<p>But now that I know 1. the custodians leave before closing on the day I lost them, 2. even when they’re here they sometimes don’t clean up the desks, and 3. someone would indeed be interested enough in a printout concerning a really good school to take it and leave with it, I’ve narrowed it down to that someone either took it or trashed it, and I doubt someone got up to throw the essay out–most people just put it to the side. However, it wasn’t there the next morning.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve already made a few calls–do you think the colleges note who called about what, and then match it up with a phone number on the application?</p>
<p>Moreover, like I’ve said, the school in question is well-known enough to draw applications from people who think they have the slightest chances. </p>
<p>If I don’t know that it’ll definitely proceed to a committee, then I’ll have applied for nothing, just to be rejected without evaluation.</p>
<p>1)Taking a generic print out from Stanford is very different from taking someone’s essays. I bet, despite what you believe about janitors etc, that it was thrown out.
2) The people answering the phones aren’t the folks reading the essays, no one will put that information together.
3) Even people applying with the “slightest” chances need more than a good essay; they need SAT II’s, very good SAT/ACT scores, teacher rec’s, quality EC’s etc., so no, I don’t think someone who has a school like that on their radar, even if they have just a slight chance, would wait until they come upon a misplaced essay to apply.
4) It was worth your effort to apply, they will evaluate you. If you are rejected, it will be done after an evaluation of all of your application materials has taken place, and the rejection won’t be due to this implausible scenario.
5) Relax.</p>
<p>Well I was forwarded to an admissions counselor because the person who originally answered the phone couldn’t answer my question. </p>
<p>How is a generic printout different? Are people more or less likely to take it? On the one hand, the printout, if s/he doesn’t realize it right away, is readily available online, so it’s not worth much despite its Stanford emblazonment. On the other, s/he would have to read a few paragraphs in to realize that it’s an application essay, unless s/he also noticed the accompanying article published by the school’s paper, on which the school’s name is hard to miss. Putting 2 and 2 together, s/he might return to the first document with greater interest. </p>
<p>Moreover, the essay is probably the biggest portion of the application; the rest occupy comparatively little time. And, s/he might not think SAT scores to be a major deterrent, the application type being one reason and general underestimation of competitive scores another. Hence, given a month’s time and a premade essay, it’s not all that unlikely to suddenly considering applying.</p>
<p>My point with the generic printout being different is you know you left it there, and you know it was later gone. Someone could conceivably take that application, figuring it wasn’t written on, and they could use it.
I didn’t realize you lost your essays a month prior to the deadline. Why are you now worried about it, versus at the time? At the time did you go through all these thoughts, ask the librarian, place the Stanford app in the room etc?<br>
What accompanying article was with your essay?</p>
<p>Because the deadline hasn’t passed yet (stays in the pm bmc).
Also, it wasn’t the entire application–just the second page saying what the deadlines and requirements are, prefaced with Stanford. Not much utility beyond making the person aware that applying to Stanford is a possibility.</p>
<p>The article was a school newspaper one surveying student satisfaction with the social life, but even more importantly, the name of the school is included in the paper (as is the norm, I’d assume), typed in huge letters.</p>
<p>So, you did this a month before the deadline passed, and it hasn’t passed yet? (sorry, I don’t understand “stays in the pm bmc”) I thought Stanford’s deadline was quite a while ago.</p>
<p>Again, though, you have no proof someone took your essay, nor any proof they used it to apply to the school you applied to. I reiterate I don’t think it is a good idea to call the school; no real basis for your fears. I think it would sound neurotic if you were to call given the circumstances you have described. But, if you have made calls, no one is going to take the time to decipher who called, so quell those worries too.
If you don’t get accepted to that particular school, remember a ton of eligible students also didn’t get accepted. Your application will get a complete review, as will all students who apply.
If you heard through the grapevine that someone is bragging that they lucked onto these wonderful essay(s) and decided to apply since the deadline was still far away, and they had no qualms about this, then by all means call…but without that, you simply have lost the essays. My belief is if they were found, and someone understood what they were, they would have tried to find the author (no name on your essay?). They would have either turned them into the librarian or perhaps an English teacher, in the hopes that person could find the author.
I maintain the janitor did throw them out. Despite papers piling up at times, they do clearly throw stuff away most of the time.
I am also a little thrown by some of your assertions that don’t seem to add up; why would the school newspaper highlight this selective school, when you alluded at one point to the fact that most kids don’t have your writing skills nor were terribly interested in that school (perhaps I remembering that aspect incorrectly, don’t have time at the moment to go back through these exchanges).</p>
<p>I thought it’s the aim of every selective school to build the perfect class of students. If someone seems neurotic (which according to wikipedia correlates with low emotional IQ), wouldn’t a school want to exclude that person, but maybe not as much as they’d want to exclude the dishonest one? </p>
<p>No I didn’t put my name on them, and no one here will take the time to find out who the author is, go through the librarian, etc. It’s either stash or toss.</p>
<p>Even if the janitors are more reliable than their recent wake suggests, still it’s impossible that they threw them out that day, since I left half an hour after all of them left.</p>
<p>And I meant the school newspaper of the school receiving my application. Most school newspapers have the school name in its own name; TheDartmouth is an obvious one.</p>
<p>I believe you that my application will get a complete review, in that my essays will be read. However, what’s the incentive to go the extra step of verifying authorship, when a toss into the rejection pile justfiable by doubt or perceived carelessness is so easy?</p>
<p>Also, does this thread betray my identity, if not by itself, then in that it reminds someone of a phone call he once received?</p>
<p>I won’t comment on how good it is because I’m not arrogant, but it’s not unreasonable to believe it’s better than what most other applicants here can compose, again speaking from experience reading peers’ work and not just mere, sweeping degradation.</p>
<p>I don’t see the point in posting anymore, sorry. I gave my opinion: Don’t call, don’t stress, the essays are in the trash, no one stole them, no one sent them in as if they were their own. Warm up some milk, and go to sleep.</p>
<p>For the schools I’ve already called, should I delink my phone number from the application in case this thread reminds them of a call in their phone records?</p>
<p>No, you should call your doctor’s office and tell them you are having obsessive thoughts about the college process. There are people who are not emotionally capable of rolling with challenges and difficulties in college life, and you are showing some worrisome signs.
If you cannot let go of these thoughts, you may be a candidate for therapy or medication. Believe me, I am a parent with some experience in mental health issues and treatment. You are past the point of normal worry. Calling the admissions office will only alert them to your state of mind.</p>
<p>Even if they don’t see this thread, the call itself can suggest neuroticism or carelessness, either of which is enough to reject me, even if no one sends in a duplicate.</p>
<p>Yes I know about the alerting of state of mind, which is why it’s important to make sure the call doesn’t match up with my application.</p>
<p>No I don’t need any of that. I found some new evidence that can help my case. Now I just don’t want my phone number to match up with my application anymore. Do admissions officers browse these forums regularly?</p>