Odd Macalester Letter

<p>Did all RD applicants receive an odd letter from Macalester which basically took a page and a half to say they consider all applicants carefully before making a decision and then finished by saying, don't not go because it might be expensive? My DS was reading it and said "Is this an unlikely letter?" I had to answer, "I'm not sure."</p>

<p>No, as I understand it they send it out every year to parents just explaining their process. I would hope it does not mean that you will not get in. :/</p>

<p>No, we got it as well. And I think my kid is a strong candidate for admission, so not worried about it.</p>

<p>No, I don’t think you need to worry. I thought it was sort of charming, once I made myself read it thoroughly – the Dean of Admissions encourages you to read one or two Macalester brochures “that have piled up in stray corners,” or some such. And there is a lot of talk about the value of a liberal arts education vs. the cost. They wouldn’t be trying to encourage you to get ready to shell out money if they were trying to tell you your kid wasn’t getting in. I think the letter does go to everybody.</p>

<p>We recieved it too. Of the 25+/- LACs my 3 kids have applied to in the aggregate, this was a first, so I do think it’s unique. I did not take anything from it in terms of an indication that my kid will get in or not. If anything, my reaction was it was a bit of a waste of paper–nothing in there new, I know all of the things they look at for admission decision, I know its expensive, if I didn’t think it was worth it I would not have supported my kid in applying, etc.</p>

<p>Has anyone received early decisions for RD? </p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-I897 using CC</p>

<p>I thought the letter might be slightly counterproductive as it appeared to promote the value of a high-cost private LAC education but not in particular at Mac. I am sure that many of their applicants have aspirations at multiple LAC’s and the reasoning in the letter would apply to all of them.</p>

<p>Mysticalkites–my son has not. I believe that Mac just received his first semester grades, which they wanted. I don’t know whether Mac does the early decision for RD thing as some schools do.</p>

<p>I received the letter as well and found it, well, odd…exactly as you described it. My first reaction was that it was priming my D for a letdown in not getting in. Then I read it in more detail and thought maybe this was in response to a Financial Aid related question I emailed the staff. In the end, I am tending to agree with “nepop” in that it was a waste of paper. It is currently filed in the circular file cabinet under the sink and not piled up in a stray corner. NOTE: Still hoping D gets in as it is probably her top choice.</p>

<p>Lol Anouilh. It did not lend itself to skimming. I also enjoyed the comment about reading the piled up brochures. (Oh my, my phone entered in puked instead of piled =:O). We have lots of brochures still lingering around the house.</p>

<p>I assumed it went to everyone, but wanted to check that it wasn’t a “let down gently” letter with a little sweetener in the form of financial aid discussion just in case.</p>

<p>We got it, too. Got a similar letter from a couple of other schools, one of which was followed with an acceptance and the other we’re waiting on decision.</p>

<p>You may want to read MAC President Brian Rosenberg’s article in the current issue of Macalester Today on their Website. Macalester is committed to making the finances work. Mac was not on our radar screen (we are from California and it is not as well known here yet…) but my son’s college counselor encouraged him to apply and we are impressed and grateful, he loves it and his first semester was wonderful. Given how some of his friends feel about their first year at schools he almost attended, we feel like he made the best choice. Good luck to all of your students!</p>

<p>Along these lines, anyone receive and “early write/likely” letter from Mac or know whether Mac sends these? Another, similar LAC my son applied to is sending these this year, apparently for the first time, along with invites and travel vouchers to visit the first weekend in March. Pretty clearly an attempt to round up top kids before they get answers from other schools. The arms race continues, I guess.</p>

<p>My daughter received an early write letter a couple of years ago. It was absolutely unexpected and incredibly nice. It said something like - we know how difficult it is to wait, and since we know we’ll be offering you admission, we want to tell you now. Since you gave us time to evaluate you, the least we can do is to give you enough time to evaluate us. She got it in February.</p>

<p>It didn’t feel like an arms race technique - it felt like insurance. And it did work. She ended up not going to her first choice, even though she was admitted, and is very happy at her second choice, Macalester.</p>

<p>HAHA, funny you should mention that. We did just get an early notice from University of Puget Sound with a nice merit offer. The same day (today), we got a Macalester envelope. It was small and did NOT have congrats or anything written on it (like the others have had). My son was nervous about opening that one, but it was just to let us know that his file was finally complete! LOL. And, to top it off, one other university that he was accepted to also sent us the merit financial aid letter, which we got today - it was nice to get, but not as much as the others. I foresee tough choices ahead, but today was a good day.</p>

<p>We have gotten a lot of envelopes from Mac lately… but all are about the app being complete, the financial aid process, the letter mentioned in the original post, etc. I keep thinking they are going to be something better… then it is a letdown when D opens them.</p>

<p>I thought I owed it to all of you who are anxiously awaiting the mailman for acceptance letters. So, I dug around and found my daughter’s early write letter. It was postmarked Feb. 22 and came in (what I think) is the regular acceptance envelope - it’s white, not big, but a little bigger than business size. It says Yes Macalester on the front and back.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

<p>^^I received such a letter today, as did a girl I follow on tumblr. So be on the lookout!</p>

<p>Did you apply regular decision? Did you apply for financial aid?</p>

<p>My D also received early write today. Applied RD, didn’t apply for FA.</p>