<p>My list is pretty short, so I don’t know how I can hedge that question if it comes up again next weekend. And now it sounds like it will! Being deliberately vague, like “all of them are coed schools in the NE” sounds like I am hiding something. With my luck they keep stats, like everyone who applies there and then also to “St Valdemort” always chooses “St. Voldemort.” Or they might think I am being a jerk or being weirdly secretive. Each school I am visiting has something really, really great about it, and since I have only had one interview so far, I am not sure if I am cutting any.</p>
<p>@classical: School’s actually reccomend a cadidate to another school that the child is apply to?</p>
<p>^^rizzle, yes, if they see a more natural fit there, they do. And I also think that telling them where else you are applying can either get used against you, or possibly fuel competition (if they view you as a strong fit). How can it get used against you? Say you’re an elite volleyball player and one of the other schools is the volleyball powerhouse, or your aunt or cousin is already at the other school. They may make assumptions or guesses–no matter how much you try to tell them you’re undecided–that lead to a waitlist instead of an acceptance. It’s a hard thing to manage, so just proceed with care and awareness that schools are VERY MUCH paying attention to the list of other schools you’re looking at.</p>
<p>That’s actually pretty cool. I guess some of the desicion making can be based on what AO’s tell other AO’s. And also why the interview is really important.</p>
<p>I think that if you’ve chosen your schools carefully, sharing those you’ve applied to won’t hurt. If you’re applying to many schools somewhat randomly in hopes of catching one, or you’re applying more for name than fit, that will show and may hurt. My kid applied to four schools that were quite different from one another and liked very different things about each. He got accepted to two and waitlisted at two, and in retrospect, I think that those admissions decisions were all for the best–I wonder if the AO’s didn’t have a hunch where he’d fit best.</p>
<p>Bumpbumpbump</p>
<p>@rizzledrizzle,</p>
<p>If you tell a school what other schools you have applied to, then that school probably does weigh the likelihood of your accepting an offer of admissions from them then base their decision to admit you, accordingly. They guard their yield rate statistics jealously. </p>
<p>But schools do NOT trade notes on candidates with other schools. It would violate federal anti-trust law, and besides, with thousands of applications to read, they simply don’t have the time to do it.</p>
<p>I read somewhere that each app will be reviewed by at least 43 people. My guess is that they will vote whether or not to admit.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>With all due respect, either that was a typo or you’ve lost your mind!</p>
<p>Wondering if anyone has applied to both a private and Catholic Prep school. The Catholic prep schools want a decision before the March 10th decision date of the private schools. Has anyone run into this? I’m wondering if I contacted the Catholic school to see if they would give us a waiver until March 10th…Otherwise I need to secure a non-refundable deposit of $350.</p>
<p>KAR1969-I am assuming you already got into the Catholic school. We have that situation here too with the day schools’ decision date before we find out about boarding. I have heard that in the past, the day schools will extend their deadline for those also applying to boarding who want to look at all of their options before making a final decision.<br>
Sure takes the pressure off though if you already have a great option. :)</p>
<p>Yes, my son did. It was not his first choice, but he is happy about it. We need to send in a non-refundable deposit to hold his spot. Then the rest is just sit and wait for the magic date of 3/10 :-)</p>
<p>Just received some notifications of completeness of application materials although they were complete two weeks ago (online tracking). Does this mean that they are just starting reading your apps? If so, the process will be very short. They need to give the list of tentative acceptance to the FA office in the middle of this month.</p>
<p>That was my thought exactly. So much care and thoughtfulness went into the apps over several months, yet in order for letters to get into the mailboxes by March 10, it appears by Feb 29, decisions must be made. Seems like an ultra short reading and decision period.</p>
<p>Do the AO’s start reading all the applications on Feb.1st, or do you think they start reading/reviewing as applications are completed? So, if an applicant gets all essays/reccs etc… in by Dec., they start reviewing right away?</p>
<p>I am sure every school is different. I tend to think that they read them as they come in, because if a school is receiving 1,000+ applications that is a lot of reading in a month. I did see on the news last month that they interviewed the admissions office of a college (can’t remember which one). They put each application up on the projection screen and they all read them together and vote on them.</p>
<p>I guess that the 1000+ (or 3000) apps will be assigned into different groups. Group members are very experienced and skillful at such things. Each person needs only a few minutes to make a decision. So the process is actually very fast. They have only two weeks to read through.</p>
<p>@f2000sa - could you share where you are getting your information? I’ve been reading and researching on this list for several years, and I don’t recall ever reading that “they only have two weeks to read through.”</p>
<p>My understanding has been that every school does things a bit differently. Some schools begin reading apps in early Jan if they’re complete; other schools wait until Feb. 1 to start reading all apps, even though their deadline may be Jan. 15. </p>
<p>Doing a search on posts by GemmaV, an AO, has been especially helpful to get the “real scoop” on what occurs, and she always points out that she’s just one AO at one school, and can not attest to what occurs at other schools.</p>
<p>@f2000sa - could you share where you are getting your information? </p>
<p>That is only my guess (as stated). The admission process does differ among schools. That is a black box. Many people here just try to get a peek at it. Some schools do start reading it on Feb. 1st, and they need to pass the list to FA office. FA needs to work out the numbers, and sit down with AO to decide the final list. They also need a few days to prepare to the acceptance/denial packages. So the whole reading process at some schools is about two weeks (maybe three).</p>
<p>OK - here are some “facts” from the archives. I apologize - I haven’t figured out how do do that hyper-link thing - so I’ve just done a cut&paste. But here is some info posted by GemmaV (a real, live AO) back in the 2008-09 admissions season.</p>
<hr>
<p>The following quote is from a thread titled: TAG – You’re It!
It was started by Vinny5 on 2/4/09</p>
<p>02-10-2009, 09:09 PM #27
thingslost
Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 868
GemmaV: How long before the official decisions date do the admission officers generally finish? </p>
<p>02-11-2009, 10:00 AM #28
GemmaV
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 286
thingslost: We are nearly halfway done w/ our initial reading of applications in my office-that-must-not-be-named.
Don’t know how my colleagues at other schools are faring or when they finish. </p>
<hr>
<p>In a previous post on 1/28/09, GemmaV commented that she couldn’t respond, as she was busy reading.</p>
<p>So - my take-away from the above info is:
- in the 2008/09 admissions cycle, GemmaV was reading as early as 1/28, was still reading on 2/11, and felt like she was halfway done.
- she stated she was halfway done with the “initial reading” - which makes me believe at her school, there is at least a second round of reading
- that leads me to guess that at least in that admissions seasons, for GemmaV’s school (Hogwarts, of course!), the admissions office was reading and making decisions for many more than two weeks - I’d guess more like four or five weeks
- and whether or not that info means anything for any other school, or today in the 2011/11 admissions cycle, is anyone’s guess!</p>
<p>My final point - none of us know <em>for sure</em> what exactly is happening. We can speculate all we want, but that’s all it is - speculation. Nuggets of info can be found in the archives of CC, but ultimately, unless an AO for the school you’re applying to tells you directly what their process is, it is just guesswork!</p>