Can confirm!
Admitted ‘25 students & parents: Did you or your child interview? Will not interviewing hurt my chances of getting in?
By the time I submitted my application, I couldn’t have scheduled an interview — all the spots had been taken. I did everything but an interview on the optional application supplements checklist instead. I’m freaking out right now.
Thanks!
1 Like
Really appreciate this - thanks so much.
1 Like
Thank you!!!
1 Like
@folklorevibes. My daughter did interview but that was back earlier in the year and it was quite a casual discussion. The Hamilton webpage indicates that interviews are ‘strongly encouraged’, but we reached out to a couple of current Hamilton students and found out several of them had not interviewed (but were still accepted RD!)
I see that the website also mentions that interviews can be scheduled after Jan 6th for applicants who have received their applicant portal log in details.
I’m assuming you are suggesting it’s those slots that are now fully booked? If that is the case I would just send an email to the admission rep for your area letting them know of your desire to interview and if more slots will be made available. Just document your interest with them and be proactive about it.
Especially in times if Covid I don’t think the interview is a deal breaker for them so please don’t panic but do reach out to them.
Good luck.
2 Likes
My daughter did not interview and was admitted ED1.
2 Likes
Give this a shot!
Because the demand for applicant interviews this year is greater than what we can accomodate, we are offering a “Hamilton Hello” video option for those who are interested. This is your chance to say Hello to the admission committee as they review your application, and respond to a fun prompt (hint, nothing you need to prepare for) with a short, 60-second video. “Hamilton Hello” is available to applicants only, and can be accessed by logging into your applicant portal. The deadline for submissions is January 22 for Early Decision 2 applicants, and February 1 for Regular Decision applicants.
1 Like
Can someone please explain the optional personal URL supplement for Hamilton? Is this for students that already have some sort of online presence, or is it meant for students to make a video about themselves (like Brown has)? Please help!!!
Hamilton offers the opportunity to upload or link submissions showing work in visual art, dance, music, or theatre. Do you mean something other than this?
Yes, The arts supplement is something different. In the portal, when you click to do the optional writing supplement, there is also an option to submit a personal URL. I know some schools ask in the common app for you to submit a personal URL if you have an online presence, but Hamilton says to submit a URL to help them learn more about you. I was just confused if I should be making a video about myself for this.
In the way you describe it, that could be new, or it may refer to the arts supplement (which would allow Hamilton “to learn more about you”). My guess, however, would be that Hamilton is not seeking a video from you that doesn’t pertain to a specific creative activity, with the exception of the optional, 60 second “Hamilton Hello,” described up-topic.
2 Likes
Adding on to what @merc81 said, I recommend that you do a Hamilton Hello rather than a video on a website you create. The personal URL supplement is for students who have an online presence – or “a website, video link (no more than 2 minutes, please) or other media hosted online that you believe would enhance your candidacy by allowing the admission committee to get to know you better” – which can span from a blog to a social media account of a large following. Of course, doing both wouldn’t hurt if you didn’t interview – you’d just have to ensure both videos are different from each other. I haven’t heard anyone do the Hamilton Hello before, so I can’t attest to it.
3 Likes
@CocoaTiger, while the preread green light is not a guarantee of admission, if the coach advises you to not submit test scores that’s usually because that was what admissions told them. In a year like this one, the best rule of thumb is to not submit a score unless it’s above the median. Most universities will use this “test optional” policy to inflate their test scores and still accept well-rounded students without the high scores, all the while keeping an elevated profile. In my experience, 98% of the time when a coach gets thumbs up from admissions for one of their slots (ED required), they get in. The only situations I’ve seen is when something changes in the student’s admissions profile (bad senior grades, disciplinary issues, incomplete file or poor recommendation.) These coaches only get a small number of slots to fill, so they don’t want to find out that one of their commitments that was precleared by admissions gets denied.
1 Like
Cocoa tiger stated that their student did not in fact have coach support in the ED round, meaning they were not a recruited athlete.
1 Like
To be sure no coach ever guaranteed DS an offer of admission. I don’t mean to imply that if I did. DS’s pre-read at Hamilton came back with the highest score, and though not stellar, his scores were above the mean for the school so we included them. While the coach certainly led us to believe DS would be a supported athlete, after DS was deferred the coach was frank in his admission that he hadn’t used one of his official slots because he thought it was unnecessary.
There is a long detailed thread on D3 schools and recruiting (re Bowdoin and prospective athletes) that we sure wish we had found earlier. Our experience is not uncommon, apparently.
After a week or so of grieving DS reached back out to his initial favorite school and the coach there offered him a supported athlete spot for ED2. Is it an “official” supported slot? Who knows! We have an email stating he will be one of their supported ED2 athletes, but we can’t trust now and have tempered our expectations. Meanwhile DS applied to several other schools, too.
2 Likes
It seems that above-the-mean standardized scoring for Hamilton would place your son in the top few percent of all test-takers nationally when considered by Hamilton’s reported middle-ranges for attending students (1410–1500 by the SAT and 32–34 by the ACT).
1 Like
@CocoaTiger, I’m so sorry to hear that. Ultimately, this sounds like the coach gambled because your son was above mean, so he thought he’d be able to add another kid to his roster as well. Ultimately this one falls on the coach. Once this is all over, you should share this with the Athletic Director and someone in admissions. Also share with your guidance counselor and son’s high school coach. They’ll be reluctant to send kids there knowing these games are being played. As Division III does not offer athletic scholarships, the one thing are allowed to do is gain you admission (if your academics match up, which your son clearly did).
With these strong scores and grades, I’m sure he’ll get into the many other schools he’d applied, but it still sucks to have been told to count on something by a coach he’d trusted enough to commit to ED. I’m really sorry it happened.
The common platform for communication of these “offers” is often Twitter, so if your son commits to another program he should be able to check to see how many offers and commitments are being made by that school. It’s different than signing a letter of intent, but can help you tell whether the coach is being honest with him. Good luck with the other schools.
2 Likes
My D’s NESCAC coach recommends students not report any score below 33. 32 would also be within the mid 50% range for this school. Coaches have these policies based on what the AOs tell them (based also on the slots/bands each coach has, which can vary)
2 Likes
I stand corrected re scores. Naviance still shows mean scores of 1390 and 32 for the SAT and ACT respectively for Hamilton, evidently outdated.
DS’s school counselor is aware of course but we’ve moved on, lesson learned. DS remains in the Hamilton RD pool while awaiting the ED2 decision from Bates, and the experience helped him clarify his priorities. He jettisoned most D1 schools from his list, he added more D3 schools, and he talked with some other coaches free of any recruiting or admissions angle. That’s been good for him.
3 Likes
While not specific to Hamilton, here is another story about recruited athletes in NESCAC. Just for other students to read and to be careful.
A friend of my son’s had Williams as his top school and the coach wanted him. The coach said apply ED1 and he would use one of his 2 slots for him. They did a pre-reading and said he would get accepted. He applied ED1 and was deferred. He called the coach and asked WTH happened. He was very mad and disappointed. The coach said he messed up and thought the student would get in on his own so he used his 2 slots for 2 other students.
Meanwhile the coaches at Bowdoin and Middlebury called him on the date of ED decisions at Williams just to make sure he was all set. Once they found out he got deferred they said apply ED2 to their schools and the coaches would get him in. But he wanted Williams so he called the coach at Williams back and told him he had offers from those 2 other schools and would be applying to one of them ED2. The coach said give him a day or two and he’ll go to admissions and see what he could do. The coach called him back the next day and said he was now accepted and admissions would be sending him an acceptance.
So recruiting in D3 is complicated and not always what it seems. It’s not like D1 where you sign a NLOI.
2 Likes