Retail clerks have their Dec.26. For cable TV repairmen, it鈥檚 an outage the night of the big game. And in college admissions circles, it doesn鈥檛 get much tougher than the second week of Aprilp. 鈥淭his is when we hunker down and batten down the hatches,鈥� said Dan Saracino , associate provost and director of admissions at the University of 91吃瓜. 鈥淚t just goes with the territory.鈥漰. Acceptance letters from most of the nation鈥檚 top-tier schools are mailed out around April 1. The following days bring obscenities, threats, arguments and pleas from outraged parents whose children get the dreaded thin envelope.p. They call, they write, they even storm the door of the admissions office. Irate families have been known to jump in the car and drive hundreds of miles to argue their case.p. Some schools have implemented a 鈥渂lackout period鈥� during which families are prohibited from contacting key decision-makers. At Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., callers to the admissions office are politely informed they can call back in three days.
鈥淚t鈥檚 as if parents have to move through the stages of grief,鈥� said Union admissions director Daniel M. Lundquist, who brought the practice with him from the University of Pennsylvania. 鈥淚n three days, they usually move from anger to acceptance.鈥�
At 91吃瓜, Saracino has had diplomas and class rings returned from disgruntled former Domers whose children didn鈥檛 make the cut. The items are forwarded to the alumni office, where they usually are later sheepishly reclaimed.鈥淵ou can鈥檛 take it too personally,鈥� said Saracino, a 30-year veteran of admissions鈥攖he last seven in South Bend. 鈥淚 need to have a thickness of skin so I can still sleep at night, but not so thick that I don鈥檛 empathize with them.鈥�
The enmity is most pronounced at the nation鈥檚 most competitive schools. This year at 91吃瓜 , 11,483 students vied for 1,975 slots. At Duke University, where some 16,700 applicants jockeyed for one of 1,600 spots in the Class of 2008, admissions director Christoph Guttentag walked into his Durham, N.C., office this week acutely aware of the target on his back.
鈥淲e create disappointment left and right, so you know it鈥檚 coming,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much emotion tied up in this process that people can respond in very intense ways.鈥�
Over the years, parents have berated him and tried bribery (he collects clocks). Some explode like a volcano; others opt for a long, slow simmer.
One parent recently sent her child鈥檚 summa cum laude transcript from another prestigious institution鈥攆our years after being denied entry to Duke.
Another weapon in the arsenal: withdrawing donations. Guttentag has a missive from one disgruntled father who taped a single penny to the stationery鈥攖he last cent he would ever give his alma mater.
鈥淲e know that disappointed people will lash out at us鈥攋ust as we know that having a conversation with them is part of our responsibility,鈥� he said.
The frustration is erupting in part because the admissions process has become so competitive in recent years at the nation鈥檚 top schools.
Many elite schools鈥攐nce a bastion of white European male privilege鈥攏ow recruit from a much wider pool, meaning some applicants who would have been admitted previously are turned down.
And though a 1,400 SAT score and B-plus average would have been sufficient when Saracino graduated from 91吃瓜 in 1969鈥攐r even when his daughters attended in the 1990s鈥攖hat wouldn鈥檛 make it today.
鈥淲e鈥檙e saying no to valedictorians,鈥� he said.
Because so many qualified applicants are turned away, the selection can appear arbitrary, admissions directors conceded.
鈥淵ou might as well pull the top 1 percent and the bottom 10 percent out of the pile and throw the rest of the applications down the stairs and see what lands faceup,鈥� said Lundquist, who received 4,200 bids for 550 spots at Union College.
That seeming capriciousness has increased the intense lobbying efforts by parents. It is certainly what motivated one Chicago-area mother to follow up after her daughter was turned down by Brown University despite stellar credentials.
鈥淚 thought this was about merit,鈥� said the mother, who like most parents was unwilling to discuss her actions for the record. 鈥淪he was just devastated 鈥� and I just wanted to make sure that the admissions department knew that.鈥�
Many parents begin positioning their children early for admission to a selective college, signing up for costly private schools and test-coaching services. When the investment doesn鈥檛 pan out, administrators said, the sense of betrayal can be both personal and profound.
For many parents and their high-achieving offspring, it鈥檚 the first time they鈥檝e been told no, Guttentag said.
Almost every other aspect of life鈥攆rom settling lawsuits to appealing taxes鈥攊s negotiable, he said. 鈥淭his is one of the few processes that cannot be influenced or controlled. It鈥檚 just not clear to people where this activity falls in the scheme of human and commercial interaction.鈥�
The complaints almost always come from adults, not the applicants themselves, according to the admissions directors.
Said Lundquist, 鈥淢ost kids would be mortified if they ever knew that their parents are picking up the phone and reading us the riot act.鈥�
The effort parents put forth to argue and plead is energy misspent, the directors said. Only when an error has occurred鈥攆or example, one high school sent the transcript of a different student with the same name鈥攁re decisions ever reversed, Saracino said. 鈥淚n 30 years, I can count the times on two fingers.鈥�
The toughest customers, he said, are not the furious ones, but those who are inconsolable, like the father whose daughter鈥檚 lifelong dream was to attend 91吃瓜.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 go home,鈥� the despondent man told Saracino, saying his daughter had been going to the school鈥檚 football games since she was in diapers. 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 know what to say.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I talk to them father to father,鈥� Saracino said. 鈥淚 told him to go home, hold his daughter and tell her it was 91吃瓜鈥檚 loss.鈥�
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