<p>The messenger whose opinion we never asked for or cared about?</p>
<p>"I don't feel I said anything inhumane or insulting; I just brought out the truth. Don't lash out at the messenger."</p>
<p>Sleet,</p>
<p>seriously, I'm sure you are the life of every party you attend. People love this sort of BS. How often have we all had a good gut-laugh when someone belittles someone elses anxiety/fear with some popped-collar wise-ass "toughen-up-you-wuss" and "take-it-like-a-man" advice?</p>
<p>It's good to have someone around to remind us what a "real-man" and "the messenger" is really good for.</p>
<p>Feel the love?</p>
<p>oh, and "Sorry that I didn't put a diplomatic twist on it....I just brought out the truth."</p>
<p>Sybbie:
Just a point of correction. Brandeis is not giving out likely letters, but rather, actual decisions - including acceptances. Blue Ribbon applications are explained on Brandeis threads; essentially, the application deadline and the decision date were moved up. Applications were due by 12/15; decisions were to issue by 2/15 (decisions actually were mailed on 2/18).</p>
<p>Full credit to Brandeis for not attempting to maintain the fiction of an April 1 admit date. </p>
<p>With the flood of "likely letters", the Ivies have, as a practical matter, started moving to rolling admissions.</p>
<p>so what? they're just trying to woo prime candidates onto their campuses.</p>
<p>If the "arms race" continues to accelerate, the strongest economies (HYPSM) will eventually prevail, the Dartmouths will suffer, and most of the casualties will be students.</p>
<p>Byerly: There is no shortage of genius students, at least as measured by SAT and GPA. Plenty to go around for the top 25 schools. HYP brags about how many 1600 SAT/4.0 GPA kids they turn away each year.</p>
<p>This should hold true unless Harvard, Princeton, Yale and a few others increase their enrollments substantially(something they seem disinclined to do)</p>
<p>
[quote]
If the "arms race" continues to accelerate, the strongest economies (HYPSM) will eventually prevail, the Dartmouths will suffer, and most of the casualties will be students.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Go Harvard! Harvard is clearly superior in every way to Dartmouth and all the other Puny Ivies and the craptacular non-Ivies that don't even deserve mention.</p>
<p>Has it ever occurred to you, Byerly, that not everyone wants to go to HYPSM?</p>
<p>Thank you, Xanatos. </p>
<p>I understand the admission offices's intent in sending out likely letters, but it doesn't seem to be working. Just judging from the likely letter thread, most of the likely recipients are still holding out for news from Harvard and the like. It seems to me that they are trying to woo applicants who probably won't end up at Dartmouth anyway, while they are pushing away applicants who would bring lots of positive energy to Dartmouth's campus.</p>
<p>Acceptance to Dartmouth is an honor, not a casualty. And, Byerly, HYPSM are great schools, but they don't hold a monopoly on higher education.</p>
<p>what the hell? I thought it was HYPS, but it seems we feel the compulsive need to add letters to the acronym. Why not tack on a "C" for CalTech (which is equal to, if not superior in many ways than MIT), or a "D" for Duke, who has recently tied Stanford and bettered MIT in many ranking systems... oh yeah, non-Ivy, Southern, not worth mentioning.</p>
<p>I am pretty sick of "ranking" schools in any definite way...</p>
<p>Am I safe to assume that everyone applying to Dartmouth is a fairly intelligent person? if so, then the response to sleet's comments was unnecessary. As someone who didn't get a likely letter and is worried about it, I can understand the frustration in not getting one, but to scold sleet for stating the obvious makes no sense. And let's be serious, who hasn't got a letter that really expected one? If you were counting on one then you must be an excellent applicant and will have no trouble getting in when April 1 comes around. For the rest of us, if the fact that Dartmouth wants you slightly less than the likelies troubles you, then you obviously don't really want Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Sure, we can always use more cynicism on the Dartmouth board, don't you think? It always brings a smile to my face.</p>
<p>Thank you, Chris. And I don't think he's being cynical, if that's whom you're referring to, FountainSiren. Unfortunately, the loud and angry responses hint disbelief at the fact I'm saying the obvious. My purpose in writing is to</p>
<p>1) Sober up people that are in denial. I had this "in denial" thing going for a bit with another top school. It's when you're soaring on unfounded hopes until the fated letter comes, and then you're down for a week or more. Hopefully, by getting pised off now, you'll be pised off less later, if that's the way you want to take it. But I suggest right now: if you didn't get a likely letter, you're probably not a shoo-in, and would do best to be pessemistic about your chances, inside and outside. THat way you won't get hurt, but may be pleasantly surprised. And for most young people, it's really hard to hold back and be realistic like that.</p>
<p>"For the rest of us, if the fact that Dartmouth wants you slightly less than the likelies troubles you, then you obviously don't really want Dartmouth."</p>
<p>Or rather, I hoped you guys would be more mature about it and not make such a big deal out of it. Nobody's gonna know whether you were admitted with reservation or without once you get to Dartmouth. </p>
<p>2) Convince people that got likely letters to keep quiet on the boards about it 'till April. I'm not the bad guy here exposing some basic truths. The half dozen people that started bragging about their likelies are the ones that got the rest all worried.</p>
<p>Let's be respectful to one another.</p>
<p>Perhaps Byerly's putting an air of exaggeration into it, but he's got a legit concern - one that overlaps with mine.</p>
<p>Bragging huh?</p>
<p>I prefer, enthusiasticly sharing their excitment with others. Most of us tend to be excited with them. That's part of the RESPECT we have for each other. Not envy, but camaraderie.</p>
<p>Whoa whoa whoa...the majority of people here, and pretty much all the ones that got likely letters, have been posting on this forum for months. Your first post here was what, two days ago? Now you want to blame people that never evoke angry responses for the flamefest you and Byerly helped start? How is it that no one started yelling at anybody about those damn likelies until you and Byerly got here? I'll tell you...it's because everybody understands that the people who got likely letters were all very excited to finally know that they will get an acceptance to a school that they were worried about are going to want to express their joy about it somewhere. Yes, like I said before it isn't pleasant for everyone else, which is why I oppose likelies, but there's a little thing in the world called tact...something which you lack utterly. We WERE being respectful to one another about this until Byerly got on his high horse and you started inexplicably knocking on people that you barely even know.</p>
<p>Sleet,</p>
<p>Dartmouth does not need some wise-guy to "sober it up." It's quite happy being its inebriated self. lol</p>
<p>Fountain and Xanatos: keep keepin' it real.</p>
<p>I just got one. Woo!</p>
<p>So? Did it win you over to get this "first kiss", or are you still holding out for "Mr. Right?"</p>
<p>* Congratulations Lindsey, *</p>
<p>You are really racking up some great acceptances and will have a really hard choice ahead of you. Your dad is so proud of you already, he must really be beaming. :D :) </p>