<p>I got an early write acceptance to Amherst today. I'm a homeschooler and this is pretty exciting for me. I thought I should let you wonderful homeschooling parents know (some of you have been so helpful, like nan and Susan and I really don't think I would have been neeaarly as attractive an applicant without all the help)</p>
<p>I'm still waiting to hear from other schools but...Amherst isn't such a bad fall-back. ;)</p>
<p>Congratulations! That's fantastic. </p>
<p>Often an early write from Amherst or Williams is an indication of an Ivy acceptance. Where else did you apply?</p>
<p>Oh, gavroche, congratulations! What a great way to start your RD results! Amherst will be very lucky if they get you, and you could be very happy there. </p>
<p>(I'm looking forward to hearing how the others work out.)</p>
<p>Yes, I'm so glad that my first RD letter was such a lovely acceptance! I'll make sure to keep you posted, I can't thank you enough.</p>
<p>Congratulations! My older son had a friend from Scouts who went to Amherst, and he really liked it there.</p>
<p>May all your letters be fat ones! :)</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>And nopoisonivy, I also applied to Yale (early, deferred), Harvard, Brown, and Princeton. Those are the only schools that I would possibly consider over Amherst (I had a few other applications, actually, which were incomplete, but when I got the Amherst acceptance letter it didn't matter at allllll :))</p>
<p>I'm trying to schedule an Amherst overnight visit this week, and looking at the calendar to see which courses I'd like to pop in on. :)</p>
<p>I hope you will decide on Princeton if accepted but be prepared to function on only 4 hours of sleep:(</p>
<p>Harvard's work load is no picnic either and I don't know much about Brown except they don't have the core requirements the others do.
I believe Amherst may be the same in this regard.</p>
<p>In Princeton, you have to fulfill the math and science requirements but thats only two courses if you aren't in engineering or science majors.</p>
<p>My son opted for astrophysical science for the math req and pdf the course.
I believe you can do that twice in four years.</p>
<p>The big thing in Princeton now is encouraging students to take courses they never would even consider so to get a well rounded education.
They offer so many different courses and they need to fill seats.</p>
<p>Anyway I think that you have an excellent chance at any of the schools (Princeton has 5 or 6 home-schooled students in the class of 2009).
I think they accept approximately 10 a year (that is a guess).
With an Amherst Early Write under your belt I would you are more then half way there!</p>
<p>I have pretty nasty insomnia anyways; 3-4 hours of sleep is normal for me. :( Probably how I got the Amherst acceptance!</p>
<p>I want to be an architect. For that reason, probably, Princeton/Harvard/Yale would be great for me...though there is a lot that appeals to me about Amherst, and I am really drawn to the open curriculum (I am a homeschooler, after all!) I've gotta say, also...this early write thing was a brilliant idea. I'm a whole lot more psyched about Amherst than I was two days ago. I like feeling so wanted. Well...I won't think about other colleges and count my chickens before the eggs hatch, right now I'm pretty content. :)</p>
<p>My son got a Williams early write March 12th.
That acceptance certainly made the remainder of the month much easier. We spent the next few weeks learning as much as we could about the school and planned a visit in early April. We too were thrilled with the early letter (we never anticipated it) and enjoyed every moment. Three weeks later brought some additional choices and Williams took on third place. </p>
<p>These letters are specifically designed to get the candidate interested in their school as the admissions office hedges on acceptances to other elite schools. AWS knows that you and others have applied to Brown and other Ivies and they lose many cross admits every year.</p>
<p>My son took an architecture course in Princeton his fall semester and did well though he wants to major in Art History. Princeton ranks as one of the highest for their graduate school of architecture. Undergrad is as good as any of the others except maybe for Yale.</p>
<p>Again congrats to you and your family:)</p>
<p>How exciting -- congratulations!</p>
<p>Aw, thanks you guys!</p>
<p>Actually, I have a question. They said, "we do of course expect you to maintain your current level of academic excellence" or something of the sort...am I required to send them (and other colleges) an "end of 'school' year report type thing? And if so, when should this be sent?</p>
<p>Yes, you will need to send a final transcript at the end of the school year to whichever college you decide to attend. You will send it whenever your school year ends. </p>
<p>It's not a big deal; however, if you were suddenly to get several C's or flunk a course, they could rescind their offer of admittance. It is a rare thing, but it does happen--or so I have heard on other parts of this forum.</p>
<p>Yeah, it's just a little complicated for me.</p>
<p>This year I've been traveling around and volunteering a lot, but received little formal instruction (Spanish language study in a different country). At the present, all the academic things I am doing are on my own, I'm no longer taking college courses or anything of the sort. I also am going to be leaving in early April to volunteer abroad for four months. Should I send the letter explaining my situation as soon as I hear back from all the colleges and decide where to attend?</p>
<p>You might want to ask Amherst these questions and see what they would advice but you can wait till the beginning of April to see where else you are admitted:)</p>
<p>gavroche, your applications probably asked what you intended to do the rest of this year. If there has been no significant change from that plan, you'll probably just need to update your transcript with descriptions of what you've done since you last sent it. Include your volunteer work, the academic work you're doing on your own, and the Spanish. Continue in the same format you used before.</p>
<p>Send a cover letter explaining your travel/volunteer plans, and be clear that what you're sending is your final transcript. If you departed significantly from the plan you sent with your application, explain how and why. It would also be a good idea to include an updated reading list if you've added to it. </p>
<p>It shouldn't matter that you don't have formal grades, as long as you didn't promise any. It's not like you've been sitting around twiddling your thumbs. You've got plenty to tell about. </p>
<p>If you send your final transcript soon enough, you'll have time to check with admissions to be sure they have everything they need before you leave on your trip. It would be a good idea to call the admissions office at least a week before you leave to make sure they have everything they need. Don't put off sending things in, just so you can include another week or so of work.</p>
<p>Once you know where you're headed, you can check the school's website for any important dates and deadlines before you leave. You'll need to stay in touch with your school while you're away. Schools rely heavily on email, so you'll probably need to keep up with that while you're gone. If you can't, you should plan to have someone reliable reliable keep an eye on it for you.</p>
<p>I haven't departed at all from the academic plans I had, so that's nice at least. :) I'll write up a rough draft of the letter and send it to whichever college I end up attending...I should not send it to Amherst unless I accept their offer for admission, correct? </p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for the help, seriously. It's scary to think about how lost I would be without it. ;)</p>
<p>You only need to send it to the school you will be attending.</p>
<p>gavroche, I agree with Susantm, you don't need to send your final transcript unless you decide to attend there. It sounds like it will be a bit tight between the time when you finally have all your results and when you'll leave for your trip, but if you're well organized you'll be able to handle it. </p>
<p>Maybe you've already had a look around, but many schools have new student area on their websites. You might check those sites to get an idea of what sort of deadlines you'll have to deal with. There are room and board choices, maybe a roommate questionnaire, and various other details you will quite possibly be expected to take care of while you're away.</p>
<p>And... it might be a (somewhat obsessive) way to entertain yourself while you wait for results.</p>
<p>I GOT ONE FROM WILLIAMS TOO!!!! With a very nice and personal letter talking about my interests and how I can pursue them at Williams!!! Haha, my mom called after picking up the mail and said, "hey, you got a letter from Williams" "...how big is it?" "it's pretty big!" "mom, COME HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hahaha. Awwwwwwww.</p>
<p>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1</p>
<p>So, more thanks to everyone. :)</p>
<p>That's wonderful!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>This reminds me of what we experienced lasted year around this time.
My wife and I were elated those few weeks but my son kept a cool head as he seemed to know that something else was about to happen.</p>
<p>In a little over two more weeks you will know the "rest of the story."
If I had to bet I would say at least two Ivies:)</p>