<p>S received a letter today from a university that congratulated him on the ACT score they received from his most recent sitting and offered him "provisional acceptance for the fall of 2008". We are new to all of this and have never heard of such a situation. I guess I was wondering how many schools utilize provisional acceptances like this . From what I could tell, it was based on the ACT scores and the my s's information provided at the time of test registration. He, nor his school, has sent any information, (i. e. his transcript, etc.) as far as I know. </p>
<p>If any of you veterans has any information about this I would loved to be more informed. Of course, what my husband and I would love to have had enclosed with the letter was a "provisional out of state waiver and/or merit scholarship"! :) Sorry to be so naive about all of this- there is definitely a learning curve here!</p>
<p>Well, this is one that I haven't seen directly myself, but I believe the gist of the term "provisional acceptance" is that as long as your son applies and they don't find out something really egregious (failed all his classes last semester...has been arrested...something like that) he will be accepted. I think this is just another way to say apply and we'll accept you. Get used to letters similar to this, btw...I got letters from UFlorida urging me to apply and throwing money at me well into May of this year.</p>
<p>EDIT: I got my letters because of my NMSF-->NMF status. Seems a little weird if they are tracking him down just for ACT scores, but hey.</p>
<p>Hmmm---he's accepted, provided what? That he applies?</p>
<p>I've seen provisional acceptances used in the cases where an applicant is somehow deficient in some way. He or she is accepted, provided the grade point average is kept above 2.0 for the fall semester, or some other such requirement. Once the condition is met, the probationary status of the student is changed to regular status.</p>
<p>I've seen kids receive letters which say, "Based on XXX, we will admit you if you will apply." I've never heard them called provisional acceptances, though.</p>
<p>ellemenope: I guess! Your impression with how the word "provisional" is usually used is exactly how I thought of it. But the wording is exactly as I typed it. I have never heard of this before. Interesting really.</p>
<p>Advantagious- we can only wish that the schools will "throw money at us well into next year" like they did you. :)</p>
<p>A lot of that WAS because of the NMSF thing, and of course it wasn't usually for schools of particular repute, and was always for schools that I didn't want to go to. A lot of southern schools, too, curiously. </p>
<p>As an aside, if you do find the right ones, there are some quite good schools that are generous with merit aid...my safety was Case Western Reserve, and they gave me a very large scholarship ($27000/yr). Tulane is also known for being generous with merit aid, as is (for a competitive applicant) Rice.</p>
<p>KandKsmom, is the letter from a school where the ACT score would place your S near the top of the heap score-wise? This sounds like a marketing ploy to attract top academic prospects into the applicant pool--the provisional part probably just means that the rest of the picture (gpa, ECs, etc.) is not wildly out-of-synch with the ACT scores.</p>
<p>My D rec'd a bunch of those letters after her PSAT score put her in the running for NMS, usually with the application enclosed. In fact, she rec'd mulitple solicitations from those schools. She applied to NONE of them. These usually come from schools that want to increase the number of NMSF's that apply. Can't blame them for trying. It is likely that your S is a slam-dunk getting in. If interested, send back a letter requesting specific info about merit based scholarships. Don't be shy. They want him.</p>
<p>Sounds like the provisional credit card applications that keep showing up in the mail. You still have to be able to afford them....</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for your thoughts. I checked the website of the school and s's ACT score is in the 75% percentile as well as him having a pretty solid GPA (3.9) which I guess he bubbled in somewhere on the ACT registration sheet. That is good advice blucroo. I will send a letter requesting scholarship information, because as nice and good of a school as it is, he is going to need to get something to make it comparable to our state Virginia schools. He thought it was pretty cool to get the letter, so I guess their marketing strategy did pay off thus far.</p>