<p>My son got an e-mail from an admissions counselor saying she had recommended him for a particular scholarship. They need an essay by Dec. 1st. Does that mean he's accepted at this school? I am really hating all these "games" that colleges seem to play.</p>
<p>I wouldn't place any bets on anything anymore. A young man I know was planning to apply to a top-20 private university RD. He was contacted by the admissions office and encouraged to apply ED, I think because he was on their list of very top scorers on standardized tests. For whatever reason (perhaps lukewarm recs but I don't know), he was rejected at the ED stage.</p>
<p>He and his parents were pretty upset, because he ended up doing the ED application in a big hurry, and they feel he would have prepared a better application if he had stayed with his original plan.</p>
<p>I'd say it means he has a pretty good chance of getting in, but I wouldn't celebrate too early, as midmo mentioned.</p>
<p>More likely it means that he meets the minimum objective qualifications for the scholarship (and therefore for admissions). Since FA is calculated during the admissions process, it's probably too early to say that he's definitely in. And there's so much more than objective standards. Chances are good, though.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for your opinions. What's one more essay, right? Ugggh!</p>