<p>^^^ Cynical answer: so they get TONS of applications, and reject most of them, and look extra-selective.</p>
<p>^^thatās what Iāve heard too. I told S to take them with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>I loved the one S1 got from MIT ā it was a vaguely and oddly worded letter that we interpreted as āyour test scores are high enough that we probably wouldnāt laugh our @$$es off if you applied.ā (He did apply (not because of the letter) but was not surprised to be rejected. Who knows if they laughed or not. 
)</p>
<p>Yea, they donāt mean anything. I am pretty sure my S has received at least one from every top 20 university except Stanford. Even Harvard sent one, but not Stanford. If Stanford wants to keep its acceptance rate below that of Harvard, it will have to step up and try to bring in more applications than ever before so it can reject more than ever before.</p>
<p>My guy got them all (middle son, not my '14). He was in their stats (top 25% for all I think), but it still meant nothing. They just want more people to apply.</p>
<p>I REALLY feel for those who get the letters/e-mails and think the school is literally recruiting themā¦ and fall in loveā¦ and get rejected anyway. They are not recruiting individuals - they are marketing to get more apps. More apps = more to select from = higher selectivity just as others have said. For every one they select they need another 9 (or so) to reject.</p>
<p>Only apply to these schools if they appeal to the student (they didnāt to mine) AND donāt fall in love.</p>
<p>My son checked engineering on the SAT and Chicago still went after him. I think they even sent him some stuff as well. </p>
<p>My friends brother is the president of a college - and they keep bombarding us with mail and email. I brought my friend the letter and told her bro I know how to save the school some money - stop sending this stuff to people who donāt indicate any interest in their very small, and far away school.</p>
<p>The amount of mail from colleges in general is ridiculous. You are absolutely right, eyemamom, they could save a fortune! I swear there is one college we have gotten mail from just about every other day for a year now!</p>
<p>My daughter was looking at colleges ten years ago and had much more impressive stats and statewide recognition in more than one area and NEVER received mail from selective colleges until after she had expressed a direct interest in them via college visit or similar program. </p>
<p>It is entirely unfair to be sending this mail to kids who just might think they are being sought after by universities of that caliber. The amount of time and money to visit and apply are atrocious. Donāt worry, my son is laughing at the mail, but he is enjoying the creativity of the Chicago mailings. (The one with his name on it made out of pictures of the campus was especially nice - and he kept it.) </p>
<p>Shame on these schools for boosting apps (and hopes!) from unrealistic applicants!</p>
<p>My S was originally going to apply to one of HYPMS, but after receiving mail from four of them I believe that the thought of applying made him feel like a sucker and so he changed his mind. I might have argued with him if I thought his chances were great or that the schools he will apply to were not better fits.</p>
<p>We are also getting several mailings a day. Itās fun to see D14 react to them. Most of them are schools she has never heard of, so the first thing she does is see where it is. The response is frequently a ānoā or more adamantly a āhell no.ā Iām somewhat surprised that she doesnāt get much from the schools that she has visited.</p>
<p>Anything from northern New England or with photos of trees gets handed to D15. D15ās college mail is just a trickle now, but Iām sure the volume for her will be ramping up soon.</p>
<p>Love watching what is going on with everyone else. Here is our update: DD is planning to major in Psychology. She visited Northwestern, University of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue, North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and Notre Dame. Northwestern and Wisconsin were eliminated early on for being urban or too big. Michigan has freshman housing on the far side of campus requiring a 10 minute bus ride to the academic part of campus. Chapel Hill basically eliminated due to distance. That leaves us with Illinois as a āsafetyā, Purdue, Indiana and the āreachā being Notre Dame. She has a GPA of 3.75, ACT of 33, and the extra curricular activities, leadership, drama club, etcā¦ She is starting drafts of common-app essays and gearing up for August! Both Western Illinois University and Northern Illinois (along with about a dozen + around the US) actually offer close to 100% tuition and housing for applicants with that 3.75 GPA and 33 ACT. <a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html</a> ā Watching her grow and handle the decision making process is fun in a way, but stress filled too!</p>
<p>Iām sure I could search the site and find the answer, but itās so much easier to ask you guys - summer (July)college interview attire for boys?? Will khakis, a polo and Sperrys be dressed up enough? Or does he need to go with shirt and tie and better shoes? And please, please tell me he doesnāt need a jacketā¦he has outgrown his jacket from last summer, and since he is definitely still growing, Iām hoping to put off buying a new one until next Spring! </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>^^^ It depends upon the college. Some told us informal was fine and we did what you suggested. Others told us they wouldnāt say what they wanted, but reminded us that the student was being judged in the interview (esp scholarship interviews). We bit the bullet and went with a jacket/tie for those. The good thing is they can wear the jacket for other things in college laterā¦ and one works for ALL colleges/scholarships.</p>
<p>Paying extra staff to read all those applications (and reject all those applicants) must be a much greater expense than the direct marketing.</p>
<p>This is what D got :)</p>
<p>"
If youāre still passionate about studying Engineering, you should check out Bryn Mawr Collegeāone of the nationās top liberal arts colleges.
"</p>
<p>Why would you consider liberal arts if you are passionate about engineering?</p>
<p>Hello all! I feel like Iām coming out of the far side of a black hole. The last couple of weeks have beenā¦</p>
<p>Moving on, S3 is officially a Sr. as of yesterday! 
He is very, very much ready for this break both emotionally and physically. Getting a decent sleep pattern, eating habits, and time to exercise (his choice, not parental demand) are all going to go a long way towards helping him feel somewhat back to his old self. He does have a decent amount of AP summer work but given a couple of hours/day M-F it shouldnāt be any big deal. Once he has his final grades, and SATs scores Thursday, he should have a better idea of where heād like to visit this summer. I love college visits and am looking forward to it.</p>
<p>S2 has an interview in July but was specifically told to dress casually. Itās blistering hot in the summer. Heāll wear a polo, khaki shorts, and sperrys. I can certainly appreciate that each school has their own vibe, and itās best to find out what they suggest. Perhaps someone on their forum may be able to tell you what is customary?</p>
<p>Good to hear from you, blue! Iām glad to hear you and S came through it all.</p>
<p>S is now officially a senior too. Itās funny - his āgo toā interview outfit is the same as everyoneās but he calls sperrys topsiders.</p>
<p>Question for all - how does your school calculate GPA? I just emailed our GC. Reason it could kind of matter is, for example, S got a b+ in history but his grade was 89.32. So if they use the number, it could help vs saying he got a b+ which is worth 88. Of course it could also work against him.</p>
<p>Our GPA is a straight - A = 4, B = 3, C = 2. No difference for pluses or minuses. +1 for AP classes, no bonus for pre-AP/honors. </p>
<p>I have computed DSā GPA by hand, and I cannot get it to compute the same as the schoolās. I know that Driverās Ed is not included, nor is Religion from his private school before he started in public. I have a call in to registrar to see if she can look at it and explain where Iām messed up!</p>
<p>Classof2015āand I called the Topsiders boat shoes when I wore them in HS.</p>
<p>As to GPA calc, I would agree with Beadymom other than points awarded for + & -. So, regardless of the numeric grade earned to achieve an A, the A is still awarded a 4.0. Our HS calculates 3.7 for the A- and 3.3 for the B+, but an A+ is not awarded. I believe our school profile includes this explanation so you may want to check your school profile if you do not hear back from guidance.</p>
<p>I have no clue how our school calculates GPA. Their range for grades in on the online transcript, but not the weighting or GPA #s for letters - just the GPA itself and # of credits (+ courses and grades for them).</p>
<p>Here a B+ is 89 - 91. An 88 would be a B. A is 95 - 97. (Thatās all on the transcript.)</p>
<p>I wish our school would use numeric grades (mine did when I was in high school). Numbers seem to convey what was earned far better than letters when different schools assign the letters differently.</p>
<p>We left home on Sunday and drove to Ithaca NY to visit Cornell on Monday morning. We stayed downtown and were only a 5 minute drive from campus. We scouted out the campus and found that their parking infmation kiosks were only staffed M-F from 730 - 530 so we knew we had to get there a few minutes early to get a parking pass. On Monday we got our pass and had to park in a garage another 4 blocks further away from the building we were going to. Cornell has general info sessions and school specific sessions and tours. We were scheduled for the 9 AM Arts & Science session and we made it right at 9. The session began with about 80 students and parents in the lecture hall they used. The info was useful and informative but there were no visual aids and after 75 minutes everyone was ready to go on the tour. We had the misfortune to have someone sit behind us who belched about every 10 minutes. Very disgusting after the first time and nary an excuse was heard from the kid or his parents.</p>
<p>When the info session finally ended at 1015, we were all standing in the hall of the lecture room waiting for the tour guides. There were none. It turned out that the schools donāt run them or coordinate them with the general university info sessions. We walked back to the other end of the bulding to the A&S office and they said the campus tour would start at 1100 at a building several buildings away. Based on that and the rather uninspiring info session, D said, nope, not for me. Letās go and look at Ithaca College. Theinfo session comment that said two SAT IIās were required also helped kill any interest.</p>
<p>Ithaca College had not been on our radar but our dinner server the night before is a student there and did a nice job of talking up the school. We arrived and signed in and were able to join a tour right as it was leaving. The guide was very personable and articulate. We learened that Ithaca has over 6,500 students with specialties in music, commnications, theater, business and A&S. The campus is newer as the school relocated in the early 1960ās (founded in 1892 as a music conservatory). I was quite impressed with the variety of majors in the arts, music, outdoor adventure leadership, and communcations (TV, radio, etc.) After the tour D indicated she didnāt feel a fit so we left and checked Ithaca off the list.</p>
<p>This morning we spent 3 hours at Lehigh and had a great experience. The info session was well orgnized, the presenting Adcon was witty but informative, There were 4 tour guides for us which meant about 10 - 12 families per guides which was very managable. The tour was very thorough and included dorms, library, dining facilities, athletic complex, labs, etc. Be prepared if you go on this tour. The campus is literally built on the side of a mountain! If your S or D goes here they will be fit when they graduate as they walk up and down the hills and stairways. The campus is beautiful with typical stone buildings, numerous stately trees and an overall layout that makes sense and retains the natural beauty of the mountainside. This school is worth a look. D is interested and will most likely apply.</p>
<p>Tomorrow we will tour Villanova. We did a driveby today and also drove by Havorford, Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr. All are in the same general area of the western Philly suburbs. All of the campuses are similar in their architecture with large mature trees and landscaping. I will update tomorrow or Thursday.</p>