sarovarc

I was rejected by Lehigh with their letter stating -

" We are very impressed with your academic credentials, however, we are unable to offer you admission at this time.
... if your financial situation has changed, please review the enclosed information sheet. We will re-evaluate your application if you satisfy the requirements outlined on the information sheet. "

Now I know a guy who has considerably lower stats than me and got in with aid!

The International Student Fin Aid App asks you to list 6 colleges where you intend to send the form. The other colleges that I had listed were, Yale Northwestern Duke and Notre Dame.

Could it be possible that Lehigh wanted to accept me but did not as they checked with one of these schools and found that I had got in. With a higher ranking school accepting me, maybe Lehigh presumed that I won't be enrolling so they decide to give that bit of aid to a student who is more likely to enroll.

I sound really foolish saying all this but this guy whos fares much worse than me both academically and extra curricularly gets in and with AID(s) lol!!!!! It a bit unnerving!

This is probably 100% rubbish, but does it make any of sense to anyone else??

I guess I'll know when the rest of my decisions are out!

Rishabh16

As Arjun Shankar Prakash has previously stated (stating the source to be a adm magazine article) . . you are probably right.



p.s. -my bad. im terribly sorry.

arjuninthehouse

err...its 'Prakash' not 'Prasad'

sarovarc

What???? I didn't get that at all?

smartmind

well i will say THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND PERFECTLY UNTRUE..
i dont believe any mag articles for their authenticity also relies on the weak threads of communications we have been on.

first ppl.. i repeat this time and again... stop Overestimating urself or underestimating others..


You do do do never know how gud a person's application was and how many silly mistakes leading to rejection one cud have done.. just comparing the SATS, GPA's and Sum big EC's dont form the basis of decision making.. thats why they say college admission are a overall review of a person's entire application file and self .. not mere numbers...

All these said ,... there is a lot of politics in this game of admissions agreed and u may never be able to knw those.. a college will never do base their decisions on that finaid form .. coz well for most majority it aint a compulsory field and nor are u in any way obligated to fil lit correctly.. ( yes it does state u may list them .. but its not a compulsory field and is alsoi tentative in itself).. they list isnt even a sure shot college application file. many dont even provide any info there and many giv names they wud have then decided to withdraw frm..and colleges know that .. they fully are aware of the fact that students filling that part dont take that as a conclusive piece and just because u filled in stufff abt yale.. NW .. u are not gonna enroll..

the students intention to enroll is a factor in admission for sure but that is evaluated by other measures like well Overqualification, Interest in Why college Essay , etc...

I fail to see any truth in the statement or reason cited..though am ready for further clarifications..

**dont mind the langage . .. i typed it in a bit rush and hurry**

SM

Rishabh16

you never really know whats going on until you are inside the admission committee . .

so taking a stand on the issue is kinda . . baseless

Olsi

i totally agree with SM. just like sarovarc i recieved a letter from lehigh and got the same identical letter. they didn't admitt us most probably because i recieved aid. can u please savorac tell me ur stats and ur friend stats if u can? if u dont want to show them because u dont want him to know u can send them privately

sarovarc

Dear SM,

1. That email was atrociously typed!

2. Well I am not underestimating the dude who got in but in every aspect of the application, I was better than him, except for the essay perhaps because they are subjective!

3. My SAT 1 (1970) was higher than his by 30 points. My SAT 2 was 2390.

4. I have national achievements in Debating and Soccer (he doesn't)

5. I graduated 3/845 in my class at the most prestigious (arguably after the recent MMS incident) school in New Delhi. He doesn't even compare!

6. So I suppose I am right when I say I make a more appealing applicant than him.

7. I am not contesting what you say, and I conceed that you are probably right. I was just trying to get my hopes up and was trying to give myself a reason for being rejected (apart from just financial ones).

Dear Olsi,

My major stats are listed above, I am not typing the whole thing. But I guess it will give you an idea. There are tons of other random activities and achievements too.

Best Regards
Sarovars

Kjoodles

If every school admitted people purely based on academics and stats- then every school would be packed full of nerds.

Sarovac- stats aren't everything. Maybe that person could be a more modest and nicer and caring person. By having 30 more points on the SAT doesn't make you a better person. Maybe its time to stop blaming the school and take a long look at yourself.

melissarahman

yea.....but how do they really kno ur modest and nice and caring!! u cant write that on ur apps can ya! tht wudnt make u modest at the first place!!

melissarahman

hope tht was possible tho

arjuninthehouse

"stats aren't everything. Maybe that person could be a more modest and nicer and caring person" --- kjoodles

kj, being a "nicer" and "caring" person isn't going to take u far in ur apps...its important sure...but its obvious that this guy was much more accomplished...if both were equally matchd...then yes...but as i c it its blatant idiotism on the adcom's part

sarovarc

Okay, well I give up. I guess Lehigh will just rue their own loss a few years from now

Thanks for all your comments.

Modesty - A topic very abstract and can hardly be discussed over internet forums!

If I seemed too blatant questioning the Adcom's decision then I apologize. That wasn't the intention. I only wanted to know if some of you thought that a school could reject a more "able" international candidate asking for aid for one more likely to enroll.

Best Regards
SCV

sarovarc

1. CC is an amazing place for debating. I wish I could meet all of you and debate in real life. Would be great wouldn't it?

2. Kjoodles - Niceness, modesty is hardly a criterion that adcoms base their decisions on. Look at the admissions page of any half decent college, they state blatantly that the school record and stuff like that carries the most weightage! Modesty etc, play a much smaller part, and THAT is not debatable.

3. Anyways I got into SUNY Stony Brook today so YAY! Its a good school for science and I am pretty happy.

Thanks all of you.
Cheers Again

Rishabh16

dude such a thing happened with me as well in the not so recent past but i preferred not to tell anyone . . because it would draw negative reactions..

sure even i felt that it was a huge blunder on the adcoms part, and trust me when i say it my case was like 10 times worse than yours, no jokes. before i knew of the case i wasnt blaming anyone, and the rejection from the uni was bad enough. i certainly didnt need that case to come up and deepen my sorrow.

its unfortunate when things like that happen. i for one, wasnt happy with it at all. but then if you talk about it openly people call you a 'sore loser' or summat like 'the other person probably had a better character' but what i wanna ask is this - how the hell can adcoms understand a persons character from 4/5 application sheets ? So that reason is balderdash.

and lastly, i dont belive in being all happy and gay when you have been unfairly treated. it simply doesnt make sense to me. yes you have to move on in life, but clearly unfair treatment must not be quietly accepted.