<p>I don't know why the admissions office said everyone was invited because someone else on this board posted that they didn't see anything in their letter related to it. Also, why would they say we were accepted if we haven't applied yet? I guess we'll have to wait for more info.</p>
<p>Just sent the following e-mail:</p>
<p>
[quote]
To Whom It May Concern:</p>
<p>I received my acceptance into American University yesterday, and much to my surprise my acceptance letter also indicated that I would shortly receive an invitation to join the University College Program. Naturally, I have several questions concerning the program.</p>
<p>Is the program invitation-only, or is it open to the entire freshman body? Does every freshman acceptance letter include the mention of the UCP?</p>
<p>Does the fact that my acceptance letter contains a mention of the UCP mean that, if I wish to enter, I am already accepted into it? Or does it mean that I am invited to apply?</p>
<p>What percentage of freshman are accepted into the program?</p>
<p>Thank you for your time and energy..</p>
<p>Anthony Mangia, AUID xxxxxxx
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My acceptance letter also mentioned the program. 3.7w GPA, 2230 SAT, Leadership Extracurriculars, Very Good Recs</p>
<p>Maybe you guys are just such swell applicants that you are all among the super special elite that received the University College Program. </p>
<p>Sorry, that was just too much fun. Maybe it is true though.</p>
<p>bump....what did they respond? id like to know if it really is ''exclusive''</p>
<p>Hey, I just got the invite in the mail from the program. However, I have not gotten my admit packet yet- so does this mean that I didn't get into honors? and how exclusive is the program?</p>
<p>i don't think its very exclusive, I think they sent an invite to everyone. You have to apply for it.</p>
<p>hey em...hehe...uhh everyone can be in the program but they only invite a certain amount.</p>
<p>it says that they "invite" you but that you have to also apply, it doesnt make any sense. I think its just an invitation to apply...</p>
<p>Ya, I'm REALLY confused about this... American just sent me an invitation to participate in the University College Program TODAY! I know the mail takes a lot longer since I live on the west coast, but I wouldn't expect something like this to come so late in the game... I'm still surprised because, although I have a 3.8 uw/4.3 w GPA, I'm in the top 8% of my class of 670, and I have great ECs w/ lots of leadership stuff, my SAT scores are very low (1200/1950). Well, it doesn't matter anyway because I already sent in my deposit to BU. However, if I had received this letter earlier, I wouldn't have sent in my deposit so quickly. Also, I didn't get any merit aid.</p>
<p>Anyone else JUST receive this?</p>
<p>Did anyone who got into the communications school get this??</p>
<p>shiba, I think the cutoff point for merit aid was 50 points higher on the SAT....I know, I missed it too :(</p>
<p>I don't really know what to make of the UCP; it's relatively experimental and it seems like it could get repetitive being with the same group of people ALL the time.</p>
<p>____equilibrium: Well, I sent BU my deposit already, so at this point, it doesn't matter. Yeah, the merit aid cutoff is really lame. Are u def going to American?</p>
<p>the whole merit thing at american has really <strong><em>ed me off....i remember when i visited one of the students was like yeah american gives away a ton of merit money...i think if you have a 3.5 you automatically get like 10000 dollars-----</em></strong>****!!!!!---(oh well i guess when we were there the school was trying to give some rational reason why a lower second tier school cost 40,000 + a year)</p>
<p>armcp: Don't even get me started!!! I hate how the people w/ high GPAs (mine, for example, is 3.8 uw/4.3 w) don't get ANY merit money while others with a 3.5, like you said, get around $10,000 or more just because they got a good score on the SATs. I don't mean to offend anybody and, of course, this is a generalization, but I wholeheartedly believe that GPA (3.5 YEARS of work) is much more important than one test taken on one day (3.5 HOURS of work).</p>
<p>Eh, the SAT may not reflect a person's true capability, however GPAs can be very deceptive. At most of the schools in my state, the academic quality is so low that the valedictorian would barely make the top 25% in my school. The differences among schools are too huge.</p>
<p>Of course, there have been extremely long and more detailed discussions than this about the value of the SATand this is not the right place to start an argument. However, I can see why schools would try to find some kind of equalizing statistic. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this system my screw over many qualified applicants such as yourselves, but let's complain to the right entity, the Collegeboard for not designing a better exam, not the schools who find it their only comparative option.</p>
<p>hey shiba, you try getting a 3.5 with 12 AP classes at my school. All im saying is the kids at the top of the class at my school all seem to do fine on the SAT. Its the only option they have to weed out grade inflation. If you are such a hard worker, then you should have studied harder for the SAT. If a test is that important, it is worth the investment to put all of the time necessary to get a good score. If you take enough practice tests, it should give you an acceptable score for merit aid at American. I know many people that started low and worked their way up. I think this is the reason why the collegeboard lets you take it over again.</p>
<p>I second bravesboy.</p>
<p>I used to go to school in a rural hicktown in Nebraska. I was 2nd in classrank my first two years (I didn't even try, seriously, nobody studies at that school) Then I transferred to a rich-suburban school where many kids aimed to attend top notch colleges (we have students going to UPenn, Stanford, Claremont-Mckenna, WashU and others). Then after my junior year my class rank was 44th (4.00UW/4.26W) although I worked so much harder. It was mainly because my old school didn't have weighted grades so I had to start my junior at 80th or so. If it wasn't for my SAT score, I probably wouldn't have received any merit money. </p>
<p>While I doubt that SAT/ACT is the best way to estimate one's academic capability (since I know many less-than-brilliant kids scoring higher than me), i think it's more accurate than GPAs. GPA's can be so subjective and vulnerable to inflation.</p>
<p>I second Ryan too.</p>
<p>I can seriously laugh at my test scores when I first took them</p>
<p>First ACT 23 Last 31 </p>
<p>First SAT 1330 (old) Last 2150 (new V+M 1460)</p>
<p>I know tons of people who scored higher than those, but given what I had before, I'm fine with those.</p>
<p>It really did take me some work,though, because I wasn't a good reader. I moved to the States when I was in 8th grade.</p>
<p>you have to enroll in American before you can be considered for the program, right?</p>
<p>"____equilibrium: Well, I sent BU my deposit already, so at this point, it doesn't matter. Yeah, the merit aid cutoff is really lame. Are u def going to American?"</p>
<p>Well, at this point it doesn't look very likely.......if my first choice falls through, it's between AU and Geneseo. I would definitely choose Geneseo since I could graduate without debt, compared to American, which gave me $0.</p>