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did anyone else recieve and early admissions notice today?

By Achat (Achat) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 12:53 pm: Edit

Did you apply RD? When did you apply?

Thanks!

By Guydollofer (Guydollofer) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 01:38 pm: Edit

Congrats! Stats Melon?

By Sparklinjewel (Sparklinjewel) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 02:35 pm: Edit

me too:P yay

By Congresssenator (Congresssenator) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 04:19 pm: Edit

Me too!

Congrats!

By Voigtrob (Voigtrob) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 04:49 pm: Edit

Geez, Congresssenator! Haha, you're reelin em in. ;P

Congrats to everyone... I'm still on the edge of my seat for Swat, lol.

By Proudmama (Proudmama) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 04:52 pm: Edit

Can you tell us where in the country you live? Is it the Northeast? Congratulations to all.

By Achat (Achat) on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 07:59 pm: Edit

My son got in too!!! I am so happy! Life is good!!

By Aspirer42 (Aspirer42) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 03:15 pm: Edit

Hooray!

...I'm 0/3 for likely letters this year!

Going to check the mail again in a bit. Congrats to the rest of y'all, though.

By Aspirer42 (Aspirer42) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 04:16 pm: Edit

...yep, the streak stands.

By Tri_N (Tri_N) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 04:49 pm: Edit

I got in too!

By Iska (Iska) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 06:58 pm: Edit

Got my letter today. Invited to Ride the Tide to Swat. Not likely to attend. Too many weekdays' absence. But the letter was a nice Saturday present. Waiting to see what finaid looks like. Congrats, everyone.

By Proudmama (Proudmama) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 08:44 pm: Edit

Hmm, can someone tell us when the letters were mailed? Still waiting here in the South to hear. Thanks.

By Tri_N (Tri_N) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 09:03 pm: Edit

Proudmama, some of the letters arrived yesterday.

I just receive mine today. If your son/daughter doesn't receive an early notification in the next two days, there's a good chance that he/she will receive hers on April 1st. Good luck to you and your child because my heart was pounding in the past two days. At some points, I was preparing to go to a trade school, learn a skill, get a job, and make money. It's a wild ride!

For those that are interested: the letter came in a small envelop. I almost die when I saw how thin the envelop was.

Here's a copy of the letter if you're interested:

Dear _____,

Congratulations and welcome to the Swarthmore College Class of 2008!

Normally, admissions letters are mailed in late March, but in your case, we wanted you to know early. The Admissions Committee was most impressed with your application. Your strength as a student and your exceptional intellectual and personal qualities made you stand out among several thosand applicants to the College. We look forward to having you join the other exceptional men and women who will enter the College this fall. Together, you will form a vibrant community of scholars, leaders, athletes, artists, and activists. I am exicted to imagine the wonderful impact you will have have on the life of the COllege. We believe your contribution as a member of the Swarthmore community will be a distinctive one.

In late March, I will send you another letter with a packet of information for admitted students. If you have applied for our financial aid, news of your aid decision will accompany that letter. Details about the Ride The Tide to Swat, a program for admitted students, will also be included in the mailing. I encourage you now to save the dates - Wednesday, APril 21 to Friday, April 23. As with all students admitted to Swarthmore, our offer of admission is contingent upon your maintaining the quality of your academic work and personal conduct during the remainder of this school year. We are confident that you will.

I am please dot share this news with you well ahead of our regular notification date. I ask you to keep in mind that htousands of other applicants to Swarthmore must wait until late March to hear from us. Please show consideration for the feelings of other students in your school or community who are understandably anxious about their applications to Swarthmore.

In closing, I invite you to be in touch with me personally by letter or email (jbock2@swarthmore.edu), if you have any questions or concerns, or if you simply want to stay in touch. You have my very warmest congratulations on your admission to Swarthmore COllege.

Sincerely,
James L. Bock

By Tri_N (Tri_N) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 09:06 pm: Edit

Just check my admission letter, it was postmarked on March 10. Good luck, Proudmama!

By Proudmama (Proudmama) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 09:08 pm: Edit

Thanks Tri_N That helps a lot. Best wishes to you.

By Melon (Melon) on Saturday, March 13, 2004 - 10:53 pm: Edit

aah!! good luck to everyone!!
in terms of stats...
SATII: 750/750/760 (writing/physics/IIC)
SATI: 740M/700V
ECs: ultimate frisbee, track, cross country, red cross, NHS, lots of summer activies (backpacking, program at MIT, work, research, etc.)

By Asuperdude1 (Asuperdude1) on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 01:04 am: Edit

Hey, I got accepted today too!! I was so excited, it wasn't a really thick envelope so when I opened it I was suprised to see that neon green paper thing for the admitted students weekend and also the acceptance. I'm just so happy. NIce meeting you future Swatties.

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 01:11 am: Edit

i got admited also

By 2dsdad (2dsdad) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 07:53 pm: Edit

So, if a Swat applicant hasn't received an acceptance letter by now, what does that mean? Acceptances are sent now and everyone else gets their rejections April 1? If the Admissions people really wanted to be considerate of the other applicants, as they say in their letter, they should just notify everyone at once. It didn't take long for word to spread today throughout my Ds high school about the one girl here who received her letter of acceptance to Swarthmore. Very considerate.

By Tri_N (Tri_N) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 08:46 pm: Edit

2dsad, only a minority of the applicants receives an early acceptance letter. The girl at your daughter high school is a pompous girl. The letter specifically states that the early applicants should keep it private until early April.

2dsdad, keep your hope up. There's a chance that your D could be accepted to Swarthmore. I have a phenomenal friend who wishes to go to Swarthmore. I receive the early acceptance letter; he didn't. I'm keeping it quiet right now to keep some of my peers' hope alive. 2dsdad, I hope that your daughter will be a part of the class of 2008. THE HOPE IS ALIVE!

BTW, only 25 people admitted have registered for the Swatmail. This isn't the number of admitted students but to be safe, multiply it by 5 and that's only about 125 students out of 1,000. Don't feel discourage that your D didn't receive the early notification letter.

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 09:37 pm: Edit

>> So, if a Swat applicant hasn't received an acceptance letter by now, what does that mean?

My daughter (early decision Swattie 08) and I were kicking that around yesterday. Our conclusion is that it probably doesn't mean much of anything.

In wading through the applications, Swarthmore going to get some that are clearly, without question going to be admitted. In a few cases, this could be on the strength of academic record, but more often it's probably the result of affirmative action considerations and/or extraordinary extracurricular achievement. These "automatic admits" would probably receive the early letters: a head start on the recruitment/yield battle. Some of these admits from this week got additional offers of travel expenses to the open house weekend in late April -- an indication that these are students Swarthmore has some interest in wooing.

The vast majority of the applications fall into the middle ground where strong candidates are weighed and debated. I would expect most of the RD acceptance letters to go to this group and probably are mailed out later.

By Congresssenator (Congresssenator) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 10:40 pm: Edit

Wait, is Swat paying for everyone to Ride the Tide, or only a limited number of admits?

By Tri_N (Tri_N) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 11:17 pm: Edit

Swarthmore pays for my airfare to Ride the Tide.

Most ED admits didn't have the offer at all.

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 11:58 pm: Edit

Yeah Amherst, Williams, and Swarthmore sent out their early writes. I got the Williams and Swarthmore one. It still doesn't discourage me from having a chance at Amherst. It just means Amherst probably had an incredibly competitive pool this year and my application will have to be debated more than it would have on another year. Even if I don't make it I have Swarthmore and Williams and who can really complain about that.

By 2dsdad (2dsdad) on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 05:27 am: Edit

"The letter specifically states that the early applicants should keep it private until early April."

That didn't stop people who got notified early from posting here. Admittedly posting here is anonymous, but any applicant or parent of an applicant who follows College Confidential is now aware that acceptance letters have been sent out to a select group while the others are left hanging. I think the admissions people are either being disingenuous or unrealistic if they think people are going to keep this quiet.

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 01:06 pm: Edit

>> Wait, is Swat paying for everyone to Ride the Tide, or only a limited number of admits?

No. They certainly haven't offered my daughter any airfare. In fact, they haven't even notified the early decision people of the dates. Makes sense -- the Ride the Tide event is really a "yield" recruiting event and the ED people are already committed. My daughter has already made travel plans. She's been mentally transitioning from high school to Swarthmore since her first overnight visit (and her acceptance letter). She's eager to go back for another overnight visit during Ride the Tide to continue that transition.

It's always risky to draw any inferences from small samples. Each of the Swattie acceptances on a forum such of this is a unique situation. What made one interesting to Swathmore is probably very different than another. What might trigger offers of airfare or extra recruiting for one wouldn't apply to another. That's always been my frustration with the "What are my chances?" questions and answers. Some small detail (like being an international applicant, or URM applicant, or a first-generation college applicant, or even the topic of the essay can have such a major impact on how the applicant is valued by the college.

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 05:32 pm: Edit

Does swat have any porgrams with other universities in regards of a 5 yr combined be/me or 3-2 ba/be?

By Shopmom (Shopmom) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 11:43 am: Edit

For those who haven't heard from Swat yet (and that's the majority of applicants), decisions will be mailed Friday.

By Emmline (Emmline) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

Shopmom...how is it that you know this?(the Friday thing.)

By Shopmom (Shopmom) on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 04:19 pm: Edit

Email from the Swat Admissions Office.
Quote RE: Acceptance Letters:
"Though some letters have been mailed, the majority have not and should be
out this Friday."

By Sheri (Sheri) on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 12:52 pm: Edit

Well ... its Friday!!!! Has anyone got their decsions??? Im intl. and since they airmail it to us so im not gonna hear for atleast aanother week!AAAAAAAAAAAA! At times like these I wish I dint live on the other end of the world!!!!

By Sheri (Sheri) on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 12:52 pm: Edit

Well ... its Friday!!!! Has anyone got their decsions??? Im intl. and since they airmail it to us so im not gonna hear for atleast aanother week!AAAAAAAAAAAA! At times like these I wish I dint live on the other end of the world!!!!

By Voigtrob (Voigtrob) on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 08:36 pm: Edit

Ugh... rejected.

By Eccentricity (Eccentricity) on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 09:58 pm: Edit

WAITLISTED! yay! i thot i had nooo chance at all... we sent in the missing rec letter WHILE my admission decisions was being made. "oh yeah they have your folder in the office and they're discussing you now"
does anyone know how many kids they take from the waitlist, and how many are waitlisted?
i found it surprising... my SATII writing was a 620...
anything that could help me get in still? comments appreciated! thanks

By Mr0range (Mr0range) on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 11:54 pm: Edit

Waitlisted...
How did you get rejected Voigtrob? ugh this stuff is so arbitrary isn't it..

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 04:23 am: Edit

>> does anyone know how many kids they take from the waitlist, and how many are waitlisted?

From their Common Data Set numbers, Swat admitted 21 students off the waiting list for Fall 2003.

42 for Fall 2002.

20 for Fall 2001.

Those are significant numbers when you figure the an entering class of 370 freshmen. However, they don't give the number placed on the waiting list, so it's impossible to figure out if the chances are good or not. I've got to believe that they probably waitlist a couple hundred.

Personally, I believe that you have to assume a waitlist is the end of the line and plan accordingly. Figure it's a gift from the heavens if you get a call.

By Mels (Mels) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 10:07 am: Edit

rejected. i dont care though, cuz vassar is cooler! meh.

By Aspirer42 (Aspirer42) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 12:37 pm: Edit

Yep.

Waitlisted.

So it goes.

By Andyk5 (Andyk5) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 10:27 pm: Edit

Did anyone else not hear yet? I live in MN so I'm thinking I will get it tomorrow.

By Archermom (Archermom) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 11:10 pm: Edit

We're in Los Angeles...D has yet to hear.

By Aa_Xxx (Aa_Xxx) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 10:45 am: Edit

i live in london and i just got my acceptance today!

By Sheri (Sheri) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 12:43 pm: Edit

Aa Xxx ... Congrats. Did u get it by normal airmail or courier or wat??

By Aa_Xxx (Aa_Xxx) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 03:07 pm: Edit

normal airmail...the package they sent really endeared me to them, way better than the flimsy acceptance letter from georgetown. swat really went all out...i especially liked the "this is the FAT one!" that was written on the back of the envelope!

By Collegeapplier (Collegeapplier) on Friday, April 16, 2004 - 06:15 pm: Edit

"">> Wait, is Swat paying for everyone to Ride the Tide, or only a limited number of admits?

No. They certainly haven't offered my daughter any airfare. In fact, they haven't even notified the early decision people of the dates. Makes sense -- the Ride the Tide event is really a "yield" recruiting event and the ED people are already committed. My daughter has already made travel plans. She's been mentally transitioning from high school to Swarthmore since her first overnight visit (and her acceptance letter). She's eager to go back for another overnight visit during Ride the Tide to continue that transition.

It's always risky to draw any inferences from small samples. Each of the Swattie acceptances on a forum such of this is a unique situation. What made one interesting to Swathmore is probably very different than another. What might trigger offers of airfare or extra recruiting for one wouldn't apply to another. That's always been my frustration with the "What are my chances?" questions and answers. Some small detail (like being an international applicant, or URM applicant, or a first-generation college applicant, or even the topic of the essay can have such a major impact on how the applicant is valued by the college.""


An onlie Phoenix article says that they used to offer airfare to only those students who were urms, but Jim Bock, Admissions director of Swat says that this year Swat is extending airfare to everyone that needs money, e.d. or not. I know this is true because I applied e.d., was accepted later, and am recieving airfare because I have literally no money to go to Ride The Tide. I certainly don't have exceptionally high grades/scores or urm status, I just need money. They are trying to let people come over that normally wouldn't be able to because of socioeconomic reasons. This is a nice gesture. They know I'm coming because I'm e.d.. The simple fact is, they have been generous in letting disadvantaged kids have a visit, e.d., urm, or not. I think it's very nice of them.

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Friday, April 16, 2004 - 06:48 pm: Edit

I think it's nice of them, too.

I don't think it's completely altruistic. Upon legal review, the colleges are interpreting last summer's Supreme Court rulings in UMich affirmative action cases as specfically outlawing admissions and other programs with selection criteria based solely on race. For example, several colleges have already expanded their "Diversity Weekend" events and their summer prep programs to include low income white students. It's pretty clear that there will be sweeping changes to campus and admissions programs to give them the appearance of being less racially motivated. I believe this was the motivation behind the change in Ride the Tide travel funding -- oh, and it's also the right thing to do!