<p>According to another parent here on CC, NMH will continue a tradition of breaking ranks and announce their decisions ahead of other schools. It is certainly an attention grabber.</p>
<p>Last year NMH's decisions were posted online at midnight March 8/9 (i.e., 12:01 March 9), a full 24 hours before any of the other schools. This year it appears they're going even earlier, midnight March 7 (sorry, don't know if that means 12:01 a.m. March 7 or 12:01 a.m. March 8).</p>
<p>Hopefully there will be some great news for some of you that are applicants. I'm also fascinated by the strategy. They send out a pretty cool acceptance package that includes a "passport," a livestrong-type bracelet, and an NMH backpack.</p>
<p>Interesting trend that will bear watching in years to come. Does it have a positive impact on yield? One can only assume they are hoping so. I think it's pretty neat the way this school has made some significant decisions in the last few years that represent "thinking outside the box."</p>
<p>I think it’s sad how totally competitive this thing has gotten. I’d almost prefer if schools would stop the madness and just start notifying applicants as soon as they’ve rendered a decision. It was a bloodbath last year for many qualified students and the angst being generated among hopeful parents is getting pretty hard to watch. </p>
<p>Giving out early acceptances is kind of cool - but sending early rejections – well, jury is still out - as it is on their trend of their calling parents in early (i.e. recently) to inform them the students are on a waitlist. What’s the point of calling early to give that kind of news unless there is hope that money or a spot will eventually materialize?</p>
<p>@dodgersmom, my understanding is that it will be posted online on Wednesday at midnight. Their email clearly says that it will be posted on March 7th midnight. Still it is not clear if the decision letters will come via overnight express or, snail mail.</p>
<p>This is what on their email notification:</p>
<p>“access your child’s admission decision online at midnight on March 7”</p>
<p>Board4better - When we received the call a few years ago, it was because child was “admitted” but put on a FA waitlist. I doubt if they call for straight WL decisions.</p>
<p>The email states:
“Please know that some decisions may not be accessible through this notification process.”</p>
<p>What exactly do they mean? Who are they referring to (are they referring to wait listed applicants)? Also, when they say, “midnight on March 7”, do they mean 12:00 March 7th? Or 12:00 March 8th? I found this to be slightly confusing and not very straightforward.</p>
<p>Confirmed with NMH - decisions will be posted at 12:01 on the 7th - in other words, Tuesday night.</p>
<p>NMH is the school that calls the families of financial aid waitlisted candidates ahead of time to explain the decision to them. These are candidates who would have been admitted but for the limits of NMH’s financial aid budget . . . and who may still have a chance of being admitted if financial aid funds come available. NMH is the only school I’m aware of that does this and I think it’s a nice gesture.</p>
<p>starkali - If a candidate is financial aid waitlisted (as just described), that is a decision that will not be available through the online system. Hence, the phone call ahead of time to the family. I suspect the online system only accommodates the basic three decisions: admit, deny, waitlist.</p>
<p>Exie: I don’t know which would have been worse, the waitlists coming sporadically throughout the day last year, or creeping in over the course of a few weeks. As anxiety ridden as M10 is, I still thinks it’s probably the best system. I just wish all the schools would do online notification and/or fedex acceptances so that it could all be over and done with on one day. </p>
<p>I don’t like this early notification thing that NMH is doing. They are giving the kids they admit three extra days to fixate on their school and see themselves there. It seems a little unfair to the other schools. I guess we’ll see if it effects their yield or not.</p>
<p>Just thought I should share this that NMH called my mom and said that I was accepted…with no financial aid. I’m upset that they called so soon to tell because I wasn’t planning on knowing anything until the 10th, so it put a damper on my mood. Has this happened to anybody else?</p>
<p>@Exie & neato, methinks you both protest too much. Independent schools are just that; they can choose who they admit, the FA they offer, and the whens and whys. If a school doesn’t have a covenant agreement with other schools (like TSAO), they’re free to do as they wish. </p>
<p>As I stated above, I see it as an interesting gambit. Don’t know whether or not it will be successful or backfire, but NMH is a curious example because in this increasingly competitive environment they seem to be “envisioning” a major brand overhaul. This is something that the likes of the acronyms have neither the need nor interest to do. So I like the spunk, and their willingness to try something outside the norm. Maybe it’s that whole “any publicity is good publicity” thing? </p>
<p>But really, you’re worried about schools with >20% admit rates (which almost all of the schools here on CC that are discussed over and over are) not getting a “fair” shot at the candidate pool, and that it’s only “getting competitive” now? </p>
<p>@TheatreGeek, I’m sorry about your bad news, and I hope there’s better news to come. But yes, NMH has been doing this early notification to candidates they like, but can’t offer aid to, for a few years now. These are the economic (& educational) realities of the times we’re living in.</p>
<p>@TheatreGeek, I truly feel for you… I hope you receive some better news within the next few days! Look on the bright side, at least they wanted you! I and many others, will probably be receiving a rejection letter… </p>
<p>I needed a pretty significant amount of FA (a little less than half of the tuition) and I’m not the “most qualified applicant on paper”. Therefore, I’ll most likely be wait-listed or rejected…</p>
<p>PelicanDad: I fully appreciate that the schools can do what they wish and when and I really don’t have a problem with that. I do admit that I was not thinking about NMH gaining an advantage over the uberselective schools. I was thinking about schools with similar admissions rates as NMH. Don’t you also think that this was done to gain some kind of advantage? It just seems kind of gimmicky to me, and thoughtless to the students who are denied and then have to wait three more days for good news. Often, the only thing that tempers the sting of a denial at a favorite school is an acceptance on its heels, which is why I like all of them to come on the same day. Again - I don’t like it. But I don’t have a horse in that race so I’m probably not even allowed to have an opinion. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I did think it was nice that they called when my son was applying. But it was the day before and I simply didn’t tell him until he had an acceptance in hand.</p>
<p>I’m usually a staunch advocate for NMH (see my posts above), but, in this case, I’m going to have to disagree both with the school’s decision to notify so early and with PelicanDad’s defense of that decision.</p>
<p>I agree - variety is the spice of life and I don’t give a darn how NMH’s early notifications impact other schools.</p>
<p>But I do care how they impact the kids. And, as TheatreGeek1 points out above, it does indeed put a “damper” on things (and that’s stating it mildly!) to find out several days in advance of March 10 that you did not get into a school you had hoped to get into. The odds that were already stacked against you are now stacked even steeper . . . and if there’s any good news coming, it’s not coming for several days.</p>
<p>To clarify, I take issue not with NMH’s advance notifications regarding the financial aid waitlist. NMH contacts the parents, not the kids . . . so it’s up to the parents to keep that news to themselves (although that’s obviously easier said than done). But for every other applicant who gets bad news from NMH this week, that news is going to come way, way too soon. Sure, you can simply avoid checking the online decision Tuesday night (a course of action I would wholeheartedly recommend!) . . . but that won’t help much if the skinny envelope arrives the next day anyway.</p>
<p>It’s all well and good for the kids who get good news this Tuesday night, but for those who don’t, I agree with the posters above . . . it’s just not fair.</p>
<p>TheatreGeek and MediumRoast: so was that just a courtesy call? In other words, on 7th or 10th whenever, you will still receive an acceptance decision? Earlier, I was told the decision would not be altered by how you responded to this call.</p>
<p>I think my post my be more appropriate in this thread:</p>
<p>A few years ago wife and I returned home to a message on the answering machine from the DOA stating that our son had been accepted to X school. We were happy but slightly puzzled. We waited another week for March 10th when around then we received yet another phone call from X school with slightly confused lady (not the DOA) on the other end apologizing that she had misplaced our son’s application. We politely told her that she had not misplaced it because we hadn’t sent it. As sincere as X school may have been, I had always felt that the genuine purpose of the initial acceptance call a week early was to get us excited for the school, which may have very well worked had he actually applied. Anyway, thought it was kind of funny if not bizarre.</p>
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