<p>As we are in the the height of the college application process I thought it might be helpful to start a thread where applicants and/or their parents would be able to ask any questions they might have about Delaware. There are a number of "regulars" who frequent this Board and I am sure we would be able to provide some feedback for most all questions.</p>
<p>For point of general information UD is the Flagship State University for the State of Delaware. However it is unique among all State Flagship Universities in that about 2/3rds of students attending are from out of state. Granted that many of these OOS students are from the nearby states of NJ, NY, PA, MD; UD still has more of a feel of a private university as compared to most State Universities. The most competive majors for admission are most commonly identified as chemical engineering and nursing. Last year there were around 25,000 applicants and UD ended up with a freshman class size of almost 4,000. It is a major Research University with a worldwide high academic reputation.</p>
<p>I recently heard a rumor that UD doesn’t consider Latin a foreign language so those students who took only Latin in high school would have a problem with admissions. Is there any merit to this rumor and if so, how do you address this?</p>
<p>I find that highly unlikely, considering that UD has an Ancient Greek and Roman Studies major listed among their language majors. However, the best way to find out is to call the admissions office and ask.</p>
<p>That rumor is incorrect. HS Latin is considered a foreign language by UD. The confusion might arise in the fact that in order to satisfy UD’s language requirement by taking Latin at UD requires a student to complete Latin 202, which is identified as a Latin Poetry Class. Hopes this helps. This info is from UD’s website.</p>
<p>I don’t know if taking more AP classes will "compensate " for an average GPA but I do know that UD likes to see HS students who challenge themselves by taking as many advanced courses (honors, AP, etc.) as possible. Obviously the grades a student gets in these courses is also very important (the higher the better). UD feels that if students take and do well in these courses that they are more highly motivated academically and are more likely to succeed in the rigorous courses given at UD. Also students should take 5 major courses during both semesters of their sr. year in HS with as many advanced courses as possible. Send in your first semester grades as soon as they are available. UD takes a dim view of students who decide to “coast thru” their sr. year even if they have done extremely well prior to their sr. year along with high SAT/ACT scores. I know at least a few students who were very indignant because UD did not accept them because they did this even though their SAT scores were above 2100. Rigor of HS courses (and grades in advanced courses) along with GPA trends are the major admission factors at UD. Best wishes to you.</p>
<p>My status still says they’ve only received my essay, yet I sent everything else in over 2 weeks ago. Any problems you think? Should I call if they don’t change my status by the end of the month?</p>
<p>I was wondering how competitve the elementary teacher education major is to get into for out of state students? I did not not put an alternate major but am now thinking I should have put early childhood education as my alternate major. Is there any possible way to add an alternate major if I already submitted my application? If my SATs are 1740 and my GPA is a 3.76, do I have a good chance of getting accepted into the elementary education major or should I try and also add an alternate major if that is even possible at this point…</p>
<p>nickle828:
I wouldn’t worry about it right now. UD is getting inundated with tons of data from applicants now and with the hurricane disruption I suspect they are behind in updating applicant web sites. They even have extended the application deadline for full consideration for merit money/Honors applications by six weeks to Jan 15th. I would say if you don’t see any change by the middle of next month you should give them a call or email them. I’m sure you are fine. </p>
<p>HighSchoolGirl94:
Teacher Education is a very popular major and they get a lot of applications for it. You could contact Admissions and request that they add early childhood education as an alternative but I’m not sure if this would be any less competitve than your primary elementary education major interest. While not as competitive as certain other majors (i.e. Nursing, Chemical Engineering and a few others) there is stiil a far degree of competition for most all the education majors. Your GPA is very good (but you may want to recalculate it with grades in HS years 9-11 in only core subject areas-english, math, science, social studies, history, and foreign language-these are the courses UD is most intetrested in). Your SAT score is within the low average range of students accepted so this may be an area of possible concern. Hopefully you have taken some Honors/AP classes and have gotten good grades in them. If so this would increase your odds of being accepted. With the increasing level of competition for admission to UD it is getting increasingly difficult to predict with any degree of certainty the odds of acceptance for many applicants. With the limited info you provided IMHO you are at least competitive for admission but beyond this I would not want to venture a guess. Best wishes to you.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help! Still not sure if I am going to contact them because someone told me that since both majors are in the school of Education I probably have an equal chance of getting into both programs. I took 2 Ap classes last year and am in one AP and one Honors class this year. I am captain of a sports team and have leadership positions in clubs. I also interviewed at Delaware so I hope those things are considered! I really hope I don’t get rejected based off of my SAT scores. Also do they compare applicants from the same high school because 60 people have already applied to UDel from my high school and many of them have better grades/SATs than me!!?</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. I’m bringing my son there next week for a visit. My best friend is a former basketball coach at UD and we used to travel to the games. I’m looking forward to the visit because up to now, we have yet to have a “wow” visit.</p>
<p>Ken: UD was my DD’s first “wow” visit. And we had been to many schools before! I can still remember the look on her face when, during the campus tour, she looked and me and asked if I thought she would get in. She also said that UD was exactly what she thought a college campus should look like. She is now a happy UD junior! Hope you have a great visit!</p>
<p>HighSchoolGirl94:
The info you presented should be in your favor as far as your chances for admsission are concerned. The issue of whether having an interview (not required) increases one chances for admission is debatable (some say yes, others no, usually depending on whether one was accepted or not). At least it would probably not decrease ones chances. I don’t know if the issue of whether there is any specific competition between students who apply from each HS exists or not. Obviously the students will be applying to a variety of majors (or undeclared) so it may not be a significant issue. With all the factors UD looks at in evaluating students for admission I would be surprised if this would be one of them (this would be very time consuming due to all the HS’s students come from). Best of luck to you. I still feel that you are at least competitive for admission. </p>
<p>KenFromMD:
Different applicants are obviously “wowed” by different things depending on what they are looking for in a college. I would suggest that when you visit you observe and talk to some students. One of the things that “wowed” my D was her perception that the students at UD seemed to be friendly and happy to be there. She sensed a feeling of elan (not snobbery-more like a goal achievemnent orientation/focus) that seemed to pervade the campus/student body that she did not sense to the same degree in most of the other schools she visited. She was very impressed with the excellent facilites they had for her major (Nursing). She also was impressed by the extremely wide range of available social/athletic/academic activites available. UD is not a “suitcase” school. Students do not vacate the campus on weekends. There is always something going on. Also walk down Main Street. It runs thru almost the middle of campus and contains multiple eateries/shops and is a major social center for students. UD is a medium to large school but because of the way it is laid out it feels much smaller. Best wishes on your visit. Perhaps UD will have some things to “wow” your son.</p>