<p>Also, if you earn and save money, that money will be counted as your asset and will REDUCE the amount of financial aid you receive. You may not gain much by working!!!!</p>
<p>andreaaaa: You seem to have applied to more colleges you have no interest in than ones you do. I wonder why.</p>
<p>Perhaps you were being practical when you chose this list, and then you became more emotional and focused on Grinnell and Carleton. No doubt they are wonderful schools.</p>
<p>However, lists always have to be built from the bottom up, which you did. You have schools you have been accepted at.</p>
<p>I am very sorry that you have to live through this disappointment. Unfortunately college admission has become very competitive. However, when this disappointment passes, most of us here think you will be happy at the slightly less selective schools that have selected you.</p>
<p>Yes, mourn a little for you dream, but move on. Don't center your life around "what ifs."</p>
<p>It seems that your best course would be to be practical and try one of your other schools.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Andreaaa, obviously do everything you can to support your waitlisting at Grinnell. Whitman is a great school and I know kids that have felt very deeply that it was/is a 100% perfect place to go to college. It's reputation outside the west is very strong among grad programs.</p>
<p>On a few other points, I'm not sure that accepting an offer and deferring admission is quite the same thing as an ED agreement, but it might be worth it for you to investigate that option a little more. Also, I have a somewhat different opinion than most on this board about ED apps and financial need. My son applied ED with significant financial need, but to the right school and given certain family income/assets situations, it is not necessarily a bad idea. (Feel free to PM me on that rather than derail this thread with that controversial topic.)</p>
<p>These are just thoughts I had in reading your posts. I do think you have a good list of schools there, though, and that you will thrive wherever you go. It probably would be the practical thing to invest in a positive emotional way with your other options, but that's easy for me to say. I know it must be complicated for you. However, if you give yourself a little time, it may end up looking quite different to you than it does right now in the wake of recent disappointments.</p>
<p>Beware though about making too much money if you take a gap year. The previous poster is right -- it's not as though you could invest that money and hold it for after graduation. It would be considered an asset to pay your college expenses. Nothing wrong with that! Just be aware that it wouldn't exactly be yours to hold back for after graduation.</p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Hi, andreaaaaaa, </p>
<p>Is there a possibility of accepting an offer of admission at some college that has already admitted you, attending there next year, and then applying for TRANSFER admission to one of the colleges you still like? That, if the transfer admission option is available, would probably be a better choice than taking an involuntary "gap" year. You do have some good choices already; you just have to learn to like them better.</p>
<p>Lewis and Clark is a fantastic school and is very well perceived by grad schools. I think you'd be nuts to take a gap year with L&C as an option.</p>
<p>You may be having one of those reactions of "if they accepted me it must not be a very good school."</p>
<p>I understand how you're feeling Andreaaaaaa, and I think you've gotten some good advice here. </p>
<p>I'd suggest that you read the threads for the schools you've been accepted to and see how excited those who've gotten in are about the school and, even more importantly for you, perhaps, see how incredibly disappointed those who didn't get in are feeling. Seeing others' disappointment may help you realize the value in what you've been offered. Admissions results all over have been really screwy this year, and I think focusing on the positive is the best way to deal with the situation.</p>
<p>Univ of Washington is nothing to scoff at. It is a very good school and you are better off going there for a year than flipping burgers and hoping a certain school admits you next year. The point is to get a good education. Sure your dream college may not have admitted you, but I'm certain you will enjoy college anywhere you go.</p>
<p>Why are people saying that Grinnell, Carleton, and Whitman are negligibly different from each other? They are different schools, in different places, with different students and faculty. Yes, they are liberal arts colleges, but they aren't the same. </p>
<p>You're in at Lewis and Clark - a very good school. If you are interested in graduate school, don't stress now about it. Grad schools look at your curriculum and how you do in it - similarly to undergrad admissions. They also pay close attention to what faculty say about you in your recs - you'll probably have a good chance to get to know faculty well at L & C as it is a smaller school than the state universities you are in at currently. The debt is clearly an issue, but keep in mind that a lot of top grad programs fully fund their students (at least for doctoral students...don't know what kind of grad programs you're interested in - and who knows, you might change your mind over the next 4 years about grad school!). </p>
<p>Schools are going to be using their waitlists this year!! If your heart is set on Grinnell, my suggestion would be to call them/contact them and indicate that the school remains your top choice. Ask them what you can do to improve your shot of getting off the list - they may tell you what you need to do (many schools are surprisingly frank about what you need to do). </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses, everyone.</p>
<p>I thought I would update since I got my letter from Whitman - waitlist.</p>
<p>So now, my plan is to try to get off the waitlist at Grinnell. But I am wondering if this is a good idea, because I need financial aid. A lot of it. I am under the impression that "accepted-from-waitlist" students don't generally get a lot of aid, because it has already all been given out. Is this correct? Even for Grinnell (a school with a lot of money)? </p>
<p>I am worried because I think I would be even more upset than I already am if I somehow managed to get off the waitlist - but then I couldn't go anyway because I didn't get enough aid. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>No, I think if you are admitted off the waitlist Grinnell will treat you as well as any other student with respect to financial aid.</p>
<p>andrea, I think you have some very nice acceptances in your bag. Secure your place on the Grinnell's waitlist and keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, you have to decide where to send your deposit by May 1st (UW, WWU or L&C). Either of those schools would be fine for a student planning to pursue a graduate degree, and you have to make your choice by looking at the other factors: costs, size of the student body, majors, etc. If the waitlist delivers, treat it as a nice surprise.</p>
<p>Go ahead and do what you can to get off the waitlist. I agree with tokenadult that they will likely treat you like any other student. Grinnell has an immense endowment, and I suspect they have a formula for financial aid that is applied fairly to all students.</p>
<p>Okay, thank you. I am writing a letter to my regional admission officer - how does it sound so far? Do you guys think I should mention waiting a year for Grinnell? Would that make me seem dedicated....or obsessive?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I just received my letter from Grinnell, and I was quite disappointed to see that I was waitlisted rather than admitted. I wanted to let you know that Grinnell is still my first choice, and that I am absolutely sure that I would enroll if I were to be eventually accepted off of the waitlist. I was wondering if you could give me some advice about what I can do to enhance my application and to improve my chances of getting off the list. Would sending supporting documents be advisable?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Andreaaaaaa,
Your letter seems like a good contact start. If finances will play in your admission decision, I'd suggest leaving off the 'and I am absolutely sure....off the waitlist' phrase. Be sure to include any honors or awards you have received since mid-year.
Best of luck.</p>
<p>From another "mom in va", I'd definitely recommend attending college full-time next year. Of the places you're in, you might go re-visit, perhaps at an accepted student day, to let them try to sell you on it. I hate to see kids get too fixated on any one school--they are setting themselves up for possible major disappointment and I do believe it really doesn't matter so much where you go. Much more important what you do when you get there. There are <em>so</em> many paths to success. Just look at the adults around you. Your path might not be through Grinnell, but I'm sure you'll end up fine.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice, guys. I am getting ready to send my letter, but I just wanted a little more feedback about my question...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you guys think I should mention waiting a year for Grinnell? Would that make me seem dedicated....or obsessive?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Thank you everyone!</p>
<p>Hi Andreaaaa,
I am so sorry about Grinnell. You are such a neat, capable girl. The admissions this year have been puzzling. Among talented students such as yourself, there is no way of knowing why you didn't get in first round. Like the other parents, I strongly suggest you go with Whitman. It is a great school and has some of the same features as Grinnell. If grad school is your goal, Whitman is a good path. You may settle in beautifully at Whitman and be very content. If you do not get into Whitman then, perhaps, do a gap year. However, rather than work, I would suggest that you do Americorp or some other national service program. Not only would it simply be a worthwhile way to spend your time, schools like Grinnell are really big on public service and the experience would certainly make you an even better candidate. Take care.</p>
<p>Oh, another thought... Americorp provides a lump sum scholarship at the end of your year of service that can be applied to the college of your choice. Additionally, health insurance is provided during your year of service. Here's the link to Americorp: [url=<a href="http://www.americorps.org/%5DAmeriCorps%5B/url">http://www.americorps.org/]AmeriCorps[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Thanks hornet. But I ended up getting waitlisted at Whitman as well. I will check out AmeriCorps, though, thanks for the link.</p>
<p>Okay, one more question - my dad died at the end of my sophomore year, and I was pretty close to my English teacher that year. He was my teacher for both my sophomore and junior years, and he referred to me as the best student of the year when I was a sophomore. Then, after my dad died, I was basically a wreck, and he saw how upset I was during my junior year. I never asked him to write me a recommendation because he basically gave me an A (my junior year) - there was a final project, and I didn't have it, and I went up to his desk to ask him if I could turn it in late, and he said "Don't worry about it, I will give you an A for the class because I know you are having a hard time, and I know you would have done a good job if you had done the project."</p>
<p>So I never asked him for a rec because I was embarrassed about that, but do you think it would be a good idea to ask him to write a short letter about what a good student I was during my sophomore year and how much my dad's death affected me, but that I eventually overcame it and am doing much better now?</p>
<p>BTW, my sophomore grades - A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A-, A-, A-, A-, A-, B. junior year - A, A, A, A, A-, A-, A-, B+, B, B, B, B-, C. senior year - A, A, A, A- (grades that Grinnell saw).</p>
<p>Everyone told me that my grade dip in my junior year was okay and relatively small considering what happened to me...but apparently it wasn't okay. So do you think asking my English teacher to write something about that would help?</p>
<p>Andreaaaa,
Does Grinnell know about your Dad? I think having your English teacher write a note on your behalf wouldn't hurt. It sounds like he knows you very well and respects your capability. Your grade dip is minor and I do not feel it hurt you with your admission.</p>