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Anonymous
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It is well established through this forum and elsewhere that some waitlist letters sent from your school include a "handwritten note," and that others do not. Is there a distinction between the two letters, based on whether or not they include a note? If so, what is it? And if there is no distinction, what is the explanation why some letters include a note and others don't?
I do hope that someone officially from Maret will respond to this question. It should be easy to respond to, and there is no reason not to given the amount of (mis?)information that is out there in the Internet era. Responding would go a long way towards addressing a lot of rumors and speculation regarding an aspect of your admissions process about which there really should be no ambiguity. To others on this Board: I'm well aware that there are a lot of theories and that there has been a lot of discussion on this forum about these letters, whether they are meaningful or not, and whether a note means anything or not. I have seen people state opinions on other threads that range all the way across the spectrum. I hope not to perpetuate the debate on this thread. I'm simply looking for a direct response from Maret. There's no reason for them not to respond. And, other ADs have responded on this forum before, such as the Sidwell AD last year. |
Anonymous
| OP, have you called the school and asked? |
Anonymous
That's what I would do too. |
Anonymous
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Last year the Sidwell Admissions Director got attacked when he responded. Let's just say that was not unnoticed by the Admissions office community (I heard a conversation at Starbucks among AD staff from a different school, yes I eavesdropped for all I was worth while pretending to search for something in purse -- I may go to hell but I enjoyed my "Harriet the Spy" moment). My own WAG (Wild ___ Guess) is that they divvy up the letters and one staffer has nice handwriting and writes notes on hers! These posts may help Maret recognize that we are all on tenterhooks and even the smallest gesture is read like the proverbial tea leaves, so that they either write the darn note on all the letters or give it a rest.
The same is true of whether or not they have a real wait-list or are trying to let folks down gently. On the latter point, I can see why schools wouldn't want to antagonize families that might apply again down the road when there is more of a track record than crazy WPPSI and play date (talk about reading tea leaves . . .) |
Anonymous
| No way is the handwritten Maret note random. |
Anonymous
What did you hear at Starbucks? Negative reaction, or just surprise that he posted here? I read those posts from the Sidwell AD last year, and I really appreciated how direct and candid they were. I had a more positive impression of the school after reading them than before (YMMV). I'm surprised more admissions people don't post openly here, if only to rebut mis-impressions that might arise about the process. |
Anonymous
| I don't blame OP for not calling the admissions office - then they would know who she is. OP, I feel your frustration, I'd try and let this one go - it's over. |
Anonymous
| OP, you are making an assumption that someone at the maret school reads DCUM and that they will read this post, take it serious enough to respond, and actually decide to respond to it. Too many assumptions that may simply not materialize. I agree with PP, just call the school or write them a letter, unless you prefer to stay anonymous, and hence you revert to the anonymity of an internet forum to get this information? If so, you may get this information, but do not demand that a school respond to an internet forum. |
Anonymous
| Maret posts their open houses and gay/lesbian transgender open house on these forums as well announced the new middle school entry year. All the area ADs read this forum. |
Anonymous
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Here's a solution. Just write "don't toy with us; reject my DC out right" on your application. No more pesky waitlist issues for you!
Seriously, even a real waitlist is very low odds (because it depends on a particular type of kid opting out -- not just on how many families go elsewhere). So if you really want it, you do the needful, but you also make other plans. |
Anonymous
| Harriet the Spy here (Poster 11:50). The Starbucks conversation was basically some admissions people laughing ruefully (sort of with the Sidwell AD more than at him) that he engaged on the forum by writing in. Their take was that he got smacked in the teeth (metaphorically) for his pains. Interestingly, I went and read those threads afterwards and although there were some negative and/or mean posts in response to the Sidwell AD's post, I thought a lot of responses were very positive. For what it's worth, though, at least these admissions types did not seem inclined to join the trend by responding on the forum (openly at least). |
Anonymous
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When it comes to these big schools, waitlists rarely move and they can skywrite a note to you, but unless it is an ACCEPT, have a drink and move on. You have been rejected.
And all of these rejects running around the city? They go on to lead productive, happy, successful lives. Sorry you have been stressed by the process.... Everyone will be okay. |
Anonymous
| A tad snarky, PP (although the skywriting line was clever), but probably accurate. I have increasingly come to believe that maybe the best thing we can do for our kids education is to unplug the computer and try to help them become a life-long reader. That's something I CAN control. |
Anonymous
| (PP here) At least, the unplugging the computer part! |
Anonymous
| On another thread someone posted that her DD had acceptances from a bunch of schools (as I recall, NCS, Sidwell, GDS, Holton and Maret, and is waiting to hear from others). Her DD is going to have to turn down at least four schools --- won't that lead to four girls coming off the wait lists? Or do these schools routinely overenroll on the first round? |