"Surprise" supplemental essays

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC submitted app to Case this week for EA. He has received portal login to track status but nothing about additional essays. Can someone clarify when or where this essay would show up?

My child is a freshman at Case (they love the school btw - classes are full on high rigor though). No experience with a surprise essay at any point in their application process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What fresh hell is this.

My feelings exactly. The supplementals are awful. And a surprise one? 😡

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually this was an email. Definitely had some surprised in the portal though. There are some schools that want you to enter test scores an extra time too, seemingly just to make things difficult.

Thank you!

What school did your child have surprises in the portal? So far, I've heard of:

Grinnell
Denison
Case

doing the surprise essays. I just want to prep my kid to be on the lookout/check their portals more frequently after she submits her applications.

Wow---case should just add a "why case" supplemental initially. This is ridiculous they are adding items after you submit.

One of many games they play. Enjoy.

Oh we are done with it in my family. My kid only applied to case because it didn't have any supplementals. It ended up as a Top 2 choice---largely because it's an excellent school and the $40K/year merit meant it had to be considered. Got in EA so did not have to play the games

[Anonymous]

Bring back SAT, or any other aptitude/knowledge/IQ test. Stop this essay nonsense. It will be easier for the kids, AOs, more fair, and more efficient in choosing more capable students who would graduate from college without difficulty rooted mental issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What fresh hell is this.

Oh yea. My favorite last year was Cornell wanting my kid to write a 1000 word essay to stay on the wait list. This was pretty late in the cycle so I am pretty sure they knew they were not admitting many kids at this point.

Then there are also the extra honors college essays.

They don't have to apply to Honors Colleges within the Universities. These are optional and are usually not surprises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What fresh hell is this.

Oh yea. My favorite last year was Cornell wanting my kid to write a 1000 word essay to stay on the wait list. This was pretty late in the cycle so I am pretty sure they knew they were not admitting many kids at this point.

Then there are also the extra honors college essays.

They don't have to apply to Honors Colleges within the Universities. These are optional and are usually not surprises.

Those were for different schools l

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC submitted app to Case this week for EA. He has received portal login to track status but nothing about additional essays. Can someone clarify when or where this essay would show up?

I thought it showed up last year after kid was deferred in EA round.

Yes. And from what I saw, very common for high stats kids to be deferred. Last year this is also when they wanted kids to sign up for an interview and all the spots filled. Not impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy Cross gives parents a surprise essay (or at least they used to) after their kid submits an application. Very poor taste…

This way they know if the parents wrote the other essays too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually this was an email. Definitely had some surprised in the portal though. There are some schools that want you to enter test scores an extra time too, seemingly just to make things difficult.

Thank you!

What school did your child have surprises in the portal? So far, I've heard of:

Grinnell
Denison
Case

doing the surprise essays. I just want to prep my kid to be on the lookout/check their portals more frequently after she submits her applications.

att

I have never heard this of Case. My DS attends and throughout different circles have never heard of a surprise CWRU essay.

Yeah...especially considering Case is always on the list of schools with zero required supplemental essays.