Being proactive, with a little bit of luck

Parents Forum
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<p>We are not totally done, but have reached a point where I can look back and reflect on the process. And what I’ve concluded is that you need to be proactive and you need to be lucky. By lucky, I don’t mean how your S or D’s application will be seen by the very top schools. I mean that often luck factors into the process in other ways. A few examples:</p>

<p>1) Although we knew the app was received - having sent it return receipt requested AND including a self addressed postcard which we asked the school to mail back when they opened the envelope - I decided to call anyway, to be sure everything was in order. It was a CC post that made me think I ought to call. And when I called, I learned that everything had arrived EXCEPT the app! When I said I knew they had it, and had a green PO card as well as a postcard which was signed by XXX from their office, I was put in touch with the head of paper pushing who told me she would find the app. And she did, the next day, calling to tell me that it took 3 hours but it was found, and she would personally hand carry it to the proper adcomm. So we were proactive (cards, calls) and lucky (person who handled the app decided to sign her name legibly to the postcard, person who answered the phone was helpful and knowledgeable, and they wanted to make it right). Since then, I have seen many angry posts on CC, that this particular college has lost apps, mixed up RD and ED, etc. but I did not know that at the time. In the end, S was accepted and received a merit offer from this college. </p>

<p>2) When we received S’s acceptance from another school, it had no merit offer. I knew S’s stats were high for this school, so I called, to see if the merit offer would have come with the accepance, and to ask if S might not have received merit because he sent the app at the last minute to a school that gives out money until it runs out. Phone call was handled by someone who said that merit offers did come with the acceptance, but he’d check in case an error was made (!). Turns out they never had S’s SAT scores in the computer. He said he’d call me back, which he did, and the upshot was that S’s app was reconsidered for merit. And he ended up getting money there too! Again, proactive because we knew the questions to ask and we called; lucky because we got someone who offered to verify and didn’t just say that if he got merit, it would have come already.</p>

<p>As we all try to exert some control over a process that is hard to control, perhaps it will help to know that it pays (literally, sometimes!) to be proactive, but that luck helps too. If you are surprised by what is in the envelope in April, I suggest that you call. And I wish you all good luck!</p>

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<p>Good post! I’ve never heard of including self-addressed postcards. Is this common? We did all of our apps electronically - which sort of solves this problem. Then all you have to worry about is the recs and transcript. And I doubt we could get the GC to send a postcard, even if we supplied it. (Big public school, 300 kids per GC.)</p>

<p>I have a “wish I’d done” to add to the list. When my S’s merit offer came from the school he now attends, I wish we’d tried to negotiate for more. This wasn’t the highest merit offer he rec’d - and I bet we could have gotten a little more. Who knows.</p>

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<p>We put the self-addressed stamped postcards INTO the college-addressed stamped envelopes, (so GC didn’t have to do it herself) the gave them all in a big manila envelope to GC, so that she could add letters of rec and send them off. The postcards were very useful, and it was the recs from teachers (where I didn’t bother to put the self-addressed postcards in) that got us into trouble. If I had to do it again, the postcards would have gone into everything that we mailed to colleges.</p>

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<p>Check with your guidance office. We have 500 graduating every year and most go to college. Our school sends out a postcard with the transcripts which has a box to check for every item received. They get most of them back too and have used them when schools say they’re missing something. A quick call to admissions turns up the missing paper. The kids have to pay $3 for every transcript that gets sent out and some of that $ is used to pay the postcard expense.</p>

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<p>wish<em>it</em>was<em>april
are you going to change your name to finally</em>april in a few weeks?
Sending the postcards is a good idea. We also did everything electronically, except for papers that went directly from the school. Except for 1 school, and it turned out to be the worst experience. For 6 weeks they kept “not finding” documents, and we must have mailed out at least 3 separate packets to them. They also “did not receive” one rec. letter, and the teacher has been very prompt, and let my D know each time she sent one out. But she sent out another one to them.</p>

<p>With the phone-call for merit aid consideration, did you make the call yourself. That would not be a conversation most kids could handle imo.</p>

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<p>If you send the apps electronically, do you get an email back saying it has been received? The reason I’m asking is that twice my daughter has filled out online forms to arrange a campus visit and not heard anything back. One school said they never received the form, the other had to scramble around to find it. Made me nervous about going the electronic route.</p>

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<p>For apps., I believe you get an immediate auto-response, at least at the places we applied to. Campus visit requests were done by e-mail, and we have always gotten prompt (24 hours) replies from the admissions offices.</p>

<p>You should either get an auto response saying that you are registered to visit on a certain date etc., or an e-mail, depending on how you initiated the contact. I suppose they are flooded, but I always think a little less of the schools that cannot handle it.</p>

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<p>Carolyn, I too was very nervous about the electronic route and S did not do any electronic apps. One of the reasons was that we had no idea how essays would format on the other end, and wanted to be sure that they arrived exactly as S intended. S often began his essays with a quote or anecdote that was centered at the top, and he could never do the kind of formating he wanted with the electronic apps.</p>

<p>Choc, the funny thing about my screen name is that S applied almost exclusively either EA or to schools with rolling admissions, so I knew we’d be pretty much done by February! But I figured no one would understand Wish<em>it</em>was_February! And yes, I made the merit phone calls. My sense is that once money enters the decision process, the schools understand that the parents may be the ones inquiring. In one case, I called for info and was told that whatever we mailed should come from S, though we could help him with it. In other cases, I handled the whole thing and that was fine with the school. My call (or in some cases my email) started the process and we then did whatever was suggested by the person who handled the call.</p>

<p>As for the postcards, the GC at S’s school told us they include a postcard with the packet of stuff they send. But I had heard the idea on CC, and started including postcards with whatever we mailed after that. The postcard said on the back: App received by XXX school on date_____ and Signed__________. In nearly all cases we got them back with both a date and the name of a person. Then when I called and said (sweetly), “I know it came and that you’ve opened it, because I have a signed card from so-and-so,” it was much more effective that “I have have a green return receipt requested card with an illegible name of someone in the mailroom.” I guess the people who actually open the envelopes are more known than the mailroom folks who may be across campus. And they can’t say “Well, we still have 1000 unopened apps.”</p>

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<p>Carolyn - I had the same experience with online visit forms last summer. Before we left for our trip, I contacted each college to confirm the visit. Sure enough, there were one or two that didn’t have our information.</p>

<p>As for the postcard idea, someone posted about that last year. She had a code on each postcard so she knew exactly what had been received by which college.</p>

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<p>“When I said I knew they had it, and had a green PO card” - </p>

<p>The post office used to offer a “proof of delivery” which was less expensive than certified mail. I don’t know if this service is still offered. College applicants may want to inquire at the PO. The savings isn’t much compared to a college education, but every little bit helps.</p>