<p>This thread is truly unbelievable....All of the schools of this level talking about fit and demonstrated interest and blah,blah,blah....Here's someone who just tweaked the upper ranges of their stats and gets accepted without having a clue about the school...Do you all still think that this whole process is void of a boatload of luck?????</p>
<p>Rodney, I agree--our D made an incredible effort to show her interest in Dickinson, and her "Why Dickinson?" essay reflected all the information she had gleaned both from personal experience and from talking to both students and faculty on campus--there could have been no question about her first hand knowledge of the school and how it was a fit for her--and to have someone who clearly wrote a bs essay and skated through--is disheartening to say the least.</p>
<p>I would not call it luck at all. If anything its the opposite. This person applied to a college that had SAT ranges way below his/her own and got in. There was no luck involved, just someone applying to a school they never intended on going to.</p>
<p>beefs: SAT was at 75%...No idea what GPA range for school is, but OP's was 3.28 UW......We are not involved with Dickinson, but as dg5052 put it, there are many students who put alot of effort into making sure that they have learned about the particular schools they are applying to.....I would be pretty annoyed if my d or s had applied EA to Dickinson, visited, wrote a passionate "Why Dickinson" essay, and got deferred or rejected b/c their stats were a "match" rather than a "safety".....Yea, I know it's been happening since the beginning of time, but it's still shocking to actually see a student admit this stuff on CC.....</p>
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I would be pretty annoyed if my d or s had applied EA to Dickinson, visited, wrote a passionate "Why Dickinson" essay, and got deferred or rejected b/c their stats were a "match" rather than a "safety".....Yea, I know it's been happening since the beginning of time, but it's still shocking to actually see a student admit this stuff on CC.....
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<p>I agree 100% and that's why I think the OP is very immature in his/her decision making.</p>
<p>Let's state the CC stereotype</p>
<p>It's not an ivy</p>
<p>OP, now that others have mentioned it, it would be <em>most</em> fascinating to see what you wrote in your "Why Dickinson?" essay. </p>
<p>I can only hope you didn't send out other apps to schools you don't give a *&%$ about.</p>
<p>Don't you guys realize that a lot of people write less than passionate "Why" essays and still get accepted? I worked hard on mine, but I know a lot of kids who just spewed facts from the school's website. Even worse, I know quite a few people who used the exact same essay and just changed the names of the schools (which I know you are not supposed to do and the essays cannot be that effective). I know it is frustrating when someone who is less interested in a school is accepted over a student who is truly passionate about the school, but I don't find it shocking that the OP applied to her safety/secondary school after she only looked at the viewbook, website, etc. I feel like a lot of people don't put that much effort into choosing their safety school and most people are not that interested in attending their safety, either. (Not trying to offend anyone: I'm not saying Dickinson is a safety school because it clearly has an excellent reputation, just that it seems the OP used to it as sort of a safety or at least a secondary/periphery school.)</p>
<p>Looking at #s is fine and dandy- but what about, oh gee, like the LOCATION, and maybe, um, the CLASSES, or um, like, you know, the SIZE....</p>
<p>and evenif it WAS, in the OPS eyes, a safety, still should have perhaps perused the schools website once or twice</p>
<p>Ah. Okay I really don't understand why everyone is offended. Seriously, I did not mean that I don't know ANYTHING about the school. I am sorry for writing that. </p>
<p>I never thought of Dickinson as a safety school. I thought I was going to be deferred. My gpa is pretty low, but my SAT's were higher than the average. I was shocked when I found out that I got in.</p>
<p>For my why Dickinson essay I wrote about how I love that it is a close knit community and a true liberal arts college.</p>
<p>The reason I wrote that I do not know anything about Dickinson is because I was almost positive that I would be deferred. So when I was accepted I began questioning how prestigous the school is. That is what I wanted people to tell me about. How hard it is to get in. College board gives me a very general overview. I'd love to hear actual stories about who got in and who didnt to get a better understanding of Dickinson's competitivness.</p>
<p>And I think prestige and education come first. Then size/location etc...</p>
<p>and the word "prestigious" is meanlingless....don't go to a school based on that.....and do you want to pick a school because its hard to get into? and its competitivness?</p>
<p>why? what makes THAT the attractive part for you? so you can talk about how you got into a "selective" school? if you read your posts, you can understand why they set people off</p>
<p>and if you aren't concerned about size and location, take a look at people who are unahppy with their school choses- size and location are HUGE concerns- class work isn't the only thing college is about- so you would be happy in a small town in the midwest? or an urban campus in a major city? you could be happy at a school with 1500 students, or 40000?</p>
<p>Go ahead and pick a school based on prestige...don't much care...but if you want to be happy for the next four years</p>
<p>I don't think my parents will be paying 50k a year for location and size. They are paying this money for a solid education. Of course, size and location are important. But I don't think that the size and location would play a huge role in my happinesss. As long as the school isn't too far from home.</p>
<p>To everyone talking about passionate essays: in oter threads you seem to be well aware about the concept of a safety school. Aren't you? And about the fact that your reach school can be someone's safety.
People not always have enough time to visit their safety school. Sometimes axtra safety is added to a reach-heavy list at the last moment. A passionate essay can help someone with a borderline score or GPA. But a generic essay hurst only so much in the admission process. After all, the school looks for some diversity. It needs both kids who will bring up the school spirit. And kids who are able to set the curve in math class.
I guess the OP is doing the right thing now - checking if this school is a good place for her. The CC is great because here you can ask questions more directly thanat the alumni interview.</p>
<p>Wow you guys are ridiculous. Dickinson is going to fill a class with x amount of students regardless of whether your kid or the OP applies. The OP was simply playing the game that we call College Admissions. If you don't like it then don't go to college. I was rejected early decision from a school that I was head over heels in love with, but it would not bother me if some kid got in who didn't really want to go got in because his stats were better. That's just how it works, the OP was more qualified than your son or daughter who was rejected. If you haven't picked up on it I'm extremely bitter because I think it's insane how these parents are so jealous of this kid's acceptance. He didn't apply to Dickinson to pressure your kid out of a spot, he applied because he thought maybe he wouldn't be accepted to schools x, y, and z that he already knows a lot about. Give the kid a break.</p>
<p>----------------thank You</p>
<p>I wasn't offended at all. My post was meant to be supportive, but when I re-read it, I realized it sort of came out as the opposite. There are a few schools on my list too that I believe I like, but I will definitely have to find out more about them if I am accepted. I think your question is a valid one.</p>
<p>I don't think anyone was jealous of the OP's acceptance. I know I wasn't, because my kid never applied. I was genuinely puzzled about how someone could be accepted who stated several times that he/she knew nothing about the school (that's the title of the thread, isn't it?). When we visited, the adcom was adamant that Dickinson is looking for people whose characters match Dickinson's character, as the application question indicates. Which would mean, to me, that the applicant had better have a grasp of what that is.</p>
<p>As we were leaving, my d remarked to me that the essay would probably take her a lot of time to think about, even before starting to write. I'm surprised that someone who admits to knowing so little about the school could answer this question successfully.</p>
<p>Ditto frazzled 1......</p>
<p>Poster: You didn't deserve the complaints you got. If you wanted to apply to colleges you didn't look too closely at, just to be sure you got into a college in case your other choices didn't work out, I say you have a perfect right. I hope you get the answer you are seeking!</p>