Here is where we let each individual college or university have its say. We emailed them with a standard list of questions, as individual high school students. They each replied in turn. We noted when we sent them the questions and when we received answers to see how long each school took to respond. At no time during this process did we let any school know that we were doing this for our website, so the answers are as candid as they are going to get. The following is a copy of what we sent out. The only difference between Sonia's and Jaime's letters are the names.
Note: Sonia's email address has recently changed. If you want to contact her, please send email to (mail link disabled) instead.
My name is Sonia and I am a sophomore in high
school. I am interested in attending your college and I have
looked through the guidebooks and web sites but I wanted some
information from a person who actually works here. I was
wondering if you could please answer the following questions for
me:
1. What is campus life like here?
2. What sets this college apart from the rest of the
pack?
3. What is your policy on affirmative action for
non-Asian minorities?
4. There is much criteria that it takes to get into a
top-notch college. Could you put the following criteria in order
from most important to least important?
SAT/other standardized test scores grades/GPA difficulty level of classes taken participation in sports leadership positions/ extracurricular activities Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Sonia
Here's the list of colleges (unlinked ones have not responded to our queries):
| College/University | Date Sent | Date Received |
|---|---|---|
| Boston College | Mon, 2 Jun 1997 Tue, 1 Jul 1997 |
Fri, 11 Jul 1997 Thu, 17 Jul 1997 |
| Brandeis University | Mon, 19 May 1997 | Thu, 19 Jun 1997 |
| Brown University | Thu, 12 Jun 1997 | Fri, 13 Jun 1997 |
| University of California, Berkeley | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
Tue, 1 Jul 1997 |
| University of California, Davis | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 |
| California Institute of Technology | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
| University of California, Irvine | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
| University of California, Los Angeles | Wed, 16 Jul 1997 | Mon, 21 Jul 1997 |
| University of California, San Diego | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | Wed, 16 Jul 1997 | Tue, 22 Jul 1997 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Thu, 17 Jul 1997 | |
| Case Western Reserve University | Sun, 1 Jun 1997 | Fri, 13 Jun 1997 |
| University of Chicago | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | |
| College of William and Mary | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | Tue, 1 Jul 1997 |
| Columbia University | Thu, 03 Jul 1997 | |
| Cornell University | Tue, 20 May 1997 | Wed, 21 May 1997 |
| Dartmouth College | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | |
| Duke University | Thu, 03 Jul 1997 | Tue, 08 Jul 1997 |
| Emory University | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | |
| Georgetown University | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | Tue, 01 Jul 1997 |
| George Washington University | Sun, 29 Jun 1997 | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | Wed, 16 Jul 1997 | |
| Harvard University | Mon, 2 Jun 1997 | Tue, 3 Jun 1997 |
| University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | Sun, 29 June 1997 | Mon, 30 June 1997 |
| Johns Hopkins University | Mon, 2 Jun 1997 | Thu, 05 Jun 1997 |
| Lehigh University | Tue, 3 Jun 1997 | |
| Massachussetts Institute of Technology | Mon, 2 Jun 1997 | Tue, 03 Jun 1997 |
| University of Michigan | Thu, 03 Jul 1997 | Sun, 27 Jul 1997 |
| New York University | Tue, 20 May 1997 Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
|
| University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | Thu, 03 Jul 1997 | |
| Northwestern University | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | Fri, 11 Jul 1997 Wed, 6 Aug 1997 |
| University of Notre Dame | Wed, 16 Jul 1997 | |
| University of Pennsylvania | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | |
| Princeton University | Tue, 20 May 1997 | Wed, 21 May 1997 |
| Rice University | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | Sun, 13 Jul 1997 |
| University of Rochester | Tue, 20 May 1997 | Tue, 3 Jun 1997 |
| University of Southern California | Sat, 28 Jun 1997 | |
| Stanford University | Sun, 29 Jun 1997 | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
| Syracuse University | Sat, 28 Jun 1997 | Tue, 8 Jul 1997 |
| Texas A&M University - College Station | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | |
| Tufts University | Mon, 19 May 1997 Thu, 28 Jun 1997 |
|
| Tulane University | Thu, 03 Jul 1997 | Fri, 22 Aug 1997 |
| Vanderbilt University | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | Fri, 27 Jun 1997 |
| University of Virginia | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | Fri, 27 Jun 1997 |
| Wake Forest University | Sat, 28 Jun 1997 | |
| Washington University in St. Louis | Mon, 19 May 1997 | Mon, 02 Jun 1997 |
| University of Washington | Thu, 26 Jun 1997 | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |
| University of Wisconsin | Thu, 03 Jul 1997 | |
| Yale University | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 | |
| Yeshiva University | Mon, 30 Jun 1997 |