<p>Latest post from Andover's Dean's Journal on "Receiving and Sharing Admission News"</p>
<p>Phillips</a> Academy - Receiving and Sharing Admission News</p>
<p>Applications up 5% this year with a 15% admit rate.</p>
<p>I urge everyone to read this, parents and students, whether they applied to Andover or not. Granted, a lot of it is advice that is given often here on CC, but it is still very much worth the read.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for posting!</p>
<p>5% increase in applications is moderate compared with last year’s 17% increase of completed applications, but it seems they are admitting slightly fewer students this year. 15% admit rate would mean about 427 students admitted. Last year that number was 450. </p>
<p>This piece contains very good advice indeed though it sounds like the long version of a reject letter.</p>
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<p>I got that too, Benley. And in that regard, it made me a little sad. Let us all be optimistic while we can and save the consolations until March 11th. :)</p>
<p>But I liked the bit at the beginning about how to be gracious if admitted. We tend to focus on preparing our kids for the worst, instead of prepping them for success. Many not-so-positive emotions can also surface on the arrival of good news. We can try to prepare for those as well: second guessing decision, imposter syndrome or worse - superiority, sudden attachment to younger siblings, jealousy from younger siblings, fear of failure, money issues…</p>
<p>I really liked the letter. I think all applicants should read it. I hope Andover keeps it up. For many applicants, March 10th will be their first taste of failure. I think that’s a valuable experience, if you can learn from it.</p>
<p>one of the quotes was made by my interviewer(:
very nice to read though, thanks for posting!</p>
<p>Periwinkle, failure…I look at it as disappointment.</p>
<p>For me as an educator, failure implies not prepared or not worthy. I believe that up to 25 to 30 % of the students that apply to these schools are prepared and worthy yet won’t get in because there are only so many slots.</p>
<p>Take this case…</p>
<p>In my city there are about 600 grammar schools, and about 10 selective enrollment high schools. If each grammar school sent its top10 students to apply to top highschools than that would be 6000 students, but the selective enrollment high schools can only take 200 kids a piece, thus 2000 kids.</p>
<p>My point being 4000 kids are not going to get a seat in a selective enrollment high school, is that a failure on the kids part or on a system that doesn’t have enough seats?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that we are just speaking of the top ten of each grammar school, what about the 20 to 25 kids that didn’t even make the cut to test for the top high schools.</p>
<p>In our city, 10 top schools, maybe 10 more so-so schools and the rest, I don’t consider an option.</p>
<p>If they admit 15%, I wonder how many go on the waitlist, 5%, 10%, 15%? Even if they were to WL as many as they admit, that’s still roughly 2,100 rejection letters. Harsh.</p>
<p>Thank you neato for posting that excellent letter from the director of admissions.</p>
<p>Argh, a long reply just vanished into cyberspace. </p>
<p>Alexz825Mom, I don’t take failing at gaining admission to a selective school as a sign of being “not prepared or not worthy.” It’s a subjective judgement on the part of mortals, who are not omniscient. If 70% of the applicants to some of these schools are qualified, admitting 15% means that 55% of the qualified applicants will fail at gaining admission.</p>
<p>For many of these applicants, a rejection or waitlisting is their first experience of failure, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s far worse to sail through admissions to high school, to college, professional school, and never have the opportunity to develop humility and empathy. I think of the triumphant Roman generals, who had to listen to a slave whispering in their ears, “Remember you are mortal.” [url=<a href=“http://abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/triumph.htm]Triumphs[/url”>http://abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/triumph.htm]Triumphs[/url</a>] </p>
<p>neatoburrito, I think that, in the long run, outright rejection is kinder than waitlisting, if a school knows that few spots will open up. It hurts more when the candidate opens the letter, but it also allows the candidate to make new plans, rather than waiting in limbo.</p>
<p>Great link, thanks for posting it!</p>
<p>Periwinkle-point taken, thank you.</p>
<p>Neatoburrito-i wonder about rejection verses waitlisting…i am still pondering the pros and cons</p>
<p>Wow!!! 15% To whoever gets in you are very special. ;)</p>
<p>15% who get in are very LUCKY</p>
<p>I agree that it’s worth reading, but it is sad to think of all of the kids who are going to face disappointment on that day, related to me or not, whether Andover or some other great school.
I feel that a shorter waitlist is kinder in the longer run to those students who really are not going to get a spot. Look at the desperate March 10 threads elsewhere on this page. I hate the idea of dragging out what has already been at least a six month process for most applicants.</p>
<p>@periwinkle - personally, I look at WL and deny as the same thing (for practical purposes). I was just thinking of ALL THOSE rejection letters. It’s TWICE as many as there are students in my son’s current school SYSTEM (K-12) And to top it off, 70% are academically qualified, which would be no where near the case at our school. It’s sobering and makes one realize just how elite these schools are. </p>
<p>I liked the part in letter about admission not being an annointing.</p>
<p><em>bump</em></p>
<p>As Hogwarts prepares to mail its decision letters tomorrow, I took the time to read this piece on Andover’s website. There is some great wisdom there, and I hope all applicants and their parents will take the time to read it. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you all.</p>
<p>GemmaV</p>