<p>My son applied to 10 colleges, on 4 he was waitlisted and the other 6 he was rejected. My son is really smart with a excellent SAT score of 2020 and ACT score of 31, AP scores of 5, and 4. Subject test scores also very good. My son took a gap year for personal and health reasons, this should not be happening to him with no feedback from the admissions office. Im am so angry and upset. I want to help, any suggestions.</p>
<p>If he only applied to the “best” schools in the country he has nobody to blame but himself (or maybe you).</p>
<p>Did he apply to any schools where he was pretty much certain to be admitted such as your state university or a out of top 20 LAC?</p>
<p>It’s a shame you didn’t check out CC a year ago. I’m glad I found it (thanks to MoWC!) during my son’s junior year. That’s how I learned things are very different than they were 30 years ago! We need to get the word out to parents of HS kids (if they would listen).</p>
<p>He should talk to his guidance counselor. The counselor should be able to suggest schools that still have openings that would suit your son. </p>
<p>The counselor should also take some responsibility for this.</p>
<p>Also, depending on which schools they are and how big the wait lists are, there is still the possibility that he will be accepted off one of the lists.</p>
<p>This happened to a friend of my son’s and the guidance counselor was able to make some calls and got the kid into a school that had waitlisted him.</p>
<p>It must be very difficult to be going through such an outcome.</p>
<p>What are your son’s interests and what kind of school would be a good match for him?</p>
<p>Perhaps we can provide some suggestions for schools which are still accepting applications.</p>
<p>2020 is not an “excellent” SAT score. period. you are thinking too highly of your son and what you really need is a reality check.</p>
<p>^ that’s harsh. My D got into 8 of her 10 schools including UCLA with a 2040. The OP’s problem is likely poor selection of colleges and clearly no safety schools.</p>
<p>What kind of feedback were you expecting from the admissions offices? Usually the only feedback you get is an accept, waitlist or deny at the end of the day. Did your son’s safety school(s) somehow reject him, or did he not have a safety school? </p>
<p>I would not rely on him coming off the waitlists, although I would definitely have him contact those schools to express his interest in staying on the waitlist, and perhaps supply additional information to help his cause. You said he took a gap year-does that mean he’s already graduated from high school? If so, is he still in contact with his high school guidance counselor? You might want to enlist their help in finding schools that are likely to accept your son at this point. You’ll also find threads on CC in the near future listing schools that still have room and are accepting applications.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>sorry to hear that, can you tell us some name of the college your son applied?</p>
<p>The moral of the story - as always - spend at least three times as much time and energy looking for the safety that the student loves, that the parents knows s/he can afford, and that the student is a lock to get in, as on any of the reaches. </p>
<p>In fact, if you are really happy with the safety, you don’t even have to apply to any reaches.</p>
<p>@snowdog. i’m not saying 2020 is a bad SAT score, but i wouldn’t count it as “excellent”. coupled with the OP’s other remarks, i think she was expecting a 10 for 10 from the college admission committees.</p>
<p>Now is not a time to be angry. Now is a time to act. </p>
<p>First, there are plenty of schools to which you can still apply for fall admission. Also, have son contact his state flagship (assuming he wasn’t waitlisted there.) See if he can TALK to them in person, explain his predicament. Odds are, if he’s that good a student, they will admit him. </p>
<p>A similar thing happened to a young woman I know. She was admitted to several great schools, but that spring her family suffered a staggering financial set back. There was no money for any of those great schools - and she hadn’t applied to the public flagship. It was early May, she was #3 in her class, co-valedictorian - and still without a school to go to come September. </p>
<p>She called admissions at flagship, got an appointment even though the deadline for freshman admissions had passed. Their reaction: “Heck yea, we’ll take you.” It was the state flagship - a respected university in which she thrived, won awards, and which paved the way to an excellent career. Turns out you can succeed even if you’re turned down by a lot of selective privates.</p>
<p>If his rejections include the state college, which would seem to work based on those test results, then something else might be amiss. The first way to help is to be very honest about the application he presented, relative to the schools where he applied. </p>
<p>How was his Grade Point Average? I notice you didn’t list that statistic here. If there’s a big gap between standardized test results and high school performance (and I don’t know that there is), the college admissions people fear underperformance.</p>
<p>Were those the only AP results or were there more?</p>
<p>Might there have been anything in the Letters of Recommendation that hurt his presentation?</p>
<p>I’m sorry for his outcome, but an honest appraisal might be the way to guide him to apply to other colleges now that are still accepting students. Can someone please post the link to schools with later deadlines still accepting.</p>
<p>ETA: Please work with the Guidance Counselor if possible to make this honest reassessment of his application. It’s hard for an upset parent to figure this out alone. Good luck; I hope you can work with the G.C. Find a teammate now. Your problem to solve is not what is wrong with the college admission process; rather, what practical steps can I take now to salvage this situation for the sake of my son, who is probably also pretty upset today.</p>
<p>Your son’s SAT scores were fine…just not for the schools to which he applied. Every year, there is a list put out by NACAC listing colleges that take applications after May 1. Very often there are some wonderful schools on that list. </p>
<p>The admissions offices do NOT give “feedback” to all the students who apply. This would be impossible for them to do…with the large numbers of applicants.</p>
<p>Can your son start off at a community college, do one year of general education requirements? Find a CC that has articulation agreements with the four year public universities in your state. This would guarantee him admission should he apply directly from the CC.</p>
<p>Also, some states have public universities with more “open enrollment” policies…whereby you can take classes as an non-matriculating student up to say 9-12 credits. Then, assuming you have done well, you can apply for admission to the college.</p>
<p>AND there is always the chance he will get off of the waitlist at one of those schools. Did is HS guidance counselor have a hand in this year’s applications? If so, perhaps he can call the waitlist schools to see what might make your son’s application rise to the the accepted student pile.</p>
<p>My S got 6 waitlists, 10 rejections. His stats: ACT 36, W GPA: 4.2. Very large, and very competitive public school. He has won state competition top 3 prizes, large club head for 3yrs, Eagle scout, and NSF research intern. Applied 8 LACs in top 15 range, and 8 LACs in top 20-40 range. Depressed. Thinking GAP year.</p>
<p>Look at the rolling admissions. Depending on what your student wants to study, many of them are strong schools - <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/354075-list-colleges-early-action-early-decision-rolling-admissions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/354075-list-colleges-early-action-early-decision-rolling-admissions.html</a></p>
<p>He is not happy with the outcome, but he is dealing with it, He is interested in Science and Math. His top school was Middlebury and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>“My S got 6 waitlists, 10 rejections. His stats: ACT 36, W GPA: 4.2.”</p>
<p>You wrote last year that you S’s UW GPA was 3.1. (No top college that I know of even looks at the WGPA, because they can’t figure out what it means.) At 3.1 or thereabouts, he is a prime candidate for rejection at any top 40 LAC. They see the “one sitting” ACT 36, and the 3.1 GPA, and it screams lazy. Might be untrue, so the rest of the application or something from the teacher recs would have to make a case otherwise.</p>
<p>And what was the safety school?</p>
<p>mentalgardener,</p>
<p>What is the unweighted gpa? Some schools heavily weight for honors, APs, etc. The more competitive the school is, the more likely they are to use the unvarnished unweighted gpa.</p>
<p>note: answered by Mini’s post. I agree the unweighted 3.1 probably was the reason. While some kids test very well, the hs transcript is an indicator of what your son did day in/day out over the past 3.5 years.</p>