<p>@ texaspg I’m with you. We are way past the SCEA rejection from Yale, but it made me smile to read your comment.</p>
<p>No that was not meant for you texaspg, but your comment reminded me of many people I know who harbor a deep resentment for someone who got into a college that they didn’t, and then turned down the acceptance. I apologize if any offense was taken.</p>
<p>Thank you Dan. I harbor no ill feelings for people not accepting their offers. My kid will be turning down some terrific offers too that others want and so it would make me a hypocrite. I just found it funny that Yale was able to admit someone who applied on a lark when there are kids out there willing to donate a kidney for an admission.</p>
<p>Why would someone possibly apply to Yale if they had no interest in attending the school anyways? I can see applying to an ultra safety school with a high acceptance rate with very little interest, as a just in case, but not going through the effort of applying to an Ivy with no desire to attend.</p>
<p>Is it worth it to go through the trouble just so the rest of your life you can say, look at me, I applied and got into Yale even though I wasn’t interested, just so I could turn them down? Or maybe one can derive the answer from: “on a lark we also applied to Yale and was accepted…the sad thing is my daughter has no real interest in wanting to attend Yale”</p>
<p>Perhaps the “we” who applied means that mom (or dad) applied the daughter to Yale, though the daughter wasn’t interested?</p>
<p>How about people on a waiting list for a college who try to convince an accepted student to not attend? I wonder if anyone tries to do that on CC in the “which college should I attend posts?”</p>
<p>^^^ That’s funny, charlie. I think I’ve seen that on here before. Well, not that exactly, but there are a few posters who seem to have no presence on cc other than to run down a particular college. I always assume they are HS seniors who are trying to keep kids from applying to that particular college because the poster really wants to go there and is hoping to improve his/her chances.</p>
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<p>That’s interesting to me. Over the years I have given quite a bit of money to one of the schools you list above. I never gave with the hope that it might get my sons into that school though. That never occurred to me. I was just so happy with my experience there and had received a small merit scholarship myself, that I enjoyed giving back. </p>
<p>Before one of my sons started the application process, one of the Chancellor’s Associates met with me and asked if I wanted that son to get some kind of special consideration. I didn’t think he was going to apply there anyway, so I said no. To my surprise he did end up applying there and was ultimately waitlisted. Thankfully he did get accepted by his top choice which is also in your list.</p>
<p>I know MIT says they don’t but they sure ask a bunch of questions about alumni that are relatives on their application…</p>
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<p>But there doesn’t have to be a FLAW. That’s the whole thing. The bright kid who put together a great app and didn’t get into (insert elite college of your choice) didn’t have a FLAW. He just didn’t get one of the seats. That’s all. Look, did every guy you didn’t date have a “flaw,” or did you just not get around to him?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, that’s funny. Both, maybe?</p>
<p>If I had to do it all over again… :)</p>
<p>“Why would someone possibly apply to Yale if they had no interest in attending the school anyways?”</p>
<p>People change. Especially 17-year-olds, but parents too. The way you feel when you’re applying as a lark to see what happens may not be the same way you feel with an acceptance letter in hand.</p>
<p>I don’t think many people do this with the intent of saying no if they get in. They expect that they won’t get in, and they can say, “Well, I gave it a shot.”</p>
<p>^^You wouldn’t think someone would apply to a school requiring such effort with no desire to attend, but I assume that “we” would apply “on a lark” because “we” think there is no shot of getting in, but what the heck still gotta try. And if “we” got in, “we” would be thrilled and excited at getting in such a school, but might still prefer to go elsewhere. The post just sounded as if the kid had no interest in the school anyways, not that she’d (or we’d) changed her mind. Of course, there is always more to the story.</p>
<p>sax, #589, I think MIT asks about legacy in order to <em>disadvantage</em> the legacies. They have to meet a higher standard, because the admissions people know that they’ve had the advantage of a scientific/engineering family environment. (Only partly kidding.)</p>
<p>I agree with PG about so much of this. But, the flaws can prevent you from getting to the final decision point (when there is that final group that’s 3x the number of slots.) At the end, when they’re looking at a group of great kids who could all enhance the campus, the decision can be largely beyond a kid’s control. Geographic diversity, too many kids from your area, the major, whatever. Even that bassoonist they need.</p>
<p>“Why would someone possibly apply to Yale if they had no interest in attending the school anyways” - Preferences evolve, especially after campus visits (sometimes done long after applications). In the case of Ivies, there is often an attractive FA factor too.</p>
<p>There is a certain randomness, but there are situations were the odds are fairly transparent as well. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, within reason, I generally advise prospectives to apply to colleges as broadly as possible as a counter measure to the uncertainty of admissions and financial aid. Obviously there are exceptions, but there is a lot to be gained from mitigating the risk of having too few realistic options by casting a wide net.</p>
<p>I received this link in an email today. It was list of schools that are still taking applications. Maybe one of them would be of interest.</p>
<p><a href="http://www./Blog/financial-aid/schools-with-rolling-or-late-admissions-deadlines/3187/%5B/url%5D">http://www./Blog/financial-aid/schools-with-rolling-or-late-admissions-deadlines/3187/</a></p>
<p>Yale…</p>
<p>The Yale story starts at the 2011 NCAA Championships where a Yale coach asked why we were at the event. My daughter was a high school junior, (nationally ranked competitor) he asked had we considered Yale as a school choice. Which we had not, because academically it was a stretch, expensive and in the midwest there are a lot of HYP stay home moms, so the cost of that degree just wasn’t attractive for us. However; upon telling that part of the story to a school guidance counselor the process started from their end, compounded by periodic notes about the sports program that was interested in her athletically. So, you see it wasn’t the academic depts. driving this recruiting or admissions. She received serious inquiries from all the Ivies, but none of them seemed to want to get down to the dollars and cents…now the exercise at Yale isn’t any different from many of the other schools in that category, but when they approached us in an athletic light versus recognizing her as a Student, it just didn’t impress us much at all. So, at the end of the day her decision just leaves a spot open for a wait listed or legacy applicant that wants it more. (notice I didn’t say deserving, because most everyone thinks they deserve it and those that may earn it sometimes aren’t doing for themselves, but for others.)</p>
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<p>Have the Ivies changed their policy with regard to athletic scholarships?</p>