<p>What if the response was that you were an extremely compelling candidate and that all of your passions came through, and that you have a very good chance of getting accepted regular decision.</p>
<p>Well then, I think you can answer that question yourself!</p>
<p>xjayz...my conselor emailed but the adcom is out for the break...so she emailed the admissions office where they told her that I should send in more updates...It was generic but then again it was the main officer...what is that supposed to mean? Should my counselor send an email to other adcoms!!!</p>
<p>zjayz, what do you think is the better approach - to send a letter and updates to the regional admission officer, to send them to the Dean of Admissions or to send it to both? If one sends to the Dean of Admissions does it just get put in the file and only the Regional Admission officer sees it?</p>
<p>Can you ask (nicely) for a second interview?</p>
<p>Harvard was my first interview and I feel like I blew it, especially in comparison with my other college interviews. Is there any good way to point this out to the admissions people?</p>
<p>Sorry, but you won't get a second interview because you blew the first one. It's hard enough for Harvard to find alum volunteers to give applicants first interviews. If H gave second interviews because students though they'd blown the first one, Harvard would be overwhelmed with such requests. After all, who wouldn't want a chance to interview twice, and then have Harvard consider only their best interview?</p>
<p>As for updates -- send ONE to the admissions office. Make sure that you include your identifying info. You don't need to also send it to the dean of admissions or your admissions officer. After all, you don't have to send copies of your application to all of those people, so why should you need to send updates to all of them? The admissions office will make sure that the info gets to the people who need it. It would only confuse things if you start sending copies to several people.</p>
<p>"What if the response was that you were an extremely compelling candidate and that all of your passions came through, and that you have a very good chance of getting accepted regular decision."</p>
<p>Unlikely to happen because if they felt that way, you'd have been admitted EA.</p>
<p>I dont necessarily agree with you Northstar mom. Even if they found an applicant to be compelling and all the passions came through there may be reasons why the applicant was not taken early. If for example only a small number were taken in the state and recruited athletes, development cases and under represented minorities made up almost the entire number, there might have been no room for anyone else. Also, if a few of the small number that were taken were taken from a particular school and they were all development legacies and recruited athletes it might not have looked right that almost all the appkicants in the state came from the same school. I am sure that those who were deferred and later accepted were compelling.
I once heard an admission officer say that if all the acceptance letters to the incoming class of Harvard were lost on a truck, Harvard could fill four times over the class with applicants that were just as compelling. People have to understand that admission to Harvard is like a lottery. There is often no reason why an applicant will not get into Harvard but will get into Yale and Princeton. Or get into Harvard but be rejected from Columbia or Yale. Just because someone was not taken early does not mean they were not compelling.</p>
<p>I dont necessarily agree with you Northstar mom. Even if they found an applicant to be compelling and all the passions came through there may be reasons why the applicant was not taken early. If for example only a small number were taken in the state and recruited athletes, development cases and under represented minorities made up almost the entire number, there might have been no room for anyone else. Also, if a few of the small number that were taken were taken from a particular school and they were all development legacies and recruited athletes it might not have looked right that almost all the appkicants in the state came from the same school. I am sure that those who were deferred and later accepted were compelling.
I once heard an admission officer say that if all the acceptance letters to the incoming class of Harvard were lost on a truck, Harvard could fill four times over the class with applicants that were just as compelling. People have to understand that admission to Harvard is like a lottery. There is often no reason why an applicant will not get into Harvard but will get into Yale and Princeton. Or get into Harvard but be rejected from Columbia or Yale. Just because someone was not taken early does not mean they were not compelling.</p>
<p>I stand by my statement. If the admissions officers were so sure that a particular applicant would be admitted, they would admit the person EA. I don't think they'd tell the person or the student's GC that a deferred studetn will definitely be admitted in the regular cycle. The admissions officers ask alum interviewers not to make those kind of predictions, and I'd bet money that the admissions officers themselves don't make such predictions.</p>
<p>Previously on this board people posted that they had 2nd interviews, so I think there are times when an applicant blows his interview, is still interesting to the admissions people, and the admissions people decide to give him a 2nd chance with the interview.
I realize that this 2nd chance is something the adcoms arrange when they want to, not when applicants want to.
Nevertheless, is there some nice way to bring to their attention how much I would appreciate getting such a 2nd chance and that I have more to say for myself in a conversation than came out in the interview I had?</p>
<p>I do not agree with you Northstarmom. An admissions office at an information session said that if all the acceptance letters were lost on a truck that Harvard could fill the class with another group of applicants who were just as compelling. In fact, he said that they could fill the class four times over. There are many applicants who were deferred who were extremely compelling. One has to look at it somewhat as a lottery. Yes, there will be applicants who have just scores and grades who do not stand out, but there will be applicants who truly are extraordinary with passion and unusual talent developed over years who will not be accepted. Often there is no rhyme or reason for the acceptances. One can look at the thread where graduating seniors posted last year and see this. There were applicants who were accepted at Harvard and Princeton regular decision but deferred from Yale early. There were applicants who were accepted to Harvard but not Princeton or Yale. An outstanding student who has unusual passions and interests will probably not be accepted at every school. There is also luck involved in the process. If for example a state took just 10 or so applicants and many of those ten were recruited athlets, development legacies and high scoring minorities for example, there might not have been spots for anyone else early. Also, if only a handful were taken in a particular state, but three of them who were development legacies and a recruited athlete all came from one school, there could be a compelling candidtae from the same school who was not taken because it might not be appropriate to take four of the ten from one school. One never knows what takes place and how the decisions were made - especially when development legacies, connected legaices, and recruited athletes have an enormous advantage in the early pool even when their SAT scores are not extremely competitive.
One cannot assume that they were not compelling and that their passions did not show through if they were not accepted early. Many of those deferred will not be accepted because they do not have what Harvard is looking for. But some ome will be accpeted in the regular decision pool because they do have what Harvard is looking for. It is not that Harvard will take a deferred applicant later on who they thought was not as strong in the early pool. Rather, they were probably always strong, but a decision was made to not take them then. That decision was based on many factors and it could have very well been that they were strong and stood out but there were already too many taken from that state, or any variety of factors.</p>
<p>I do not agree with you Northstarmom. An admissions office at an information session said that if all the acceptance letters were lost on a truck that Harvard could fill the class with another group of applicants who were just as compelling. In fact, he said that they could fill the class four times over. There are many applicants who were deferred who were extremely compelling. One has to look at it somewhat as a lottery. Yes, there will be applicants who have just scores and grades who do not stand out, but there will be applicants who truly are extraordinary with passion and unusual talent developed over years who will not be accepted. Often there is no rhyme or reason for the acceptances. One can look at the thread where graduating seniors posted last year and see this. There were applicants who were accepted at Harvard and Princeton regular decision but deferred from Yale early. There were applicants who were accepted to Harvard but not Princeton or Yale. An outstanding student who has unusual passions and interests will probably not be accepted at every school. There is also luck involved in the process. If for example a state took just 10 or so applicants and many of those ten were recruited athlets, development legacies and high scoring minorities for example, there might not have been spots for anyone else early. Also, if only a handful were taken in a particular state, but three of them who were development legacies and a recruited athlete all came from one school, there could be a compelling candidtae from the same school who was not taken because it might not be appropriate to take four of the ten from one school. One never knows what takes place and how the decisions were made - especially when development legacies, connected legaices, and recruited athletes have an enormous advantage in the early pool even when their SAT scores are not extremely competitive.
One cannot assume that they were not compelling and that their passions did not show through if they were not accepted early. Many of those deferred will not be accepted because they do not have what Harvard is looking for. But some ome will be accpeted in the regular decision pool because they do have what Harvard is looking for. It is not that Harvard will take a deferred applicant later on who they thought was not as strong in the early pool. Rather, they were probably always strong, but a decision was made to not take them then. That decision was based on many factors and it could have very well been that they were strong and stood out but there were already too many taken from that state, or any variety of factors.</p>
<p>I do not agree with you Northstarmom. An admissions office at an information session said that if all the acceptance letters were lost on a truck that Harvard could fill the class with another group of applicants who were just as compelling. In fact, he said that they could fill the class four times over. There are many applicants who were deferred who were extremely compelling. One has to look at it somewhat as a lottery. Yes, there will be applicants who have just scores and grades who do not stand out, but there will be applicants who truly are extraordinary with passion and unusual talent developed over years who will not be accepted. Often there is no rhyme or reason for the acceptances. One can look at the thread where graduating seniors posted last year and see this. There were applicants who were accepted at Harvard and Princeton regular decision but deferred from Yale early. There were applicants who were accepted to Harvard but not Princeton or Yale. An outstanding student who has unusual passions and interests will probably not be accepted at every school. There is also luck involved in the process. If for example a state took just 10 or so applicants and many of those ten were recruited athlets, development legacies and high scoring minorities for example, there might not have been spots for anyone else early. Also, if only a handful were taken in a particular state, but three of them who were development legacies and a recruited athlete all came from one school, there could be a compelling candidtae from the same school who was not taken because it might not be appropriate to take four of the ten from one school. One never knows what takes place and how the decisions were made - especially when development legacies, connected legaices, and recruited athletes have an enormous advantage in the early pool even when their SAT scores are not extremely competitive.
One cannot assume that they were not compelling and that their passions did not show through if they were not accepted early. Many of those deferred will not be accepted because they do not have what Harvard is looking for. But some ome will be accpeted in the regular decision pool because they do have what Harvard is looking for. It is not that Harvard will take a deferred applicant later on who they thought was not as strong in the early pool. Rather, they were probably always strong, but a decision was made to not take them then. That decision was based on many factors and it could have very well been that they were strong and stood out but there were already too many taken from that state, or any variety of factors.</p>
<p>"I dont necessarily agree with you Northstar mom. Even if they found an applicant to be compelling and all the passions came through there may be reasons why the applicant was not taken early."</p>
<p>Sure, there could be reasons why a candidate that later was accepted wasn't accepted EA. However, what I'm saying is that I doubt that admissions officers would tell guidance counselors that a deferred student would definitely be accepted in the regular decision round. I don't think that they'd go out on a limb like that because who's accepted regular would depend not only upon the individual student's characteristics, but the characteristics of the incoming freshman class. For instance, if after the whole pool were in, if Harvard needed oboe players, females from Idaho or classics majors, those would be the students who would be most likely to get in. I think that such things are not as important when Harvard selects students who get in EA, but afterward, creating a well round class is probably very high on the admissions officers' lists of things to accomplish.</p>
<p>I did not mean to infer that a guidance counselor would say someone would definitely get in. I am talking about a situation where perhpas ten or so were accepted early from a state, and three students were taken from one school and four applied from that school, and the three that were taken included two who were development legacy cases whose families made donations to the school over several million dollars and who had SAT scores that were in the range but on the lower side and no significant extra curriculars, and one who was taken who was a recruited athlete but whose academic record was not that superior, and had no significant extra curriculars other than the sport, but the fourth student not only had a much higher gpa and much higher SAT scores but also had several passions all of which were developed over years in unique areas that one would imagine would be extremely attractive to the school and where the individual received individual International awards which would be the highest in that field ,in addition to National ones in those various passions in addition to having significant leadershp and extraordinary community service spanning years. In that instant where a very small number were taken from the state and a large number were the categories of recruited athletes, development legacies ect, all of whom most likely bypassed the regional admission officer system that applies to most applicants since the development cases were most likely decided beforehand and not advocated by a regional admission officer, and the recruited athlete would have been advoated by the coach and the admissions office - in that case, even if the regional admission officer advocated strongly for that student, it is possible that ther just were not enough spots. I am talking about a situation such as this where a guidance counselor would have called to find out why this fourth student was not accepted and where the guidance counselor was told that the applicant was very compelling and still had a good chance of getting accepted regular decision. One has to imagine that sometimes there are reasons why particular applicants might not have been accepted early. Perhaps it could have to do with the fact that too many who had a very important connection were already taken from one school when only a small number were taken in the state and it would not be appropriate to take so many from one school when that would comprise a large percentage of those taken in the state. I am only saying that an applicant can still be a compelling candidate and seen by the school as compelling, but not be accepted early. This does not mean the applicant will be accepted regular decision. It just means that they were compelling in the early pool and for some reason were not taken, and it is likely they would still be compelling in the regular decision pool.
I think it is different where a guidance counselor calls and is told the applicant did not stand out amongst other applicants, or an applicant had scores that were on the lower side, or there were just a lot of applicants.</p>