legacy concerns...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Grinnell College
1

<p>I applied RD to the Grinnell class of 2012. My father is an alumnus of Grinnell College. I marked my legacy status on my application, and even provided this funny certificate of sorts that my dad received when I was born. The certificate was from Grinnell saying that the college would accept an application from me, "a Grinnell chip," for the class of 2012.</p>

<p>Anyway, even though I have a legacy, I'm not exactly Grinnell material...I have a 3.4 GPA, a 28 ACT, and have only taken 2 AP courses (though my school is fairly intense in terms of academics, yet offers few AP/Honors courses.) I do have some dedicated ECs though, and my essays and recs were all fairly good.</p>

<p>My mom just checked our home line's voice mail and got a message saying something along the lines of "...we need to speak with xxxxxxxxxx, class of xxx, and father of the applicant....admissions...please call have him call back."</p>

<p>Those are just tidbits of the conversation. This is strange only because I marked on my application that my parents were divorced, and even provided a phone number through which they could contact my dad. So why call my mom's house number?</p>

<p>Does anyone know what any of this could mean? Ever the realist (for I don't want to get my hopes too high), I can think of several reasons why Grinnell would want to speak with my dad:</p>

<p>1.) They want to tell him that though they honor his alumnus status, they could not admit me.</p>

<p>2.) They want to make sure he, in fact, my dad and just verify, etc.</p>

<p>3.) They want to tell him I got in?</p>

<p>4.) They want to discuss a class reunion (my dad mentioned he has a class reunion with Grinnell coming up soon...)</p>

<p>I personally think it is #1....I mean, couldn't they verify his alumnus status by looking through records? Why else would they need to verify this late in the game too? Admissions decisions are mailed this week.</p>

<p>My dad is going to call tomorrow and find out for sure what it is they want to speak about it...I'm excited, but nervous at the same time...I'm expecting the worst...</p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

2

<p>Legacy does not = admittance, and they are bound by privacy laws. I would suspect they want to verify that he's your father, but you're over thinking this.</p>

3

<p>Tetrishead, I'm very much aware that legacy does not guarantee admission to any school. And I am over thinking it quite it a bit, but I like Grinnell quite a bit, so this kind of thing can get me paranoid.</p>

4

<p>If they wanted to verify, shouldn't they have done it first week of March? I really don't feel they will call ur father for rejections though. Wait and see. Good luck</p>

5

<p>Well, my father hasn't been in direct contact with the admissions counselor who asked to speak with him, but there has been an exchange of voice mails. My dad says that, from the sounds of it, I've been waitlisted, but he needs to speak with the adcom before he can get a more accurate idea of the situation...</p>

<p>Any tips for getting off the waitlist?</p>

6

<p>An MIT alum whose kid applies to MIT gets a courtesy phone call from the director of admissions to tell them the decision when the kid is rejected. It's nice that Grinnell extends the courtesy phone call to all alums, regardless of the admissions decision. Hopefully your dad will know more soon. Good Luck!</p>

7

<p>So I have been waitlisted, but supposedly "am on a high priority." Essentially, if I pursue admission to Grinnell, I would have to call it a top choice and have to go if admitted. This is what my dad says, and he says this was what the admissions officer was communicating to him...</p>

<p>I'll wait and see what other decisions I receive, but if I decide that Grinnell is a top choice, I will be sending Grinnell an essay on why I want to attend, what I like about Grinnell, what accomplishments I've made since I mailed my application, etc.</p>

<p>Does this sound like an okay course of action to take?</p>

8

<p>If you're really serious about Grinnell, then, yes, I would do whatever it takes to get in, including the essay and update. If you're not sure about where you want to go, however, why box yourself in? I think the smartest part of your plan is your decision to wait and see where else you get in, because if you decide to pursue Grinnell and are admitted, you say that you would definitely have to go there--it's binding, essentially. So I wouldn't do much, if anything, until your other decisions come in. </p>

<p>limner had some good advice from an earlier post: </p>

<p>"The first step is to tell [Grinnell] that you want a place on the wait list. LACalum posted sound advice on another thread. You can find it here:</p>

<p>Confused about "Waitlisted"</p>

<p>Once you've heard from all your schools, take a good long look at your choices. You can find some info on choosing on Carolyn Lawrence's blog here:</p>

<p>admissionsadvice.com</p>

<p>The other thing to think about is if, by going on a wait list, you want to prolong this often agonizing process of college admissions. You really have nothing to lose and a spot at [Grinnell] to gain by going on the wait list, however, try to be aware of the emotional issues (not being able to get excited about the school you send in a deposit to, etc.) of the wait list."</p>

<p>Hope everything turns out the way you want it to!</p>