<p>My feelings exactly 18yrcollegemin. It’s about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It makes zero sense to me. “Hey we just wanted to tell you that we think you are among the top applicants and want to offer you this opportunity for an amazing scholarship. Ooops, too slow, you must not really want it”. Absurd.</p>
<p>Is this the way they have done it in past years also? Hard to believe.</p>
<p>I know this might not help you feel better. But when I attended Baylor’s “Invitation to Excellence” with DS, the school told all of us that the RSVP filled up in 17 minutes. </p>
<p>I agree this is absolutely unacceptable and nothing like years before.</p>
<p>@4beardolls - Baylor’s Invitation to Excellence is completely different. I believe that event is for NMSF’s so that Baykor may intice them to apply to the school. TAMU and other schools have similar events. Baylor automatically gives full tuition to NMF, so the only consequence to not attending is a one time $2k offer. Those kids haven’t even applied yet. </p>
<p>Here, the kids not only applied and were identified as the top of the applicant pool, they also received personal invitations to attend a MANDATORY interview weekend, otherwise they are no longer candidates for the top awards, including the Foote Fellows. It is beyond reprehensible that the university then lock them out of that opportunity after specifically identifying them and offering them the chance to come. I can understand setting a reasonable deadline to respond so that the school can organize the event according to the number of students responding and cut-off those folks on the fence who do not respond, but to shut it down in under two hours is absurd.</p>
<p>Oh boy oh boy. I actually have “survivor’s guilt.” I don’t know about this at all. I’m pretty sure the kids offered to interviews at USC for the same didn’t go through this. Hmmmm. Very confusing. Can a student maybe comment on why the process would work like this?</p>
<p>And how do you know it’s 150 people that were invited? . </p>
<p>I’m hoping that we will hear good news from the wait list. Who knew an ice storm could be so costly?</p>
<p>@cooper1025 I was able to get in earlier today luckily, hopefully you’ll get good news soon as well!</p>
<p>I am using a new screenname (problems with the newly designed site with my old information), but I am an old
participant on this board. For the last 5 years I have had children at the U and it has been the best experience that we could have hoped for. One student was in honors, but not a Foote, the other is a Foote. Having experienced many transitions in the scholarship process and the Singer and fairly new Stamps weekends, I can only tell you that the U is getting much more competitive and what it took to get the scholarships years ago is no longer the same standard. It is tough to get the biggest scholarships and the pool of super qualified candidates is vast.
If you were lucky enough to get a spot on one of the weekends, then it will be a weekend that you will not forget. If you visit unsure of what school to choose, the U will confirm that it is a wonderful place to be. If it is your first choice, the weekend will just confirm this for you. They really show off the best of the University and offer plenty of wonderful information for parents/potential students to make the best decision about their futures. The Foote program has become more competitive to get into and it is soooo worth it! It has changed my second child’s experience and given her the flexibility to explore so much more than she would have otherwise if she did not have this perk. However, my son was not a Foote and still had an amazing experience, gone on to grad school and has a job lined up for when he finishes. All from a great undergrad experience at the U. </p>
<p>I know that some of you are angry about not getting a spot on one of the weekends. They limit these spots because they need to give the students who attend long interviews and there are only so many hours to accomplish this.
But, don’t give up yet…get on the waitlist, email the powers that be and express your need for this opportunity, and reasons why it would make all the difference in your situation. Offer your student up for a skype interview to be considered anyway. If you show understanding, enthusiasm for the U and express how important this is, then you might get somewhere. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. In the past they have always offered more invites than spots, but this is the first time I can recall that weather and computer issues has affected so many. I feel for you, but please don’t let this sour your opinion of the U. It is a wonderful place and I know that they are doing their best, even if it doesn’t feel that way to you right now. I do hope that this wrinkle smooths out soon for all of you. And for all of you, congrats on getting in. You are the best of the best! I wish for all of you that the rest of the process and your decision-making goes smoothly. And for those of you that choose the U. Welcome to our family! Go 'Canes!</p>
<p>Seriously?? Don’t let this sour your opinion of the U? You’ve got to be kidding!!! Some kids that were invited and equally or more qualified than others are arbitrarily discarded because the ones that happened to be in front of their computers when the site went on line need more time for long interviews? How in the world is that logical? Accommodate those that are invited or don’t invite them in the first place!!! Again, if this is how the “U” treats its students, perhaps it is a blessing in disguise that he did not get to RSVP. </p>
<p>That’s a nice spin on things, ummom2, and I have zero doubt that Miami is an excellent place to be an undergraduate. In fact I know it is. But that is not the point here. With so much on the line, there is no way they should have made attendance at that weekend event akin to being the first to call in to a radio promotion. These are not concert tickets at stake.</p>
<p>I do understand these scholarships get more competitive every year as people learn about them. They should have adjusted for that in one of several ways: A) by tightening up the initial number of invitations; B) by holding more than one weekend for having the interviews; or C) creating a preliminary screening step to whittle down the pool, like a short essay. But no matter how you slice it, there is no justifying making the rapidity in which you can place an RSVP as the first screening criteria, which it de facto became.</p>
<p>So now students that saw full scholarships dangled in front of them have no recourse to compete for them, unless Miami gets their act together and quickly. This truly cannot be what they had in mind.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist @4beardolls @18yrcollegemin - This is definitely not the way many things went the past two years. Last year’s cycle was different in many ways from prior years with the replacement of the long-standing named merit scholarships in fixed amounts for the new “Presidential” in various amounts and higher initial merit awards of $28k and $29k going to some students with lower stats than those who received S/S invites. Also the situation with S/S weekend RSVPs was quite different. </p>
<p>Two years ago when my daughter was an applicant invites to S/S weekends went out just prior to the acceptances being posted online. That part seems to be the situation this year re the invite timing. The invites were handled by those running the S/S weekend vs those who post acceptances and there wasn’t a big lag before her acceptance was posted, but still a bit odd. We were able to accept the invite immediately online. </p>
<p>Last year when S/S invites were sent they came later than acceptances and I remember there was some sort of indication that the RSVP site wasn’t going to be available until a certain day so there was a delay between receiving the invite and being allowed to RSVP. I just found last year’s thread and since I can no longer see a time-stamp on posts here with the new system (as well as many other things I can’t find - don’t like the new CC at all) I can’t tell when the invites went out but one post says the ability to RSVP wouldn’t start until Feb 6th making it clear that was a few days away at least. Here is the link to last year’s thread : </p>
<p><a href=“Singer/Stamps 2013 - University of Miami - Florida - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-miami-florida/1453643-singer-stamps-2013-p1.html</a></p>
<p>@biocellar - help! any idea how can I see dates and times on posts here now? </p>
<p>So - the invites I’ve seen over the last two years have always stated that space was limited but I don’t remember anything like this. I do remember two years ago one girl missed RSVPing in time and got the message about the weekend being full which she posted here. She was advised to call admissions to see if she could still attend. I think she had waited quite a few days before attempting to RSVP though. I don’t remember her posting again so I assumed everything had worked out. I don’t remember anyone posting about being unable to RSVP in time last year - but there was that long delay between the day the invite was received and the ability to accept. </p>
<p>Space filling up within two hours with the option to sign up for a wait-list? Haven’t seen posts about that over the last two years. Hello old friend @ummom2 ! I saw your post above just now ^ and you have been here for so many years and have so much knowledge to share from all that time - do you think this might be a website glitch perhaps? Since there have been so many IT changes including the transition from MyUM to Canelink maybe the site set up for RSVPs might not have had enough slots available? Since flights have to be booked for attending the weekend time is a critical factor here for attendees. I remember two years ago worriedly watching flight prices (spring break!) tick higher and higher the weeks before invites came out.</p>
<p>Exactly, fallenchemist. Well said.</p>
<p>This ultrashort time frame to respond just doesn’t seem right. Call Cristi Busto in Admissions (305) 284-6990 and voice your concerns. </p>
<p>Hello old friend illinoismom93.( I hope your DD is doing well. Mine loves her job/living situation and is having a great year! )Clearly, tensions are high on this board and rightfully so. I do believe, as you must, that this is not the way the U treats people and you and I both know this from experience. This is why I encouraged those affected to contact the U and request some consideration for this situation. My DS had a friend who had a phone interview (no skype back then) and he got the Singer from his phone interview. My post and suggestions were meant to help those that affected. I’m sorry if you did not see it as helpful, because if you knew me, you would know that I only want to see others succeed. </p>
<p>In all years since I have been a U Mom, there have been limited spots at these weekends and this is the way it goes unfortunately. Please don’t flame me for this…this is the way it works. I’m not saying it is fair or right (it isn’t) after the hard work these kids have put in, but it is the reality of most of the scholarship weekends that my kids have been invited to at this (and other) schools. Perhaps this year is unusual in that more students want to attend than ever before. Who knows…but with so many variables that are different this year, I still believe it is worth calling, emailing, whatever it takes to try for a spot by speaking to the persons in charge. (not a student who answers the phone, but an employee in that office) </p>
<p>I do know that the person in charge of the weekends is new to this position this year. So, perhaps she has switched things up for whatever reason. Clearly, the new person in charge, the new (awful) Canelink system, and weather and computer glitches are all at fault here. </p>
<p>My heart breaks for these hopefuls and I hope it all works out. Fallenchemist, your ideas are great, but too late for this year’s hopefuls…perhaps you should share them with the admissions office and the new person in charge will take advantage of your suggestions. </p>
<p>Readytoretire, Cristi Busto is no longer at the U…she is not in charge of the weekend</p>
<p>Thanks ummom2. I definitely wasn’t flaming you, nor was I even trying to suggest that you were not trying to be helpful. I know many admissions offices monitor their CC forum, so I was mostly hoping that they will see this. But I will consider your suggestion to contact them directly.</p>
<p>I really have no stake in U Miami. I only got involved because this affects a friend of mine. I am almost exclusively a Tulane person, being both an alum and parent of an extremely recent graduate. It is interesting to compare their process to Miami’s. Tulane has about 125 full tuition/fees scholarships, the Deans’ Honors Scholarship (75) and the Paul Tulane Award (50). This is the first year they have 5 Stamps scholarships. They do not do interviews for the DHS or PTA, but will for the Stamps. However, they are using the DHS application as the first screen for the Stamps, so they will not run into this issue of having more invitees for the interview than slots to do the interviews. Just to demonstrate another approach.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post @ummom2 . I think it’s just the less than clear communication that really creates a situation where tensions are high. I appreciate you relaying your experience because, if I’m honest, the University of Miami hasn’t endeared itself to me or my spouse. If my daughter didn’t care so much, it would be just fine with us if she headed to one of the other schools that have offered her scholarship money. </p>
<p>Racing to RSVP is not an ideal situation. Perhaps if we knew that this was indeed the situation, we would be prepared for the ridiculousness of it all.</p>
<p>I also meant to add to my last reply that it would also make sense for Miami to be much more transparent about the stakes involved up front of getting the RSVP in quickly, if they insist on doing it this way. And they should also post what the options are if the RSVP fails, if in fact there are other options.</p>
<p>One of my biggest frustrations at this point is the lack of professionalism with which the university is handling this. Yesterday, when my son was trying to respond and couldn’t, I merely thought it was a computer issue and would be resolved because, surely, there was no way that he was excluded before he even made it home from school. After trying many times over the course of the evening, I told him to email the contact person and let her know what was going on. I figured the problem would be addressed today.</p>
<p>I started calling the named contact person around 9:00 this morning. I’m not sure how many times I called, between 5 and 10, but she never answered. Last night, a green box appeared on the website that said something to the effect that the form was not taking submissions at that time. Early this morning, there was a message on the site saying the weekend was at capacity and was no longer accepting reservations, so someone changed the site. By the afternoon, the site was changed again to display a signup form for the wait list. </p>
<p>I left the contact person a voice mail with a number to call me back. After a couple hours, I sent her an email. But the end of the day, both emails and the voice message had gone unanswered.</p>
<p>The school definitely knows there were problems and an unreasonable amount of time to respond as they have changed the website at least twice and now have the wait list. Last night, I was merely concerned. After being ignored all day, concerned turned to furious. The absolute least they can do when giving a phone number and email to contact with questions /concerns is answer the phone. </p>
<p>Did all of you get invited to the first weekend on March 1?? There is a second weekend (3/22). My son was EA last year and got invited to the second weekend. Maybe they are doing something strange with filling the first weekend then wait-listing then opening up invites to 2nd weekend.
here are Ed Gillis’s (Exec. Dir. Admissions) and Deanna Lynn Voss (Dir. of Admissions) emails :
egillis @ miami dot edu
dvoss @ miami dot edu</p>
<p>you’ll need to fix the email (remove spaces and add “.”) to use them.</p>
<p>so send them your legititmate Singer weekend concerns directly</p>