@chembiodad Do you know why a change was made - did the previous AD leave/retire, etc? They seemed to have great affinity for kids a D’s school (was generous with the percentage of students admitted) so the departure has students there (incl D) in jitters…
Idk, but Monica Inzer, Vice President of Enrollment Management, has been at Hamilton since 2004. I don’t think Hamilton accepts students based on the HS they attend, I think they accept great students that may happen to attend the same HS - when you are one of the top LAC’s in the country, you get to pick.
If an unhooked applicant, the bar continues to get higher at an exponential rate at all of the top colleges given URM and First-Gen students that profile are having more and more opportunities to attend great colleges - which is a great thing!
And most importantly, good luck to your D - our DD’s are really enjoying life on the Hill!
My son received a Deferral last night for ED1, which of course was a disappointment. We are trying to determine if they generally defer all applicants that did not receive acceptance to ED, or if they deny a number and defer a few.
@hikermom , look at the threads from the last few years. IME, most LACS defer most of the good students they don’t accept… And some deferrals are accepted in the RD round. Some are also denied and WL.
I think they genuinely are trying to create a class and are pretty clueless about yield so they need to keep all the good pieces in play as long as they can. It’s lousy when you are one of those pieces.
So, yes, it can still hsppen. And no, you are not one of their “gotta haves” so make sure you have others in the mix who are likely to see you this way.
Sorry to hear about the disappointment; did you feel your S was in well within the Accepted Student profile - the Class of 2021 had an Accepted Student median ACT of 32-34.
Yield at the highly selective schools is historically predictable #; that said, yield is generally going way up as acceptance rates go down further at all of the top-20 schools (save for things like the red state effect for Grinnell) as no one wants to be left without a seat so they hit the “yes” button even faster.
Hamilton’s thoughts on ED: “We still believe that EARLY DECISION (ED), when applied correctly, can serve both students and colleges well. While it is true that our acceptance rate for ED is slightly higher than Regular Decision and about 45 percent of any incoming first-year class may have applied ED, our ED applications represent only 12 percent of our total application pool and our ED acceptance offers represent only 17 percent of our total number of acceptances. We’re upfront with families about our ED philosophy and welcome any questions you may have”
I agree with @gardenstategal that its an uphill climb; I assume that if nothing changes with the applicant’s story best case scenario is that they end up on the WL which has a below 5% success rate.
After taking a gap year to reapply (I was waitlisted last year) I got into Hamilton!!! I also received generous financial aid, which is amazing! Sorry to hear about deferrals, I can quote what my interviewer said: “If they accept you it means they had a meaningful conversation about having you” @hikermom don’t be discouraged, maybe the admission officers need more time to see how your son will fit into the class. I am rooting for him!
@Chembiodad I can’t wait to meet your daughters, as we are about the same age, right? It is incredible how welcoming faculty and staff can be. As soon as I tweeted about my acceptance, both the D and AD of admissions retweeted me and added welcoming words – I still struggle to believe I’m Hamily now!
@knwthyslf, that’s a great outcome - you have to be so proud to have kept the dream alive! Congrats!!!
Yes, our DD’s are freshman studying two totally different things (Gov and STEM) and one is also a student athlete. They are both loving life on the Hill - smart, diverse and really, really caring students, and super supportive faculty; its what makes it a Hamily!
My son had ACT super score of 34, though they didn’t get the Oct test which bumped his English from 32 to 35. He also had some 4 & 5 AP scores that he did not submit on the idea that he might want to retake say Physics in college instead of leaping ahead to the next level.
His GPA is not as great as we would like, though many honors and AP classes. Mostly Soph year pulled him down (an awful lot of 88s in AP classes), did very well Jr. yr. Wondering if they want to see more Sr year grades? Again, the question is whether they put most of their ED non-acceptance into Deferral, or only a small group? If it’s everyone that is not as hopeful vs. if they pull out a group that they may keep an eye on.
We are in an exceptional school district where a number of people move to specifically for the school years. It’s very competitive here, so they grade hard.
@knwthyslf Thank you for your thoughts and a huge congratulations on getting in! How has your gap year been? Did you apply anywhere else, ie did you take a deferral year for another school? That’s a bold move!
With your interview quote, was that specific to deferrals? Also, and were you deferred last year? Realize everyone is different, just trying to gather info.
@hikermom, its hard to tell as 40% of the Accepted Students had a 34+ ACT / 1500+ SAT - did they get the 34 ACT superscore with the ED I application? Yes, I would assume a stellar 1st semester Senior Year would matter. I have no idea how many get deferred, but I also don’t think its relevant as all they are saying is that they want to look at S again in RD - which is the key.
@hikermom It is my understanding that the majority of schools defer (vs deny) in ED rounds. A few schools, such as Midd, are cited as deferring only candidates they take seriously but I have not heard Hamilton put into that category. Hamilton is not a popular ED choice at D’s school so I can’t give knowledge based on facts, just generalization. I would say that you should look into the Naviance data for your school specifically.
However, it seems like you do have some things in your favor. Send the new ACT, and Senior grades with a note citing the upward trend. I would also say to send the good AP scores as there is no relationship with submitting the scores and needing to jump a class in college. It seems like there are several ways in which your sons app can be seen in a more favorable light. I would expect that the AD at Hamilton know of your schools rigor, and that some 88’s are not a deal breaker. I assume he interviewed on campus; if not he certainly should. They are very much a DI school.
@Chembiodad Are the figures you cite ( 34+ ACT / 1500+ SAT) for ED 1 and 2 only or for RD as well?
Students can generally choose courses “downwards” (although not beyond their level “upwards”), so this should not be a concern.
Wishing your son success moving forward. Cautious optimism seems entirely reasonable in his case.
That’s for all students. So if you assume that some hooked acceptances, which tend to make up a sizable portion of ED I and ED II, may include a greater % of the lower range 32/1450, then you have to also assume that RD has a greater % at the upper range 34+/1520+ - its an unusually tightly banded school with a median ACT range of 32-34. Good luck!
AP’s are only used for placement in courses such as the level of introductory Calculus that is appropriate.
@Chembiodad At our info session earlier this month person asked what the ‘average’ sat accepts are and he cited 720 - 740 on each section (but emphasized there was no cut off, holistic yadda yadda…). What you say about the hooked aspect of the ED applicants makes sense however in that without a hook you are most likely looking at the higher end to get an admit.
Re the banding, one of the things that appeals to me (as a Mom) about Hamilton is that tight band. While I totally get that scores on tests are not the most reliable it does concern me that Bates has such a wide band. (Bates and Hamilton are very high on D’s list)
@4junior, agree on the appeal of the tight banding of really smart students. Both DD’s also had several other similar LAC’s, including Bates, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, Kenyon and Oberlin on the RD acceptance list, as well as several waitlists.
Hamilton’s tight banding and its very caring student/faculty community put it over the top for both - XC/track DD struggled a little as Bates has a Nationally ranked XC and track team so that had allure, but in the end it all worked out as Hamilton sent two female runners to D3 Nationals and Bates only sent one this year.
@Chembiodad We have not visited Carleton but it is on D’s list of schools to apply to. I’d be interested in knowing why your D’s chose Hamilton over Carlton as my understanding is that given the choice it usually falls the other way.
@4junior, First neither had any interest in being a plane ride away from home - we are 4 hours, and they have HS friends at schools in the Northern NY/NE region so being able to visit them on occasion was preferable - one close HS friend that goes to another NESCAC came to Hamilton for a football game/spend the weekend and he was jealous.
Secondly,
- for STEM DD, the STEM complex is under renovation construction so she would have had to walk through scaffolds and make-shift classrooms until Senior Year completion- she wanted a more traditional experience.
- for Gov DD, who is also a student athlete, we wouldn’t have been able to see her run much and that’s important to her.
At the end of the day, we figured that “happy” was most important when all are top LAC’s.
@hikermom , by all means, have him submit updated ACT and all the good AP exams with a letter of continued interest. Hopefully, the mid-year grades are good. If he wins prizes or awards, let them know. Yes, these schools DO defer lots of students, but if he can make his application look different (and better) when it is reviewed again, that will certainly help. Some of the students who were deferred will indeed be accepted in the regular round.
@hikermom The quote was I think a general observation for Hamilton’s admissions decisions. They are really looking at a big picture, seeing if your son can fit into a large puzzle as a certain piece, making the class even better, contributing a genuine character to the class and Hamily.
In my gap year I work in a Project Manager position at a U.S. StateDept funded agency in my hometown (American Corner network). What helped the most was probably being able to look back on my first try essays and composing new ones with a drastically improved insight. I deferred admission at a university in my home country, but I never attended (and never will, luckily!).
Here are my stats, although coming from a small public school in a suburban city may pose different standards for me than your son. SAT Math 730 Reading&Writing 710 (1440 sum), GPA 5.0, valedictorian in class. My essays became pretty solid, and my recommendations came from very different subjects (Literature, Math, Philosophy and a Gov course I took at Columbia this summer).
Hope this helps. Last year I was rejected from all U.S. colleges I applied to, including a Hamilton WL. If your son ends up in a different college, it is probably for the best, as Hamilton Adm Officers probably can tell who would thrive the most on campus, just like they outline this in their essay prompt.