<p>Just wanted to give anyone considering AU a heads up that you may apply and be offered Spring admission with doing the Washington Mentorship Program for the fall - the catch being the fall semester is around $26000 with no financial aid available because you aren’t a real AU student yet! Only offered to a couple hundred students, very prestigious, etc, etc. Students are kept on the smaller, side campus that is less than impressive. They don’t publicize this “wonderful opportunity” as a possibility until you get your acceptance letter, and as you read you digest that you are in, but not until spring. We were caught completely by surprise and then agonized over it, until my D got a better offer. It’s a great school, but the sneaky way this was done was really unfair. My question was, if these chosen students were good enough to get in for spring, where as waitlisted students weren’t necessarily in at all, why the spring admit students couldn’t possibly get in for fall first over any waitlisted students? Never got an answer. … My D wanted to go to college in the fall, not wait, but we couldn’t afford to pay full boat for the fall, so she chose another school. AU’s loss!</p>
<p>I hear in the tone of your post that you are upset that your D was not offered fall admission. But actually, she did have a leg up over waitlisted students in that they were not offered admission at all. I am not sure of the number accepted off the waitlist, but waitlist is not an offer of admission. Spring admission is an offer of admission. You do not have to accept the Washington Mentorship program in order to accept the spring admit. </p>
<p>AU is not alone in offering spring admissions. With study abroad and internships, it is one way to stabilize the number of students on campus. Washington Mentorship offers the potential to begin in the fall (no one at home even needs to know unless you decide to tell them that actual admission isn’t until the spring!). Those who have participated in it have had positive things to say about it. The lack of FA is a huge stumbling block I admit, but as an optional program, I am not sure what else they can do. </p>
<p>I don’t think it can truthfully be described as sneaky, as information about the program is readily available on the website and at information sessions. See:
[Washington</a> Mentorship Program | American University](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/washingtonsemester/mentorship/]Washington”>http://www.american.edu/washingtonsemester/mentorship/)
But in actually, most incoming students aren’t looking for this program or spring admission, so they do not seek the information.</p>
<p>Sure, bhmomma, if you know it exists, and want to apply for that program, that should be an option. If you don’t know it exists, how would you know to look for it on the website? That is why I am posting; so that others will know it exists. I can quarantee you that most of the other students we spoke to when we visited to learn more about WMP were also completely caught off-guard, and didn’t appreciate the surprise. No where on the application did AU ask if you would like to apply for WMP and spring admission instead. It was sneaky, and caused a huge amount of undue stress over the whole process of deciding where to attend once all the offers were in. As I said, My D got a great financial offer from another school, so that made the choice easier once we had that late offer. If we had known going into the application process for AU that this was all a possibility, it would have helped us to think about what our response would be. It was not publicized, it was not listed as an option on the application - my D checked off that she was applying for Fall. By omitting it as an option, it is a sneaky way to tempt kids when they finally get the acceptance/yet not really accepted letter in April. The fact that there is no financial aid available for the WMP becomes a double whammy for most families. By posting, I wanted kids considering AU to at least know that this could also be offered to them, and that with information and knowledge, they can then decide how they would handle such an offer ahead of getting that offer. April decision making time becomes very stressful just deciding between regular offers, never mind the AU one they don’t even let you know exists until you get that letter in April!</p>
<p>My point is that other schools offer spring admit as an option without an optional fall program, and those incoming freshman probably didn’t “select” that as an option either. Yes, the spring can be an emotional rollercoaster, but the adults in the family are the ones that are supposed to put the rational face forward (even if they bleed a bit inside for their chicks).<br>
Information about the Washington Mentorship program is available online, at information sessions and often discussed on these boards when those letters begin arriving. Gather the information, weigh the pros and cons for your kid, your family and your finances and make a decision. Accept WMP, decline WMP but accept spring admit, decline both. No one is saying it is easy, but don’t take it personally.</p>
<p>teachandmom, my D was also offered the spring admit option and the WMP fall semester and she decided to take it. While she was initially disappointed, she realized that it was better than being waitlisted or rejected. She is now extremely happy with her decision. She will receive 16 credits which will all count toward her degree. Best of all she has secured a great internship at the Smithsonian for which she will receive 3 credits. None of her friends who are regular Fall admits have this opportunity of doing an internship right away. So for her, WMP has indeed been a wonderful opportunity.</p>
<p>I know that when my son and two of his friends applied to AU they were aware of the Washington Mentorship program, having seen information about it on the Au website. I also know they didn’t put a whole lot of thought in to considering it.</p>
<p>Most kids applying to college see themselves as admits at each school they apply to. OP, I am sure that your daughter saw herself on the AU campus in the coming fall, and I think most students who get the Washington Mentorship offer instead of a full fall campus admit are somewhat disappointed, that is only natural.</p>
<p>A disclaimer–my son ended up applying to AU binding early decision, because he could truly see himself no where else…he didn’t even consider the other DC universities.</p>
<p>Of his two friends who applied RD, one was accepted, and chose not to attend…he ended up deciding to attend a school with deeper science resources. </p>
<p>The other received a Washington Mentorship offer, and while disappointed, he took it. He has not regretted it although he freely admits it was a bitter pill to swallow at first. It made him feel rather “less than…” I think. But in some ways it has put him ahead of others…He settled in to college life with additional academic supports, he had an amazing internship at the State Dept…and he will have that valuable experience already on his resume when he applies for further internships. He made a great transition to main campus in spring semester and worked in DC this summer.</p>
<p>AU is well aware that student who receive Washington Mentorship offers all have other attractive options available to them, and that they will unfortunately lose a lot of really great potential students as a result. But unfortunately the school only can fit a certain number of students at any one time and they do lose out.</p>
<p>I am sure your daughter will have a great experience at her chosen school!</p>
<p>WMP is usually for applicants with lower stats that they couldn’t admit in the Fall because they usually already filled the quota.</p>
<p>Yes, I know it’s a great opportunity. The point I was trying to make that seems to be not comprehensible is that I was trying to alert students new to CC who are now beginning the application/school searching process that AU even has this program. I don’t want these students to end up being taken by surprise come April when they get their acceptance letter. Yes, many schools admit for spring, but don’t dangle an additional opportunity in front of students for which there is absolutely no financial aid. You’re at AU, but not really a student. It’s more like a special summer program many schools offer, but held in the fall. I wanted students considering AU to know that they could be offered this, so they will have the ability to consider it before it is sprung on them. That is it. Is it such a secret that I have now let the cat out of the bag, and you are afraid other students won’t want to apply now? I don’t see what the big deal is at all. Lots of people share info about schools, good and bad. This is what I was alerting prospective AU students to as a facet of the application process, since it is not listed anywhere in application materials or information for AU as a possibility. We knew absolutely nothing about the WMP despite attending an info session, tour, etc, so it was NOT even discussed in those venues as a possibilty during the acceptance phase, as bhmomma was trying to assert. I don’t want other students to go through the surprise and resulting financial gymnastics that we had to do because our D loved the school but we were unprepared for such an offer. And Admissions never gave us an answer to the question of “would WMP/spring admit students be given the chance to take a fall seat over students on the wait list?” No answer, ever. Even when someone else asked it at the visit weekend for the WMP. Just saying…
Not disputing the greatness of the program…just that there were lots of surprises and unanswered questions. Lots of students visiting that weekend were also given the message that they were not as qualified as the fall admits, somehow “remedial”, yet My D and others had higher stats than some kids admitted for the fall. Was odd and hard to comprehend, with no definite explanation ever given as to how some were chosen for the WMP/spring versus fall, versus waitlist. The WMP is a HUGE moneymaker for the school as a holding tank for students who want to go away in the fall. If the students are so great that they get to do an internship before any in the fall admit group, then what makes them so special that they are allowed this? The only answer is because they are PAYING for it themselves, not really students yet, so it’s allowed. Why are classes separated onto the side campus instead of just taken on the regular campus? If you are only talking a couple hundred students out of thousands, I can’t see space really being an issue for classes. The whole thing is weird and not explained well. I want prospective students to be aware of this stuff.</p>
<p>I don’t see why the OP sees the WMP as so problematic–students have at least a month to make a decision about accepting spring admission and about enrolling in WMP, plenty of time to learn more about the program and make an informed choice. If they don’t want it, they don’t have to do it. I doubt anyone would decide NOT to apply to AU at all because of the possibility of being offered this option, so what’s the big deal? For those who can afford it and value attending AU in the fall over their other options, it’s an interesting opportunity. For those who can’t afford it or want normal fall admission at college, it’s simple to decline and move on. As for knowing WHY a particular student was selected for spring admission/WMP, the process is no more or less opaque than every other admissions action–no one ever knows why they were accepted, rejected or waitlisted either, and the “why” doesn’t matter anyway when it comes to deciding whether or not to enroll.</p>
<p>It’s just an extra option. Think of it as a spring admission (which it is), but the opportunity to earn some credits and get some experience in the fall, at full cost, if one chooses. I know of students who spent the fall semester at community colleges or state universities, earning credits that could then be used at AU. </p>
<p>AU could fill up in the spring semester by accepting more transfer students, and rejecting those who were offered admission through WMP. Instead, they make an extra option available. If people don’t want it, no one is twisting their arm - the offer of spring admission still stands.</p>
<p>I’m just confused as to why the OP thinks WMP is a secret and that applicants don’t know about it?
There is a lot of information about it on the website. I just think that a lot of applicants tend to gloss over it, thinking that it won’t apply to them.
Like Mini noted, WMP is just one option among many for AU applicants…it’s likely that the WMP admits have a number of options to choose among by May 1st, and that each will make the decision according to his or her own priorities. Money is certainly one of them. So is the opportunity to earn a full semester of college credit. For some it’s just the dream of hitting the ground in DC.
I’m sure the OP’s daughter had many good choices available to her and chose the one that suited her most.</p>