ago. Used to love to grab the Five College bus to other campuses when the mood struck too. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>You don't know what the coaches are looking for--don't make so many assumptions! You are not a 'likely letter' athlete but beyond that--you have no idea what kind of althlete they need. Send in videos of competitive running and skiing. That way you will be identitifed by adcom as the Japanese classics skiier. </p>
<p>You may be kicking yourself in the shin by defining yourself so narrowly. </p>
<p>I too have read a tiny bit of arrogance and entitlement in your writings and I strongly suggest you have your essays read by a couple of CC parent editors. If it's coming through on these posts--it might be coming through in your essays too.</p>
<p>10 is too much for three weeks. Cut out 2 more reaches and 1 more match and 1 safety. You only need one safety.</p>
<p>That leaves 5 apps to do and do well in three weeks.</p>
<p>"it's easy to gamble with the OP's life."</p>
<p>Come on, save me the drama! Did I suggest that the OP NOT apply to "safety" schools? That would be quite a departure from my perennial advice to build up an application for the bottom up. </p>
<p>However, I firmly disagree that safeties should be SURE THINGS. Safeties are schools where on is highly likely to be admitted. The next level are schools that provide automatic admissions --like the 10 percent in Texas.</p>
<p>As far as Wellesley ... yes, I truly believe that for the OP Wellesley is a safety. Plug in the applicant's statistics into the Wellesley data, and it will be obvious in which percentile the OP would rank. And for good measure, compare the ED data for Wellesley with Yale's ED numbers. Enough said.</p>
<p>By the way, my son read all his recs before he sent them in. It did not hurt his apps at all. The best one had two big negatives in it. The negatives made the positives stand out. Plus it was funny and well written.</p>
<p>I know I have the contrarian view here but I don't think adcom stop to think whether or not the rec was 'honest' because it was reviewed. It's like the essays--adcom can tell when the words of praise are true or false. You'll be able to tell too if you read them.</p>
<p>Sly_VT, the overall admission rate is not relevant. In the same scenario shown above, you need to compare the OP's statistics with the enrolled pool. Quite a different story!</p>
<p>Cheers, I like that recommendation a lot. I'm not too familiar with the parents' forum, so do you happen to know which parents are regular/willing readers? Obviously in reading my own essays I can't really spot my own tone.</p>
<p>Padad, that was extremely comforting.</p>
<p>"Did I suggest that the OP NOT apply to "safety" schools?"</p>
<p>No, you said Wellesley and Middlebury are safety schools for the OP. That, to me, means that the OP doesn't need any less selective schools on her list. For I do think that what most people in fact are after when they use the word safety is "sure thing" -- or, perhaps more precisely, "sure thing" in the sense of "this is the least selective school to which I need to apply to feel comfortable." But if you are happy to use safety to cover everything from Clark to Claremont McKenna (for, surely, CMC would be a "safety" for OP, were she interested in that school, as her SATs are above the 75% percentile), then fine, we just have a difference in terminology. </p>
<p>Also: the Wellesley ED numbers are beside the point, as OP will not be applying ED to Wellesely. But, as I said, Wellesely tilts more toward safety than Middlebury -- principally because of the admit rates. And I certainly agree that admit rates should not be fetishized; but they are not totally irrelevant, at least not if what you are after is a safety school (in my -- and, I belive, the more general -- usage).</p>
<p>I'm not sure is this is an answerable question:</p>
<p>I had a couple of pretty glaring spelling errors: for instance, maintainence (maintenance). Also, I was using a 2005-2006 common app while filling out the 2006-2007 one. In the activities section, there is a checkbox column called P.S. In the old common app, the P.S. meant something weird, my guidance counselor told me never to check the P.S. box. When I went back and read the new application (the one I sent to Yale), the P.S. now means if one wishes to continue that activity in college. So not checking the P.S. will be construed as my not wanting to continue any of my activities in college?</p>
<p>Are these two things grounds enough for deferral (or maybe a tip?)</p>
<p>I did a search on P.S., but the answers were all for last year's app. If anyone is familiar with this year's app, could they possibly enlighten me?</p>
<p>Wow, I am just full of annoying questions today. Thank you everyone.</p>
<p>Yale takes about the same percentage of EA applicants in the RD round as they did in the EA round. Almost 17% of the deferred EA applicants make it in RD round. There are actual numbers from 2004 and 2005 in the archives. Hang in there. The exact same thing happened to my daughter two years ago. She ended up admitted to HYP, Columbia, Dart, and Brown as well as all of the top LACs and womens schools. I can point you to her blog on it if you like. Her advice, don't apply anywhere you wouldn't be very happy to attend. If Yale had taken her EA, she wouldn't have attended both Bulldog Day's and Harvard Admitted Students and found out she really preferred Harvard. She is a happy '09 at Harvard now.</p>
<p>Get in touch with the area rep. Look at your presentation again and fix what's lackluster, if possible. Show why Yale is #1 for you. I'll go out on a limb and say that you have more than an average chance of being accepted RD.</p>
<p>Kingdom, going back to your post 31:</p>
<ol>
<li>Re your final list H/Y/P, Columbia, Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Wellesley, Skidmore, Mt. Holyoke
The balance is good, though the focus still seems a little scattered. Lets leave H/Y/P in a class of their own. I would have thought that youd go for Dartmouth instead of Columbia, Amherst instead of Swarthmore, Smith instead of Skidmore. Just my opinion based on what (little) youve told us about yourself. My personal belief is that the rural schools give more points to Asians than the urban/suburban ones do. I have no statistics to back this up but I believe that you would get more mileage out of Dartmouth or Amherst than from Columbia or Swarthmore.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now, on the other hand if you really don't want rural, then maybe you'd better rethink Williams, Middlebury, Holyoke (and Skidmore to a certain extent).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Strongly agree that you should set Yale aside for now. You can tackle that deferral in January after everything else is in the mail. Theres plenty that you can do later; just not now.</p></li>
<li><p>Essays are CRITICAL. </p></li>
<li><p>Contact the coaches. Why not? If its too late theyll say so.</p></li>
<li><p>Recommendation from your internship mentor? It depends. What was the situation? I dont think it would hurt to add another dimension to your profile. Japanese/Classics Lover/Athlete is a pretty good persona, though, especially for the schools that consider Asian URMs and that have an athletic student body.</p></li>
<li><p>Good!</p></li>
<li><p>If they dont make it easy for you to contact them, then they probably dont want to be contacted. This was certainly my son's experience with Williams. The best contacts that my son made during the application process were the people whom he interviewed with on campus. They were for the most part adcom members or current students. He was able to strike up e-mail correspondence with them.</p></li>
<li><p>Skidmore and Holyoke (plus Smith if you are interested) will be safe safeties for you. Visit, interview, write strong applications and dont worry any more about it. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>PS I LOVE LATIN TOO.</p>
<p>Thanks Momrath!</p>
<p>Someone earlier said:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Second -- A thought on how to show interest in a specific college or university:</p>
<p>Use local alumni as a resource. Even if you live in a rural area (as is suggested by your small class size), there are probably at least a few adults in your area who are alumni of several of the schools you are targeting.</p>
<p>Start with the faculty, administration, and guidance department at your high school. Find the most clueful teacher you have, and get some names. If even one adult at your school (or church, or synagogue, or food co-op...) is an alum of an Ivy or a top LAC, or is married to such an alum, it is likely that he or she will know others, or will know OF others. People like that tend to network, even loosely and informally.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Seeing that I for some reason I had to drive almost an hour to my alum interview, would just emailing my interviewer be okay? He seemed very keen to help me (again reaffirming my belief that there are so many friendly strangers in the world!) but we've lost contact. Should I tell him I was deferred if I contact him again? I'm tempted to discuss with my co-deferrees, but no one else had him as an interviewer, so I don't know what happened there.</p>
<p>With that, sleep! Thanks, everyone.</p>
<p>Kingdom, my inclination would be "no," don't go to your Yale interviewer for feedback. He has already done what he was supposed to do: he either gave you a great recommendation or a mediocre one and nothing can change that now.</p>
<p>My greater inclination would be to FORGET YALE (for now). Concentrate on your other applications.</p>
<p>I agree with Momrath. Forget about Yale for the rest of this year. Concentrate on your other applications. You can re-focus on Yale after all your RD apps are in. Better still, wait until you have something positive to report, such as great grades, or some award. And get going on these RD apps!</p>
<p>Jonri,</p>
<p>Can you elaborate on your comment:</p>
<p>"The WORST advice you've gotten on this thread is to refuse to waive your right to see your recs. I GUARANTEE you that if you do that, you will NOT be admitted to Yale...and at least 2 other schools on your list."</p>
<p>Do college adcoms/interviewers really want everyone to fit into their mold? And do they go so far as to spite people who are not willing to give up their legal rights? Are all other components of an application irrelevant if a student does not check the "right" box?</p>
<p>Can I just say a word about safeties here? Both my kids and I considered a safety an absolutely safe bet for college. When we lived in New York and my son applied 6 years ago, it was the University of Buffalo (he was offered money as well). Now that we live in Missouri, it was Truman State and my daughter was admitted and offered what amounted to a full ride. She also had applications out to Beloit and Denison which we also considered safeties. (She also had three other reach schools that she would have been happy to attend). She applied ED to Carleton and got in. I really don't see a safety as I define it in OP's list. I see a lot of private selective schools who get an amazing amount of applications and can pick and choose who they want. Many people applying to them will be rejected. I felt rationally that Kate was a terrific fit for Carleton and they would be lucky to have her (well, that part is the Mom talking) but we also knew that she could be rejected or deferred for many reasons. I feel that way about OP's list; it may not be probable for all of them but it is possible(and I read about it here on College Confidential).</p>