<p>At this point, the decisions have been made, so last minute additions are probably not worthwhile, especially if they don’t come until next week. Remember that Smith is going to be looking at all of your grades, not just your senior year grades or the grades from one quarter. If you get waitlisted, it might be worthwhile to send in the extra grades (in fact, I’m sure they’ll ask for them). </p>
<p>That being said, if you think it would make you feel better, go ahead. It never hurts to try.</p>
<p>broomsticks- you can appeal when you are rejected as well.
I heard a story that bunch of teachers called school to ask why it didn’t take the students who got denied. Then School was impressed by how this one students made all this teachers in the action. So they accepted him again. </p>
<p>I mean, I will be better than just crying or give up.</p>
<p>but some colleges say they don’t take appeals (Ex: Johns hopkins) then you can’t but Smith didn’t say anything about appeal. So, I think you can.</p>
<p>An appeal is definitely worthwhile if you’re waitlisted. I don’t know how successful they are for rejections…I would imagine not very but you can always try :)</p>
<p>New poster here–you may have seen my dad (Bossf51) lurk this place in my stead…! </p>
<p>Waiting! It’s really coming up, isn’t it? I love Smith–definitely a top choice (Vassar, Wellesley, and Smith all up there for me–I’ve refrained from choosing a #1 cause Financial Aid’s gonna be a big factor) Five o’clock on Friday is going to be a major event–Vassar’s coming out that day, too! Stressful. Hopefully tomorrow won’t drag on!</p>
<p>:D took you long enough to find me. Yes, the last few days I’ve been desperate–can’t wait around for you to call with the latest! (though I appreciate the calls)</p>
<p>My (Asian) mother is always all, “I’m so glad you applied to HYPS! And…those other ones, too…So, are they going to ‘message you on the internet,’ or just call? In May, right?”</p>
<p>I got into a few selective schools with not so great stats but with really amazing essays, teacher recs, and interviews. I don’t know if you’re an URM, but being one definitely helps. I think people are afraid to say it outright, but it’s the truth. Most of these tops LACs are severely lacking in diversity. According to their website, for instance, Smith has around 180 Hispanic/Latino students and around 130 Black students in TOTAL. (I think this is a huge shame, honestly. One of the school’s few drawbacks, imo.) Being an under-served minority can help you if your stats aren’t stellar but your personality is. It can help push you from the waitlist pile to the accepted one. Of course, we all know that isn’t always the case. </p>
<p>None of this helps to calm my nerves for Friday, though. This has definitely been one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I hope I get into Smith, but I always have MoHo to fall back on if I don’t make it. If I had been rejected from Mount Holyoke, I don’t think I could’ve survived waiting this long, honestly. Gah.</p>
<p>I know what you mean, jesm11–I’m in the same boat, Moho’s all I’ve got thus far. It helps a little with some of the nerves to have Mount Holyoke in your pocket…but here’s hoping we both get a few more options! :D</p>
<p>@jesm11 I would have to beg to differ about your comment on URMS. Many people on this site assume that URMS have it very easy in the admissions process. This is simply not true. I am a URM (biracial, (african american and white)), and yes, my stats were not the greatest, but I did write very good essays, and had five interviews for colleges. I got rejected so far from five colleges (Northwestern Medill ED, Tulane, Wellesley “unlikely”, Mount Holyoke, and Uchicago). I had interviews for Uchicago, Wellesley, Smith, Barnard and Bryn Mawr. (Although Smith interview was BY FAR the best one I have ever had, and lasted an hour and a half with alumna. It was fantastic!) My grades were explained by my guidance counselor, and yes I had explained them too, but what it comes down to, is that college admissions counselors really do not care. They can see an applicant that may say “take a chance on me, I can do the work”, but ultimately if they do not see any proof with grades and test scores ect, they will not take you. There are too many highly qualified applicants for them to take a chance on a weaker applicant. I think people think that affirmative action always works, but it really only works for highly qualified applicants who are minorities that admissions counselors would take over a highly qualified over represented individual.</p>
<p>@jesm – The really surprising thing is that Smith is extremely diverse compared to its peer group colleges, both racially and socio-economically. </p>
<p>You have to think though about where schools like Smith are coming from. It’s not that long ago that they had quotas for how many students of color they would admit each year, in a deliberate attempt to keep the numbers as low as possible (while other schools Smith associated with like Harvard and Yale had quotas not just for students of color, but also for Jewish students). African-American students were not allowed to live in the student houses at all in the beginning, including Otelia Cromwell, who was Smith’s first black graduate and who is honored on campus annually. For a long time scholarship students were segregated into their own houses, while wealthy students brought their own maids to college to live in the dorms with them. </p>
<p>So when you start from a past like that (and Smith, I should point out, is in no way unique in these practices. In fact, we were considered pretty progressive for the various time period the practices took place), having more than 100 black and latina students, not to mention the students of many other races we have on campus, the first generation college students, the international students, we’ve come a long way. Though of course, we still have a lot of work to do.</p>
<p>I don’t think I ever implied that being a URM makes the admissions process easier. However, it can, in some cases, give an applicant an edge. If two applicants - one white and one a URM - with comparable stats both apply to a selective college, which one is more likely to be accepted? In my experience and the experience of my peers who are all URMs from low-income households and low-performing schools, the URM comes out on top. I’ve always thought this was common knowledge (at least in my city). This isn’t to say that being a minority guarantees you a full ride at Harvard, but it does make you slightly more desirable to a school lacking in both economic and racial diversity, and it just so happens that the overwhelming majority of top colleges fit this description. </p>
<p>This is definitely not something worth arguing about, though, especially when so many of us are stressing out over tomorrow. @Jammma was asking a question about stats, and I responded with my experience. No biggie. Just trying to ease some fears here.</p>