Do you find this as frustrating as I do?

<p>Well, my D did everything she was told to do to get her college apps. in on time and complete. She applied to one school EA and the rest RD.. She was really excited about hearing from her EA school because most of her classmates already know where they are going to school and she hasn't even been accepted to any yet.. so we were really looking forward to JANUARY 15, when her EA school was SUPPOSED to let her know whether she was in or not and what her merit scholarships might be, etc... she has heard nothing. Some of the prospective students have been able to sign on to the colleges online screen and have received word of acceptance... most have not. The college claims that they know nothing about this online notification. They are now saying that EA decisions may not go out until Feb. 1. Well, whatever. What concerns me are the UNCLEAR procedures used by this school in the admissions process. I am concerned that if D should decide to go there this problem may extend to course selection, housing, scheduling, etc... What do you all think??</p>

<p>We have similar issue. We heard from 1 EA, are waiting on 2 EAs (both due 1/15), and a final EA app was "missing" some recs (later found; & proved to be in on time) so they deferred my D.</p>

<p>Frustrating! The school that was "missing" recs was very disorganized and I got the same butterflies about organization/red tape problems in other areas. Taking it is information....</p>

<p>I guess all we can do is watch, listen and learn, LOL! But I do believe that this will weigh in D's final decision process.. I know that it will in mine (not that it matters what I - the one who is paying the bill - thinks!). Disorganization and thoughtlessness (that is what I feel this is - these kids do what they are told but the schools certainly do not. The college said if EA app. is in and complete by Nov. 1, then decision will be given by JAN. 15 - which was completely not true.. D held up her end - school did not.) What is this telling our kids?</p>

<p>I think kids easily get the misperception that ALL THE OTHER KIDS are already accepted and are all set to go. Most likely, the vast majority of kids have not heard from their schools yet, or are still waiting scholarship and financial aid info. We are anxious to hear too, but we are trying to keep firmly in mind something like mid-April for all decisions and financial aid offers to be in. Urge your D to be patient and set a date farther out.</p>

<p>It does make one concerned about the general administrative capabilities of schools when they seem to screw up on admissions. But, I think if you have otherwise thoroughly checked out this school then try to overlook it. Somehow red tape and college has always gone together and probably always will. Good luck!</p>

<p>Isandin, didn't you say on another board that your daughters EA school STARTS mailing acceptances on Jan 15 and HOPES to have them all out by Feb 1?
I don't think that it is a good idea for any school to guarantee when they will be recieved, no matter how organized they are, they may be able to guesstimate how many applications they will recieve and how much time it will take to process, but I would rather a package be a little late than be rushed.
Of course my daughter didn't apply ED or EA, and we didn't find out till march about most of her schools , It was hard to wait, the time lag between application and acceptance was a few months but it was good to switch attention to other things :)</p>

<p>My D's high school is a small suburban school (class of 215) and not a whole lot of her classmates go to college let alone go out of state or to a private school. The majority go to state schools with rolling admission policies.. so in my D's case this is not a misperception. But you are right.. we are just going to have to assume that we will have to wait for April for news - that way if anything comes sooner it will be a bonus!!</p>

<p>My D is waiting on an early Jan EA decision. She finally gave them a call on Friday and the person she spoke with told her that they had gone out on Monday. So her object of frustration has now become the US Postal Service. We had some mail delays last week when due to the La Conchita mudslide half the postal workers could not get to work for 5 days and the mail could not come up the regular route from LA. Now the fear is that it was somehow lost in the mail. The girl she spoke with did say that she could possibly get her decision over the phone this week if it still doesn't arrive if she explains the mail issues to someone higher above the phone receptionist.
So needless to say D is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mail each day.</p>

<p>Some of the guidelines we were given were not exact either. 4 weeks apparently does not count the Christmas break day, for instance. And some schools jump the gun and send out decisions piecemeal which is unnerving to those who did not get the first group of letters. I know that NYU this year did this, and I do think it was cruel to those kids in the latter groups. And though I have been told that they were not mailed in any particular order, the kids who got their letters first were all accepted. The rejections did come a week later, with those kids agonizing the entire time. A friend of mine's son was in this situation, and her son got the letter the day before winter break, and it was after all of his classmates' acceptances. She called NYU who swore that the order of the letters meant nothing and he was as likely to get in as those who got their letters earlier. According to our GC, not one rejectee got a letter early--they take the actual letters to copy for files, and those who were notified in the second week were all turned down. The same with my friend's son's classmates. I wish there were a less painful way of notifying kids.</p>

<p>There is something...distasteful...about schools pushing kids to get EA applications in by a certain deadline and then not holding up their end of the bargain in terms of when they let them know. It's one thing if mail is delayed, it's another if they just haven't finished reading the applications.</p>

<p>Carolyn.. I like that... "distasteful".. couldn't think of a better word to discribe it ~!</p>

<p>My D applied to 3 EA schools, all with a reported decision of Jan.15. She received the decision from Lewis & Clark on the 15th! (Acceptance, small merit). The other two schools e-mail her that her recommendations are not in, so no decision. Funny how L&C received the recs, but the other schools did not. Disorganization does come to mind.</p>

<p>Although I understand the frustration, I think that sometimes kids (and parents) aren't aware of the exact situation at some schools. In December, there was much moaning and groaning from the kids on the NYU forum about not hearing re: E.D. Many protested that they were told that they'd be notified by Dec. 15 and when they weren't, they were annoyed. The reality is that NYU had always stated that the first notifications would be sent to arrive somewhere around the 15th but that the process would be ongoing until the end of the month. This is how it has always been there yet people tended to ignore that. </p>

<p>I'm not saying that schools could handle some things surrounding notification in better ways, I think that all of the blame does not rest with them. Two years ago, NYU notified E.D. applicants by email of a chat arranged for accepted students. This was on Dec. 13 (I know because my D received it!) and no one had yet received a paper notification. Word spread quickly and it caused no end of problems, and phone calls, for the admission office. They discontinued that practice. :) </p>

<p>From what I've seen on the NYU forum this year, it appears that most, but not all, kids who received letters early, received acceptances. That was not the case with all of the kids we knew who applied. Some received them in those first few batches and some received them a week or more later, so I have to believe that what they said about things going out in batches, both yays and nays, was true. Perhaps certain colleges sent theirs together but overall, I know it didn't happen that way. In any case, we all know it's a nerve-wracking time and I'm not sure how they could simplify the situation when they're dealing with thousands of applications in such a short turn-around. Any school which specifically guarantees a particular date is asking for trouble.</p>

<p>I know that Case is swamped with EA applications does not have all of its results out yet (the 15th was the decision date). I think the volume of apps took some of the colleges by surprise. Hindsight is always better.</p>

<p>Hi ohiomom! My son did hear from Case (via email) before the 15th. I was pretty happy about that. However, we have not received a letter yet. That could, however, be my mail carrier and the ML King holiday. Knowing my mail carrier it's probably sitting in a neighbor's mailbox!!!</p>

<p>Jamimom, our observations (albeit, a small sampling of about 8 kids) of ED at NYU/Tisch this fall was similar to what you saw in your neck of the woods. The decisions did not come out all at one time. The first wave of kids who heard (actually this includes kids we know locally, kids we know in several other states, plus actually LOTS more kids on the NYU forum on CC who we don't personally know) were accepted. Then many were waiting close to a week and it turns out that the ones we know who heard that week later, all got rejected. I know that NYU maintained that the order of the decision letters meant nothing in terms of yay or nay but observations all landed in a pattern. The only thing is that Alwaysamom did observe differences from this where she lives or among those she knows so perhaps it was just how NYU maintained regarding waves of letter mailing with no pattern to it. The thing I know is that it did seem a bit cruel for the kids who were waiting when others had heard their ED results from the very same school. And while everyone said it did not mean anything, it surely started to look like it did and indeed, the kids who waited were all rejected. I am not saying this was the whole story because I totally believe Alwaysamom on this. But for those where this happened, it was rather tough and it did not seem the common way of other schools. Other schools seem to mail their letters all at one time and I do think that is just more "tasteful" for the kids to have to swallow. I don't really like the idea of some kids hearing from the school ED before (like a whole week) other kids hear. Seems like they should all hear at the same time (unless rolling admissions). Easier pill to swallow, I think.</p>

<p>Susan</p>

<p>weenie- we also have one of those mail carriers. Which is why we have most of our mail sent to our office. D didn't think that one out to well and used the home address. The awaited letter did arrive in todays mail. I guess the post office has caught up as there were 3 letters from the EA school all postmarked on different days. It was funny that she saw the congrats. again postcard before she opened the official acceptance letter. The news was good even though it was expected you never know. And with some good merit aid as well.
Hope the rest of you also get some good mail today.</p>

<p>Yippee-- we got one of the two today, and she is in!! So for my D,that is 2 EA acceptances in hand, one EA deferral, & one EA still outstanding. :) Phew!</p>