Hi! I’m sorry, but I have no idea what the appeals essay is like and what the process is like. I’m not sure if it would be too forward to email the admissions committee and if you did, I’m not sure that there would be anyone to respond to it.
Hi fluff!
Sounds like you didn’t get accepted yesterday. I’m sorry to hear about that. But, not all hope is lost! I was rejected at first but got accepted through the waitlist. You write your appeal essay about why you firmly believe you should go to the school (more like a paragraph, since you’re limited on space) and they’ll announce whether or not you made waitlist finalist a few weeks later. It isn’t until late May/early June that they start notifying those on the waitlist about being accepted. They fill in the spots immediately from people who decided to decline the residential offer, and slowly fill in the rest as others decide to leave. This continues all the way until the first extended weekend of school.
I didn’t email the admissions committee because personally, I didn’t think pleading to them would really make a good impression. Also, they generally respond quite slowly, and I probably wouldn’t have time to hear a response. Maybe I’m wrong. Nonetheless, I think the test of patience I had to deal with during the waitlist period was something that might have helped me. Maybe. Even if it wasn’t, it taught me a lot, like how much the acceptance really meant to me. (oh, the nostalgia.)
I had to publish this publicly because, unfortunately, your email is invalid. If you read through the archives there’s some personal and statistical blog posts about being a waitlist finalist. Feel free to email me for any other questions you might have, and we wish you the best of luck!
I suppose that at 1:06 AM, everyone gets a little self reflective. It’s true for me, at least. Don’t judge.
And really, I’m writing this because Smath is all that’s been on my mind recently, especially with the sophmore notification date ominously looming on the horizon. So soon, yet so far…At this point, I’m not even sure if I want to know. How is it that I can imagine both the crushing disappointment of rejection and the frenzied elation of acceptance equally vividly?
I grew up with Smath as a constant presence. It’s always been lurking in the shadow of my mind, waiting until sophmore year to jump out and grab me. I’ve never not thought (apologies for the double negatives) about applying for NCSSM. As soon as I hit middle school, I was already planning my extracurriculars; trying to choose things that would further my application. That’s right, I’ve been obsessed since birth. It’s just that I can see myself there so clearly and I’ve imagined myself there so many times that it just seems to fit. I guess that’s the case with anyone, though. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Smath has been a huge part of my life. When I was in elementary school, it was one of my biggest dreams. When I was in middle school, it was the dream to aim for. Now that I’m an applicant, it’s a source of both boundless joy and endless anxiety. If I don’t get into NCSSM, it sounds ridiculously silly, but, I know I’ll lose some direction in life. For me it’s just always been something to aim for. If this was a cliche 90’s teen movie, I would be the sad nerd girl hopelessly crushing on NCSSM, the star quarterback. But love does fade, doesn’t it?
I’ve been thinking that maybe getting rejected from Smath won’t crush me, but instead, set me free from this dream that’s followed me my whole life. Maybe I’ll find a new one. But until then, I’ll sit here and wait.
Author: Anonymous
Sorry about the late upload date, anon.
I think you’ve got a good handle on how to take the news, the good or bad. Smath life is very different than what I expected from back when I was applying. It’s not the exactly greatest thing in the world, but of course not all that bad either (why else would I still be here). Sure, some days I’ll miss my old school and wonder what my life would have been like if I stayed, but at other times I’m just so grateful for getting in. The place may seem like some great castle in the sky from the outside, but once you’re here, it’s just life. And you’ll get used to your life with or without it.
In other news, decision day is coming up soon for all you applying sophomores out there, so the bloggers and I would like to wish you all good luck. 🙂
Well I’m a member of the class of 2016 just like the other guest blogger, anxiously waiting for applications to open and trying to talk myself into volunteering at the hospital on fridays. To be honest I’m really posing a question more than blogging about what is going on in my life right now, because let’s face it life right now is pretty boring. But on to the point, I have scoured the internet just like many a prospective smather before me has done and have seen about two different main opinions. Half of the reviews (or maybe a little less) say that it it the best place in the world and would give the school an 11 out of 10. This makes the school sound like the best place on earth! Then you come to the other half of the reviews and see that people say it molded them into “better and stronger people” but that they hated their two years there with passion.
I personally want to love my high school years, and right now at my current school it’s just not all that great, not bad, but not great. I want amazing academics (otherwise I wouldn’t be applying to NCSSM in the first place) but I also want to be with a group of people who want to love their high school years as well, not just focused on getting into an ivy school. I’m not a “super nerd” hiding in a corner with a computer, but I love to learn. However I am not willing to sacrifice having a life for some school, no matter how “strong” it will make me. I want to hear it from those who are already there, is the school worth it? Can you have fun and genuinely enjoy life there? Do YOU like it there? Would you do it again? I basically just want to know if I should continue on the road of NCSSM applications or if I should start trying to convince my parents to let me go to Choate or Andover.
Any advice would be great.
-Prospective Applicant
————————————————–
These guest entries were intended to stand alone, but since you’re asking about things I can help answer, I may as well. Interestingly enough, it’s something I’ve been meaning to write about.
The biggest surprise to me once I came here was that the general make up of the student body is so much different that what I was expecting. I imagined most people here would be the “super nerds” you mentioned, all with some sort of prestigious achievement (going national math competitions, medaling in science fairs, etc.) that got them in. Now, there most certainly are those kinds of exceptionally bright people here, but they don’t make up the entire student body. Based on my perception, I’d call say about 20-30% of the people here are seriously aiming for Ivy Leagues, and only about a handful are exceptional students that have chances to win contests like Siemens and Intel.
One thing to remember is that NCSSM is only a 2A school because it’s only for juniors and seniors. Each class size is about 300 per grade, which is fairly large. But since everyone accepted goes through the application process, the entire student body is rich and diverse: there are your hardworking people always studying and aiming for the big schools, there are your average people who get mostly B’s who want to go to state schools, there are some with mostly C’s who don’t mind because they’re simply enjoying their time here. People don’t fail because, well… the school dismisses you if you fail a class. But usually, guidance and the registrar helps you avoid that.
As for the work load, I would make sure you know what you’re getting into. When choosing your classes, you can put yourself into easier classes. I’ve heard people purposely did worse on certain placement tests so they are placed into an easier class. The same is in vice versa: you can easily stack a few difficult classes and end up studying in your room all the time.
I’ve noticed here that the pressures of college have already affected me. I’m starting to give up parts of social life to keep my grades up and maintain extracurrics. But that’s just me. There’s a lot of people who are the same, and there are many who aren’t.
I’ve also learned not to go by everything you’ve read online. The students here are vastly different from just the impression you get from those online. Also, because people only spend two years here, the general feel of the student body changes quickly. No one really knows what your class will be like.
The main point is, this is still a high school, and you still get people from all social groups of a typical high school, only the bell curve for academics is shifted more towards the higher end. But there’s so many different people here that you’ll definitely find your place where you “fit in.”
As long as you’re content with the choices you make, you’ll do fine. I think, because you know exactly what you want and what you are and aren’t willing to lose, you’ll have an easier time adjusting to life here.
Hey, all. I’m a random blogger, randomly blogging. Unlike the four awesome bloggers that already write for this blog, I’m in the Class of 2016. Which means I, as most of you were last year, am freaking out now the admissions open up in a couple of weeks.
Sometimes, NCSSM looms over me, and other times I forget it exists. There. I said it. There are times when I don’t remember the possibility of me going to a different school next year. On one side, I can picture myself moving in, laughing with a roommate, poring over my homework, and staying up late to finish that one assignment. (Yes, as much as I want to go to NCSSM, I’m am under no illusion that it will be easy, both applying and actually BEING there). And on the other hand, it is so…EASY to see myself at the same school next year, talking with the same people I’ve known since kindergarten, surrounded by my same friends, most of whom are also applying to NCSSM this year. It’s painful to think that as much as I want to go to Smath, there’s a possibility that one of my friends will, and I won’t.
I’m also ravaged by the ever-present feeling of “not enough”. I was watching a Youtube video yesterday (by one of my favorite Youtubers, iiSuperwomanii. Go watch her, if you’ve never seen her videos), that was titled “Wake up call”. She talks about how if you think you want something, aforementioned video is your wake up call. Meaning you should realize that you might not be doing enough, and that there are others putting ten times more effort into the same thing. And that truly was my wake up call. What if I’m NOT doing enough to get in? What if I don’t get in, merely because I didn’t take up the volunteering opportunity at Hospice? So many questions. On one side, I love my Utopia of NCSSM, and how it’s a goal for me right now. I haven’t had many goals for myself lately, and it’s nice to know I have something to strive for during sophomore year, instead of chilling and doing the same routine as freshman year. And yet, NCSSM is eating away at my self-esteem, because of this feeling that somehow, I’m not good enough. Thanks a lot, Smath, for making me continuously doubt myself.
Looks like we’ve all started to finally settle into things, and get this blog running a little more.
The three of us here are busy, and the rest of the student body can attest to that. For me, it’s just a constant schedule of work, eat, socialize, sleep. I’ve been working more and sleeping less, but it’s just routine for me. Turns out, the registrar had me overloaded this tri with a core elective and I didn’t even realize it until my advisor meeting.
Anyway, starting this month An NCSSM Journey will be seeing some changes!
We’ve written much about ourselves and our experience, but what about you? You can help us out by answering this poll:
And…..we’re introducing a new guest blogger feature. Want to write something for the blog? Check out the submit page on the sidebar to submit your own blog entry. We’d love to hear what other people have to say.
In more exiting news, now that it’s October, applications for the class of 2016 will be opening soon! Two months in, and next year’s juniors are already getting ready. alright. thats ok. yeah. i dont have to do college apps… yet…. D: im not graduating yet.
Two months in, and I already know how much I’m going to miss my seniors on graduation day.
Today I woke up, I went to swim practice, and I swam at a meet.
But today, our phone rang.
“Hello, this is […] from North Carolina School of Science and Math,”
….
“and congratulations.”
—
Of course, this is spectacular news. I started tearing up around my friends at the meet when I found out. From March until now, I had the feeling that when I would be called, it’d be an immediate yes.
But now that I’ve thought about it, I’ve been able to see what I’m going to lose for going to the NCSSM. My school rank, a friend or two left behind(most of mine are going to smath), and many hours of sleep. Right now, I’m not sure it’s the right trade-off for my home school.
Can I really handle it? Will my life really get better by coming here? What is it that I really want?
Thinking this over, I’m not sure. But I’ve got two days to figure this out.
Either way, this is a great success. From the initial denial: having the “nonfinalist” title, I’ve come a long way and made it in. I’ve fought so hard to get where I am to turn back now, right?
You know, getting on the waitlist was probably one of the most exciting days of my life. And I don’t know why. In retrospect, I overreacted. I wasn’t being arrogant or talked about it very often (I just told my guidance counselor and closest friends), but I was unusually happy for nearly an entire week.
I’ve only been fooling myself this whole time.
Now that Welcome Day I is here, it’s finally sunk in that I’m probably still not good enough. I never have been. My entire life, I’ve been so close to success, and still so far. I’m “good” at art, but I never got past regional competitions. I’m “good” at swimming, but I don’t even place at higher levels. I’m “good” at math, but I’ve never won awards at competitions. And this weekend, as my friends and fellow blog writers attend at Welcome Day, it finally sunk in that I am almostinto NCSSM, but I still fell short. I know, there’s still some hope for waitlist finalists. But, based on my past experiences, I wouldn’t be surprised if I fell short again.
And even if I do eventually get in, I can’t shake off the haunting fear still being right under my goal. Will I survive their classes being a student that almost didn’t get in?
As the deadline for Summer Ventures papers get closer, I’ve had to adjust myself to the idea that I’m going there instead of NCSSM right now. It’s probably better for myself at the moment to assume I’m not going to NCSSM, and to concentrate on what’s at hand.
But, I can’t do that just yet. What’s this about Welcome Day II? Why is there a separate day for waitlist finalists?(it’s a small crowd.) Most importantly, why is on a Wednesday, a school day, five days before AP exams?
I feel like they’re testing us on the waitlist- pushing us to see how much we will sacrifice to still go to this school.
And in the end, there will still be people who had to write an appeal statement under pressure, balance planning possibilities for two different schools next year (I’ve given up many club/junior class leadership opportunities in the event that I go to NCSSM), miss an entire school day to go visit the school, AND forced to wait at least another two months for results, just to find out that they still didn’t get in. It’s an emotional rollercoaster of stress, and I’m really starting to lose respect for the school, or at least the admissions process.
Regardless of the result, I just feel as if I’m going to be disappointed either way. After all the effort I put in to getting into this school, what if I don’t get in? Or, what if I get in, but fall sort, and regret coming? And to be honest, I don’t know which way is worse.
Here is a collection of information I’ve found while scouring the internet for statistics on anything NCSSM related (mostly admissions). You may or may not find these useful, but can help answer some questions nonetheless. I’ve added links to the sources and quotes some related information. Feel free to read them all, if you wish. Most come from pdf files or documents of faculty meetings.
Some of these are a few years old, so keep that in mind when reading.
In my opinion, today was a completely heightened version of the original notification day. I could easily give myself stomach butterflies just thinking about the appeals notification. This was probably more suspenseful than April 8th ever was. No, this is more suspenseful than the first day ever was. Mainly because, if I didn’t get in, this was surely the end of the road. The end of the journey…
All this past week, I’d have to admit, I’ve been a bit down, and NCSSM was surely one of the contributing factors. (My brother also goes to school in Boston, so this previous Monday was a huge scare for our family. He’s completely safe now, thankfully.) But even though I was upset, I really hadn’t felt defeated because of the appeals. People were comforting me as if it was all over, because being a nonfinalist is pretty binding. Most who are defferred by colleges for early decision/action usually don’t have much hope into getting in later.
Even though I was feeling defeated, I was still thinking so much about still going to the school. I couldn’t quite imagine seeing myself in the 2015 class, but at the same time, I still can’t NOT imagine seeing myself there.
My decision-opening story isn’t as exciting as some of the stories you’ve read around the internet before, but the stakes felt high. They were released at 5:00pm this time around, unlike the 4:00pm time of the initial results. So today, I had to wait around for 45 minutes just desperately trying to keep my mind on something else.
There I lay in my bed, iPod in hand, trying to pass the time, when I realized the time had turned to 4:58. Without a thought, I logged into the status page, expecting my April 7th “nonfinalist” decision to be there. I wanted to wait until 5:00 to refresh the page, because there was no way I could type my complete email and password correctly on that tiny keyboard under the nervousness I’d soon get.
I was met with something different.
Date, Residential Program NCSSM Online
April 16,2013 Wait List –
I literally fell out of my bed. This was not what I was expecting to see, especially a minute earlier. Even once I got over the time difference, I still was not expecting it. According to an admissions office meeting pdf, there were 400 appeals for the class of 2014, and they accepted 61 to the wait list.
I had been talking to myself (a lot, frankly) this past week; talking myself out of NCSSM in the case that my appeal was rejected. And now that I’ve gotten the chance to have dinner and clam myself down a bit, I realize this still isn’t over. This is definitely good news concerning my admission, but it seems that the waiting game still continues on.
It’s 4:10pm; I just got home. But I’ve taken my last shred of self control to write this shot entry before I go read my status page. Why? Well, not only do I want to just write down my feelings right before I go read but to share it with anyone who may be reading.
Today is the first day off from spring break. And what a day to begin it with. I’m sure none of us were actually concerned about the school day itself, but what was going to happen as we got home.
(Do I sound nervous? My writing may not be showing it but my hands are shaking.)
Today in my last period, I was talking to one of my classmates about how long the next period will be. All I could wait for was for it to be four. But then, he just kindly threw it out there: “Does it really matter if you don’t get in?” I initially brushed it off with some quick excuses (all my friends are getting in, I’ve thought about it for so long already, etc.), but then I realized I had been persuading myself with these same excuses the whole time. On my painstakingly long ride back home, that was all I could think about. What’s the worst that could happen? Sure, I’ll get to see other friends of mine go to this “dream” school while I stay behind. But I’ll get over it. There’s a lengthy pro/con list to keep me content.
Time to open.
—
4:17pm
non-finalist.
It was great meeting you guys. It looks like my journey was cut off short. Congratulations to those who got in. 🙂
Of course, I can always appeal. But since I got into Summer Ventures, my parents don’t want me to appeal. It’s likely I’ll be going there instead.
—
Edit: 4:47pm
Okay. Now that I’ve taken some time to let this roll over, I think I’ve got my thoughts sorted out.
I’ll most likely be appealing. I would have liked to contact the admissions committee to ask what I was lacking in so I could properly address them in my appeal, but since I’ve only got two days, it doesn’t look likely.
Something I’ve realized is being put on the wait list isn’t all that bad. In fact, for me, it’s probably one of the better results.
You’ve probably heard of Summer Ventures, right? (And not because I just mentioned it in the 4:17 post) A new rule was put in place a few years ago. That rule stated that you cannot attend both Summer Ventures and the NCSSM residential program, UNLESS you were wait listed. Do you see where I’m going with this?
A big decision I knew I’d have to make if I had gotten into both was which one to choose. Now I won’t have to make a decision; it’s already been chosen. I know for sure I’ll be going to Summer Ventures. For the best-case scenario, I’ll end up going to NCSSM as well.
I know what you’re asking: What are the chances of that happening? I don’t have statistics, but a family friend of ours that is a current junior there got in through the wait list. However slim the chances may be, it’s still possible. It seems that most Smathers have a handful of friends at the school that got in through appeal. This isn’t like college appeals.
He had a 2200 SAT score and makes straight A’s there now. Which brings me to my question: why didn’t he get in to begin with? It comforts me a bit that it can be for other reasons than “not being smart enough.” But it also bothers me because I don’t know what else there is than “not being smart enough.” That’s not meant to sound like I’m being cocky, but the thing I was most confident in my application, it was my extracurriculars and teacher recommendations.
Time to write my appeals statement then. I’ve got two days, but I know exactly what to write about.
If anything at all, I’ll be able to give insight on the appeals process. So, this really isn’t the end of the road for me.
Here’s a comforting video I found to all the rest of you reading who are non-finalists.
A NCSSM Journey 