<p>My daughter just got the "BIG ENVELOPE" welcoming her the Whitman entering class of 2006. I hope others' good news is on the way to the mailbox.</p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>Great news. Congrats! Could I ask what made her particularly interested in Whitman? Though we live only two states away, we seldom hear much about this school.</p>
<p>Now, thats great news!
Congratulations dad. Now the wait here in California continues. What was the acceptance letter like?</p>
<p>cd: I have been peeking at your posts regarding your D's interest in Whitman. Congrats to her. She will love it! I'm a big fan of Whitman and a convert to LAC's. I have several former students attending, and I cite Whitman for those without a clue about the benefits of an excellent, challenging LAC. Whitman was the college visit that turned my D (and us) on to the value of a small lib arts school. She would likely be there now if her ban on "not in this (our) state nor touching this state" had been lifted (she's a soph at Carleton). Best of luck to your D!</p>
<p>concerneddad, congratulations to your daughter and to you.</p>
<p>Yes!!!!! I am so glad for her and you!! Whitman is a wonderful place--and the waiting is done!</p>
<p>Congratulations, concerneddad - Whitman is such an excellent college!</p>
<p>I'm still waiting in western WA...I'm hoping for it to be in the mail, which should come in a couple hours...</p>
<p>Got the wrong letter today. Oh well. Time to get the other RD apps in the mail.
Santa Clara, L And C and UPS. He likes all three.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone, and sweetkidsmom, I am soory your son got the "other" letter. All I can tell you is that two years ago my son got the "kissing your sister" letter -- a deferral -- from his ED school. Today, he would tell you it is the best thing that ever happened to him. He loves Tulane (not is ED school), and although I know many Tulane kids are now suffering with the cuts the school has made, he is determined to be back on campus and help with the turnaround. He would not change a thing.</p>
<p>So, silver-linings are found in dark clouds.</p>
<p>Californian: I think there were sevral things that made my daughter choose Whitman:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>She left HS early because she really wanted to be somewhere with students that loved learning, and she felt that described many of the Whitman kids she met there and knew from her HS.</p></li>
<li><p>Whitman was physcially the type of school she wanted: small, pretty, but with very nice facilities</p></li>
<li><p>We live in Oregon, and I think perhaps because she is coming out of HS a year early, there may be some comfort to being closer to home;</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, I think that the warm staff and laid back attitude, along with great academics and programs help make her choice easy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks again for the congrats. Now only 1 child left to worry about -- but not for at least another year.</p>
<p>I got in! Whitman 2010! And they gave me a Penrose merit scholarship, which is really great! Thanks for all your help everyone! My stats are posted somewhere on here if you're curious. Yaaaaaayyyyyyy</p>
<p>Congrats, and especially to your parents (merit $$$) LOL</p>
<p>Just a side note for the benefit of those affected by Katrina(Tulane) in the south.
Last night at the end of Billy Crystals "700 Sundays" show, it was sold out and ohhh so funny, so poignant, so enjoyable, Billy asked for donations for the victims there. Adding that not onlhy was he matching the $$ donated $ for $ but that $500,000 had been raised so far. I don't know if that was total for the SF shows which conclude tonight, or for the tour. The tour goes to LA next( go if you can). But people were generously giving last night. I had to wait in line to get to a donation box myself.</p>
<p>That is very nice to hear. Seems like so ofeten once the TV cameras leave, interest wains.</p>
<p>sweetkidsmom,
sorry about the wrong letter. your post struck me because i am in a similar position as your son (mainly in choosing between whitman and santa clara). i am not sure whether ill apply to whitman ed II, because I loved them both yet they are so different. if you wouldn't mind sharing your son's stats or experiences with those schools, or any advice, it would be appreciated.
thanks</p>
<p>I'm not sure what I can offer. I can tell you we don't know why he was declined other than a general statement by the school that was a 'keen competition letter'. S's weak points were a GPA of 3.3uw with an upward trend from soph. yr to jr year, 3.5 uw. EC's were good but lacked any office positions. (Mostly volunteer work with a nationally recognized foundation, and a few others, mock con campaign mger, walk a thons a few other I can't recall.) </p>
<p>His SAT's were very good:700 M 720 W 740 V SATII 780 US history 710 Literature.
course work was increasingly challenging from fresh year to present( Honors english all three years with AP english this year. AP history last year. All college prep classes. Currently in two AP classes English and Stats.
Essays were excellent, he has always been highly thought of for his excellent writing ability as several teachers have told me through the years. He interviewed with a student admin in July and it was his first interview. Not ideal and not his best, but he and the interviewer seemed to connect well. (UPS interview was much better this past November on campus).
In hind site I think another semester with the increasing GPA trend he has would have helped, better EC's. He ran for senior class President with a wonderfully creative campaign but did not includse that in his ec list, because he did not win. I also think the high achieveing public school he attends hurt him in terms of his ranking. Although Whitman doesn't place a high degree of importance on this it didn't help s. The grade breakdown has 3.0's all the way into the bottom half. Lots of 4 +++.0's.</p>
<p>S did love Whitman but doesn't seem upset about the outcome. He loved SCU. His dad attended the schools MBA program a few years ago and loved the profs. He loved also that the school places a lot of weight on the teacher reviews the students filled out at the end of the course. The visiting professors were very concerned about them as they were considered to be a very weighty proportion of whether they got asked back to the school or not. S's dad got his undergrad degree at the Naval Academy so course rigor was expected and met at SCU. Profs were friendly and of excellent quality. Class discussion was really good but they seemed to like group projects alot. He wasn't big on that. Many profs also teach at UCB Stanford and other area schools. </p>
<p>The campus area over there is nice, with a modern police station across the street. When we toured recently the students were all friendly and clean cut. </p>
<p>I hesitate to offer advice. I think others here have more qualifications for that than I. I do think we will have a second look at his application(he used the common app) and make sure we don'tt need to make some changes.</p>
<p>The classes at SCU are small and personal like the Whitman classes. They do get to participate in research, like Whitman students, like the NASA Ames research center. I can't say I know if the schools are equal in that regard though. I talked with a guy who was doing this. </p>
<p>Its a place where the science inclined and the sports jock coexist well and thrive. The difference that I saw was the student body size. The staff we talked with are nice enough but not as warm and comfy as I found Whitmans to be. I like the way SCU groups their Freshman students in the dorms and they have live in faculty. They try to schedule some of the core Freshman classes so that you are in the same class as the people on your dorm floor. Makes homework and projects easier. And if someone is absent the prof can ask a roommate or dorm mate about the missing student too. The one faculty guy we heard tell us about this baked cookies and took them around to the fresh in his area. His wife lived there too.in the apartment, every floor has a faculty apartment. They rave about the 10 pm student masses held in the old mission for everyone. Lots of non catholics who think they are very cool.</p>
<p>The school is a humanist school. They are highly rated for their great food.</p>
<p>thanks so much for that information. your son and i have very similar stats. i have a 3.25 GPA, upward trend, 2060 SAT, volunteer work. i did have three years of student government, but i don't know how much of a difference that will make. i have visited both schools, and i loved them both. the only difference was that i left whitman feeling that it may be too small. when i visited scu, i expected a lot of spoiled, unfriendly students but i met some great kids. when i left, santa clara was the only school i wanted to go to. however, now i have a big decision to make. i doubt i will have a chance of getting into whitman if i apply rd, so if i want to go there i have to choose soon. good chance ill see him at scu though. i loved it there.</p>
<p>My daughter just got her Big Envelope from Whitman!! What a relief -- we were really sweating it. Whitman was by far her first choice, and I was wondering how she'd get up the enthusiasm to complete her other apps if she didn't get in there.</p>
<p>Sorry about your son, sweetkidsmom.
Your son and I seem to have similar stats as well... I am taking/have taken 6 AP courses and numerous honors, with a gpa of 3.39 unweighted (3.9 weighted with honors & AP counted equally).
I didn't take the SAT ii's, however.
I heard that Whitman places more emphasize on the essays in comparison to SAT scores, so I'm hoping this will help me. (I have 2000 overall, but only 620 for math).</p>
<p>Now I'm really worried. :( Whitman's acceptance rate for ED hovers around 80% (according to Princeton Review), so I am surprised he didn't make it. I assumed there was just about room for everyone who is qualified.</p>
<p>I guess not.</p>