<p>The card we got was definitely personalized by her admission counselor, who presumably would know if she was being rejected or not. Of course it gave us false hope, but lesson learned. It all turned out fine- she ended up at a school that she absolutely loved, but it was a tough Christmas Eve that year. </p>
<p>Wow I am sorry to hear that- but glad it worked out. </p>
<p>My D is expecting two EA decisions right before Christmas. I’m worried about a tough Christmas too.</p>
<p>It’s likely still not the same office. Adcoms are all busy this time of year with actual admissions issues, and aren’t the ones who send out the robomail. Even the ones which appear to be personalised (and with computer programs that’s easy enough to do in mass quantities) are still pretty much churned out en masse. Unfortunately, unless it’s written in blood and you have a positive DNA match with an admissions officer you spoke to in person, it’s safe to assume it’s probably not really personal. (Especially, in our experience, with the University of Chicago, which sends out enough mail to kill at least one entire tree per prospect, not counting emails.)
It does seem a bit cavalier when kids are taking these decisions oh! so personally, doesn’t it? I think it’s just…ugh! Marketing.</p>
<p>Oh yes forgot about all of that personalized stuff from U Chicago lol!!! D did not apply. Marketing…blech… >:) </p>
<p>@ Spawns school three of her classmates heard ED decisions today from Northeastern - 2 happy campers & 1 not so happy student. </p>
<p>Spawns EA date is 12/20 - likely a deferral. </p>
<p>D got an email today from the financial aid office of a school she expects to hear from on her EA app this month, saying a piece of info is missing. It takes pains to say that FA and admissions are separate, in that if she doesn’t get this piece of info in soon, it won’t affect her admissions decision, just that she won’t get an estimated FA award along with it.</p>
<p>The optimist in me hopes they don’t bother tracking down missing bits of FA from students they aren’t accepting. This schools has already sent out ED decisions but she applied EA.</p>
<p>Hmm…maybe nothing, but I sent the missing bit of info this evening, with hope.</p>
<p>Ohmom that’s how I feel. Do FA offices email kids they are not accepting? We have also gotten such emails. The mystery continues I guess. </p>
<p>PS: I am reading this book from the library right now and it is terrifying: <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Paying-Party-College-Maintains-Inequality/dp/0674049578”>http://www.amazon.com/Paying-Party-College-Maintains-Inequality/dp/0674049578</a></p>
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<p>D’s only applied to one public U and she’s already been accepted to the honors program but I am combing this book for clues on what to do and not do to support her as a single not-wealthy parent. ALso clues as to whether WHAT college she attends makes a big difference?</p>
<p>The book is written by sociologists and is footnoted and sourced and feels a little academic, but is written for a somewhat broader audience and uses a fair bit of anecdote. Fascinating but also terrifying. Probably shouldn’t be reading it right before bed…</p>
<p>@latichever, What is that list you posted? Is that the date that those schools give answers for ED?</p>
<p>@Ohmomof2, I’ve wondered about similar things. The state school is comfortable, socioeconomically, but has limits as far as forming networks and connections…certain resources, where the more selective (expensive and/or well known) schools might provide great networking and connections to circles of people that D might otherwise never meet. Or would it? Are there ‘walls’ within those schools dividing the haves from the have nots? Each situation and each school is different. But these are things that run through my mind sometimes. D doesn’t seem to be interested in prestige, except in that she notes that if you can say you graduated from ____ smaller selective school with a strong reputation, then that tells potential employers something about you automatically, where saying you graduated from average state U, does not come with that same automatic understanding. And, being an alumnae from a relatively small college, might make other alumnae take notice, for connections/networking. But coming from a big state U, where many thousands of students attend seems less likely to have that same affect. Of course, big state U has other kinds of resources that small LAC may not have…in facilities, etc.</p>
<p>I finished the book just now and their conclusion is that very selective schools might avoid the party-class d dynamics they observed in the big state u. Hmm.</p>
<p>Many alumni are loyal to their state schools – and some of those schools are very large which means they have A LOT of alumni. So I think it can go either way.</p>
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<p>Yep. I work for a small nonprofit and there are emails sent out all the time that come from my address and are signed by me, but that I did not write (though since we are a small office I usually do get to look them over before they go out). But if the communications person’s desk wasn’t a mere 30 feet away from mine, I’m not sure how often I’d get to review the emails!</p>
<p>And because mass emails get sent out to entire chunks of the database, nobody checks to make sure, for example, that the fundraising appeal email doesn’t go to the 3 people who just sent donations in this week. The accountant hasn’t yet updated the database to reflect those donations, and the fundraising people don’t have time to individually screen each address before the emails go out.</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s the same at colleges, only even more so because they have thousands of people in their databases. Whoever is in charge of sending out things like holiday cards isn’t getting weekly updates from the people who are in charge of admissions decisions.</p>
<p>The takeaway is, I think, that any communication other than “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted” or “so sorry, you’ve been rejected [or whatever nicer language they use]” should be treated as just spam, not as any indication that they really do like you.</p>
<p>@shoboemom </p>
<p>Yes, I did it again. I meant to post on a thread in College Admissions forum on a thread re EA/ED notifications. And until I saw your post here I was wondering what happened to it. Senior moment. </p>
<p>Good morning everyone. It’s lightly snowing here. How is the weather in your part of the world?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in app-land, D is slowly plugging along on those essays.</p>
<p>Light snow here. Icy windshields and windy.
Essays are happening. Slowly. Very slowly, but only 5 schools left with 1 nearly done, and 1 or 2 may come off the list all together. Truthfully, the remaining ones are the most important. I wish school would just STOP so we can get this stuff done. Scholarship stuff has to be done too. its all just too much.</p>
<p>Interviews are going well. I think there are 3 more (possibly 4), one is scheduled and we are waiting to hear from the other interviewers. Very surprisingly, my shy introvert thinks the interview is the strong point of his application. He gets so excited to share his projects and thoughts that the interviews fly by. He really feels like he gets to show them what he’s made of.</p>
<p>First big decision coming in this weekend. Not expecting much. I really hope it doesn’t derail the forward momentum that we have going.</p>
<p>For those who are interested, we will be having relaxation yoga on the Lido Deck followed by comfort foods and hot toddies in the library. For those that want to skip the yoga, feel free to go straight to the comforting couches in the library; sit back, kick your feet up, the food and drinks will be waiting.</p>
<p>Drives me nuts that the departments don’t seem to communicate with each other. We had letters from two schools informing us all application materials had not been received - such as the transcript that had been sent via Parchment and we had received receipt e-mails! Both times resulted in panicked phone calls to the schools only to find out that their data had not been updated. With all this inefficiency, it’s no wonder tuition costs are high. </p>
<p>We are also getting marketing that does not jive with admissions. I keep receiving e-mails from UIUC urging us to apply and I keep asking S - are you sure they have all your materials? They keep sending e-mails about applying!</p>
<p>2 more days for ED decision, then probably next week for an EA (school was December 17 last year), and 9 days for the other EA.</p>
<p>He seems to have the right outlook, we talk a little about if he doesn’t get into his ED school, in a way it opens more options for him. We are a little worried in that it is likely he will find out online before we do, as we have to go to a holiday party on Saturday…</p>
<p>DS is in a good mood though, he got a very positive email from a coach about playing for his college team, from watching him play this past weekend Too bad my son is married to his major, and that college does not offer it or even one close to it. Sad that the guy watched him play and wrote up great things, and my son isn’t even a possible recruit because he is targeting engineering.</p>
<p>On marketing - my son got several big mailings from Columbia in the past two days. Probably a pound worth at least LOL. I am going to make sure, if he gets into his ED school and we find the FA package is acceptable (we are hoping we get news quickly, they use CSS Profile), he removes all the other schools from his CA list.</p>
<p>Projected high today of 72, in the 50s at night. As I walked through the campus of Ginormous State yesterday and was hot in my light cardigan I wished I lived somewhere that it was turning cold now. Unless DS goes to GSU, anywhere he will be will be cooler than here. About the only place that isn’t is south florida and he didn’t apply there. Even Atlanta is cooler.</p>