<p>I know this is probably a silly question, and I'm probably still not thinking rationally after the decisions last Saturday. However, I was wondering if there was any way I might be able to talk my way from a rejection to the waitlist, i. e. somehow convince the admissions committee to give me a little more consideration. I understand that these admissions officers are experts at this sort of thing, and I don't mean to undermine their decision. I'm sure they get dozens of rejected applicants trying to convince them to reconsider, or calling in anger and demanding to know why their child wasn't good enough or something. However, I'm not entirely sure that they were given as complete of a picture of me as they could have. I was only able to do a telephone interview, and all of my recommendations had to be done by my parents, as I am a home schooled student. I'm not trying to get them to completely overturn their decision, but I would just like to know if there's anything I could do to convince them to give me just a bit more consideration and allow me to at least try to give them a more complete picture of me as a person. Thanks.</p>
<p>What you should do, sometime AFTER April 15, is set up an appointment to speak with your interviewer, and ask him or her what you can do to strengthen your application for next year. Not this year, NEXT year. And then follow your interviewer’s advice.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but I have never heard of anyone changing their rejection status at a school (exceptions: reapplying, donating a building, etc). It is an infinitely small chance that you are looking for, because imagine if all, let’s say, 500(?) rejected applicants had the same request you have. This being said, if you truly feel that they have not gotten to know you as well as they could as an applicant yet, you could maybe contact your interviewer via email and just explain your thoughts like you have above. Best of luck! </p>
<p>I’d also like to add that not being accepted to boarding school is not the end of the world and as a smart home-schooled applicant, you definitely have a bright future ahead of you. :)</p>
<p>My brother who attended NMH, and graduated in the mid-eighties was initially rejected. He wrote them a letter and was admitted that year – I confirmed this with him today. The school was bigger then, and applying to both boarding school and college was a lot easier. I was in college at the time, and one of my friends who’d attended NMH, wrote him a supporting letter. He ended up being president of the school. </p>
<p>This same individual skateboarded to his interview at NYU, where he was given a test that he didn’t do well on. The interviewer liked him so much, he asked him to come back and take it again. He did better on the test, and he got in and graduated on schedule.</p>
<p>Of the four kids in our family he’s had the easiest life, he’s got a solid marriage, three beautiful kids and is the most financially successful – his life looks like a US Trust ad. He’s always been a risk taker who believed in himself and it’s paid off.</p>
<p>It may be a chance for you to turn your rejection into a wait list or accept but it’s really unlikely. You should try contacting the person who interview you and ask him/her what you could have done better. If you really like the school , you can apply again next year and start all over. Maybe you’ll get accepted next year. Good luck :)</p>
<p>Thanks you guys, this is very concise and encouraging advice, although I certainly won’t let it get my hopes up, regardless of the fact that I seem to thrive on the unlikely :D</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that you can’t live your life this way. There are plenty of things you’re going to get rejected from - that job you want, that dream apartment you’re trying to put a deposit on . . . that girl (or guy) you just asked out. Yes, it’s great to try and correct the situation if you can . . . but you also need to be able to recover quickly, assess your remaining options, and move forward.</p>
<p>In this case, if you didn’t get into boarding school, what can you do to make your existing school situation more workable? What activities can you take on, what projects can you become involved in . . . what can you do to make your situation better?</p>
<p>Sure, trying to change a denial to a waitlist is certainly a challenge . . . but can’t you find other ways to challenge yourself?</p>
<p>@dodgersmom: Thank you very much for your advice. I should probably say that this is not something that has me emotionally torn up or extremely disheartened or anything of the like. I’m certainly capable of recovering quickly, and have indeed assessed my remaining options. I would move on forthwith, but as you say, give or take, it can’t hurt to try. Despite the fact that there most certainly are ways I can ameliorate the situation where I am now, I would still rather wind up on the waiting list somehow, although the chances of even making it off of that itself are slim. We’ll see what happens, but either way I thank you, dodgersmom, and the rest of you, for your advice.</p>