<p>I sort of agree with that, in a less harsh way. I truly think that if you're not comparing financial aid, it is really rude and obnoxious to apply to other schools, knowing full well that you'll probably still go to your first choice. Think about other people. At least, thats what I've always thought.</p>
<p>
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Think about other people.
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</p>
<p>Yay filmxoxo and newred and everyone else withdrawing apps! :D</p>
<p>Amen to that.</p>
<p>i'd also like to say that anyone in at his/her top choice should sincerely consider withdrawing from schools they have no intention of attending...i know i have dreamt of going to stanford for much of my life and it is the only one of HYPS i applied to because i consider it my #1 choice for more reasons than simple prestige...please don't take the spots of those who truly have nothing certain about their college futures and are intent on attending those universities to which they have applied...do not just apply to all the other ivies just for the "heck of it"...it hurts me to see people doing this...it is making a mockery/game of the future of others whose acceptance/denial depends on your whim...i acknowledge you guys as the early acceptees are in a position of great power but i implore you to consider those of us in the opposite situation...we have nothing guaranteed us, nothing to fall back on, and are depending on our rd school decisions...i hope you will seriously consider this argument and take into account the thousands of us whose futures, unlike yours, are still pending</p>
<p>as an addendum</p>
<p>wondering about my stanford decision IS MY WORLD right now and it is torture...some certificate of admission to a prestigious university you never intended on attending which your parents store away in a paper folder labeled 'college' will mean NOTHING to you in the coming years...but to me and many others it is EVERYTHING...please consider withdrawing your apps</p>
<p>I disagree.</p>
<p>look newred, filmxoxo17, treewannabe,</p>
<p>I paid my application fees, I wrote my essays. Hey, what if something changes between now and then? What if a natural disaster hits New Haven? What if my grades drop and Yale rescinds my acceptance?</p>
<p>What if I just want to find out where I got in? Damn it, I paid my fees. I wrote those essays.</p>
<p>What if my family's financial situation changes tomorrow? What if I need that full merit scholarship instead of the 40K that Yale charges per year? Hey, what if I get significantly more money from another top school, and I realize that I need to think of my sister who's going to college next year?</p>
<p>You all are quite naive if you believe that I am "stealing" a spot. College apps are a meritocratic game (or at least attempt to be one). If I'm from your region, then MAYBE I'm competing with you indirectly.</p>
<p>Either way, colleges know the score. They know that they're not going to get everyone who they accept. It's called matriculation rate, and they track it. They accept more kids than will come - for Stanford it's something like 67%. That means that 33% of the people they accept don't even come. They know that.</p>
<p>Y'all got the motivation mixed up. I'm not trying to run up the score on my app count. I'm not trying to find out exactly how many top colleges I can get into. If I've learned anything through high school, it's that you can't take anything for granted. </p>
<p>I know a kid who got into MIT early. He withdrew his other apps - 8 of them. That spring, he got busted at a party. He wasn't smoking weed or drinking alcohol. But like everyone else, he ran. He got caught. He was resisting arrest. His offer got rescinded. He had to attend community college for a year.</p>
<p>So, I hope ya'll get in. Just don't try to guilt trip me.</p>
<p>Okay, I didn't mean to make you feel angry or guilty. I said that it's simply how I feel that it's silly and arrogant to apply somewhere just for the hell of it. I did make sure to say that I only think it's silly for non financial reasons. If you're applying to more schools to compare aid, fine, that makes sense, good luck. I just think that applying to as many schools as possible simply as a means to rack up acceptances and placate an ego is not only pompous, but detrimental to others and completely in contrast to the whole point of striving to achieve a higher level of education. I think theres a real problem with students lately trying to "game" the process, I still look at this as a very human thing and I see how I can affect others. At my private school, about 12 kids applied early to Yale, all amazing. Obviously more will apply regular, and not all will get in. This is the same case for Harvard, Princeton, etc. I know that at my school the elites CAN'T take all of us, and quite frankly I feel that I would probably take other people's spots. So I made the decision to withdraw apps because I love Yale and I have nothing to prove to myself. It was a personal decision. I never attacked you, so please don't fly off the handle on me.</p>
<p>PS
You don't need to hope I got in, because I already did.</p>
<p>sonatax, your point is well taken. However, as a student who was deferred coming from a school with a similar level of applicants as filmxoxo17 (about 14 applicants early to yale, 11 to brown, 8 to harvard, etc.), it is true that there are many qualified applicants. Not all would be accepted early or at all due to the large numbers, but many are deserving. As a result, it could be harmful to the other students who were deferred early from their first choices but still want to get in there or apply other similar places. I would be somewhat upset to learn that an EA applicant to yale with no financial needs would apply to other schools to which I am applying to "trophy-hunt". If the student is still making up his or her mind, that's one thing. In such a competitive pool as the New York city schools, every trophy hunter can have a negative effect on the chances of other deferred students and RD applicants. Sorry to rant, but applying from nyc as a white non-hooked applicant is hard enough as it is without other people applying to stroke their egos.</p>
<p>As a non-hooked asian applicant, I completely understand that you want to get into college.</p>
<p>But did you not read what I wrote?</p>
<p>It's not only about financial aid. It's also about security. Read all the reasons I have listed. If my parents got struck by lightning tomorrow, I wouldn't be affording a Yale education - I'd look for the full ride elsewhere.</p>
<p>And what if I just changed my mind? What if I get my letters in April and then decide that heck, I prefer the University of X or Y College better than Yale. Yale's my top choice right now. A year ago, it wasn't.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong - I'm into Yale right now. I've bankrupted my own wallet with the purchase of Yale apparell. I'm pumped to get to New Haven, for Bulldog Days, etc...</p>
<p>but why would I shut out my options? What possible reason could I have to limit my future choices.</p>
<p>This is called rational self-interest. The possibility of some other unnamed applicant getting the spot that I might 'steal' isn't going to outweigh my logical decision to protect my own behind until I decide in May that, fo' sho', I'm going to Yale.</p>
<p>also, read my above response, because there is more than the "financial aid" argument.</p>
<p>From your posts I can guess we just come from two different cultures and schools of thought. I understand how your reasons might mean something to you. They just don't apply to me. I've been brought up in a certain environment with certain schooling (in and out of the classroom) that leads me to not identify with your points. I guess we'll agree to disagree. :D</p>
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[QUOTE]
From your posts I can guess we just come from two different cultures and schools of thought. I understand how your reasons might mean something to you. They just don't apply to me. I've been brought up in a certain environment with certain schooling (in and out of the classroom) that leads me to not identify with your points. I guess we'll agree to disagree.
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Nice. That's another way of implying that you're more 'egalitarian', 'compassionate', 'empathetic', or whatever you want to call it.</p>
<p>But no, just because you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you do it doesn't mean it's the only thing to do. In fact, I'm the tolerant one here. You're the one who's saying that "people who don't withdraw their apps are rude and obnoxious". I say, go ahead, withdraw your apps. Just don't expect me to do so.</p>
<p>My 'culture' and 'school of thought' is that, quite simply, you don't take anything for granted. Nothing is a certainty until I send in that deposit. Until then, yeah. I'm going to err on the side of caution.</p>
<p>Okay, I can see this getting unpleasant...
Hey this class of 2010 thread got awfully angry... I say the happiness should come back, stat! We all got into Yale, after all. :)</p>
<p>I guess you could look at it a different way. Try telling a successful job applicant that he shouldn't apply for another job after getting an offer at a firm he applied to - everybody wants to weigh their options and maybe another job will offer a better salary or the applicant will change his mind - maybe he did take a spot somebody else would have had otherwise, but nobody tells that applicant to give others chances because he is not expected to look out for other applicants, only to compete with them....I guess in a relatively selfish game like college admissions, you cannot expect people to act any different than they do in the job market.</p>
<p>thank you conwoman (interesting name lol) - I like your analogy. (As a free-market fan, it explains the differences in mentalities I guess).</p>
<p>Anyways, let's forget about it, eh? What's done is done. I mean, we DID get into Yale.</p>
<p>just for the record, so did newred. and for the record, hes my boyfriend. and for the record, im going to penn. for the record, we'd have some damn smart kids :) i kid i kid. congrats everybody!</p>
<p>SonataX, I'm with you. I mean, I am from a family where the money I get from different schools matters a lot. I mean, the difference between the aid calculators at different schools could actually make my decision for me. It's just that just because we got into Yale doesn't mean that we are obviously going to get in everywhere else we apply, taking someone's spot. It's very possible that I'll get rejected everywhere else I apply. And the "taking a spot" thing is misguided anyway. There's no hard and fast number of applicants a college can accept. So that one spot you may fill will not take away a spot from someone they'd accept if you hadn't applied. If they want them, they'll get in, regardless of your application. </p>
<p>Sorry, a bit of ranting. I've been reading these posts every once in a while since I got in, and frankly, they're a bit disheartening that everyone seemed to have the same elitist opinions. No offense anyway.</p>
<p>My fancy prep school puts a lot of pressure on people to withdraw when they know their destination. That is likely to help their own yield at the top schools, but it's also out of a sense of fairness to other applicants from the same school. If you really do know where you're going, I'm on the side of withdrawing. It is, however, a preference, and I just hope that anger/competitiveness isn't the real issue.</p>
<p>I' not sure why everyone thinks that by not withdrawing you are taking someone elses spot. If that other person were what the school wanted they would have been accepted despite my application. That school of hought really only applies to weak applicants. If you are qualified no one will betaking your spot. GL to all.</p>
<p>Oh no. not this argument again. Whatever, congratulations to everyone for getting in, lets let an old dog die. ;)</p>