Yes this was us for a few colleges on my daughter’s list. We went into it with the understanding that even if she got accepted to those schools, if there was no merit she couldn’t attend. We are a divorced and remarried family so there are just too many salaries that play into the needs based calculations (but not enough for full pay with three kids in college at the same time!). We had big discussions about how some schools on her list are a reach for financial reasons, just like some are reach for acceptance. We looked at the Common Data Sets for every school and talked about the chances of receiving merit. There were some disappointments when no merit or not enough merit came but she handled it well.
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Congrats! So nice to have so many choices and in state tuition at UCLA! That is nice. Best of luck to your child making their decision. I think there is going to be some waitlist movement this year and it seems some people have a large bunch of acceptances. It has been completely random IMO this year. Not happy to have two more children who need to go through this in the future. Congrats again.
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I absolutely think it is worth a call to financial aid. Someone could receive merit and accept elsewhere and there could be more merit dollars to allocate. Worth a call especially with an acceptance! Best of luck!
Not sure how it’s done. IB classes per year? per semester? IB tests? If it’s 5 of six per semester then it checks out. Let me know and I’ll update it accordingly. I appreciate the policing, but do you have thoughts on my question?
I believe 18 trimesters of IB courses. There are 6 IB courses per IB Diploma. But an IB course can last two full school years.
I would forget about the waitlist. Especially Kilichand. I think WL are generally hopeless and not worth the agony unless you really don’t have other good options. Your kid has great options. I really would just embrace one of them and be all in.
My daughter was waitlisted. 3.95 uw/ 4.7 w, 18 AP’s and de, Urm, 35 act, great ec’s, tons of leadership roles, accepted to more selective schools…. It goes to show you how unpredictable this process is. She applied to 8 schools, BU would have been a “target.”
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BU is a reach just bc of the number of applications. A less stellar person from my kid’s HS who applied ED and was deferred got in over mine who was waitlisted which is still hard to believe. BUT they didn’t get their major (my daughter’s was COMM but I don’t know the other kid’s) and was put into general studies. I don’t know yet but assuming they’ll take that since they had ED originally. The WL was a sting but having this other person get in made it worse. Thankfully we have other good acceptances in the bag, but still…
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Understood. Thanks for the IB help. 7 then. It is semesters and they definitely last two years. We will wait on the list but definitely not bank on anything. She is in a good spot no matter what. Boston just seemed to hold a special spot because of Gramps.
Hang in there!
4 years ago, our older one sent in 13 applications, 1 of them was for 7 campuses in the UC system, so total of 19 schools. He got 8 acceptances, 2 waitlists, 9 rejections.
This round, the younger one sent in 20 applications, 1 of them for all 9 campuses in the UC system, 1 for 6 campuses in the Cal State system, total of 33 schools. So far, it’s 19 acceptance, 4 waitlists, 6 rejections, 4 pending. The second one might seem to have a slightly better outcome but he applied to way more “likely” schools than the older one, especially for the UC and CSU system as he doesn’t need to write any extra material. Looking back, we overdid on the “likely” schools and the yield for top private schools are really the same. We added some more out of state public uni’s, which seemed to have worked out well. Not sure how things will change in the future. It also depends what your expectations are. He has friends who only applied to in state options and are happy with the Cal State uni’s with no test scores or writing.
I asked her and she corrected me. It’s 6. Please refer to my name. I think I have my head around it now.
Please explain.
1500 SAT. 4.0 UW. Many APs. Strong public HS in wealthy district near large urban city (known as one of the tops in state). Decent ECs. Musically accomplished. Sibling in Kilachand admitted few years back w similar numbers. Able to pay full boat. WL.
What stats don’t show: conscientious kid who worked hard all through high school, well liked by people, collaborative, helping, and considerate. Has always been loved by his teachers since elementary school as a result. Even now, no senioritis, attending to all his schoolwork and extracurriculars.
Yet this is the reward?
One possible downside: member of unfavored ethnic minority, though BU surprises me, as it makes up 50% of the student body there, if you include international students.
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BU knew that they were his first choice and would likely attend even if offered CGS.
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Problem is, enough of these, and there is no place to go! Waitlist nowadays from a top school is tantamount to rejection, that’s the reality.
I will relate a sad story. I knew someone not too many years ago who was on paper a very competitive applicant for the top schools. He ended up with very few acceptances, the best being the University of PIttsburgh. And in retrospect, he regretted having spent so much time on his academics and extracurricular activities and not having spent more time w his mother, who passed away after a prolonged illness.
The extrinsic value in pursuing the higher grade or SAT/ACT score has diminished tremendously IMO.
Who cares anymore whether you get 1100 or 1400 or 1500 or even 1600?
The incremental utility is marginal.
Will there come a day when we will go GPA optional?
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My daughter was offered the Guaranteed Transfer Option for Arts and Sciences for sophomore year. It’s a nice option if someone truly wants to end up at BU. This was a reach school for her, so it’s nice to get some love. She won’t be pursuing this. She applied test optional, 4.0 UW/4.43 W with some great ECs, NHS, 4 year varsity sport, etc.
Congrats to those who were accepted!
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With enough of these, “middle tier” college will rise up b/c so many of these exceptional, yet waitlisted, kids are going to attend and do great things. Hard to see it that way from an individual student perspective though.
I do think TO and definitely test blind are a disaster.
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Perhaps your daughter’s intended field of study had an over abundance of applicants? Who knows? That stinks.
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The “hot” private universities nowadays are BU, BC, Northeastern, NYU, USC and a few others. In 1970 they were all commuter schools or commuter schools transitioning into residential schools. BU, BC and NYU were all on the verge of bankruptcy back then. The trustees of these schools chose presidents who were visionary leaders and led them through the transition. Being in “hot” cities helped too of course. Whether other universities can rise will be dependent of them choosing the right leader and fighting the “we can’t become that, why bother” attitude that exists among faculty and administrators at such schools.
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I am in no way suggesting they should become “that.” Many people, myself included, are put off by too much shiny marketing from a college. I am just saying that schools that might be people’s safeties or likelies are going to see more and more of those kids attend, and raise the academic quality (at least the part students can affect-- the faculty still have to be good!)
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That is the problem for such schools and not a given.
Indeed this is very difficult to explain. A lot of kids who worked hard to get strong grades and scores are getting rejected even from a tier-2 school such as BU (Tier 1 being the T20). Does depend on program but I share the same worry - the kids will have no motivation to work hard, play hard and assume they will be rewarded. That said, it also is not a good idea to correlate life Success to college admissions. We are constantly reminding our kid of that.
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