<p>^ very very true, our HS asserts this over and over, but once you get outside a 300 mile radius all bets are off.</p>
<p>If a school does a good job with its profile, then colleges outside the range know the “story” too.</p>
<p>Theoretically yes, but I think that many colleges still don’t really believe the profiles. Luckily most of these schools with either many super-high-achieving students or no grade inflation are catering to colleges that do get it. </p>
<p>I’m kind of shocked by the mean rejections. What are these colleges thinking? Mine got nothing but “We had too many wonderful candidates, we are sure you had some wonderful choices even though we didn’t have room for you, and we wish you the best at wherever you are attending” sorts of letters.</p>
<p>Sure, dadx, they do assert that, and it is true. It’s a well known school, with over 50 percent typically earning some form of National Merit Scholar award, large number of Ivy accrptances. i think I’ve heard only one kid graduates with a 4.0 every five years. Yes, most schools are aware of this.</p>
<p>But nevertheless, my pont wasn’t to brag about my son’s school, or to say that my kid should have been accepted, schools can accept anyone they choose. My point is that they should not be rude about it.</p>
<p>Along the lines of mean rejection letters, has anyone had a face to face encounter with a mean director of admissions? We asked a simple question and had our heads bitten off. It was quite jarring and uncalled for. If it weren’t for the fact that my D liked every other part about the school I wouldn’t have let her apply there. A course in PR, letter writing and professional decorum should be mandatory for adcoms.</p>
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<p>Yes, I get it. But it is obvious that your kid picked an “ultra safety” that was not really a safety.</p>
<p>NJres nailed it (post #13) - there are two types of letters:</p>
<p>(1) We just had more amazing candidates this year than we could possibly find space for!</p>
<p>(2) You’re not good enough.</p>
<p>I, too, simply can’t fathom the rationale of sending out letter #2. There is a well known East Coast prep school that sends out the same letter . . . to 13-year olds! Really, what are they thinking?</p>
<p>At the college level (but surely not at the prep school level), I can see (but wouldn’t advocate) sending out a letter stating that there were other, better-qualified applicants. </p>
<p>However, I do think that to intimate or assert that an applicant couldn’t cut it at that particular institution is unwarranted and inappropriate (if not factually inaccurate).</p>
<p>When our kids were in preschool, we explained to them that there just weren’t enough chairs for all who wanted to come to their preschool and class. That was something the kid could get and no one got their feelings hurt. It was a similar explanation when they were competing to get into private school in 7th and 9th grades. It makes a lot more sense than slapping the kids with a mean rejection–why should there be an insult? Makes NO sense to me and the kiddo may actually wish to consider a transfer or potential graduate school. Rudeness may knock them out of contention in the future, including when their offspring may be considering college.</p>
<p>“Yes, I get it. But it is obvious that your kid picked an “ultra safety” that was not really a safety.”</p>
<p>Of course. It would be obvious to anyone on this bulletin board that if you don’t get into what you consider your “ultra safety”, that it was never a safety school at all. Obviously.</p>
<p>I am realizing that it is getting predictable that when a post of yours follows mine, you can be counted on to point out the obvious and correct me (whether or not it is relevant to the point at hand).</p>
<p>My favorite rejection story:</p>
<p>Years ago, a friend was rejected by a medical school. The letter said something to the effect of “good luck in another profession.” He did get into at least one other med school, a much better school, from which he graduated top of his class. (After he received all As his first semester, he wanted to send a copy of his grades to the school that rejected him!) Today, he’s top of his field, often testifying before Congress and interviewed on TV. Guess that original med school was wrong!</p>
<p>My son had the same experiece as Mathmom’s, “too many good applicants…good luck in future endeavors”</p>
<p>I find it sad that other schools feel the need to condenscend to applicants; some things seem rude and others mean. It amazes me that a med school would wish anyone good luck in another profession; this is really hard to believe.</p>
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<p>Oh, if only there was a “Like” button. :)</p>
<p>I agree there is no excuse for a college to be anything but gracious and encouraging (versus “well, you couldn’t have handled us”) but I have to be honest - I don’t even know why one would read / parse the details. Once you saw it was a rejection, why even bother reading it? You know it’s a form letter; it’s not as though it’s a personal message to you.</p>
<p>Your kid may have visited the schoolat great expense, spent countless hours on an app and really liked it. Perhaps it was a longshot school or one in a different year, you might have gotten into. </p>
<p>Not everyone processes rejection the same way.</p>
<p>My favorite waitlist letter was one ds got for a subsidized study abroad summer program run by the State Department. The first line is “Congratulations!” The next line says, you are on the waitlist. So, so aggravating. And unfortunately your odds of getting off the waitlist are miniscule.</p>
<p>Thanks, elleneast (post #33). (My sister thanks you too.) She got over it (sort of), but my father never did.</p>
<p>S was WL’ed at 2 schools and rejected outright from another. They were all thin envelopes and as I recall, one had to read at least a paragraph or two to tell the WL from the rejection. I completely understand reading the entire letter and reacting to a rude one.</p>
<p>When my son was applying to colleges, he specifically wanted to get a music degree in combination with another subject. Therefore, he applied to numerous colleges with music departments and also to music conservatories which had an association with a more traditional college. He received only one outright rejection from a college, one of the HYP ones, and I remember nothing about the rejection (other than that it was the first one because of SCEA and that hurt). He was waitlisted at one other college and one of his conservatories, but they were harmless letters and did not bother him. The only one that bothered him was a variant of the #2 letter which not only told him that he was not good enough to attend their conservatory, but should also abandon any hope of pursuing music as a career. That one he still remembers.</p>
<p>“The only one that bothered him was a variant of the #2 letter which not only told him that he was not good enough to attend their conservatory, but should also abandon any hope of pursuing music as a career. That one he still remembers.”</p>
<p>It is incredible that there is someone out there that is an arrogant enough jerk to write a kid a letter like that. What a horse’s ass.</p>