<p>Now that the apps are sent and the review started… How many students are getting “indications” of acceptance or rejection before the April 1 (or so) deadline? And waht are these indications? </p>
<p>Interviews? Is the one getting an interview soon after the application a more likely candidate? Is not getting an anterview a bad sign? DD did not get an interview from one of the schools (Columbia). There are tons of alumni in the area (and tons of applicants); she submitted a pre-app (which is an interview request) in early Dec., a lot of her classmates applied to this school approx. simultaneously, many are getting interviews. Is it a bad sign by now? </p>
<p>Likely letters and E-mails? I read that non-athlets are getting them from Ivies. Is it a new trend this year or the letters go to 1% of accepted students with special talents (orchestra, urms). Is not getting such a letter a bad sign? Now? In a month? In mid-March?</p>
<p>Orchestra? I strongly doubt it. Not unless the kid plays the bassoon or the oboe, and the only decent player just graduated. <g> Or unless the kid is a prodigy along the lines of Yo-Yo Ma. </g></p>
<p>Seriously, good violinists with great scores and grades are a dime a dozen. Maybe a great cellist or violist might get a letter…there’s a perennial shortage of them. Don’t know about the more common winds.</p>
<p>Really, who the heck knows? There’s a woman over on the Yale board who indicated that her kid got a likely letter. Maybe she’ll reveal the magic formula.</p>
<p>My experience with Ivy alum interviews is that not having been called yet for an interview has NOTHING to do with an applicant’s qualifications; more likely the staff or alums responsible for same just aren’t moving quickly.</p>
<p>I read about likely letters and E-mails on Yale and Columbia forums. Looked like the kids were regular applicants (not sports or music).
Consolation: I just wondered if kids NOT from orchestra get such letters. Just the ones who are not expected to represent college in sports or music, or anything else.</p>
<p>I interview for one of the HYPs. There is no correlation whatsoever to the relative merits of the applicant and the offer of an interview. Our coordinator gets names and contact info of every area applicant. he divvies them out to the volunteers. We set up the interviews. Sometimes we don’t get to them in a timely manner. Sometimes something comes up and we need to request someone else take our assigned applicant. Our coordinator and we know NOTHING about the applicant besides HS and what they listed as possible major, if they listed anything.</p>
<p>Don’t read anything into the interview/no interview thing.</p>
<p>Citymom: Musical and athletic ability are apples and oranges in the admissions game. While outstanding athletic ability may be a “hook,” i.e., an institutional priority that can tip the admissions decision in favor of an applicant who is being recruited to a team, musical talent – even exceptional musical talent – seldom is. (Someone like Yo Yo Ma would be the exception, but the argument could be made that someone at that level is being chosen for celebrity status rather than sheer musical talent.) That’s not to say that exceptional musical talent plays no role in the admissions decision. But it doesn’t have the punch of exceptional athletic ability. Alumni care about their alma mater’s athletic teams, which means that the development office depends on winning teams to raise funds. </p>
<p>That said, I read somewhere on these boards that this year Yale is going to make more use of academic likely letters (vs. athletic likely letters, which have all been sent already) for students who are particularly talented in music and science. I can’t confirm that with any sources.</p>