<p>Hunt, we've been discussing what S should do here at our house because we have a second child who will be applying to college in a few years. We don't want to burn bridges with other schools where we have legacy ties or just where D might apply after S did and then either withdrew or turned down an offer. I'd be interested in your thoughts.</p>
<p>S was almost ready to push "submit" on apps to two other legacy schools he would be almost as interested in (he was trying not to fall in love with any of these schools). He wasn't quite finished editing those apps when the SCEA date crept up on him. One of the schools considers "expressed interest" and that's the one where we are more concerned he should not submit, since he's pretty sure he does not prefer it to Y. The other does not consider expressed interest or do interviews and it was his top choice for years until he visited Y.</p>
<p>Does anybody have any experience with this kind of question? We don't know whether schools track apps by family in any way, but it would not surprise us if some do. I have never seen this discussed.</p>
<p>It seems a bit far-fetched to me that a school would hold that against a sibling (or even keep track of it). I suppose it's possible that a rep might remember it.</p>
<p>I have something to say to all of you who are definitely going to Yale but are leaving in all your other applications. The money is gone either way, why do you need a list of acceptance and possibly a few rejections just to make your Yale acceptance seem that much better? If you KNOW you are going to Yale, you should not have to leave applications in. Yes, I am slightly bitter because I was deferred, but I was planning on withdrawing all but my 1 state school safety if I was accepted. I think you should all put yourselves in other people's shoes and realize than even though you will not know whose place you may have taken, you are doing some good by withdrawing most or all of your applications. Knowing someone may have gotten into their dream school b/c you offered up a potential spot should be worth way more to you than a Harvard (or any other school but Yale) acceptance.</p>
<p>eating food - those 400 dollars are lost either way. I really honetsly congratulate you for your acceptance - that is beyond awesome - but be the bigger person here and realize that someone's dream school is HArvard, Princeton, Columbia, and the UCs. Even though you will never know if someone got in b/c you withdrew, just do it.</p>
<p>^ mk. Maybe I was a bit premature in saying "I'm going to Yale"</p>
<p>I've always said that my top choices are Harvard, Columbia, and Yale. I've also always said that I would apply to H and C regardless of the SCEA result because there are aspects of all three of those schools that I love and will strongly consider when making a final decision in April (should I even be accepted). </p>
<p>I really don't want to go to Princeton and will never strongly consider it... however I MUST apply for financial reasons. I have had many friends in the past who have been HYP cross admits who received substantially more aid from P than from the other two... having received very little money from Yale, I must keep this application in.</p>
<p>I understand the argument that everyone here is making, but just know that I'm not just arbitrarily applying to the places I am simply because I want bragging rights. If I cared about that my list would include Dartmouth, Stanford, Brown, Penn, Cornell, Hopkins, Tufts, Vanderbilt, etc... but it doesn't.</p>
<p>However, after reading this: I'll be withdrawing from UCLA and Berkeley!</p>
<p>eating food - even reading that makes me happy - to Yale SCEA applicants, Berkeley and UCLA are safeties, but to some people those are reaches! Be proud of the fact that maybe someone can get in there b/c of your withdrawal, even if you will never know. I understand that there are plenty of reasons to keep applications in, but I just want anyone who is willing to listen to my rant to think about the fact that withdrawing all but a few is a choice to be proud of. Plus, you can be proud that you got into Yale without a list of schools you turned down! Congrats!</p>
<p>Kudos to all of you who are making strategic decisions about which apps to leave in and which to withdraw. And congrats on your admission to Yale!</p>
<p>Pton and Stanford, only because they are much better in science/math/engineering areas than Yale - but like many of you, Yale makes me feel all tingly and I really like their ideas.</p>
<p>I feel kinda bad, since we have two Stanford deferres at my school (weird, since I thought they were hardly deferring anyone) but its also life. Gotta get a big slice of the pie, I suppose</p>
<p>Speaking of pie, the second apple pie I ever made totally failed. The first one was delicious, probably because it was going to be my Yale deferral comfort pie :)</p>
<p>Okay, totally off-topic.</p>
<p>I've been talking to alumni and assured them that Yale is my top choice. This is true, but money might be a contributing factor and then I would feel really, really bad. I think we'll all be happy wherever we go, but I would hate to have lingering doubts if I went somewhere I wasn't totally in love with.</p>
<p>And if I ultimately end up at Yale, which is highly likely, I would still wish that Yale had Columbia's Low Library or Northwestern's lake!</p>
<p>Come on guys, look at this. I am an international student. I live in the country right now, but I still have to apply international. Guess what? Yale deferred me. I have to apply to other schools because I need financial aid. The problem here is, some of you guys have those schools in your pockets, trashcans and closets. Let them out, and let me get in. I love Yale, but if they do not love me, I have to go and look elsewhere.
I am speaking out because financial difficulty has made my life miserable, coming from the poorest part of Africa's West Coast. The little I have is what I survive on, and you seem to have taken what I have, want, and my have in my hands come April. Please withdraw because some unfortunate person's heart is boiling.</p>
<p>Remember that each student can only go to one college. On one hand, that means that it's a waste of your time to keep applications in to schools that you definitely won't attend. On the other hand, if you do keep an application in and get accepted, but don't go, that doesn't keep another student out. The worst-case scenario is that somebody gets pushed to the waiting list before being accepted, because of you.</p>
<p>As enthusiastic as we are at our house about Y, S gets some credit from us for recognizing that his preferences might change by April, especially with overnight visits, something he has only managed to do with two schools. </p>
<p>We didn't want him to visit the top schools before he knew had the scores to compete (July) and that didn't leave much time. The practical, don't fall in love, don't count your chickens approach meant that he didn't visit a lot of schools he was very interested in. He turned in a bunch of apps before Dec. 15, with others almost ready. Yes, the EA acceptance removed some safeties from his list, but is SCEA at Y really ED?</p>
<p>I don't understand the thought that some seem to have that we are "taking the spots of others". I applied to Yale because it is one of my top choices and it isn't binding so that I would have the option to apply to other schools in the regular round. I am pretty sure that Y is my top choice but I also haven't been as exposed to other schools as much as Yale. All of us who are applying regular aren't applying to six or seven other top schools just to collect acceptance letters, it is to compare financial aid (in my case) and other colleges in general.</p>
<p>bluewhitebulldog - you have to realize that nobody is taking your spot. This is SCEA, not ED, which I'm sure you realize does not bind the student to attend Yale and withdraw all other apps. I don't know how many accepted SCEAers absolutely, positively know for sure that they will attend Yale and not any other school. We are talking about 17 year old kids who are about to make a monumental decision by May 1st. Of course it's very possible that their choice might change in April if they get into another school of their dreams and actually visit it extensively (overnight, couple of days) to get a real feel for the school. It just isn't practicable to make such extensive visits to schools that you haven't gotten into yet. So everyone please back off the accepted SCEA students and stop pressuring them to withdraw all other apps. If your app is strong enough, you will get into may fine schools, regardless of whether or not someone else withdrew his/her app.</p>
<p>You are right we will get into may other fine schools. Maybe you should name them because Yale seems to be the one school that really fits my personality. Then again, you will have an application in some fine school that could accept me and give me a lot of money because I do not qualify for loans, and (literally) 99% of the scholarships here because they all have US Citizen on them. You see, if you have that option of choice, and someone else doesn't, make way for her at another FINE school so that she can have that opportunity that you seem to have pocketed.
But then again, my application is rubbish. You prefer to see poor persons like me suffer because you want to. Come on, we all have love in us. The decision is yours: Help someone get into another FINE college and save her life, and those of many other poor persons that are alike her and that would come in a few years for admission.
[Hope my tone doesn't catch you as angry or resentful. Forgive me if it does, seriously]</p>
<p>(in response to nickel75)
This is true only in some cases. If you're really considering other colleges for financial aid concerns, then that's fine. But at least withdraw from your other schools that you know you will not go to over Yale. Although you may not "take" someone's place since you can only go to one school in the end, you will save someone the agony of being placed on the waitlist at the school if you withdraw.</p>