<p>Andi-I’m so sorry for your disappointment and yet glad that this period of uncertainty is over for you.</p>
<p>Rather than looking at this as a loss, try to look at it as a gift. Andison has been given the gift of time. In the hectic, overscheduled world we live in this is a very precious asset. He has an opportunity to take a year, follow his curiosities and passions and discover who he is and who he wants to become. Don’t spend any more time looking back, only forward. Here’s hoping for a year filled with fabulous opportunities and experiences.</p>
<p>One more compliment on the graciousness you have shown to all the '09 students and parents here on CC. Good things are in your future.</p>
<p>Andi: I am joining the chorus. I feel that this is Swarthmore’s loss. I think andison will look back at this period at the end of next year and be grateful that his gap year gave him experiences that enriched his life and broadened his perspective. I must say I am disappointed in the way Swarthmore handled the delivery of the news–very bad form. It would have cost them so little to take the time to make a phone call. The adcom’s refusal to come to the phone and the “the letters have been sent” ruse was awkward, cowardly, and uncaring, in my book. I am confident andison will find the right place, and maybe it is not Swarthmore.</p>
<p>pattykk I agree with you about the handling by the admissions office. Considering that he sent in a lot of materials to appeal his wait listed position along with some thoughtful e-mails and was never once pushy or demanding, I have to say I’m not impressed. The amount of additional materials he sent in made it clear that he was immensely interested. I thought a small school that prided itself on having a more personal touch would have had the guts to talk to him and be honest. Hopefully this particular adcom doesn’t represent the rest of the school.</p>
<p>Okay… i know everyone has moved on with this - but I have a tenacious streak and it seems like there’s nothing to lose anymore in this… Is is possible to play the “he didn’t get in anywhere” card now? Surely Swarthmore college has room for ONE more kid. When we were at Rice and DD was interviewing, one of the other interviewees parents told me of this friend’s son who didn’t even bother to apply to college - then decided he wanted to go to Rice in June, and called up and was admitted, just like that. (I think he was a math whiz or something like that.) Well your son is a music whiz! Can the guidance counselor make the call - and tell the whole story??? I know Andison has lots of options for a great gap year - but, hey, what is there too lose at this point by making a last-ditch appeal?</p>
<p>anxiousmom we are SORT of doing that, perhaps not as direct. When I spoke with the head GC on Friday I asked him if he could call Swat back and ask if S will need to file a totally new application when he applies again in the fall. I was hoping that would give them the message that it’s either Swat or nothin’. Another CC’er suggested a month ago to come out and tell them that it was his only hope but s’s GC’s response to that was that they’re not going to take him because they ‘feel sorry for him.’ I bought her response at the time but now it’s worth taking a second look because a) I don’t think it necessarily means they’d be ‘feeling sorry’ for him. He’s an excellent candidate and has a lot to offer the school and there may be a small chance that it could make a difference and b) we’re at the final stages of this debacle now and what’s there to lose?</p>
<p>So, I highly suspect that the head GC hasn’t made contact yet. Do you think I should suggest that he make his appeal more direct?? </p>
<p>I guess you know by now that once I sink my teeth into something it’s not easy for me to let go <strong>lol</strong></p>
<p>andi - it seems that anxiousmom has hit upon an idea that resonates with you. It resonated with me at the time it was first suggested - the he didn’t get in anywhere factor. At this point, I think you should try it at ANY schools - whether he has applied already or not - which would interest him as much as a gap year would, wl closed or not. I know that this is one of the things our GCs focus on in the April/May period.</p>
<p>Now, Please do not take my next thought the wrong way, and I did not re-trace your original “pieces” thread to see if this has already been covered. </p>
<p>But… . how much confidence do you have in your GC(s)? I have found myself wondering at times if he/she/they are your best advocates. Once, they reported to you that wl was closed at one of andison’s schools before another poster’s kid got in from that very wl; other little things here and there have made me wonder (not picking up on the missing music tape submittal, not reviewing andison’s college list for quality safeties and/or advising proper “courting” of the safeties he had on the list). I apologize profusely if I am way off base here, but I DO think you should ask that he make the direct appeal. And, if I am anywhere on target, I think for next year’s round you should have alternate GC advice (unless cc fills that need for you, which it well might). I am particularly thinking of having an expert second opinion review of andison’s entire app to make sure everything there is making his best possible case; post-mortem with one or more of the schools he applied to this year to learn the college’s view of his entire package. It seems to me the best GCs would have that type of relationship with at least one of the places he applied to - or would develop the relationship now because it is needed to benefit one of their charges.</p>
<p>jmmom I appreciate your ideas. anxiousmom’s idea basically resonates because we’ve partially begun to do that already and it’s something that was brought up at an earlier stage of the process. I think the question is basically how direct to be. On the one hand we don’t have anything to lose and andison has invested a lot of energy into his status there. On the other hand, if he does have to start from square one there again this fall, I wouldn’t want to do anything now to negatively affect the next application. </p>
<p>As far as the GC goes, we’re working with the head GC now, who’s been at the hs for over 20 years, as opposed to andison’s GC who just started at the hs in the fall and, although well-meaning, is very young. For the next round of apps we won’t be working thru the school anymore and we’ll likely hire someone to review a few things with us. The GC did attempt to get feedback on andison from one of the other wl schools, but they weren’t forthcoming. </p>
<p>Andison and I decided after the results not to initiate applications to any new schools this spring. The end of senior year for him was an extremely busy time. He takes a very heavy courseload at school, had some EC involvements that couldn’t be brushed aside and lots of end-of-year senior activities. Launching a new college search, filling out new applications and making a visit just wasn’t going to happen. At best he would have ended up at a school he knew little or nothing about. Just not worth it IMHO. </p>
<p>anxiousmom’s idea seems to me to be one last ditch effort to squeeze something out of all our efforts, and won’t be like starting down a new road.</p>
<p>My inclination would be to really start over again as if none of this had happened. Andis son should apply to 8-10 schools, match-reach-safety, and not over-invest in any one. </p>
<p>I dont think Swarthmores adcom and administration has particularly distinguished itself in this occasion (and we know from reading about kids who were actively pursued that they can be quite personal when they want to be) so my guess and Im sorry to be so blunt here and I really do hope Im wrong is that they are not going to come around next year either. This runs contrary to No Poison Ivys sons success story, but the difference is that I dont think he chased the waitlist. </p>
<p>Please understand I dont mean to imply that Andis son did anything wrong in pursuing Swarthmore after he was waitlisted: I just think that this was a final (and inexplicable) no and I doubt that it will become a yes in 8 months time. </p>
<p>(Actually I have this favorite fantasy of Andis son getting accepted by Swarthmore next year then turning them down! To me that would be the most poetic – or should we say musical? – justice.)</p>
<p>There are many, many fine schools out there, including several that were not applied to this year. They do not need to know the whole sorry story. From their point of view heres an immensely talented brilliant kid who CHOSE to take a gap year. If the gap year is productive and properly presented, it will be a positive. </p>
<p>So, Andi, if baring his soul to Swarthmore will help bring this situation to closure then he should do it, but what he really needs to do is to start loving some other colleges and to put Swarthmore out of mind for a while. In other words, it’s time to stop thinking weak and start thinking strong. For a school who doesn’t know his history, he is still a very strong and desireable candidate.</p>
<p>I agree. There are SO many wonderful schools out there that would give their eye teeth to have andison. Have a great gap year, make it sound very positive and even set your sights higher than Swath that obviously doesn’t know a good thing all the time when it sees it. And just think - with the gap year, he will have more time to get those apps together without the stress of classes, exams, etc. Write essays about the great things you are doing during gap year, and welcome a different result!</p>
<p>Andi, as you know, I am truly sorry for this result as I posted. I do not think an appeal NOW is worthwhile. I had advised you a month ago on how to handle it and I consulted a professional counselor on your behalf who gave me advice for you and agreed with the strategy I emailed you. THAT was the time to do it, in my view, not now. The waitlist is now closed. You need move on. The time to put the cards on the table, nothing to lose was a month ago, letting them know your son had no other options on the table, both on your own but also to have his GC call and make this plea. Now, I feel this is not going to change the situation. Before, IF they were taking kids from the waitlist, I was trying to propel your son higher on it given his situation which I would have laid out and offered to commit to send the check as soon as they gave the word. At this point, I think your GCs advice was not as good as it needed to be. I have been meaning to write you to ask if you had used the advice I had sent you but at this point, I have read the outcome. </p>
<p>I do think your son should use this time as a gift…to explore something worthwhile in a gap year. </p>
<p>He ought to start over next year, new schools…AND create a more balanced list of reach/match/safeties and if you need guidance, go BEYOND that of the GC because I am not impressed with the advice on your list that must have been OKd, nor with what was done for his multiple waitlist situation for a kid with no acceptances. It was a specific situation that required a specific plan and action. </p>
<p>I think it is time to move forward and look brightly ahead. I would stop pursuing Swat at this juncture. I would have put mucho into every single waitlist school but played the “in at no schools, WILL DEFINITELY ATTEND YOUR SCHOOL IF GIVEN A SLOT AND COMMIT IMEDIATELY TO ENROLLING if admitted” card at his preferred choice. </p>
<p>I am not sure what you did with the other waitlist schools but it does not sound like you informed Swat of his situation as I had hoped you might have, or better yet, had the GC do. </p>
<p>I think it is time to put this school to rest and get energized on a plan for the coming year. I can’t wait to hear what your son is exploring as a GAP year option. Whatever it is, it likely will make him look like an even MORE interesting candidate. </p>
<p>I may have missed this somewhere along the line, but what happened to Oberlin? Was there no waitlist opportunity there?<br>
I think I would be inclined to take the one last shot at Swat (through the counselor)-or anywhere else where there is a chance-and then move on if that shot is fruitless. I, too, am not impressed with Swat’s attention to this obviously qualified kid who got left on the sidelines.</p>
<p>It still seems so wrong that a student like Andi’s son could have no acceptances that it’s shaken my confidence that I know anything about the system. Still, for what it’s worth, I agree with the advice that there’s nothing to lose with the most direct possible approach to Swarthmore at this point, though I’m afraid it also seems likely that there aren’t any places left. </p>
<p>As for next year, after Swarthmore’s apparent indifference this time around, I’d probably move them way down on the list. Maybe we need a new corollary to the old Groucho Marx dictum–i.e., who needs to join a club that doesn’t want someone like me as a member?</p>
<p>There was one CC parent this year (can’t remember which one) whose son previously didn’t get into Princeton, his dream school, or any other acceptable school (may have had some safety acceptances - not sure). Anyway, the kid took a gap year, did something productive, came back with a killer app that they’d had a year to think about, and got admitted to Princeton. I remember the joyous result being posted back in April.</p>
<p>So Andi, I recommend you follow that example. Your son may not make his dream school. After this he may no longer dream of that school. But he has strong stats, and with a gap year to work with he can come back next year with an improved app and improved list of colleges and surely walk away with a bunch of splendid acceptances.</p>
<p>A year may seem like an eternity in the life of a teenager, but by time he’s 25 this whole adventure will be little more than a forgotten fly speck way in the past.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what else they were supposed to do. Andi’s son and his GC have gotten a phone call from his regional adcom, who was aware of all the extra materials being sent. And, he has received two “update” mailings, which now appear to be mass mailings to the waitlist.</p>
<p>We may not know until fall when the news articles about the enrolled class appear and the new common data set info is released, but the evidence so far indicates that they simply didn’t go heavily to the waitlist. I have only seen one person being taken off the waitlist. That was not the case last year.</p>