<p>How can I find out if Whitman and Santa Clara University track interest.. Our jr s has finally decided these are his two top choices to list for the psat paper work. He will likely be a semif and will definitely need aid for either school. We have been able to pay out of pocket as we go for son number 1, he is in school one more year at a UC with o debt. But son 2 will likely go to privates with higher $$. I don't want to err in advising him, and pick the wrong one, he would be happy at either but Whitman is probably his preferred.
sweetkidsmom is online now</p>
<p>i would call their fin. aid offices.</p>
<p>Re Whitman: I think they are attentive and responsive to any of the ways students express interest and the PSAT submission would no doubt get you on the info list and in their files. If there is a more specific question specifically related to submitting scores, I'd just call or email admissions and ask...I know they offered an excellent merit package to a girl from our local high school and that they have some very interesting endowed scholarships. I think their website might be helpful for some of your questions.</p>
<p>Thanks. We just got a big information pkg in the mail from them right after I [posted. Looks great. Wish I could be the student going.</p>
<p>Whitman DEFINITELY tracks interest and I suspect uses demonstrated interest as a tipping point in admissions. It is one school where it pays to visit, maybe even visit more than once, and to also have the applicant strike up an ongoing corrrespondance/relationship with the admissions counselor.</p>
<p>Santa Clara, according to my daughter's guidance counselor, also tracks interest to a certain extent.</p>
<p>Not totally sure I understand what is underlying your question, and my S was not NM commended etc.</p>
<p>We did visit Santa Clara U and they certainly "followed" my S based on that- sent him their Snapshot App encouraging him to apply and making it easy (no fee, no essay). So obviously they did "note" his interest based on visting. He did apply.</p>
<p>AFTER the app and acceptance, they communicated with him extensively (I don't think this is relevant to your question, but just in case): student calls, alum calls/letters, parent of student letter, etc. etc.</p>
<p>You probably know this, but they really want males. There have been a couple of national press articles on that subject which have included SCU as prime example of school going after males.</p>
<p>If you look at their app (or that of any school) you will see one aspect of whether they track interest: is their a section asking S to check whether he's visited/interviewed/toured, etc., etc.</p>
<p>jmmom, Thanks. s will need some form of $$aid for either school, Whitman may be a little harder to get into, if he puts Whitman as 1st, doesn't get accepted there, but gets in at SCU and its his 2nd choice would that hurt his chances of $$aid at SCU. I know he can change the 1 and 2 named schools at a later time but I don't know if that is after the schools accept. letters are sent out. I'll look for the articles, interesting. Don'tg know if it matters but his SAT is at or above Whitmans 75th% V, M, and above both VM for SCU</p>
<p>Carolyn, S is reading the Whitman course catalog now, I know it looks obvious but how should a 17 year old go about establishing a relationship with an ad.coun.? They sent a letter to him in this pkg that was tailored to his interests, not a form letter. Nice touch. He' not real comfortable calling or writing these people but he is interested in the school.</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, your son hasn't visited yet. When he does, make sure he meets with one of the admissions reps. The Whitman reps are known for being friendly and approachable. After the visit, he should write (either by email or snail mail) and personally thank the rep. He could then follow up with an occaisonal email asking additional questions. If you can't get up to visit, check to see if they will be doing any visits in your area and have him introduce himself then. (I believe Whitman will be traveling with the Colleges That Change Lives Tour in Calif. this summer). If a visit isn't possible, then an email to the rep for your area, introducing himself briefly (i.e., not talking about his stats or asking about his chances just saying he is very interested in Whitman) and asking one question will work too. The questions asked should be things not addressed in the admissions information or in the catalog (i.e., do you recompute GPAs or just take the one my school sends?). The emails should be in the voice of an intelligent 17 year old - not necessary for them to be too formal or too adult-like (or so I keep telling myself every time my daughter replies to the admission rep at Earlham! :) ) His voice should come through.</p>
<p>By the way, if you haven't already noticed, Whitman requires a graded school paper as a writing sample with the admissions package. I mention this because NOW is a good time for your son to go through his files and see if there are any papers that he is particularly proud of from this year. I know my daughter has a tendency to throw everything out at the end of the year.</p>
<p>Good luck - Whitman is a terrific school, and they really look at the whole applicant. The more your son can do to establish a relationship with the admissions people, the better his chances.</p>
<p>"Whitman requires a graded school paper as a writing sample"</p>
<p>Well thats a really good thing to know. And a huge thank you Carolyn. I think we are going to be one of the August touring groups here. No time during school year. I wonder if a fall weekend tour wouldn't be better, but we still have the 3,4,5 choice schools to check out. So August is likely it.</p>
<p>I'd say a summer tour is a good place to start - but make sure they have August tours, however, as many schools do not offer admissions tours for at least part of August, especially towards the end of August. Plan accordingly.</p>
<p>If he likes Whitman on that tour, and is thinking about applying ED, you can send him up to do an overnight during the school year. If he's applying RD, it's probably fine to wait until he gets accepted for the overnight. But for a possible ED, I would recommend doing the overnight in the fall, even if he has to miss a day or two of school. Columbus Day weekend and Veterans Day weekend are often three day weekends. Tack on a day off from school and he can easily fit in an overnight.</p>
<p>One more question, this is what we were talking about here last night. We know he will have to have $$ aid, has an excellent shot at NMfinalist and Whitman says they give NM $$ for finalists, don't have to be a scholar for their aid. Do you think ED would adversely impact aid of either merit or needs based kind?</p>
<p>No, applying ED to Whitman won't affect your son's chances at aid and merit money. BUT as I mentioned to you before, Whitman can often be surprisingly ungenerous with their financial aid packages. They are not need blind (i.e., they consider need in admissions decisions) and they do not guarantee to meet 100% of need. For example, in one recent year, 53% applied for aid but only 43% were determined to have need. Of those, only 66% had their need fully met by Whitman's financial aid office. The average merit scholarship was $8,000. Whitman is not open to negotiating on financial aid or merit money either. Just something to keep in mind - don't want to scare you off of Whitman but if you need serious financial aid, consider Whitman ED very carefully. It may be to your son's advantage to have several financial aid and merit money packages to compare and choose from, rather than being stuck with an ED offer with no means of comparison.</p>