how many SCEA deferrals are writing letters to the admissions board?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>i guess i'm months late. i'm sorry but the SCEA thread has like 300+ pages to it and now is just chatter. </p>

<p>Like many, Stanford has been my absolute dream school since, well forever. so i applied SCEA, and got deferred. (pleasantly surprised)</p>

<p>so i didn't call the admissions office, i thought that would be too much, and it was obvious why i got deferred (horrific SAT scores). i want to write the admissions board a letter, i heard you are suppose to do this in February.</p>

<p>do i address my horrific SAT scores? i'm 99.8% sure they're why i wasn't accepted. (1830 SAT score) or do i leave them out and just express why i want to go there more than anything?</p>

<p>Quick profile:
gpa: 3.8/4.4
class rank: 9 out of 486 (top 2%)
rigorous classload possible...All AP's and Honors
ACT: 27
SAT: 1830
SAT II: 640 math II, 600 US History</p>

<p>Activities: Editor of school paper, FBLA officer, Varsity tennis captain, National Honor Society, Ambassador program, tutoring, Teen writing internship, a lot of community service, college courses outside of school</p>

<p>Hooks: African-american, severe hearing loss (almost deaf)
wrote common app essay about my mother having me at young age, other essays were solid</p>

<p>i'm still amazed i wasn't rejected SCEA. more all the reason i don't want to be kicked out out regular decision round :(</p>

<p>sorry this is so long!</p>

2

<p>I’m wondering the exact same thing- whether to send a letter or not. I want to do more!</p>

3

<p>angelfish, instead of “addressing” your low test scores, why didn’t you take the SAT again in an effort to improve them? Wasn’t there another another opportunity to take the exam between the early action deferral notification and the cut-off date for the regular decision round?</p>

4

<p>I had a similar question about writing a letter. I talked to my college counselor, who called up my regional admissions officer to see what I could do to improve my chances in the regular round. Apparently, my admissions officer said that the only thing I should do is make sure to fill out the update form (there is a link to it in the defferal email). I’m just going to elaborate more on how much I really want to go to Stanford where the form asks for any “other pertinent information”. Has anyone heard anything else about sending a letter?</p>

5

<p>zenkoan: yes…you are right. i’ve already taken the test twice, my parents refused to pay for it again, my parents had/have absolutely no money to pay for me to take the test again. it cost $50 to take the test, and an extra $10 for each school. i figured i was going to get the same score anyway, i already took a class, got two review guides, and a computer program. i am just a horrible test taker. </p>

<p>i think i am going to fill out the update form and attach a letter with it. good luck to everyone! </p>

<p>anyone else have any ideas of what to do?</p>

6

<p>angelfish, I apologize if my prior post sounded harsh; that wasn’t my intention. Also, aren’t there fee waivers available from the College Board for students who need them, for the testing fees and for sending the scores out to colleges? </p>

<p>Anyway: if you think your test scores don’t reflect your ability, your well-written essays that accompanied your application may make that clear. I’m not sure that writing another letter to admissions restating your interest in attending will have much impact, unless it also contains some new information for them to consider. I’d think they would prefer not having to spend more time on documents that don’t add new data to the file…</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>^ Good point about the new information. Now that you mentioned it, my college advisor told me that my admissions officer said they really only need the update form filled out with any new information (i.e. awards, scholarships, new extracurriculars, etc.) and that it’s really not necessary to send an additional letter. If you’ve visited Stanford but didn’t mention it in your supplement (that’s what I did - I’m SO stupid sometimes) or didn’t visit until after you applied then definitely make sure to mention it in your update form.</p>

8

<p>dont send extra letters/essays/etc</p>

9

<p>zenkoan you didn’t sound harsh at all i understood your point, unfortunately i didn’t qualify for the collegeboard fee waivers, my parents are just soo strict about money even when it comes to college.</p>

<p>thanks for the advice everyone. i think i’m going to just rely on the update form, cross my fingers, and hope for the best! :slight_smile: </p>

<p>good luck to everyone else!</p>

10

<p>How about awards? On the site it said only update national/ international awards. I dont have any of those… but some little ones.</p>