Eli Whitney Students Program 2009 - Page 3

Pushin30 · 04-07-2009, 02:59 PM

No doubt, I am sure there are certain bells that go off when they read the Personal Statement. I haven't made back-up plans and hopefully I wont need to...(fingers crossed).

dogghead · 04-07-2009, 07:17 PM

current school none
gpa hampshire college didnt have one

act 1170 or something who cares years ago

uniqueness hook: went out and did a ton of amazing work and didnt apologize for any of it. also not gripping the sob story vibe. all around not sorry. movine forward quickly and beyond everyone else, and on my own terms. self educated and brilliant. they can and will have to see beyond the bs of a typical applicant for me to get in. gambled, but there's no time or space for all this cookie cutter -ez bake applicant business you all are talking.

the sign says the dead shall be risen no one acts as if they see come the next equinox none of your gpas will matter

anyone apply and say something new?

dogghead · 04-07-2009, 07:18 PM

sat* 1170 didnt include that on the app tho

willard · 04-07-2009, 10:25 PM

Best to you, D.H. It sounds like your gamble might work. I speculate that it just depends on what amazing work you did at this point. You only had 600 words, right? So, it had to be clean and very to the point.

Did you get any confirmation from the admissions office yet? Did you apply closer to the deadline?

ilivefree · 04-07-2009, 11:57 PM

i used a childhood poem in my statement.

wasn't trying to be clever; i was reciting the poem for my wife for fun and i thought "THAT is what I need to show my true self on my essay!". before adding it, i felt my essay was a bit dry and serious. not really my whole personality, i'm a five year old trapped in a 32 year old body.

pressurewave · 04-08-2009, 08:00 PM

ilivefree, that's a good idea. Personal flare like that is, I'm sure, roundly appreciated by the admissions committees.

In my EWSP statement, I mostly talked about working full time while attending Community College, the writers there I want to study with, the process I've used thus far in my study including some specific situations (I've had a great opportunity to hang out and study with visiting authors at a local writer-in-residence program). Yale already had 3 essays on file from me because I originally applied as a Transfer student and only switched to the EWSP two days before the deadline. In one of those essays I made bizarre claims to have invented a time machine, but was reticent to disclose the details at the moment.

ilivefree · 04-08-2009, 10:34 PM

thanks, pressure wave! like i said, i wasn't trying to be clever, just wanted to be myself. and yeah, hopefully the poem offered a moment of entertainment in all those essays.

i also originally applied as a transfer; i'm not sure if they'll read all those transfer essays at EW; I think they may just stick to the EW statement. it would seem an unfair advantage to have transfer essays read as well.

curious about the time machine; but i'll wait to see it on the news!

pressurewave · 04-08-2009, 10:59 PM

I got the impression from the Transfer coordinator that I spoke to (who, coincidentally, coordinates both the Transfer and EWS, if I understood correctly) that she "already had my transfer essays, but I may want to update with another when I switched to Eli Whitney" - so, I get the impression they'll just consider whatever the heck they have from us.

Regarding the time machine, the secret is.... it was an anecdote for insecurity about missteps in life. Or, conversely, it was just nonsense, which is an important part of my personality for them to know about.

ilivefree · 04-08-2009, 11:03 PM

YAY! love it. my favorite quote may ring true to that: "never regret yesterday, life is in you today and you can make your tomorrow." - l. ron hubbard (i know, i know, but it's a great quote).

AnnaLo · 04-09-2009, 04:08 PM

AHHHHH, just deny me or accept me already. I cannot take it!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..

WHY IS COLLEGE ADMISSION SO STRESS FILLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to know already, give me a sign. Just a small one that it will be okay, Yale.

Wow. That felt so good. Glad that's out of my system now!

Pushin30 · 04-09-2009, 04:20 PM

LOL!! Well according to my little chat with Marianne, we should all know by the end of the month who made the cut...Keeping my fingers crossed!

ilivefree · 04-09-2009, 04:30 PM

So that means interviews soon. I guess no call for interview, no making the cut. Hmmmm.

_ken · 04-09-2009, 05:31 PM

Welp, can cross Carolina off my list. Was rejected.

Doesn't make me feel better about my prospects at other schools, since Carolina's admit rate for transfers was ~30%.

battleship2012 · 04-09-2009, 06:13 PM

I'm a Yale undergrad and didn't even know this program existed. How many people are there in this program? And is this the reason why I sometimes see older people in classes?

pressurewave · 04-09-2009, 06:37 PM

Pushin: When did you speak to Marianne? I got the impression from her that we were looking at Mid-May before final decisions were made. If that's the case, "made the cut" might mean were qualified and scheduled for an interview, perhaps? The sooner the better, I say!

Battleship: Probably why, yeah. I'm curious, actually, since we've got you here. What is the impression of the "older" people in the classes? Are they an asset, or a bane? What is the attitude toward them by the rest of the undergrad population?

Regarding the number of students, assuming my information is correct, I believe there are only currently 15 Eli Whitney students at Yale, and I hear they take in about 5-10 yearly.