What’s lost when Stanford uses the Common App

Posted by Aaron

Ever since I had heard the news that Stanford will be accepting the Common App next year, I have had mixed feelings about it. 

It is easier to fill out only one Form 1 (since they all ask exactly the same thing), but with the Common App, there are enough supplemental forms that you, almost, might as well apply to each school individually. But for those who apply to 18+ schools (and if you can, more power to you), I can see how it is helpful. But I feel there is something to be said about individual applications.

What bums me out most about Stanford’s transfer to the Common App is the possibility of them losing their more unique essay and short answer topics because there already are generic short answers and essays on the

Either, or… not both?

Posted by Dee

Robin left us a comment on AdmitSpit’s About page:

“I just heard through the grapevine that students who apply to both UCLA and UC Berkeley are only admitted to one or the other but not both. I really want to go to UCLA but also applied to Berkeley even though it is not one of my top schools. Does anyone know if this is true and if I can withdraw my Berkeley app?”

Basically, I can say quite firmly that this myth is entirely untrue! I too heard this idea “through the grapevine” when I was applying last year, but alas, I was accepted to both schools, and plenty of other students I know were accepted to both too.

Keep in mind that Berkeley is slightly more competitive than UCLA, so even if you didn’t get into one of them, chances are it’d be Berkeley you would not be getting

Not going to your ED school?

Posted by Dee

What happens if you don’t go to the Early Decision school you were accepted to?

Eh, chances are nothing.

Barbara sent us a comment last week on the post titled, “Response to Theodore: why Princeton over Yale?“ inquiring on this topic, and the answer is that seldom, if not never, has a college actually pursued legal means of dealing with students who disregard the promise they made that, if accepted, they will attend the school they were admitted to early decision. Basically, most of the ED agreements list that only for financial reasons are you allowed to decline your ED acceptance; if you really can’t raise the funds to attend their school. So, there is definitely a financial out of your ED acceptance.

There are obviously plenty of myths floating about as to what happens if you break your Early Decision promise. For example, is it true the ED school you turned down will tell every other school you were accepted to causing the other schools to

On recent comments…

Posted by Dee

I was quite heartened by the comments made recently by some readers.

First, Barbara wrote last week:

“Hi! Wow, I just found this today– thank you for not pulling the same shit counselors pull about “doing what YOU want” or “choosing classes you LIKE” or “sleeping” (what is that, anyway? Just kidding.).

Not that there isn’t some truth to that advice, but I’m glad to find something that offers advice that will actually be listened to by someone trying to be competitive for a spot at University of Pennsylvania.

Just wondering: what exactly are the consequences of not going to the Early Decision school that accepted you? I’m not so vain as to think it’s going to happen for me next year, but everything I’ve checked basically just refers to the consequence as “serious”. Do you know what it even entails?”

While I’ll respond to her latter concerns in a separate post, the start of her comment

Response to Theodore: why Princeton over Yale?

Posted by DeeTheodore commented on two of AdmitSpit’s blog posts yesterday regarding how to respond to a question about why he prefers one school over another, especially when two schools of similar status offer the same major and equally great social and learning environments. Here’s what he said on the posts titled, “Response to Edie” and “Ivy Leagues are not created equal.”

“I am nervous as usual about the encounter I will have in two days with the interviewer. My most feared question is why princeton over all the other schools; why princeton over for example Yale? Both offer majors i am interested in and lovely learning environments. I mean Yale and Princeton both offer economics and exciting environments. How can you simply decide which is “better” or what makes Princeton tick more than another?!!”

Well, Theodore, I’m really glad you came to AdmitSpit to ask this question because I think you’ll get a response you’ll be quite satisfied with!

When I had my Princeton interview last year, my interviewer was this really sweet young lady now studying at Stanford for grad school and I was the first person she had ever interviewed for Princeton. She told me that Princeton gave her and all their

Response to Mimi

Posted by DeeMimi commented on the post titled, “I was deferred; now what?!” Here’s what she wrote:

“I was deferred from my early school in December. I’ve now finished my RD applications and realized that my new essays are infinitely better than the ones I sent in early. Can I now send in my new essays to replace the ones I sent in a while ago? The RD deadline for this school has passed, however.“

It’s great that you turned in more perfected essays this time around, but I’m sorry to say that I would defnitely not recommend sending in your new essays.

But, before I get ahead of myself… What exactly did the letter from the school say? Do they want or encourage you to send in new or supplementary material? Is there

Response to Edie

Posted by Dee

So, it may seem as though December was a month of abandonment for our dear AdmitSpit site, but I assure you it is temporary! Vacation’s over for us, so it’s back to responding to questions and dishing out college admissions talk as usual.

Edie commented recently on the post titled, “National Merit Semifinalist essay,” the following:

“I took the PSAT in early October and found out this week (January 4th) that I am a semifinalist. I have two concerns.

1) When I got my PSAT scores from my guidance counselor, he said that there was a possibility that I might have to take the SAT as part of the process. I got a 2310 on the real SAT in December (with which I was satisfied) and, quite honestly, I don’t want to take it again. Since I took it two months after the PSAT, do you think I will have to take it again?
2.) My GPA is around a 3.6/3.7 on an unweighted scale of 4.0. I took really challenging classes, but do you think this will eliminate me?”

So, response to question one is 2310 is a fine score and I don’t know what your guidance counselor is talking about because no, you shouldn’t have to retake the

Response to Denise

Posted by Dee 

In “A short note on changing UC apps,” Denise commented:

“What’s the address to send the “letter to the school, IN WRITING, requesting that your application be looked at under a different major”? Where should I send my request to UC Berkeley and UCLA to? What’s the two addresses?”

Just send your letter to their respective admissions offices, of course!

For UC Berkeley that mailing address would be:

Office of Undergraduate Admissions
University of California, Berkeley
110 Sproul Hall #5800
Berkeley, CA 94720-5800

For UCLA that would be:

UCLA Undergraduate Admissions
and Relations with Schools (UARS)
1147 Murphy Hall, Box 951436
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1436

I was deferred; now what?!

Posted by Dee

I was deferred from Stanford last year.

I checked my decision online during school at around noon, saw that I was deferred, and shrugged it off, until, of course, the second I got into my car at 3:05 p.m., I cried and screamed about how “f*cking unfair” and how “f*cking f*cked up” it was that I didn’t get in early!

Yes, I know, the language was crude indeed, but the point is, it’s fine, I think, to let out your frustration about being deferred; yes, I agree, it’s quite unnerving to have to wait even longer to find out about your admission decision, but there comes a point when you move on and say, “now what?”

I mean “now what” not with a sarcastic tone, but rather “now what do I do to complete my application for my early admission school?”

You may be confused; “Didn’t I already finish my application?”

The answer is no! In all likelihood, the school you were deferred from will ask you to

A short note on changing UC apps

Posted by Dee

It seems that, although there are no guarantees, if you need to change the major or college you listed for a UC, you can request to change it.

I spoke to an admissions counselor from Berkeley for Lena’s sake in yesterday’s post titled, “Response to Lena on sending scores junior year,” and also managed to ask about changing majors or colleges after you’ve submitted the online application.

Basically she said that you’ve already had the whole month of November to think about what major or college you want to apply to, but if something happens and you really, really feel you want to switch, you can, although again there are no guarantees, write a letter the school, IN WRITING, requesting that your application be looked at under a different major or college. And, you should do this as soon as possible obviously!