<p>I will try to make a long story short. DD applied to a school, (which we had visited in October), thanksgiving weekend and sent essay under separate cover about a week later. Website asked for “personal essay”, with no topic indicated. She received a letter mid December asking for her “personal essay/hopes and goals”. She emailed the admissions counselor and asked for clarification because the website did not indicate that the essay needed to be about hope and goals. (I was not involved at this point.)</p>
<p>She received an email back in early January from the adcom indicating that her essay had been logged in to the system and that she should be receiving a decision in the next few weeks. She thought the adcom had accepted her personal essay and didn’t do anything else.</p>
<p>She got another letter recently asking for a graded writing sample and a midyear report. On the same day that the letter arrived, she received a phone call from someone in admissions that all they needed was her essay to make a decision and that a letter had gone out in error asking for her mid year grade report and graded writing sample. When she asked about the topic, she was told just a personal essay was required. </p>
<p>This back and forth is driving her crazy and she now wants to withdraw her application. I’m afraid she might regret this decision come April. I don’t want some confusion about essay topics to limit her choices. She already has some acceptances, which she is perfectly happy with. It sounds to me like they are on the fence about accepting her, but no one seems to be able to clarify what they need to make their decision. </p>
<p>The school sounds disorganized, I must say. If I were you, I’d want to call, but not against my child’s wishes. My advice would be that you sit down with her, tell her why you’d like to straighten it out (maximum options for her) and then call if she gives the ok. If she’d rather withdraw the app, I’d say it’s her call. JMHO.</p>
<p>This is a tough one.
In my opinion, you should not call without your D’s permission/request. </p>
<p>You do not indicate where this particular school stood on you D’s list prior to all this confusion. If it was not in the top 2 or 3 I would let it go.</p>
<p>I would not recommend withdrawing, but would advise your D to do nothing. Let the school act on the info they have. Perhaps the misfiled essay has now made its way to her file.</p>
<p>As long as suitable acceptances are in the offing I’d be inclined to let this be. At some point the list must be narrowed down to 1; this school my just be helping your D in that process.</p>
<p>The other point which cries out to me: How organized is this institution if their main PR contact office gets so befuddled? Does my kid really want to go there?</p>
<p>Thank you for your quick replies. It has occured to all of us that this disorganization from admissions is indicative of the way the school is run. However, we know a few kids who currently attend and they tell dd that they don’t have any trouble with registering for classes, dorm assignments, etc.</p>
<p>This school was tied for 2nd in DD’s estimation. She has not heard from her first choice. She was admitted to her “other” 2nd choice school and her safety so far. She even got a nice merit scholarship from her safety, which really surprised us. She has good grades (but with a strong upward grade trend ), mostly honors, 2 ap’s, but low scores, so her options are not as plentiful as the typical cc student. This school is a very good fit for her, and she LOVED it when we visited. I was very impressed with the way their open house was run, and am somewhat surprised by the lack of organzation in the admissions department. </p>
<p>My daughter is frustrated right now but needs to see the forest for the trees. I feel that because she really liked the school, we should follow up on this. If she ultimately gets accepted, she can make the decision later and weigh all options. </p>
<p>I have encouraged her to handle this on her own, but my mama bear instincts make me want to get involved at this point. I thought a polite call to the director of admissions might clear up this situation. I can’t believe that any school would want their admissions procedure to be so confusing. </p>
<p>And I do think you are correct, mominva, that this is helping her to narrow her short list down!</p>
<p>I would suggest that your daughter call the admissions office and explain the situation. She should then ask whether she could send another copy of the essay, right then, as an e-mail attachment, while she’s still on the phone with the admissions person. The admissions person could give her the correct e-mail address. If the essay arrives while the phone call is still in progress, it would be less likely to be misplaced, I think.</p>
<p>I do freelance work, and I use this technique (sending documents by e-mail during a phone call) with some of my more mentally addled clients. It seems to help.</p>
<p>Does your geographic area have a designated admissions counselor/regional representative? If so, making contact with that individual may yield more fruitful results. (I’m guessing that when you call, if you don’t ask for someone specific, you may just be getting a clerk or secretary, and not an admissions officer. Same when they call you.)</p>
<p>I would def. have your d. call, they really like to see as we read and hear over and over for the STUDENT to take charge, show an interest and drive/ambition to see that everything is in place and that they care about what might be missing. I think for her to call and want to clarify things shows she is on top of things and has a lot of interest in the school. I would not if I were you call on her behalf though, I would suggest she email or call the school. Good luck to your d.</p>
<p>Since this school had been so high on your D’s list, I am going to revise my advice.
Have D reply to the January e-mail sent by the adcom to reference the logging of her essay. Have her also attach another copy of this essay to the e-mail in order to ‘clarify that my file is complete’. I would have her explain the series of events in the body of the reply.
Good luck to her.</p>
<p>I like Marian’s advice above. This could all come down to one or two people in an admissions department so I wouldn’t let it sway me on the entire school although I know it’s frustrating.</p>
<p>I agree with the good advice provided…however, I’d combine the suggestions of miminva #8 (written response) with Marian’s response #5.</p>
<p>I’d definitely encourage your D to make the call. However, if she is still reluctant to do so, do it on her behalf. I ended up struggling with a similar issue with my D and ended up “making the call”. So glad I did. (D was also usually unavailable during business hours, so I used that excuse to be her go-between.)</p>
<p>Your D may put off the follow through now and regret it later. It’s too big a consequence to pay not to intervene. Since it was so high on her original list, it’s worth it to resolve this. Kids do change their opinions alot between fall and spring—and back again!</p>
<p>Excellent advice here, but one thing to add is that D should not judge the entire school by this chaotic experience with the admissions department. This is the most hectic time of the year for them and I know for a fact that phone calls at one such department from students, parents, and counselors provide a constant distraction for everyone from student workers to the admissions staff. Your D’s concern is entirely legitimate, but many other calls are largely due to the anxiety of this waiting time and do nothing to advance the process. Good luck to her!</p>
<p>Thank you for the wonderful advice. I really wanted to make that call tomorrow, but I will counsel dd to do it. (It will take some convincing, though!) I know that admissions offices are busy, but isn’t this what they do for a living? If one essay got misplaced I could understand, but to email her that her file is complete and then ask for another essay, is perplexing, to say the least. </p>
<p>I will suggest that she do what marian suggested and send the attachment while on the phone. I will also suggest that she follow up in writing to the adcom. We will then keep our fingers crossed!</p>
<p>Were it me, I’d also counsel daughter before phoning to keep her tone pleasant and not let on if she feels peeved or whiney. Nobody’s perfect and there will be future times at any college when she might misplace paperwork, too. What tone would motivate her to straighten things out if SHE had made the error? It’s all a growth experience for her. Good luck.</p>