Response to Kathleen: Common App and stickers?

Posted by Dee

Kathleen left a very sweet comment on our latest AdmitSpit post titled, “Just got a comment…” saying:

“… I recently visited a college, and they gave me a sample of the 2006-2007 common application. On this application was a sticker saying “application fee waived”. The problem is, the application is for the 2006-2007 season, and I won’t be applying until this fall. Should I remove the sticker from the common application papers? Also, does the common application require fees to send online?”

I think Kathleen that the whole point was indeed to give you a “sample” of the Common App so you could get the gist of the types of questions they give in essays and short answers, etc. I don’t think that they necessarily actually wanted you to use that 2006-2007 form to apply for the 2007-2008 year. So no, you shouldn’t remove the sticker from the common application papers because you shouldn’t actually use those papers at all (and if you’re thinking of reattaching the sticker to the correct version of the Common App papers, I say that’s just a bad idea!)

The Common App does require fees — but those are simply the fees that the

When to know if you’re accepted: season 2007

Posted by Dee

It’s almost March, which means that results from regular admissions will start trickling in soon enough.

Since there seems to be no comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the dates when each of the top schools report their decisions for regular admissions, we at AdmitSpit created one. The name of each school, along with the date you should expect a response and any special notes are provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site. This post will likely be updated with more detailed dates and times as deadlines approach and colleges release more precise information about when notifications will be sent out.

Brown: Decisions will be mailed “end of March” 2007, and definitely they will be mailed no later than in the first week of April.

CIT: Decisions mailed “late March/early April.”

Columbia University: Regular Decision application decisions are mailed out in the first week of April, along with invitations for on-campus and regional programs for accepted students.

Cornell: Regular Decision application decisions for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hotel Administration, and Industrial and Labor Relations are rolling starting in the

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!

When to know if you’re accepted early

Posted by Dee

It’s December, which means that results from early admissions will be back soon enough.

Again, there seems to be no comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the dates when each of the top schools report their decisions for early admissions, so I created one! The name of each school, along with the date you should expect a response and any special notes are provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site.

Brown: Early Decision applications decisions mailed “mid-december” 2006.

CIT: Early Action application decisions mailed “mid-december.”

Columbia University: Early Decision application decisions mailed “mid-december.” You will either be accepted, in which case you must accept the offer of admission unless financial reasons release you from the ED agreement, deferred, or rejected

Response to Elizabeth

Posted by Dee

AdmitSpit received a comment regarding the UC application from Elizabeth today on the post titled, “Techniques for dealing with character limits.”

I’ll reproduce the comment below:

“Hi I just submitted my uc application yesterday and realized that I went over the word count limit by 35 words. What can I do? Will the college just cut off my essay or should I mail each campus a letter?”

Elizabeth,

I think you needn’t worry about 35 words. The reason I emphasize “think” is because I haven’t seen a print out of your application. I sure hope you, along with every other UC applicant, took the time to print out a copy of your entire application. If so, you could go to the personal statement section and see if it did indeed cut off part of your essay. If it did not you’re probably okay.

The second reason I emphasize “think” is because I hope that this 35 word surplus was not on one response alone, rather that you went maybe 10 words over on one essay and 16 over on another and over by 9 on another; this would be the best scenario as opposed to going 35 words over on one response alone which will be

Response to Gail

Posted by Dee

Gail recently left AdmitSpit an urgent comment on our “About AdmitSpit” page. I’ll reproduce it below.

“Help – my son decided to add one sentence to his essay after he copied it into his application form and submitted it with a TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR! What do we do? Will his application automatically be dropped!”

I hope I’m correct as interpreting this as: your son finished his essay, copy-pasted it into the text box in his online application, then decided to add a sentence directly into the text box, submitted the application and then realized that it had a typo! Ouch.

Gail? What was he thinking?! I feel terrible using your son’s error as an example, but this shows to all of us the danger of typing essays, even one sentence’s worth, directly in the text box of an online application! Always, always, write your essays, even one sentence’s worth, in a Word processor first! Then, copy-paste it.

Yes, your son made a dumb mistake; I’m afraid it’s difficult for me to soften the blow. But, that said, it’s not the end of the world. You’ll probably be rather upset and worried over it, but it will probably have little bearing on an overall application decision. I’m slightly concerned over the last phrase in your comment: “Will his

A “duh” tip #2

Posted by Dee

Following the October 21 blog post titled, “A ‘duh’ tip #1,” let me remind you of another “duh” tip.

Someone recently reached AdmitSpit by searching for “can we go over 1000 words for personal statements?”

No! If the application says you get 1000 words for your essays, you only get 1000 words. I presume by the way that the Web surfer here was referring to the UC application, but regardless of what school you are applying to, do not exceed the limits they set! If however the application says “about 1000 words,” well then, I guess they’re allowing you some space to add on a bit.

Just make sure you’re aware of what the application directions are!

The six colleges of UCSD

Posted by Teja

The University of California, San Diego may be known for its sunny beaches and super hot surfers but don’t be fooled into underestimating its academic rigor. As a large campus with over 20,000 undergraduates, there is no lack of academic and recreational activities.If you choose to go to a big university, such as UCSD, it is very important to be independent. Unlike in high school and smaller colleges, there is no “spoon-feeding.” You are completely responsible for yourself: signing up for classes, asking for help, getting advice, etc. Consequently, studies at UCSD are as hard or as easy as you make them. There are many opportunities to get involved in leadership, research, and social activities but they do not come to you, you must go look for them. With that said, I’ll tell you a little bit about UCSD…

The academic year is based on the quarter system, which allows you to take a vast number of classes in various subjects. There are four quarters to a year. Fall quarter from September to December, winter quarter from January to March, spring quarter from March to June, and summer quarter during the summer (optional). Each quarter lasts about 10 weeks, so if you really dislike a class it will pass by with the blink of an eye. On the negative side, this system demands a constant output of work; I have only been here for 2 months but have already gone through midterms, and the quarter is almost over.

UCSD is the only UC that is split up into 6 different sub-colleges. The beauty of this

Extracurricular descriptions for dummies

Posted by Dee

In sort of a Big Brother-esque fashion, here at AdmitSpit, we can indeed see what people are searching for through Yahoo! or Google or other search engines to get to our Web site!

A day or two ago, someone searched for “describing extracurriculars.” I was immediately reminded of my own frustration during the application filing period with trying to “describe” my activities with a limited amount of words or characters. Just as techniques can be applied for dealing with word or character limits (see the post titled, “Techniques for dealing with character limits“), I’ll outline below guidelines for describing your extracurricular activities in your application when you are given very limited space.

As an applicant, you want to highlight the best about yourself, right? This guiding philosophy should permeate every aspect of your application; just because you have a small amount of space for describing your extracurriculars doesn’t mean

As promised, interview specifics for top schools

Posted by Dee

As promised, here’s the list of interview policies for specific top schools! Sorry if my use of the word ‘alumni’ is grammatically incorrect Latin-wise; I’m sort of still confused with alumni vs. alumnus vs. alumnae vs. alumna vs. alum!

Brown: Interviews recommended but not required. Once application is received, alumni in your area will contact you. If you do want an interview then you’ll set up the time and place at that point. This applies to international applicants where possible too. No on-campus interviews.

CIT: No interviews.

Columbia University: Interviews are not required. Between October and February, a member of Columbia’s Alumni Representative Committee will contact you if an interview is available in the area where your high school is located. So, if you’ve finished high school and not living by your high school anymore, you can’t get an interview. Also, to better your chances of getting an interview, turn in your Application