I would imagine that’s always a factor/leg up for Catholic high school kids. I compared Naviance notes with a friend with kids at our local public hs, and the admit rates at Notre Dame, Georgetown and Boston College are significantly higher at our D’s Jesuit school. Some of that may be self-selective, as more of the top of their class kids at her school are drawn to those colleges instead of Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins, etc. (where, not surprisingly, the public high school has a better track record of admittance), and self-perpetuating because they look at where kids a year or two ahead of them end up and are more likely to apply to those same schools. But I don’t think that’s enough to explain more than maybe half of the discrepancy. I’m sure that for an admissions office, having a history of students from a particular high school who (a) are more likely to choose your university (helping with yield management) and (b) have a record of success once they show up, has to be a factor when comparing one applicant against an approximate equal at a school that hasn’t been sending 10 kids a year to your university for the last half century.
Waitlisted
4.0 UW, 4.11 W
1540 SAT (no super score)
5 APs, three 4’s (couldve killed my app) and currently taking two
All other honors
Applied for physics
3 years of HS varsity sports
13 years of classical pinao + ensenble expernince
good essays (at least I thought)
Strong leters of Rec
strong community service through church and other organizations
president of a club and a highschool prefect
Pretty disapointed but looks like some others are in the same boat.
Oy, 7?!? Our D hit 3 and we were spinning!
CDS pages should give you a sense, though it’ll take a little work if you want to go back more than a year. The general advice we’ve been given is to count it as a rejection, even though technically the school’s determined the applicant is qualified and capable of hacking it there. The math is definitely not in favor of getting in off any waitlist. This year may be odd in that the massive increases in applications everywhere over the last few cycles have made yield projection really hard, so it’s possible schools will end up going deeper than normal. But still, even a bumper crop of “in off the waitlist” at any given school is usually no more than maybe 5% of the kids on it.
If there’s a clear dream destination and your daughter’s on its waitlist, then there’s no real harm in sticking it out, other than needing to risk a deposit somewhere (and not getting to post her choice on Instagram with her classmates, and put up a big flag in the front window for graduation, I guess). But with 7 waitlists, I don’t know what the right play is. Good luck! Hopefully she’s got at least one Yes from a place she could see herself.
My son has received 3 WLs and put himself on 2 of them. We don’t expect to get off them, and after all decision are in he may withdraw anyway.
My son got accepted. But he will likely decline. It is so expensive!
another Waitlist
large public CA high school
4.0/4.6
Rank 5/400
35 ACT
good ECs
2 jobs
BUT HE JUST GOT INTO HAMILTON! (not taking WL spot!!!)
Congrats. Son was accepted for Engineering ED2. How do you now how many seats were given in ED? Just curious. We are in San Diego. I am sure we will meet at drop off. Small cohort!
We went to Eagle for a day and admissions shared the information with me while I was waiting for my daughter. I don’t know that they should have but he encouraged me to have her apply ED for that reason and I said too late….she’s a senior. He was very nice and followed up with my daughter to ask if she put a secondary major which she had but think she lucked into a little interview based on the timing and now result.
Congrats on BC too! Is he ready for the cold and sure he wants to leave sunny San Diego 
. UCSD has incredible engineering. Why do they want to go so far always 
. My daughter is still waiting on a couple schools but it sure was great to get this acceptance and we shall see.
We didn’t run it for BC since we knew we’d likely appeal due to a change in our financial circumstances. We ran it for several other colleges and it showed we wouldn’t get any aid. But when we would run the quick 6-question calculations based on current salary, they would always show us getting a decent amount. Tho I know those don’t consider all assets, which hurt us.
But my son applied to so many schools, so we decided we would deal with the financials when he had actual acceptances and then appeal to those he was truly interested in. Otherwise it was overwhelming.
accepted! woohoo
does anyone know the acceptance rate for arts and science?
Rejection for my son but expected that. Moving on.
Accepted!
4.0 UW, 1540, 11 APs, 3 post-AP math classes
AIME + strong music ECs/awards
Daughter was accepted!
1500 SAT, 4.0/5.2 uw/w GPA, non-religious, public high school, lots of leadership (student body president, junior class president & freshman class president, team captain for 4 years for 2 different sports but not a recruited player, etc.)
Big relief after being waitlisted at Tufts, Amherst & Swarthmore. She also got into Wellesley but may like the vibe at BC better.
S23 Rejected. Average excellent student. The rejection letter was great and said it all. They just have so many incredible students applying to BC these days that there is no room for them.
Congrats to everyone admitted.
Waitlist
1500+ SAT
All A’s, most difficult rigor
School does not do gpa nor rank
Competitive athlete (non recruit)
Our school rarely sends kids to BC
Congrats! My son is a freshman in the engineering program and loves it!
Did you not know the cost when you applied? Or did the Finaid picture change from their net price calculator?
Denied.
BC was a safety school when I attended in the late 90s. Over the past 5 years they’ve reached an entirely new level and are turning away kids with incredible credentials, as these posts show.