<p>So here I am weeks after I get the initial acceptance letter. I get a second one today from my specific program saying that instead of the major, which I clearly indicated on my Common App, I was accepted as undeclared. 1.) Its insane that they could put me into something I didn't choose and 2.) their offices are slow, unfriendly, and disgraceful. A stressful time in a person's life should not be made even more stressful by the lack of interest in your problems by others, especially admissions people. Disgraceful.</p>
<p>The reason you got accepted as undeclared major, because your stats weren’t good enough to get into your desired major but weren’t bad enough to get rejection. You could call admission office to consult about your issues. You should be nice and patient with them, and it’s not like you’re the only one that they have to deal with. There are many applications (20000+) and a lot of issues that they have to deal with.</p>
<p>@curious I wasn’t accepted into my first major choice either but that is because their majors are impacted. But I still decided to attend. You could still go and if you keep your grades up you should be able to transfer into the college that has the major you want to study in.</p>
<p>I have a very good friend who son was accepted last year as an “undeclared” and decided to attend and hope to get into something once he figured out what that was…He is pretty much lost academically, has a junior advisor (as in college student- not a faculty member) and with the cost of tuition at SU (with no merit aid), it is mind blowing to be treated so callously. It seems like he is an inconvenience to them at every turn. Reconsider this school, if you are already feeling a bother to them. They don’t need students and the attutude you are describing is not going to help you get where you need to go.</p>
<p>A few of the comments in this thread have caught my attention and I would like to add a to this thread.</p>
<p>@curious, I do feel badly for what has happened to your desired status and even though it won’t reverse your outcome it may shed some light. When my daughter was in your shoes last Spring as an RD applicant and supplied only one choice for Architecture, it was earth shattering when she was placed on a waitlist for SU (first choice). We visited the school twice, one of which was for a preliminary portfolio review. At that time, the Dept. Head Recruiter as they are known, clearly stated that there will only be about 105 seats available. Roughly speaking, she said 35 goes for International students, 25 for ED applicants, 45 will be for RD which at least 30 would be targeted to come from outside the Northeast as the Dept. seeks a diverse academic environment. That basically left 15 seats for the entire Northeast applicants, one of which was my daughter. It’s no wonder why the cards were not in her favor right from the start as we live just 3 hours away here in NY. </p>
<p>Think about it, you are applying to a large school and it’s like winning a lottery to get in. It’s a luck of the draw when your stats are equivalent to the rest of those who are desireable by each Dept. In your case, you got in and I congratulate you in the fact that you had what the General Admissions Staff were looking for in a prospective student. The problem appears to have come in the Dept. of your desired Major. They obviously would have liked to take all of you but that is not what they could do. They only had so many seats to fill and were graciously giving you a chance to enter the school and transition in at a later date versus rejecting you altogether. Your odds would be excellent to get into your program because many students leave program Majors for reason or another. Are mistakes made during this ugly process? Of Course! I had heard that SU receives a huge amount of applications. It must be overwhelming to perform such a screening task and I’m surprised that they can pull it off as well as they can.</p>
<p>My daughter was finally accepted off the waitlist on May 3rd after the Apocolypse. The smoke cleared from the admissions battlefield and reverted to a sate of normalcy. </p>
<p>@marybee333 talks of someone elses son being shorted an opportunity and denegrates the school as being at fault. I’m not privy to those circumstances and feel the son or the parent should be speaking for themselves, but, I can say that those of Admissions, Architecture Dept. principals and Financial Aid at SU has extended an extreme generosity and have been most helpful to help my daughter fulfill her dream. She has entered her 2nd semester and cannot say enough as to how happy and fortunate she is. She feels confident that SU is 100% behind her to succeed in her Academic quest. As her father, I almost walked away crying in appreciation of SU Financial Aid counselors helping with a financial dilemma I was in just after losing a part-time job before the Holidays.</p>
<p>I have read countless other posts here from others who have been fortunate in their pursuit to attend SU and there are those who are less fortunate. That does not warrant statements that SU is uncaring. In my heart, I have a gut feeling that the Administration and Staff would like to help each and every one but they just can’t. Sometimes there are those who are expecting others to do things for them. My advise is to pick yourself up and get in the fight to be the first in line. That will help you find your way and give direction.</p>
<p>@curious If you still can or plan to attend, I encourage you forge ahead to attend SU if you have the desire, because things in life always seem to work out if you take the initiative. I’m sure SU will do their best to help you.</p>
<p>CuriousHStudent, I was really surprised to read your comments that the SU staff were rude. My d is currently a sophmore and I cannot tell you how pleased and impressed I am with the courteousness of every SU staff I have encountered, from Admissions to Housing, Financial Aid, etc. It has made the experience so much better. </p>
<p>As far as being placed as an undeclared major, I will give you our experience. My daughter applied to Newhouse, but was accepted into the school of IT. IT certainly was not her choice. I must admit, it was rather concerning. When we visited the school for the Spring Reception, we learned that 2011 was their most competitive year ever regarding the amount of applications they received. So while they couldn’t accept every student into their desired school, they still wanted these students, hence why they accepted them into other schools. </p>
<p>Like toptobottom, I feel like we’ve hit the lottery at SU. As a single mom, words cannot express the gratitude I feel for the generosity that has been extended to my daughter so that she can pursue her education without the stress and burden of “how will we pay for it.” </p>
<p>I would like to suggest that if SU is your school of choice, don’t get discouraged. As greg99 stated, you can always transfer to your school of choice once you get there and maintain the GPA required for transfer. </p>
<p>Every school isn’t for everyone, but again, no complaints here. Best wishes to you during what can be a very stressful time.</p>