My son submitted an application to Siena last fall. He also submitted an ED application to a much more selective school and was subsequently admitted. Since he had not yet received a decision from Siena at the time he was admitted to the ED school, he withdrew his application from Siena. The admissions office acknowledged the withdrawal of his application, then, several weeks later, sent him a rejection letter. This strikes me as a borderline unethical practice aimed at distorting application numbers and acceptance rates. Has anyone else had a similar experience at Siena or any other college?
It’s not possible that it was a simple error???
The fact that he was admitted to several other more selective schools (including his ED school), made it less likely he would be rejected from Siena if the application hadn’t been withdrawn. Could there have been an error? Maybe. That’s why I posed the question. If others have had a similar experience then it’s less likely that it was an error.
Yes! Siena is engaging in unethical admissions practices (see my thread below about not really being test optional). It appears they are working hard to create admissions statistics to make them appear a better school than they are.
Just yesterday spoke with someone who tried to withdraw their application but the link to do so didn’t work. They also emailed the admissions counselor that they were withdrawing. About a month later they received a rejection. The student was also overqualified for Siena. So clearly Siena is engaging in manipulating their acceptance rate and people are noticing.
My understanding is that schools, not just Siena will count the application in itts reported numbers, even if it is later withdrawn. They also count applications received, even when not all the materials are submitted. It’s not really a manipulation, it’s just how the apps are counted
Many elite colleges have been exposed for counting large numbers of incomplete applications in the denominator when calculating acceptance rates. Although this practice is viewed by many as unethical, it’s not unusual. It’s unclear how withdrawn applications are treated. In addition to Siena, my son withdrew applications from several colleges, all of which sent a letter acknowledging the withdrawal and no further correspondence. I’m sure most, if not all, of these colleges will count his withdrawn application. We’ll never know. What stood out about Siena is that they, like the other colleges, acknowledged the application withdrawal and then followed up with a rejection letter. Based on my son’s experience, as well as the experience cited by @Empireapple, it appears that this may be common practice at Siena.
Exactly 1d12go. Not impressive Siena. Especially when they solicit applications and give application waivers freely. Not impressive.