<p>Friend of mine's daughter didn't apply to Brandeis by deadline for regular admit, but didn't get into any of her top choice schools. So a college consultant she was using contacted Brandeis after the deadline, Brandeis told her to apply, she did, and was immediately accepted her and gave her attractive fin package. I would have thought that Brandeis would first go to waiting list and select kids who applied by the deadline and were waitlisted. Didn't realize that you could apply after all deadlines had passed, then skip ahead of kids on waiting list. But, consultant said it's not that uncommon. Anyone else have this experience? Didn't know about this to take advantage with D1, maybe for S2. . .</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard that, and if I were on the waitlist I would raise heck about it.</p>
<p>This seems almost illegal! </p>
<p>Has anyone else heard of such a thing?</p>
<p>And even getting substantial aid? URM maybe?</p>
<p>I did the same thing, but for a different college.
It’s not illegal, but probably not fair. However I am sure passing the deadline was disadvantageous somehow, but didn’t out way the advantages of an applicant compared to those wait listed.</p>
<p>EDIT- I didn’t attend the college because they did penalize me for late FA forms. So I didn’t get enough money to go.</p>
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<p>If that really are the facts, Brandeis should NEVER complain about an early decision applicant of theirs that goes elsewhere. What comes around goes around. Obviously, the word deadline means nothing at Brandeis so why should their words mean anything to anyone else? </p>
<p>If I were a Brandeis alum, I would be making a call right now. What kind of thought leadership is going on at that school?</p>
<p>Sounds OK to me. Why not take a great candidate late? People are on the waiting list because they weren’t the greatest candidates to begin with.</p>
<p>People on the waitlist were not significantly stronger than other students on the waitlist, but also were not inferior to students that were accepted, otherwise they would have been denied.</p>
<p>Waitlists are for the convenience of the admissions officers. They review reports that show who is enrolled/who has paid deposits on a regular basis, maybe daily. If an opening occurs, they look at those names on the waitlist. Some waitlists are ranked, some are categorized. They plug in the numbers for the kids that are possibilities to fill the openings and see what the numbers come out to be. If GPA, diversity, gender, geographic diversity, SAT or other variables are favorable for the class as a whole, the student is approved for favorable action. The wait list is not some sort of entitlement program. It is purely for the convenience of the admissions office. If a college wants a strong but late applicant who produces better results than those on the waiting list, I can completely understand the desire of admissions to take that person. That was how it was explained at an information session I attended.</p>
<p>The girl did not make deadline for either regular admit or fin aid. What then is the definition of deadline? Should Brandeis have disclaimer that states that all deadlines are optional for strong candidates? Shouldn’t it matter that the student did not care enough about Brandeis to apply in time to meet the deadline? It may be naive of me, but I think college should not send the message to kids that deadlines are arbitrary, can be ignored at the convenience and sole discretion of the school, and that certain kids can jump ahead of other well qualified students who are on the waitlist (and played by the rules). They should be teaching kids to take responsibility for their decisions, incl a decision not to apply to the school within the given deadline. Whew, I’ll climb down from my soapbox now.</p>
<p>We can’t assume that she did not care enough about Brandeis to apply in time. She may have been from a disadvantaged background without knowledge of how to apply to college. </p>
<p>We don’t know the circumstances from her point of view.</p>
<p>Just imagine for a moment that, hypothetically, there is a college that has filled its quota of boys and has a predominance of rich white boys on the wait list. A disadvantaged URM applies late. They can offer her a spot because they don’t have enough disadvantaged URM in the accepted population. This would be the exception, not the rule. I can see this happening. </p>
<p>At Brandeis, they do not say you won’t be considered if you apply late and only ask that you apply by the deadlines for “full consideration.”</p>
<p>Honestly do you expect them to state “Deadline Jan 1st, but we will accept late applications?” No, because EVERYone would take advantage of that. You have to have deadlines. I’m sure they are gracious to a few who are outstanding candidates because circumstances do come up. I am sure if a lot of people did this though, the pile of late applications would be more difficult to distinguish and thus ignored completely. </p>
<p>The same thing stands for any deadline you have. If you are the only one to miss the deadline, it is likely you will be considered, but if a bunch of people miss the deadline they will recognize the policies are not respected.</p>
<p>In reply to Kollegkid: She’s not disadvantaged, and did apply to several other colleges. Only reason she applied late to Brandeis is that she did not get in to any of her top choices. She got into her safety school, but did not want to go there.</p>
<p>Perhaps she had something special about her course load, essay, recommendations, or other factors that proved to be compelling to admissions. Something you might not know about the girl. </p>
<p>Or, perhaps the college consultant had a connection in the Brandeis office. Is that really so bad? (I did not have a college consultant myself)</p>
<p>I’ve been told that people will say and do just about anything for $$ and admissions tickets for desirable colleges. </p>
<p>It doesn’t bother me that an application was processed after a 'deadline." Perhaps Brandeis did not receive enough applications of a high caliber this cycle, or, again, there was some factor about the girl that proved to be compelling.</p>