@adlgel - I am so glad to hear she is happy! I remember her journey well. I understand how incredibly weird some college admissions/denials are, but where you go isn’t who you are. In the end, leaving school debt free gives young adults so much flexibility to travel, buy a nice car, take a job for passion over pay, etc…
@Happy4u Not only is she happy but she says that among her high school friend group she is the happiest (not that many are unhappy, although some are, just that she is REALLY happy relatively speaking). So she has now become the poster child among our friend group as a kid who had surprising acceptance results, wasn’t excited about her remaining options but fulfilled the oft-repeated “you can bloom where you are planted” and “love the school that loves you” and “you’ll end up where you were meant to be” proverbs.
I really hope that guidance counselors are staying on top of these acceptance patterns and being positive but realistic when coaching high-stat students on their likely results.
I am overjoyed and quite proud of the places my son was accepted into. Want to thank each of you for your thoughts and comments. They were all very helpful and allowed me to gain a more balanced perspective. My son is still weighing his choices and I feel when he reads your messages he will also be in a better place to choose a school that will fit him! Thanks everyone!
My son is a junior at TCNJ, my daughter is at Quinnipiac right now at accepted students day. The cost for her to attend is less than what we pay for TCNJ ($28,000 a year scholarship plus $30,000 towards graduate school).
Dd did get into Villanova (34 ACT, 3.9 UW, 4.1 W, 9 AP’s, the rest honors), but wasn’t invited to apply for a scholarship. Of course that was her #1, but it’s off of the list. Still not sure where she will end up!
As far as the why thee are a few things to think about.
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How much interest did I show in the process? How many times did I visit? Did I attend any open house events? Did I have any contact with my admissions councelor or other staff? To me this is a big issue with the rankings, colleges are trying to manipulate the numbers by lowering their acceptance rate and increaasing their yield. Why accept a student if they think they are not interested.
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Just take a good look at any suplemental materials you submitted. Was there anything in the essay that someone might have been viewed as a negative. Think about the reccomendations, are you sure they were positive?
Lastly, what are his back ups. If he’s not happy with them you may have time to consider other programs that offer rolling admissions and have space left. JMU, Manhattan College, TCNJ, UMD, Penn State Erie. All are great undergrad Engineering schools
@sm1966 - I would ignore all the advice to do Monday-morning quarterbacking. It is what it is. My kid didn’t get the results he was looking for either, and whether it was because his essays weren’t targeted enough, he should have taken the English SATII again after he learned poetry, he should have taken AP Human Geo back in 9th grade, he was looking for financial aid when other kids weren’t, schools thought he would go where he is a legacy or to a higher-rated school - whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter right now. Where he’s waitlisted, the best we can do is show interest now and/or offer that we’re willing to pay full freight. But should we? There are plenty of schools that really want him and are offering so much in exchange for his commitment to attend.
There are countless really smart, wonderful, talented kids right now who will be going to public universities and lower-tiered colleges next year. I’m sure you know plenty of them yourselves. Your son will be in great company. And employers will also start to realize (if they haven’t already) that diamonds can be mined all over the country - not just at the top-ranked universities.
There are countless possibilities. For example, some of the colleges can hold engineering students to higher standards than the majority of other applicants. Some of the listed colleges have unique admission policies that may have influenced decisions, such as Lehigh’s emphasis on demonstrated interested and Lafayette being need aware. Or it may more related to a non-stat portion of the application that was not listed, such as lack of ECs/awards that fit with engineering/STEM or a weaker essay/LOR/… Or it may be a combination of many factors. There is know way to know why he was not accepted to every selective school he applied to, but it sounds like has some good options going forward. I’ve taken some classes at RPI. It is a great college, with a unique atmosphere for engineering students.
A different perspective…
The healthiest thing to do is choose from the options he has now, but…if he does want to play the wait list…
Are the ONLY LORs he send math, wood tech and GC? If so, I suspect that hurt him big time.
Many colleges specifically require one LOR from a math or science teacher and one from an English and social studies teacher. Others simply require 2 LORs from teachers of " academic subjects." I don’t view “wood tech” as an “academic” subject and I doubt many admissions committees would. I don’t know if any of the schools that waitlisted him fall in either of these camps, but if any do and he wants to pursue the wait list, my #1 recommendation would be for him to read the LOR requirements and then get another LOR which would enable him to meet the requirements and send it in ASAP.
ETA: Just checked though and Bucknell, Lehigh, and Lafayette only require 1 LOR from a teacher in a core subject, so that isn’t the reason there. Still, if he pursues the wait lists, I’d have him send one in from and English or social studies teacher.
I completely agree with @njdadjets.
But my first thought was a kid like this would have direct costs around $15,000 at Rowan and fantastic opportunities as an honors student in a nice environment. Is it too late to send an app in to Rowan?
@merc81 when my D visited Lafayette they actually broke down the stats of ED vs RD. The SAT/ACT of those groups are significantly different partially because it’s a D1. I don’t remember the numbers but the average SAT for RD was more than 100 points higher than ED and if I remember correctly, about half the class came from ED. They make it very clear how much less your chances are in RD so I think looking at averages is a bit misleading for RD. I think this is true for many of the schools on this thread.
Great list. I was very impressed by Union when we toured. Strong sciences/engineering and dynamic new leadership.
It can be a mystery but with admit rates so low, lots of great kids get denied. Was one of these his first choice? If so, he can get on the waiting list and send in supplemental information. Celebrate the acceptances! One of mine applied to three schools that were very similar in profile, rank and admitted students stats. He got into one, got WL at one, and denied at one. Ultimately, he chose a school that was more affordable.
It’s not like an amusement park ride where you have to be 56" in height and you’re either in or out based on that measurement. It’s more like you can be 54" with tall hair and get waved in, but the one who’s 57" can have the gate shut in front of him when the ride is full with others whom the attendants have hand picked.
That said, your son has great options. That’s the process. You get in some places, you get denied other places.
The good news is he has great acceptances. You never know, but the recommendation for the wood tech teacher vs and academic teacher caught my eye, as in “That’s a weird choice.”
I don’t know - my son chose his tech ed/engineering teacher as a third recommendation because he had him every year of high school and that was the teacher that probably knew him best. But that was in addition to Math and English.
All of his acceptances are better-much better- for engineering. Clearly they liked his profile more than the liberal arts oriented schools who actually did you a favor by not accepting him. The last thing you want is being the first student in a ‘new’ engineering program - that takes a decade or more to establish without a massive influx of cash and talent. Sounds like an outstanding young man.
Within the context of the thread, I’m puzzled as to which schools this might be referring. For example, Lehigh – formerly nicknamed the Engineers – has offered engineering since its founding.
And both lafayette and Bucknell have had engineering for 150 years
I suspect the RD rounds for Lafayette, Bucknell and Lehigh are all about yield. My D was waitlisted at Lafayette RD, but she has quite a few other acceptances and is fine with it.
I agree with @merc8 about the LAC engineering schools, although kid was wait listed at both Lafayette and Bucknell. They are among the best undergrad engineering programs in the nation. That being said, fit for my S19 is probably better suited at a more tech oriented school. Those two were extras thrown in to ensure the net was big enough.