Early Decision Results Thread

<p>Congratulations to everyone who got in, and sympathies to all those who didn't. As the college process has progressed for my friends and me I have realized the randomness of the process. One close friend who was by far the top US applicant in our school was deferred by Yale today. Once you're applying to the top schools there's no guarantee and all you can do is hope for the best. Maybe you'll get in regular and maybe not, but I think more often than not people get in at the level they should. I personally think that everyone whose stats I've seen should be getting into a school at that level. Good luck to everyone who was deferred or rejected now in the RD round.</p>

<p>NJPitcher:</p>

<p>Hey, that doesn't sound like all is lost. Follow up with Suzi Nam and the baseball coach after the holidays. Meanwhile, your list looks great. The safeties look plenty safe and I've got to believe that you have a very good chance of Bowdoin, Haverford, and/or Carleton coming through.</p>

<p>At least you join some pretty elite company: students with perfect a 1600 on their math/verbal SATs who get deferred from their ED schools! Ouch.</p>

<p>ilikenoodes:</p>

<p>Darn. I think you probably got nailed by the same thing as NJPitcher. Great applicant for Swarthmore, not quite enough GPA and class rank. I've always had the sense that GPA and class rank are super important in Swat admissions. But, obviously, you were close to get deferred. </p>

<p>Alas, neither you nor NJP benefitted from being in the metro-NY pool.</p>

<p>You've got your work cut out for you with all those other applications! Man, what a list! I think you are fine on safeties with American and UVM. And, you've got a really good shot at some of the other private schools on your list (the Maine schools, etc.).</p>

<p>I feel so badly for anyone who doesn't get in ED. What can you say? It sucks. The good news is that the deferral, in this case, means that you were certainly in the right ballpark and don't have to go back and recalibrate your list. It'll all work out in the end.</p>

<p>I feel awful for our NJPitcher and Ilikenoodles. Best of luck on RD.</p>

<p>[ size=+1][ color=blue][ b]Decision: Accepted[ /b][ /color][ /size]</p>

<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT: 760 CR, 790 W, 660 M
[ *] SAT IIs: 720 Biology, 750 Literature, 800 US History
[ *] GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.6ish weighted (I'm not exactly sure)
[ *] Rank:4/107 based on weighted GPA (only used for graduation speakin), 1/115 unweighted, which is what my GC sent to swats. Mystery of the day: why we gain 8 people in my class with unweighted class rank
[ *] Other stats: National Merit Semi-finalist</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: Decent... I wish both of them had been stronger, actually, although I liked how my Why Swarthmore? essay turned out
[ *] Teacher Recs:Pretty good, I think. I think my academic coach/ AP Statistics teacher wrote a really good one, especially.
[ *] Counselor Rec: Again, pretty good I think.
[ *] Hook (if any): legacy, being from Kentucky, I guess?</p>

<p>[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: Central Kentucky
[ *] School Type: Okay small public
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Gender: Female
[ /list][ b]Other Factors: 4 year speech team member +officer, 4 year academic team member on a pretty good team + team captain, 3 year technical theater club member + vice president, some other pretty generic ECs, Ky Governor's Scholar[ /b]</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 760 CR, 790 W, 660 M
[</em>] SAT IIs: 720 Biology, 750 Literature, 800 US History
[<em>] GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.6ish weighted (I'm not exactly sure)
[</em>] Rank:4/107 based on weighted GPA (only used for graduation speakin), 1/115 unweighted, which is what my GC sent to swats. Mystery of the day: why we gain 8 people in my class with unweighted class rank
[li] Other stats: National Merit Semi-finalist</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Decent... I wish both of them had been stronger, actually, although I liked how my Why Swarthmore? essay turned out
[</em>] Teacher Recs:Pretty good, I think. I think my academic coach/ AP Statistics teacher wrote a really good one, especially.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Again, pretty good I think.
[</em>] Hook (if any): legacy, being from Kentucky, I guess?</p>

<p>[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Central Kentucky
[</em>] School Type: Okay small public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Female
[/ul]Other Factors: 4 year speech team member +officer, 4 year academic team member on a pretty good team + team captain, 3 year technical theater club member + vice president, some other pretty generic ECs, Ky Governor's Scholar</p>

<p>(don't forget to remove the spaces, megblum)</p>

<p>can't wait to meet you next year everyone.</p>

<p>Hi, I'm new to these boards; my friend just gave me the link to CC a few days ago. I applied ED to Swarthmore and I've been following the posts here very closely the past few days. Congrats to everyone who got in!
I have a question about if there is any correlation between region of residence and admission chances - some ppl have made a passing reference to this in the past.
I was wondering if I, or anyone else who lives far from Swat, am disadvantage in the admissions process because I live farther away.
Thanks!</p>

<p>No. Definitely not at a disdavantage. Heck it's pretty hard to get farther away than Yimei from Shanghai, China who just got in. There are a lot of Swatties from California -- 117 to be exact. Here's a PDF with the geographic distribution of this year's students:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/institutional_research/geogstates.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/institutional_research/geogstates.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If anything, students from Jersey, NY, Penn, Maryland, and New England are at a bit of a disadvantage just because there are SO many applicants from those areas.</p>

<p>NJPitcher,
If Swat remains your number one school, you will be able to demonstrate that by following Suzi Nam's suggestions. As for your list of other schools, I must comment on how well thought out it seems, very unlike many of the "lists" on CC comprised of "Now Which Ivy League School Am I Forgetting?" It seems as if you have put the time and effort into this whole process necessary to give yourself wonderful options when all is said and done. Now just try and keep up the good work and we look forward to sharing in your good news in the spring.</p>

<p>NJPitcher,
If you have strong first semester senior grades, it might help you quite a bit in RD round, I think. Your GPA was low compared to your "potential" (as supposedly measured by SATs). I am sure you'll be happy in many of the schools on your list, but you should not scratch Swarthmore off yet either if you still think it's your first choice.</p>

<p>19 Swatties from CC have been accepted...that's amazing. Isn't that close to 10% of the ED applicant pool?</p>

<p>Does anyone here have any information about the EDII round? I know no offical data has been published, but just general feel? Similar acceptance rate to I? More/less people applying EDII than I?</p>

<p>less people applying EDII than I</p>

<p>Hey everyone! I'm a new member, even though I feel like I've been one for weeks, ever since I became addicted upon the recommendation of an obsessed friend... Anyway, I applied ED I and haven't received a letter yet. I live in Florida, and I'm thinking that might be the reason, but because I am so anxious, any information or insight on the prospects of finding out would be wonderful. Thanks and congrats to all who've been accepted!!!!!!!</p>

<p>romanapuella,
Welcome to the Swat forum and please call the Admissions Office on Monday and tell them you haven't received your letter. Good luck!</p>

<p>I'm applying RD, and everyone here gives me hope-- My stats are pretty similar and I'm working on my Why Swat essay right now. I had my Alumni Interview (I'm in Northen California) earlier today, and Swat moved way up on my list as a result. I really liked my interviewer and (I think) she found me to be a good fit for Swat. Anyway, Swat is now one of my top few schools, and I would so dream of going there!</p>

<p>people are certainly going to hate me for this...and i hope that i am wrong, but statistically speaking, it is going to be extremely difficult to get into swarthmore from hereon in and my analysis assumes that noone gets in on edII which is impossible. by my calculations, and assuming that swarthmore gets no more than 20 applications more than last years 3680, and noone gets in ed II, and a class of 368 for 2006, only 6% of the remaining applicants will get in. so i wish everyone the best of luck, but you better work hard on that why swat essay.</p>

<p>BlacknBlue,
Sorry, but I've lost you on this one. Can you explain where your data is coming from? This seems pretty far-fetched, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.</p>

<p>BlacknBlue, I think you're not accounting for the fact that in the regular round, they accept many more students than they have spots in the class for because not all of those students will choose Swarthmore over their other acceptances. They can probably predict about what percentage will enroll, based on past years' data, and admit accordingly.</p>

<p>whew, thank god i locked in that job at the 7-11, how did i screw that one up? eclipse, you are absolutely correct. nevertheless, people should know that they can no longer rely upon the guidebook admittance rate of around 25% anymore. the ed process decimates that number and if apps go up this year, which it should with the inclusion of swarthmore in newsweeks 2006 america's hottest colleges, the acceptance level could hover around half that figure, but admittedly not the gloomy 6% that i previously stated. momma always told me not to chew gum and type at the same time. profound advice unheeded.</p>

<p>HALF?!</p>

<p>i'm getting very very nervous. everyone who got into swat and who got deferred/rejected have much stronger stats than i do. arrrgh.</p>

<p>ID</p>

<p>Can't say I wouldn't rather be part of that exclusive club of people who got admitted into Swat. My club is way less cool.</p>