Did emailing my admissions officers affect my decisions?

qwerty0901
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 14:04:28 +0000

Hi everyone!

What I did was a little unusual/complicated, so hopefully I can explain it well:

In around mid-March (I know, really late!), after completing a ton of scholarship applications, I realized I could have framed the extracurriculars section of my CommonApp a lot better. I had explained my activities in a super vague way in order to encompass everything I had done (ie. lead meetings, organize conferences) instead of being more specific (start a district-wide program, raise $3k for charity). To me, this seemed like a pretty big deal–really the difference between doing something for the sake of doing it and being truly dedicated.

So, with the help of one of my friends, I wrote an email to each of my regional admissions officers explaining my situation. HOWEVER, I had previously sent an application update to some schools through their portals (I won a state competition), and to avoid coming off as annoying, I did not send them an email. I tried my best to make the emails brief but genuine. I explained why I was sending it so late. And I attached a document with the details, asking them if they could consider it as an “application update, supplementary material, or extended resume” if at all possible.

Honestly, at the time, it didn’t seem like it could hurt me in any way. But maybe I was being rash because I was really worried about my mistakes?

Here are my results. I’ll put a (*) next to the schools I sent an email to:

Brown: Waitlist
Yale (): Rejected
Columbia (): Rejected
Princeton (): Rejected
Dartmouth: Accepted
UPenn (): Rejected
Hopkins: Waitlist
Georgetown: Accepted
Boston College: Accepted
Stanford: Waitlist

(I sent an email to my Stanford admissions officer and got an automated reply that went directly to my spam. All the other officers responded to my email and told me they added the document to my file. By the time I saw the Stanford response in my spam, it was too late to do a follow-up. I’m gonna bet that the admissions officers disregarded my contact.)

Of course, the schools that rejected me have lower acceptance rates, so IT MAKES SENSE that I got into BC, Gtown, and Darty but not HYP etc. I guess the main thing getting me is the Stanford waitlist, especially because that would put me in the top ~6% of applicants. I also always felt my essays for Yale and Princeton were the strongest—they told the most cohesive narrative and I just enjoyed writing their supplements the most. Obviously, my feelings are subjective, though.

How much of a coincidence is it that the four schools I emailed rejected me, with no waitlists at all?

I just want to say extremely grateful for my acceptances (SO excited to be a 22 at Dartmouth or Georgetown). I’m not at all unsatisfied with my results. However, I think my stats are an interesting addition to all the “Should I send an update” threads. Maybe they’ll end up being helpful to next years applicants? Also, ngl, I’m a little curious to hear everyone else’s speculation