<p>I'm currently on the waitlist for Duke and I heard that a lot of people have already gotten off... However, I'm not one of them. :(</p>
<p>I've sent in another why duke letter, a teacher recommendation, and a supplement essay. However, the my region's admissions officer has not been in office for a week and probably won't get back until next week. I've been exchanging messages with her, but now I don't know what to do?! She can not do anything while not in office, so I'm kind of stuck in this weird position, while more and more people are getting off the waitlist!!! :(</p>
<p>You know, I have heard of waitlisted people sending info (letters, new recs, etc.) directly to the Director of Admissions. It certainly couldn't hurt.</p>
<p>And isn't there a college/guidance counselor who can advocate for you? I'm sure no one would expect your application to come to a screeching halt just because your regional officer is out of the office.</p>
<p>yes, certainly your college counselor should call the Admissions Office on your behalf. It is part of their job to advocate for you. If they won't call for you (which would be a really terrible thing, it seems to me!), then you should feel free to call yourself. Explain your situation to the person who answers the phone (that is, the fact that your regional counselor, who you have been in touch with, has been out of the office; you're very eager to attend Duke, and want to do whatever you can to get off the waitlist), and then ask to talk to the Admissions Director or another regional counselor. Again, it seems to me that no one (including Duke) would want your application to languish just because your regional counselor is away, so they should be understanding of you callling them directly. But try your school college counselor first.</p>
<p>Smiledog - yes, the school guidance counselor SHOULD advocate for you but at my son's public high school you can't even get a counselor to call you back let alone pick up a phone and call some college. Each student gets an appointment that lasts one hour junior year and another that lasts one hour senior year. That's it! Even the scheduling is done in groups in class. That's why I am starting to freak out - he's a junior and I know I will get no help.
I also don't understand how the counselor can write anything meaningful or helpful about my son. This is his 4th counselor in 3 years. Does anyone know - do colleges know that some public schools are like this?
Thank goodness I found CC - I have learned so much here in a short time. I wish I had found it for my older son.</p>
<p>Yes, Homers. In fact, that's why ultimately I think students should feel empowered and within their rights to be pushy, make phone calls, talk to everyone in the AdCom offices that will listen to them! I'm sure the sad reality is that sometimes the student will be his or her only advocate. But still, I do think it is sad...this process is hard enough without the students having to feel abandoned by the adults who are supposed to be there to help them. </p>
<p>And I'm sure that colleges are aware of the fact that the quality of counseling varies dramatically from school to school. Of course, from the point of view of the applicant, it doesn't really change what he or she wants the college to know about them. So, I guess if your son is at one of those schools that sees the sum total of college counseling to be two meetings and a quick letter, it just means that he will have to take more control of his own destiny! Best of luck to him in the next year...it will be exciting!</p>
<p>My daughter's counselor has been a huge advocate for her. She was waitlisted at Cornell and Duke. Her counselor was in constant communication with Cornell because that was my D's first choice. My daughter was offered a spot the minute waitlist was open. She was then also offered a spot a Duke even though we asked the counselor not to call, but she did send additional information to Duke for my daughter. She said her job was to give my daughter as many options as possible. </p>
<p>It is counselor's job to advocate for your kid, but many schools do not have enough counselors. Our college counselor has 35-40 kids each year and she is also their advisor for 2 years, which really helps.</p>
<p>My son's counselor made it clear to us that he spends the month of May helping the kids get off waiting lists who didn't get into ANY of their top choice schools. We did not feel comfortable asking him to help our son get off the waitlist at his #1 school when he was accepted to several other fine schools. That's the disadvantage of a huge high school.</p>