@Knowsstuff That’s a real healthy aproach. I’m not pointing fingers except at myself.
@privatebanker… Thx we think so but yes I think you brought up a great point and think more parents are guilty of that also…
Where I live in Chicago you see that these kids wearing x school clothes in elementary through high school. Their parents are always talking about… “when you go to x school…”… I think we as parents can’t set up these expectations anymore. Then horror sets in when the kids actually has an opinion and doesn’t want to be o go to their Ala mater or worse… Doesn’t get in, which we are seeing a lot of lately… Not so good for the mental health of the kids.
CMU’s approach of supplemental essay within one and a half days is a terrific and innovative approach. Welcome to real life. Opportunities oftentimes are unexpected. How quickly you take advantage of those opportunities separates the successful from the unsuccessful. We all face unexpected projects and deadlines and have to perform.
A 500 word essay for an academically qualified student who truly wants to attend CMU should not be difficult. And, the short deadline limits the ability of some students to use professional essay writers, college consultants, or take advantage of special accommodations.
And, from the online posts, many waitlisted students were able to submit an essay within the short time period.
I love CMUs approach. Wish more schools did it. As the parent of a kid currently in waitlist purgatory who hired nobody to assist in his college process and didn’t even read his applications I applaud any school who attempts to actually get a true sense of a student. After all, once the kids are there they’re on their own anyway!
CMU’s approach is interesting, but if it were me, I’d be very irritated to have an additional requirement for the slim chance of getting off the waitlist - finals started yesterday for seniors at my kid’s school and they have more today. I hope CMU is not looking for anything more than a rehash of whatever was on the original why-CMU essay.
If they are reading 500 new essays and decisioning off of these, god bless them. It would also mean another internal round of comparisons in this short window. I just don’t buy it. As a quick glance and “ok they are serious”. That I can see. And if you all think another last minute essay is probative as to a students quality as an applicant, we politely disagree.
My larger point is the vast majority of students fighting to get in, is reflective IMHO, of something other than CMUs unique proposition of value. And as parents maybe we are playing a part in this collegiate arms race.
Perhaps, CMU is an anomoly. CMU admits students to specific colleges, each of which has a very specific enrollment number. CMU also waitlists students to specific colleges.
Well prior to May 1, CMU already knew which waitlisted students for a specific college indicated that he/she wanted to be placed on the priority waitlist for that college. If a student opted to be on the priority waitlist, that student committed to deposit $800 within 72 hours of admission.
They also know which waitlisted students are not seeking substantial financial aid, such as merit scholarships (because waitlist admission at CMU is not need blind and there is only minimal financial aid available for waitlisted students).
In all likelihood, CMU’s admission staff is divided into small teams, on a college by college basis to fill the open spots for each college. From there, these teams read the essays of top tiered waitlisted students, for each college. These essays will help separate and differentiate individual students that truly want to attend CMU. And, by the end of the day, CMU will be able to fill the open spots.
Makes sense. But all this time and effort coming down the opinion of one extra 500 word essay. Good lord
FYI. I have no one applying there or on this or any waitlist. And I love CMU. My wife is from Pittsburgh and her god father went there.
Admitting by division is not rare. It is common among more selective schools that have at least one division that is more popular than its capacity. State flagships are common examples, but more selective private schools like Penn, Columbia, Cornell, and NYU are other examples.
The essays were for people on the priority waitlist, it is possible that there aren’t that many of them.
Lol… When I first saw CMU… I was thinking Central Michigan University… I was saying to myself how can that school be so hard to get into lol 
Did CMU/SCS really need to ask for yet another essay?
He has been coding since 5th grade, has never missed a Math question on any standardized test, and had a perfect score on a worldwide computer test with that put him in the 99.9% out of 60,000 people who took that test.
Give him a spot or reject him. The rejection will toughen him up.
note: Before the usual suspects with kids in HYPMS chime in with “it its not just a numbers game”, we have heard you and don’t really care for your opinion anymore in this matter.
@am9799 May I ask if your D’s friends accept Skimore’s offered? My D still waiting…
@HenryJ2000 They both declined. Good luck!
We came to realize that this process is a racket - and a way to change the numbers for the more “elite” schools that are competing for those top ratings. They wooed our daughter, who had great stats - had her in the middle of all the schools rate 5-15. She was inundated with emails and printed material. In the end, she applied to 7 of them and they all rejected her. REALLY hard to take. This is a kid with better numbers and lots of extracurriculars. We had to scramble ad do some late apps. Which has turned out to be a wonderful thing. Those schools are begging for her, and they are backing it up with $$. What we learned is - Need Blind is a FARCE!!
I don’t understand you point, @gmlbol
I don’t believe volume of mailings or emails correlate at all to acceptance rates.
I am hearing of literally no waitlist movement…anyone hearing anything? Is it still early? Seems late to me, though what I remember from last year.
Georgetown letters were just starting to be received yesterday about WL. All letter info. posted have a line saying that no one will be accepted from WL because so many have accepted a spot. Different colleges with Georgetown reporting same info. No one has mentioned an extended WL offer yet.
Cornell WL thread had very little movement that ended about a week ago. Many waiting for word either way.