<p>Let me give you a quick synopsis of my plight. I'm not dumb, but I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed; my SAT score is 1960, and my gpa is 3.6 weighted. I do a healthy amount of extracurriculars that vary heavily from one another, and I'm not a bad writer. I applied to what I call a disgusting amount of colleges (it's a two digit number), and got accepted to all my safety schools, but right now I'm in the process of getting rejected/waitlisted to my reach schools. By the time you finish reading this, I will have been wait listed to at least 5, including Reed, Macalester, Skidmore, Bates, and Grinnell (see a pattern?). I've notified these schools (and possibly others) that I'm interested in attending. I want to know a few things: 1. What can I do to increase my chances of getting in? 2. What should I do until I hear back in the mean time? I will make edits if I can think of any other questions. I would also like to note out all of those schools, Reed is my number 1 choice, but the others are also appealing, mostly due to their academics and ranking. Financial issues are also not a concern to me, since I'd rather go for the better school and not worry about money, that's just my preference. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a nice day, and if you've got any feed back, I'll be happy to hear it!</p>
<p>Grinnell '89, active alumna, can’t seem to get to normal Facebook because I’m too busy with all the alum groups. Grinnell has been reviewing its policy of being Need Blind in Admissions and Guaranteeing to meet all accepted domestic students full financial need. Trustees kept it the same, but aren’t happy.
Grinnell has one of the highest discount rates in higher ed, students paying full charge are only paying approx 48% of the cost of operating, the rest comes from income on the endowment. If we use too much of the endowment, it won’t be there during a future financial calamity when we REALLY need it. On top of that, approximately 88% of students get additional grants and financial aid toward the comprehensive fee. Only 12-ish% of students pay full charge.
If you are on the wait list and REALLY want Grinnell, please, get a PERSONAL letter out to the director of Admissions ASAP, if you can look through their site & get names of other Admissions employees, send the same thing to all of them. Be nice and demonstrate your enthusiasm, as well as empathy and compassion if possible.
If it is truly accurate that you won’t need financial aid, and don’t imagine you will need it throughout 4 yrs at Grinnell, FFS, SAY SO! Grinnell is less expensive than Oberlin (where I started), but only 60% of its students get aid there, meaning 40% are paying full cost. Grinnell has a goal of increasing its percent of full pay students, to insure the endowment lasts FAR into the future. It’s a long-term priority, but being attempted gradually, not overnight.
SATs are adequate. 25% of enrolled students score below 625 on average per test. The weighted GPA concerns me, and you didn’t mention class rank.2/3rds of Grinnellians are in the top 10% of their high school classes (about 60% public schools), 90% are in the top quarter.
My suggestion for Grinnell is writing something about while you are greatly looking forward to meeting classmates, you feel Grinnell’s non-urban environment will assist you in focusing on academic work rather than being distracted by a million different options in urban areas or at a larger school. If you have anything like ADD-Inattentive, this is where you mention it. Show that Grinnell’s unique qualities will help prevent whatever kept your GPA down in HS. Mention looking forward to working closely with professors and the small class size. Say something about the tutorial being great for acclimating you to what is expected at this level in college. You should be aware that unbeknownst to most current students, Grinnell is still firmly rooted in the 19th century Social Gospel movement (except Temperance). We REALLY care about the larger society. We live the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few, or the one. It shouldn’t be a surprise that President Obama’s best friend is a Grinnellian, '87, or that FDR’s New Deal was imagined, created, and put into practice by a Grinnellian. It’s hard to understand at 18, but with that focus on the good of the greater society any kind of self-absorption or narcissism doesn’t go over very well for long.
Multiple adult partners, GFs, BFs, and spouses have referred to the ongoing connection between alums as a cult. Many crash reunion every year and are pushing for official Grinnell Reunion Every Year. We still tend to drink to excess but I don’t think anyone has ever imagined a positive afterlife that could lead to becoming an actual cult and drinking Koolaid laced with cyanide instead of electricity. Grinnell is #7 in PhD production in the US. the vast majority of my friends have them in Public Policy.It is a pre-PhD factory.
Macalester is WEIRD about admissions. If they think you will choose another school over them, they probably won’t admit you. When I transferred, I was admitted over the phone to Reed & Grinnell during my first call for info. Junior admissions people at Oberlin had moved up and spread out to different schools, so when I called and asked for info, one of them happened to be walking by the receptionist at both places AND REMEMBERED MY NAME. They transferred the call, doublechecked it was me, and let me in. I was floored. Macaclester REJECTED me.
Because of the GPA and SATs to a lesser degree, I have to caution you against Reed. The bottom 25% score below 660/average per test on SATs. Many in the top 20% or so are really riding that tightrope between genius and insanity. Sometimes, things come out of their heads that are so strange and off-topic and completely and totally on-target and accurate, changing the entire focus of the analysis yet making no sense whatsoever how they got there, it’s almost as if they are psychic (they aren’t, their brains just work differently). It’s freaky. It’s very much a constant work school, and NOT busy work. 12% don’t return sophomore year and only 77% graduate within 6 yrs. It isn’t for everyone and it very much requires self-motivation. Worse, as great as it is, Reed comes with all of Portland’s distractions.Mac would have you in a city, too.Bates wouldn’t, but east coast schools have much higher rejection rates due to many more applications and being better known. I don’t understand why you are wait-listed at Skidmore. If Grinnell, Reed, and Macalester all bounce around #17 in US News & Crap Fictitious Statistics to Sell Magazines, Skidmore is at #45. Could be the east coast competition thing.
I think you have what Grinnell needs, and Grinnell could provide you an environment which would help you work in ways other schools probably wouldn’t. I understand if you want something else, but there’s likely a real chance there, which is why I wrote SO much. Good look with whatever path you pursue.</p>
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Realistically, very little. At all these schools, which you acknowledge were “reach” schools, very few are taken off the waitlist. Be proud of the fact that you were not rejected.
Move on. Tell them you want to stay on the waitlist, and then forget them. Choose to attend one of the schools to which you were admitted, and get excited about it. Do not throw away with both hands the opportunities you have been given by longing for something that is likely not going to happen. If it does happen, you will be pleased and have a choice to make, but right now, there is no choice.</p>
<p>If there is a clear favorite here, and if you can go full pay, write to the favorite and say, “If you admit me I will come.” Then speak in great detail about what you can do for the school and what the school can do for you. If you get taken off this waitlist, you will be expected go there, and if you don’t there could be repercussions for your school or guidance counselor. That might help. Otherwise, there’s not much you can do except send pretty useless letters saying why you’d like to still be considered for admission. </p>
<p>They were reach schools. You weren’t supposed to get into any of them.</p>