<p>Amidst all the Bates bashing, I want to say that I have received a rejection letter from Bates (and from a bunch of other colleges) and it was nothing especially cruel. It was just a rejection letter. My advice to all the rejected applicants raising hell - take a chill pill. Rejection is a part of life, learn to deal with it.</p>
<p>I would also like to respond to the collective Bates bashing. I think it’s uncalled for. Firstly, a rejection letter is a rejection letter is a rejection letter. No matter how it’s worded, receiving one isn’t going to feel good. Secondly, I think a lot of the ire being directed towards Bates was generated because this was an especially competitive year and some students who were expecting an acceptance letter didn’t receive one. Although it’s difficult not to, rejectees should not take this personally. Anytime you apply to a school, you’re risking a rejection. That is the nature of college admissions. I have read the Bates rejection letter because my friend received one and posted it on “The Wall of Flagrant Injustice” at our school. It read like any other rejection letter, although I understand that I would probably have felt differently if the letter had been addressed to me. </p>
<p>To suggest that someone avoid applying to a school due to the phrasing of their rejection letter is ludicrous. Lay off.</p>
<p>The problem with Bates is that the Dean of Admissions didn’t say, “Gee, we’ll certainly take a look at that language if people are complaining about it.” But I agree that the PR skills of the Dean of Admissions is not a good reason to avoid applying to a particular school.</p>
<p>Penn State’s rejection letter was just cruel. It is universally known that applicants yearn for the thick envelopes stuffed in their mailboxes, so why showcase other campuses in the same envelope? It was just mean.
UCSD–dumbest story I have ever heard. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to say you were admitted. You’re still rejected. Goodbye.”</p>
<p>Penn State’s rejection was a lot crueler than Bates. Giving students false hope is terrible.</p>
<p>Lafayette rejected me such a way that I felt half accepted.</p>
<p>There is no good way to deliver a bad news. Rejection is rejection. It does not matter how colleges word their rejection letters, you just have to accept it. I’d prefer them just telling me my admission status ^^ That’s pretty much the main purpose of admission letters anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t think I or others are bashing Bates which is a great school. I just don’t think it is nice to tell rejected students that they clearly could not do sound work at Bates. Many of them are accepted to similar ranked universities and colleges. They can clearly do the work in Bates or other tier I schools. </p>
<p>As I wrote in # 59, I agreed with Hunt in post 58. I think it is a PR problem. Rejected students are already depressed. Why it has to hurt more than needed?</p>
<p>“Penn State’s rejection letter was just cruel. It is universally known that applicants yearn for the thick envelopes stuffed in their mailboxes, so why showcase other campuses in the same envelope? It was just mean.”</p>
<p>It sure is. That’s how I was rejected from Columbia (via a huge fat envelope containing information about their nonselective alternative program). Shame on Penn State for pulling the same bait-and-switch. It really did make the rejection materially more unpleasant.</p>
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<p>It evidently does matter. Some colleges have not been mentioned as bad examples in this thread at all.</p>
<p>That Bates letter could be a bit better and the Dean must not have been sleeping much recently to make that comment. My son went there as a Freshmen then transfered in serach of a different social vibe but had no complaints about anything else. As a parent I found Bates to be extremely well administered, bet that Dean has already has his chat with his manager, and everyone to be very friendly.</p>
<p>His interview at Bates was in depth and a real interview not a marketing pitch.</p>
<p>Omg I would die if I got sent a FAT envelope with a rejection letter. That is JUST down right CRUEL.</p>
<p>leave it to duke to be the most gracious.</p>
<p>they “come of very good blood . . .quite good, I belive”</p>
<p>It sure is. That’s how I was rejected from Columbia (via a huge fat envelope containing information about their nonselective alternative program). Shame on Penn State for pulling the same bait-and-switch. It really did make the rejection materially more unpleasant.</p>
<p>It’s not bait and switch just not the acceptance letter to the campus the candidate may have wanted. Anybody that applies to Penn State knows they may not make the University Park campus. This puts Penn State in win-lose situation. **If ** they sent a small envelope, they would be disrespecting their other campuses and the students that might actually accept an offer to go there. Hardly a valid option. I think they would be wise to just send an e-mail briefly describing the kid’s options with a thick packet to follow. </p>
<p>As for Bates, sharing that a school has to select students that can do the work is the obvious of the obvious that provides no value to anyone by sharing the obvious. Just thank a kid for the honor they do to the school by applying and telling them that some other school will certainly benefit from their presence and call it a day. Bozos.</p>
<p>After reading that article I am not surprised that my daughter’s rejection letter from Harvard Med School was so nicely worded. I told her to frame it. :)</p>
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I thought that the above was a nice touch. How hard is it to be kind when writing a rejection letter? I don't understand why some schools are cold to the point of harshness.</p>
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<p>Good question. Being kind while conveying bad news is the sign of a good writer. Having good writers on staff is a credit to any college.</p>
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<p>Some things can never be fully explained. Much like the lack of quality HR communications at even top rated companies.</p>
<p>Wow…ouch for Bates rejects…that was unnecessarily harsh.</p>
<p>Davidson’s Waitlist letter, in the first few words, made me think I got in. It was something of this sort: “Recognizing your many accomplishments ___________”. Unfortunately, it then said: “we offer you a place on the waitlist at Davidson College”. I just laughed, I was expecting to get in no problem. Oh well, it was not anywhere near my first choice. Guess I will have to settle for Emory University (full tuition) next year.</p>
<p>Our generation has become the self absorbed generation of “me-me-me.” First off, you’re an idiot in the first place if you fall in love with some name brand college and believe your entitled to go toil with the privileged elite off in some leafy college town. How dare these schools deny you your ticket to white collar utopia and force you to toil with the lower classes in those yucky state universities! …or “GASP” get a real job… The reality is these kids have been programmed to think that their only redemption is life is their grades and accomplishments on a piece of paper. They have played the game and succeeded up to this point, and now they face rejection for the first time in their lives and they fall apart. Go ahead and beat yourself up for not winning a virtual crap shoot, if you are confident in your abilities you don’t need some administrator in a college to verify that. While you sit on the sidelines thinking your destined to flip burgers because you didn’t get into Princeton, the rest of us will gladly take the reins and build success by building our paths in life one step at a time and not let rejection keep us down. Most people will not drop their pants at the site of an ivy league degree. It might get you interviews, but from their on it’s all about your experience in life and what you make of it. Anyone who goes all out with their heart set on one particular college, job, title, etc. is only setting themselves up for failure. Unfortunately our K-12 education system promotes an almost cult like worship of college as if it’s the ultimate do or die test in life. Anyone can tell you you’re not good enough, it’s your decision if you want to believe it or not.</p>