<p>I am irritated by these colleges that are waiting until April 1st to post their decisions. Would it kill them to be a little early? This waiting game for like 3 schools is killing me when I have 7 or so decisions already. I would rather these schools make their applications due two weeks earlier if it means they will decide by mid-March.</p>
<p>It seems fair.</p>
<p>Most people start looking at schools their junior year. They visit during that year and during the summer before their senior year.</p>
<p>People generally start applying in August or September, and during that process, they find out more about each school.</p>
<p>If students do their job, they’ll keep researching the colleges/universities while they’re waiting for decisions and have an idea of where they want to go.</p>
<p>Final visits and FA packages should seal the deal.</p>
<p>And as a side note…Rolling admissions is awesome! You can get admitted in non-binding fashion as early as November! That gives you about 5 months to decide!</p>
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<p>Haven’t you thought about this issue already for months while you were trying to decide where to apply and waiting for your admission news? </p>
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<p>Correct. The number of choices you have should be manageable. </p>
<p>P.S. Colleges never make money from application fees. Their admission offices spend far more than admission office revenue from fees to recruit students and promote the college.</p>
<p>And who asked them to spend to promote the college? That was their decision.</p>
<p>Of course it was, but they’d be negligent in their duty to trusties and students if they didn’t.</p>
<p>Colleges are organizations who want students, and without promotion they end up with:
- Too few applications to be selective
- Too weak of a student body</p>
<p>Kameron – hard to say. It is self interest of Adcom staff to ask for money for promotion and cloak it in their duty. As to whether it is being well spent or not, I dont think anyone can say that as a given.</p>
<p>But it <em>is</em> their duty. Admissions departments are responsible for recruiting and accepting the best student body they can. Failing to do this would be negligence.</p>
<p>Of course it is also in their best interest to ask for an adequate promotion budget: they need to get paid. But so does every other department. Do you begrudge the (for example) physics department for wanting to pay its professors? Sure, they benefit from it, but failing to do so would be dereliction of duty.</p>
<p>everyone: if you don’t know where u are going to college until the end, then something is wrong</p>
<p>Let me explain my arguments a little more fully. As admissions becomes more and more competitive, no school is a guaranteed acceptance. As a result, kids have to apply to more schools than ever before to ensure they have options come April. If you want a city school, it is not enough to apply to Columbia and hope for the best. You have to apply to NYU, BU, and Georgetown to make sure you get into a place that fits your criteria.</p>
<p>Students may have time to visit their top picks, but I know of few people, particularly of the type of student that posts on these forums, who have the time or money to visit every school on their list. There is, after all, only so much that can be gleaned from talking to people and reading guidebooks. Often a campus visit is necessary before you can truly know whether a school is best for you. Take a smart kid from the West Coast who applies to a few East Coast Ivies. I imagine he would be hard pressed to convince his parents to fly out to visit a school like Dartmouth if he hasn’t even gotten in yet. This kid will likely have to wait until he gets his acceptances, whittle them down to four or so, and then go visit. Even visiting four schools in four weeks, with school going on back home, is a tough task.</p>
<p>As for my comparison with admissions officers, that was mainly a joke. But do the math. If I get into six schools, I will have to reject 83% of them. All but a handful of colleges have much lower rejection rates than that. (Don’t get me started on that cowardly cop out, waitlisting.) So, I would have to make the decision to reject a much higher percentage of my “applicants” than any college.</p>
<p>Again, just a lighthearted attempt to vent my frustration. But still, I think I bring up some good points. So, I’ll ask again, is anyone else feeling the pressure of having to decide how to begin the rest of your life?</p>
<p>yes i def. am for sure. i know exactly where your coming from.</p>
<p>it’s hard to decide</p>
<p>Let’s see. </p>
<p>They have 4 months to decide.</p>
<p>We have (4 + 1) = 5 months to decide. Hmmm… seems fair… unless you want to procrastinate ;).</p>
<p>Like I did =P.</p>
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<p>It’s fair. They get like 20,000+ applicants and there’s probably <20 admissions officers.</p>
<p>^in light of this…</p>
<p>if you’ve been admitted to >1,000 schools then i’ll admit your complaint has merit. otherwise, it’s plenty of time to decide.</p>
<p>Oh wow. How long does it take for you to decide between (at most) 15 schools? Take financial aid and other factors into consideration, that should narrow it down to 5-8. Then you visit and CC them. Narrow it down to 2-3. Seriously. Shouldn’t need 4 months.</p>
<p>^ that.
10characters</p>
<p>Sort of on this topic, has anyone else heard from older people, “Oh wow you don’t hear 'til April? That seems so late!” Did people used to hear back earlier in the spring (thinking of recent history like the 90s-00s)?</p>
<p>@texasco: I’ve heard that too… and was wondering where it’s origins were. Besides maybe the state schools that accept before that.</p>