Accepted to only my "just in cases" waitlisted at 6 schools. help

College Search & Selection
1

I was accepted to UW, Fordham (29k a year in scholarship as a Loyola scholar), UC Santa Cruz, LMU, and Macalester.

I was waitlisted at UCSD, Tufts, NYU, UCD, UCSB, and Cal Poly SLO. I am in love with Tufts. It’s my dream school. But as of right now, I figure that if I get off the waitlist at any of these I will take that offer.

I know I was accepted to amazing schools, trust me I don’t need someone on here to give me a lecture about how lucky I am. that is not what I am asking for.

Here is my problem: I have visited all the schools I have been accepted to (minus Fordham, seeing it this weekend), but I have not felt any connection or anything from the schools i visited. So here are the things I disliked about these schools, and I hope that someone can debunk these because I am trying very hard to fall in love with one of them.

UW:
-having to petition for majors after getting in??? What is up with that?

  • so big that students I met make it very clear that they are “north campus” so they don’t know what happens on the other side
    -are people super competitive since they are trying to get into a major??
    -super spread out. dorms are like a 10 min walk from campus!

LMU:
-I like the busy feel of campus’s. LMU lacked that ALOT.
-friend who goes there said “if you want to relax after working your ass off at (my HS), then come to LMU.”

UC Santa Cruz:
-very spread out
-is it actually easy to get research opportunities?
-greek life is needed to have fun

Macalester (so far my favorite of the schools i visited):
-too small,
-nothing happening
-felt like no one was even around

Fordham- I don’t really know anything, but if you have info I would love to hear it!

Thank you for bearing with me!

2

I see you mention research, what’s your major? Fordham is very strong in the business/liberal arts department but their science isn’t the strongest by reputation. That said, I know somebody that transferred to Columbia as a physics major after just one year so they must be doing something right. The campus is small a close-knit, but you’re surrounded by the city. They don’t have Greek life, so almost all of the social life is bars for all grades. When you visit, make sure you ask a lot of questions to your specific department and inquire about the opportunities you’re looking for. Also, try your hardest not to get turned off by the immediate surrounding area! There’s a train directly on campus that goes into Westchester, NY to all the town centers (cute, quiet towns and White Plains at the end which is a small but busy city with a lot of stores, bars, restaurants etc.) and also into Grand Central Station in manhattan so you have plenty of options. I live really close to fordham so I go all the time when I’m not at my school and the public safety is very vigilant even when you’re at the bars off campus and I never feel unsafe.

3

Which UW (Washington or Wisconsin) ?

COA for each school to which you have been accepted ?

Intended major ?

Career goals ?

4

@a20171 Thank you!! That’s really helpful! I am looking in STEM, currently undeclared at Lincoln Center.

5

@Publisher
University of Washington, Seattle.
I am really interested in STEM, not sure what yet though as I am very interested in many parts.
All in the letters and sciences colleges.

6

Also, I don’t know if you visited NYU, but there is no campus. There’s just the NYU “area” and a bunch of buildings. Maybe go to that area in the city when you’re visiting fordham tons of great restaurants and you can check out the “campus” before you try to get off the waitlist.

7

Most of that location advice applies to Rose Hill! Sorry didn’t really know what you meant, but the academic stuff applies to both :slight_smile:

8

STEM majors are probably best at the University of Washington–Seattle.

But isn’t cost a factor in your decision ?

9

Try to love the schools that love you. :slight_smile:

Mac is outstanding and it is one of the relative few LACs in a major city. For kicks you need only venture a short distance. Macalester offers smaller classes and better access to profs than any of the other schools you applied to.

Washington and Fordham are very good too. Rose Hill is more of a traditional campus, while Lincoln Center is in the heart of Manhattan. Both offer charms, and the chance to study in NYC is envied by many. // And Washington, like my UW (Wisconsin), is strong in just about everything. Somehow the students figure out how to get from their dorms to their classes. Seattle is a beautiful city and UW-Seattle has a strong national and international reputation – a fair bit stronger than your dream school’s.

LMU and UCSC are in sunny California. LMU will have the Catholic vibe (or, vibes…) and UCSC is lovely, well respected and… is the Banana Slug not a great mascot?

There’s a lot to like here: all of your schools are at least decent academically and they offer diverse options in terms of environment, academics, and social vibe.

10

@a20171 all good! thank you anyways!

11

@Publisher it should be, but I am blessed enough that my parents are willing to pay for extra deposits and very expensive schools

12

@prezbucky do you know anything about how hard it is to get into STEM majors at U washington? that’s probably my biggest concern since I am pre-science

13

“Somehow the students figure out how to get from their dorms to their classes.” = Should be a “best quotes” nominee.

14

Depends upon the STEM major at the University of Washington. Probably best to check their website and call the dept. which interests you. For example, CS (computer science) will be very competitive.

15

@sdnfjlj87909, the person to ask about getting into specific majors would be @ucbalumnus.

I imagine some majors are competitive, but that gives you an incentive to work hard. And if you didn’t get into your favorite major, you’d be in a good place, because Washington has a great many outstanding programs.

16

Also, Seattle has a great jobs market/ UWashington has strong job placement…

17

Would it help to identify what it is that makes Tufts your dream school – and then see which of the schools most closely matches not Tufts per se but those same elements about Tufts that had made it so appealing?

18

This thread is exactly why students should visit as many of their colleges as possible before they apply. It doesn’t sound like finances were the issue preventing it. You didn’t do your due diligence, so now have acceptances to a bunch of schools you don’t care for.

That said, you have plenty of good schools on the list you got into. I’d say either an attitude adjustment or a gap year would be in order.

19

So you’ve listed a bunch of reasons for disliking schools, but what do you like?

Have you visited any of the schools you were WL’ed at?

20

@intparent Hi thank you for your addition! Unfortunately time is something that was a preventing issue. I visited all my reaches and target schools, which took about 1.5 months to do. Now though my finances do not prevent me from visiting schools, I do have high school to attend. That means I must be in class other wise my grades would be docked. I’m sorry if that does not mean doing my “due diligence”. I did research my schools, and I asked for extra info from people who know the schools.

As for my attitude, I said earlier that I know I am lucky for the schools I did get into. But yes, I am disappointed and frustrated that I did not get into the schools I wanted to. Many applicants are. I understand that many people would love to be in my shoes, but I am also allowed to ask for advice. In this thread, I asked if anyone could tell me that my impressions of certain schools were wrong. As you can see from earlier posts, they did just that.

I apologize that my disappointment makes you feel the need write that post. Again I would like to say thank you for writing your post. If you have any information about any of the schools I actually asked about, I would gladly welcome it.