Hackers and Slackers II – Stanford Edition

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Prospective Columbia early decision applicants are not the only ones who are impatient about their decisions.  Students waiting to hear from Stanford are anxious as well…and one thinks he (or she, but I'm assuming he's male) might have figured out a way to find out his fate several days in advance. 

On the angst-ridden website College Confidential, obsessed Stanford early action hopefuls have theorized that if their Admissions ID # gets them access to a welcome page on the regular Stanford Students' site, it is very likely they have been accepted. 

New Member

Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 24
Possible way to check admission status
I thought of an interesting way to check if you are accepted. All of us SCEAers received an email confirming that our applications had been received. This email contains your Stanford ID. Now, try making an account on SUnet (axess) https://sunetid.stanford.edu/main/SUNetIdApp/CreateApp

If you successfully make an account, you have been admitted, if not, perhaps rejection.

It didn't work for me, so I have likely been rejected. Tell me if this works for anyone.
 

The thread that follows (http://tinyurl.com/5qe5ys) is a collective panic attack – The method works for some applicants, but not for others.  Those who do have success are now worried that their admission will get rescinded.  Others think their #s work because they took a summer program at Stanford and still have access.  Can't wait to see if skscherTX's method was reliable - If so, maybe he can also come up with a method to change his decision if deferred. 

Hackers and Slackers

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Columbia University sent out an email a few hours ago informing its ED candidates that they will be receiving an admissions decision by both email and snail mail on Thursday, rather than next Monday as promised. 

Several students on the College Confidential website, the chat board for future CEOs (if accepted to the Ivy's) and serial killers (if forced to attend their State Us), have figured out how to find out the decision a few days early. 

By email: Change the calendar on your computer; trick it into thinking that it's Friday.

By snail mail: Call FedEx.  Find out if Columbia has sent you a package (if they haven't, they probably sent a regular letter, which means you were denied or deferred).

The Neurotic Parent Institute believes that the student who figured out how to trick his or her computer into delivering an email on an earlier date deserves to be admitted to Columbia. The student who came up with the much simpler plan of calling FedEx already knows how to work the system and does not need to go to college. 

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/611796-find-out-if-you-accepted-right-now-instructions-inside.html

Four Seasons U

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When our kids go off to college, we will no longer be there to spoil them every day. So, at least in the case of the private schools, it is up to the colleges to take over the pampering. On many of the tours, in preparation for their careers in finance, students were enticed with five star amenities:

– Amazing gyms and workout rooms with new, fancy equipment – the kind you would pay hundreds of dollars a month to belong to here in LA

– International food courts with salad bars, sushi chefs, fresh-baked pizza, vegan entrees and other exotic fare, often available 24/7. And, if you can’t find something to your liking, your meal plan card can be used in town at dozens of restaurants.

– Opportunities to join hundreds of clubs. Want to create your own? No problem, even if you need funding for editing rooms or sailboats or polo sticks.

– Free laptops (Yes, this was an enticement at many schools.)

– Dorms that look like hotel suites, with fireplaces, pool tables and ‘business centers’ equipped with brand new printers and scanners.

– 18 hole golf courses, Olympic size swimming pools, art museums, sculpture gardens, plush screening rooms, complementary airport shuttles and free lecture series with fascinating speakers.

– Opportunities to spend a semester Barcelona or Capetown or Buenos Aires or Sydney, with weekend safaris and excursions on yachts.

Some elite colleges have not upgraded to this level of luxury because they don’t have to – applications are up even with unpresentable dorms with mold, allergens and no AC. But many will enjoy a resort lifestyle while their parents’ college memories involve cinder blocks and cafeteria spaghetti.

Who pays for all this? Today’s WSJ has the answer: Surprise…it’s US – the very same stressed-out parents who are cutting back on weekends at the lake so we can afford a decent education for our children.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122844276224181879.html

For the students, the only downside to all this luxury is that they actually have to learn something. If not we might get mad and make them go to community college or pay for their own health club membership.

And, they will have to come to grips with the reality that there will come a day when it all ends, when no longer will somebody pay $65,000 a year for them to play Ultimate Frisbee, take a heli-skiing course or spend six months admiring the gardens in Florence.

 

Common Facts, Myths and Urban Legends

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Q: Is it true that the server for the UC App will be frozen all evening on November 30th, right before the applications must be submitted?

A: The Neurotic Parent has just checked, and it's working fine.  Go for it, super procrastinators: You still have three hours and fifty-five minutes.

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Q: We have heard that it will be easier to get into private colleges and universities this year because of the economic crisis.  Can you confirm?

A: Weirdly, despite the financial meltdown, early decision and early action apps are up 25% across the board.  So if you don't need financial aid, and you thought that would give you a leg up, no dice.  Especially if you're applying to Wesleyan, where ED apps are up by 40%.

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Q: Is it true that only 2% of the population are employed in the field in which they earned their undergraduate degree?

A: The Neurotic Parent thinks 2% is a high estimate. 

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Q: Is it true that if all you're concerned about is future success and happiness, it doesn't matter which college you child attends?

A:  Yes.  But then you'd have to find something else to be anxious about.