<p>Dear [name],
I tried calling you last night and today, but thought that maybe I
should email instead. I was so pleased to see that you had returned the
Wait List reply card to us, deciding to stay on the Wait List. I am now
trying to get ready, in case that the Dean gives me the call to start to
consider Wait List candidates. Are you still interested in attending
Swarthmore? If we go to the Wait List it will be for only a few
candidates, and we would like to be able to accommodate those that are
most interested. Please let me know what you are thinking. You can
either respond to this email, call me at the office at 610-328-7764 or
call my cell (after hours or during the weekend).</p>
<p>i don't want to go there...my mom made me apply.
Did any other waitlisted people get these emails?</p>
<p>Why did you stay on the waitlist if you don't plan to attend? That doesn't make any sense....</p>
<p>That is probably your regional admissions officer trying to go to bat for you in picking the waitlist winners. It would be courteous to e-mail tonight and just say that you've already decided on another school, thanks for the interest, but "no thanks".</p>
<p>Or, just e-mail the truth: "i don't want to go there...my mom made me apply."</p>
<p>That will save everybody from making a big mistake!</p>
<p>ok interesteddad..it wasn't my fault that my mom is a little overbearing on the whole college thing.
yea i wanna know if any other people got the email to see if it was special or something
i already said no i'm going to williams where i got accepted in the first place
and i didn't want to accept the waitlist..i told my mom NO do not send the waitlist postcard and she went on and sent it. i didn't want to be on it because then if i got accepted i would be taking that from another person who would actually wanna go to swarthmore.</p>
<p>Sounds to me that you might want to quietly e-mail the admissions rep and tell them so that you don't get an acceptance that triggers more issues between you and your mom.</p>
<p>I'm not suggesting it was your "fault". I'm just saying step up and take responsibility and let Swarthmore know. To me, it's jerking a college around for no reason to remain on a waitlist when you have no intention of going. Not that you owe Swarthmore anything...I mean they offered waitlist to you and a thousand of your closest friends.</p>
<p>But still... your admissions officer is a real person who has a stack of "x" number of real people on the waitlist and she's working this weekend trying to engineer a spot in Swarthmore's freshmen class for as many of "her kids" as she can. There's no reason to waste her time.</p>
<p>To answer your question, yes, your phone call and e-mail was "special" to some degree.</p>
<p>It means that admissions met and Jim Bock told each admissions rep how many slots might be available off the waitlist for each region. They are engaged in a fierce intramural battle to see who gets "their kids" accepted.</p>
<p>Your rep is sitting there with a stack of her choices, calling them to find out this weekend who is and who is not interested so she knows who to go to bat for in the meetings on Monday. She doesn't want to "sell" a kid to the admissions committee only to find out the student didn't even want to attend.</p>
<p>Remember, the Swarthmore admissions reps know these applicants. Admissions reps at Ride the Tide introduce themselves to students and say..."oh wait, you are from Acme High and you are second chair oboe player in the San Antonio Orchestra, right?"</p>
<p>When my wife introduced herself to the Dean of the College during Swarthmore freshman orientation, he said, "oh, must be **<strong><em>'s Mom. I loved her essay on *</em></strong>*".</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sounds to me that you might want to quietly e-mail the admissions rep and tell them so that you don't get an acceptance that triggers more issues between you and your mom.
[/quote]
Sounds to me like you should quit sticking your nose in someone else's family business.</p>
<p>Hey, you are the one who said that you didn't want to apply. That your mother wrote your essays for you and mailed your applications. And, that your mother sent the card to Swarthmore accepting a position on the waiting list.</p>
<p>I don't know what the deal is between you and your mother, but from what you have described, the last thing on earth you need is your mother getting an acceptance letter from Swarthmore and enrolling you. I'm trying to give you honest advice here. E-mail your admissions rep and take your name out of the hat.</p>
<p>It probably doesn't matter at this point. Jim Bock reads this forum. I doubt you'll be getting any more calls from Swarthmore!</p>
<p>as an outside opinion, I didn't think interesteddad was being very judgemental, but isntead giving his 2 cents (which is what you get when post on a public forum). </p>
<p>my 2 cents is to take the advice given to you, but always with the proper dosage of salt.
maybe intersteddad stepped over the line by making an assumption about your mother, but I think it was merely an observation.
good luck at williams. responding saying you're not interested was the right thing to do.</p>
<p>If myronnie does not want people sticking their nose in his business, he should not ask for advice on a public forum. He got an answer to his question. Wasn't that what he asked for??</p>
<p>I actually was talking with Jim Bock yesterday, and he mentioned that a year or two back some student posted something along these lines, admissions rechecked the individual's application, and decided not to offer that student a slot in the class. So while Jim Bock may/may not read these forums, someone from Admissions does. (<em>waves</em>) And they take seriously stuff that is posted here.</p>
<p>And yes, I am a student.</p>
<p>BTW—did you know that the common consensus on the Swarthmore 2012 Facebook group seems to be that this forum is a place of overwhelming negativity vs. Swarthmore?</p>
<p>Which was a thread by some kid who didn't even apply to Swarthmore. Went to Northwestern, was miserable, and transfered after one year. </p>
<p>His sole source for his "Swarthmore information" was a disgruntled Swarthmore football player whose team got axed while he was there. The football players at Swarthmore in 2000 all despise the school for reasons that have no particular relevance to anyone applying in the post-football era.</p>
<p>The thread was a hit n' run hatchet job. I've asked the moderators to remove it on several occasions. It is their choice to keep it pinned as the only permanent post on this forum. The topic of work versus play is a perfectly valid topic. However, the nature of that particulary drive-by shooting post was intellectually dishonest and beneath the overall quality of College Confidential. It's like asking a divorcee for opinons about her ex-husband.</p>
<p>BTW, I was sincerely trying to help MyRonnie. I got the distinct impression that, if a Swarthmore acceptance came, her mother was fully prepared to send a deposit, put MyRonnie in a box, and ship her to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Given that MyRonnie wanted absolutely nothing to do with going to Swat and only applied "because my mother made me", I figured that this scenario could cause some considerable friction in the Ronnie household. Not to mention that Swarthmore doesn't need a student who is only there because mommy mailed in the application.</p>
<p>The best way to avoid an all around unhappy result would be to cut it off at the pass by seizing the initiative to take her name out of the running. It was a pretty simple suggestion.</p>
<p>Plus, I don't really see what it to be gained by jerking around a college. I mean, you've got an adcom wasting her time trying to call a student who doesn't even want to be on the waitlist. Who benefits from that?</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with interesteddad and MBP. Some of us on the waitlist have a genuine interest in Swarthmore and would definitely attend if accepted off the waitlist. Please take the initiative and email the admissions office to let them know that you do not want to be on the waitlist anymore. Thank you.</p>
If you were sincerely trying to help myronnie, you wouldn't have committed shameless libel in doing so by claiming his mother wrote his essays for him. I mean, seriously, why did you post this:</p>
<p>
Where did myronnie say that his mother wrote his essays for him? I think you weren't trying to help anyone. You were, yet again, making personal attacks and overstepping your bounds.</p>
<p>
[quote]
BTW—did you know that the common consensus on the Swarthmore 2012 Facebook group seems to be that this forum is a place of overwhelming negativity vs. Swarthmore?
[/quote]
If you check out the alumni group at Facebook, there's a thread that asks "What's your favorite Swarthmore memory?" One of the responses was "getting the hell out." Half of the responses were in agreement. Lucky for everyone, the "common consensus" at a Facebook group hardly qualifies as authoritative. Not to mention, doesn't the 2012 group comprise incoming freshmen? LOL. Check out the Daily Jolt upon your arrival to find out where you stand.</p>