<p>i got one too! now hopefully my financial aid comes through. im liking swattie <3</p>
<p>I agree with SWATDad and MathildaMae. The whole posting of stats thing is disturbing. And half the people who post claim their stats aren't very impressive when in reality they are extremely impressive and serves to make others feel badly. As a Dad, i don't get the whole "chance me" thing. Unless you're asking a member of the admissions committee, what's the point? That's like a nominee for an Oscar asking random strangers if they think they'll win. The only people who know are on the committee that votes for the Oscars.</p>
<p>I don't know. This is one of the weird and at times uncomfortable things about CC. Anyway, congrats to all the young folks who have been admitted to Swarthmore. Good luck with your educations.</p>
<p>I agree with Plainsman. I see the "chance me" threads as signs of pitiful insecurity, and as a sign of an irrational desire to have one's life accomplishments affirmed by a random stranger. I have never felt the need to make a chance post, as I don't see it giving me any useful information about what my chances are for a particular school.</p>
<p>However, the practice of comparing stats and grades is fairly common. While perhaps it was not the way things were done in the past, it is in style in American high schools now, and thus I am sure that many people, especially CCers, carry this attitude with them onto the campuses of their respective colleges. While this may not be the general campus practice at Swat, there is a good chance that it happens on many college campuses, especially among freshmen. For me, while I don't mind "competing" with my classmates and trash-talking them when I get a higher grade (don't worry; it happens to me, as well!), if this is not the practice at Swarthmore, or wherever I end up, then I won't cry about it. It's not a big deal. The sooner all the obnoxious CCers who enjoy showing off their stats and bragging about their community service accomplishments learn this, the better.</p>
<p>"I see the "chance me" threads as signs of pitiful insecurity"</p>
<p>I think, at least in a lot of cases I have seen, students are genuinely scared. They want that positive comment and, to be quite honest, I don't see what's so wrong with giving them words of encouragement.</p>
<p>I got one last Friday. I don't know how I got one based on the stats of the people here who also got one. But as my parents said: "if you're given something good by the divine, don't ask!"
I'm just really thankful that I got into ANY school, in light of my rather mediocre academic performances(comparitively to the pool of applicants) and I'd be quite content with going to this place.</p>
<p>Congratulations obiCello! That's reassuring to hear. Looking at some people's stats can be quite discouraging. Maybe there's hope for the rest of us after all!</p>
<p>this whole college admissions thing seems like a giant game of roulette. I'm just glad I've had some luck.</p>
<p>I know a guy who got into Stanford early, and yesterday got rejected by UCLA. There is seriously no way of knowing how things will turn out!</p>
<p>handz555,</p>
<p>It's hard to find two schools more different from each other than Swarthmore and Cornell. You have to figure out what it is you are looking for in college, and decide based on that...</p>
<p>fabd: That's hard to believe. If he got into Stanford ED, wasn't he required to withdraw all other college applications? Those are the rules. Withdraw immediately.</p>
<p>DeferredVictim: How can Top 1% of your class and 3 800s on the SATS (or close to it) be scared? Scared of what? That's like saying Arnold Schwarzenegger could be scared of losing an arm wrestling match to Paris Hilton.</p>
<p>It states on the website that "Applicants are allowed to apply for Regular Decision admission at any number of other colleges and universities." It's only restrictive to applying to any other program ED.</p>
<p>That's because Stanford isn't ED; it's single-choice early action: you don't have to go if accepted early.</p>
<p>For everyone else (including myself), I think decisions will be mailed out on the 27th (maybe, the 28th) as Swarthmore has commonly mailed around those two dates during the past couple years.</p>
<p>It has been proven time and time again that numbers do not necessarily equal success; therefore, it would seem pretty clear to me that students would want that extra little push of positive reinforcement.</p>
<p>I got an early write from Swarthmore College!</p>
<p>What he said!!!!!</p>
<p>I think it's perfectly acceptable and helpful to post stats.</p>
<p>The issue with stats is that although many posters are honest, a number are not and some are downright mean and demeaning to others. As a result, whatever benefit might be derived from looking at stats will be flawed because the data cannot be confirmed. </p>
<p>The most damage, however, lies in the detrimental effect to students with fragile egos or those who do not have access to adequate, realistic college counseling. Unfortunately, there is an awful lot of misinformation, whether free or for a fee, floating around....</p>
<p>And the additional issue is the huge variation in grading systems and rigor of schedule. Even if every poster listed nothing but the unvarnished truth, a 98 from one school is not the same as a 98 from another school; NHS is absolutely meaningless at some schools and a hard-won honor at others; even national awards aren't so cut and dried, because opportunities to compete for them may be rich and well supported at some schools, and utterly unavailable at others. </p>
<p>Most high school students don't know (because they don't have much reason to know) how very differently high schools work, not only public v private but in different districts, counties, and states. Saying that you come from a "competitive" high school or a "Newsweek top ranked school" just doesn't provide significantly useful information. </p>
<p>The only "stats" that really come close to a measuring stick of any value are Naviance figures from a student's own school.</p>
<p>(And yes, SAT scores and ACT scores provide one piece of standardized information, but I hope nobody's applied to Swarthmore thinking that scores are the most important part of an application.)</p>