<p>mdnhmass
So sorry about Wooster! I first learned about that school on this thread, wrote for info, was surprised that I didn’t fall in love because SO many here love the school, and S did not apply.</p>
<p>I’m writing because my friend tells the best story about a friend’s daughter rejected from the ONLY school she wanted to attend after applying ED. The child emailed admissions herself, expressed her extreme disappointment and was admitted by the president afterwards. </p>
<p>I believe that the school should be contacted, either by your daughter or her GC, if you can wait that long. It can’t hurt-she’s already been rejected. It might help. The question can be posed objectively such as, “What was the weakness in the application? it might help us to know. Thanks!”</p>
<p>Good luck, and if it doesn’t work out with Wooster, know that your child WILL be happy somewhere. My S has a friend at Beloit who loves it-chose it from NYC over many other options. There are TONS of schools with application deadlines are well past February 1st. Last year, Guilford had not filled its freshman class in May, and that is a fantastic school IMHO.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about Wooster. DS sounds a lot like your d. What executive function??? At this point, he could teach a class on organization and time management, he just can’t implement it himself. Still, he insists on taking as many AP’s each year as he can. The first term was great - 2 b’s and the rest a’s. this term he is back to forgetting his homework, papers, tests and will be lucky to pull out all C’s. he is the only kid I know who has suffered from senioritis since he was a freshman. </p>
<p>These are really great, albeit frustrating, kids. We can so easily see their genius and potential even when it’s not quite so apparent to others. If I hear one more person refer to my ds as lazy, I may not be able to contain my inner mama bear!</p>
<p>Sorry I got off on a tangent. I don’t have many other parents with kids like mine around here. When I mention schools ds has applied to, no one knows how to respond. No ivies, no top 20’s - the horror! </p>
<p>If she calls admissions herself to ask for feedback simply to improve her chances in the future, I would think it would demonstrate maturity as well as offer insight from the admission perspective. It can be difficult to hear but may be just what she needs to land an acceptance at the school she is meant to attend. </p>
<p>Wanted to share two hard-won perspectives following a heartbreaking rejection for DS’ #1 (and only) choice ED application (with the sting of some very curt wording, yet).</p>
<p>First, DS decided he didn’t want to be where he wasn’t wanted and welcomed. Period. So it didn’t matter what the basis of the rejection was. His grades are his grades, his scores are what they are, he’s proud of the essays he wrote, etc. He is who he is: a “hookless” 32-ACT kid who has to work hard for that 3.3 uw gpa.</p>
<p>Second, he also decided he wanted to be in the top third and not the bottom third, stat-wise, so that he would not have to experience as much frustration from another four years of all-out competition for resources and opportunities such as research, internships, etc. He revisited his Reach list and many looked different to him. He’s modified his list to reflect more of what he thinks of as High-Match.</p>
<p>I have to say that I wish he (and we) could have arrived at this better place earlier in the process, but at least we’ve arrived.</p>
<p>mdn, I’m so sorry that your DD wasn’t accepted at COW. My thinking - the IS project. The IS project requires lots of independent work and time management. My DS sounds much like your D, and I steered clear of schools with capstone/ senior projects like the Wooster IS project, because I didn’t think he’d be able to handle that kind of project (and in fact, couldn’t in his magnet hs.)
It may be that Wooster has had experience with this with other students, and didn’t feel like it would work well for your D. I definitely think that you should ask the GC to call the admissions rep to find out - I think it’s really helpful to know what the school sees in the application and why they think their school isn’t the right fit for the student.</p>
<p>Congratulations on both OWU and Beloit - 2 wonderful schools where I’d be happy for my D to attend. Earlham might be another to consider.</p>
<p>Anniezz - you might be onto something there regarding COW and their IS. My son has EF difficulties due to his Aspergers and it was dicsussed in his counselor letter. I think I might ask the school conselor to give them a call and see if that’s what’s making them inquire further before making a decision about his acceptance. His high school also has a senior capstone and his 1st two check ins were missed and late :/</p>
<p>Onesonmom, that’s an interesting perspective and one I’m going to try to adopt early with my S14. I’m following here this year because of him, though I have a D who is a senior. He works hard for his 3.3 ish GPA too. I’d like him to feel better about his success in college than he does in HS. Dying to see where all these kids land.</p>
<p>You guys crack me up. Yes, my DD has also missed all the major deadlines for her IB extended essay and will probably (but not definitely) pull if off in the end. Interesting comments about the Wooster IS project – strangely that is one of the things that she liked about Wooster…some of these GT/LD kids can go crazy in-depth in things they’re passionate about and she’s one of them (spent 2 years of middle school researching the Russian revolution on her own, “for fun” she said – while doing almost no homework that was assigned in school). She liked the idea of the IS and I suspect she would have tackled it with a good deal of gusto. But I can see why someone who didn’t know her might see it as a potential problem.</p>
<p>So here’s where we are – THANK YOU for all the suggestions. I do think Knox, Kalamazoo, and Earlham would be really good fits and I’m bummed I didn’t put them on the list at the beginning. I definitely narrowed down to much, too early. There’s a lesson learned for the younger 2 kids I have…</p>
<p>DD has given this a lot of thought and has decided she doesn’t want to apply to any more schools. She doesn’t have the mental energy, and is realizing that she’s not at all unhappy with her options (Beloit and OWU). She really thinks they are great schools and is not feeling stuck at all – she just never pictured herself anywhere but Wooster. Letting go of that vision is hard and sad at the same time. </p>
<p>Reeinaz, if Wooster is concerned about your son’s very unique situation, you’d think the admissions counselor could have called you or sent an email? Very strange for them to send a form letter in such specific circumstances. I would definitely call them if I were you. I did note that Wooster gets about 5,000 applicants and Beloit gets about 2,200…so it’s possible Wooster is simply having to go through them with less attention to personal circumstances? Even OWU has fewer applicants than Wooster, which surprised me.</p>
<p>Time to drag my ADD daughter out of bed and make her do all the homework she’s been putting off for the last 10 days!</p>
<p>Mdnhmass, that’s the first goal of the new year. Getting kids back to the school mindset. Oh, and taking down Christmas too. Blech. I love putting it out, sure do hate taking it back down though.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I have one in my house who is just starting the vacation homework.</p>
<p>And then there’s DS, who has a “take home” programming exam to finish before he goes back next week… I don’t want to know!</p>
<p>89wahoo, I did very little decorating this year, because I was already dreading taking it down! lol. I think I’m going to keep the tree up until the weekend.</p>
<p>DS received a phone call today from OWU admissions - my husband said he could only hear DS’s side of the conversation, but sounded like a mini phone interview, trying to gauge his interest. Sounded like he was asked how he learned about the school (he said his mother - sigh) and what he was interested in studying (said theatre and zoology - thank heavens they have those majors there). Sure wished we’d had some warning so that he could prepare for the call. Don’t think they realized that an 18 yo male on winter break might just have woken up at 10 am when the call came.</p>
<p>pkd, I don’t know if you’ve visited, but the science facilities at OWU are very impressive. OWU has a great zoology department! Students have fantastic opportunities for internships and study at the Columbus zoo (very close by) and wonderful study abroad opportunities. And it’s ok that he said his mother - one of the students working in admissions this year said the same thing. :)</p>
<p>Thanks, Annie. No, we haven’t had a chance to visit, but I’m glad to hear about the science facilities. I just sent his OWU ad rep two LORs DS received from his summer internship at our local zoo (he also does 60 hours/year volunteering as a junior docent there) - hope that puts him over the edge so he can get in.</p>
<p>DS surprised me when he put down pre-vet at some schools, but he’s always loved the zoo and animals, and has always been terrifically calm and quick acting whenever any of our pets has had a crisis. But he also loves to act/sing. Steve Irwin was his hero when he was little.</p>
<p>I just got an email from Kalamazoo which might interest some of your kids looking for merit scholarships. They’ve added some more to their list and are pretty impressive:</p>
<p>Yes from Susquehanna with $$, including visit grant! Yay! A school that, without this thread, I never would have heard of, and even after hearing a little about it almost wrote off completely without the insight of those here.
Can’t imagine how horrible this process would have been without everyone here. THANK YOU ALL.
/sappy mushy stuff</p>