You definitely would have been a viable candidate for WashU if you applied ED1/ED2. Your stats are in-line. Hopefully the visit shows enough demonstrated interest for acceptance.
CC features no shortage of horror stories about high-stats kids who got shut out of ALL the schools where they applied. Indeed, this is one fact that led my daughter to over-apply–by a significant margin!–when she was a senior in HS.
While I don’t think that you would be wrong to apply to a rock-solid safety like Clemson, my advice to you is to have a bit of confidence in the probabilities in play. With your GPA, class ranking, ACT, and serious commitment to writing (as evidenced in documented activities and accomplishments), I think that you are almost guaranteed a spot at Villanova and very likely to get into Boston University (and probably Boston College to boot). Of course, bad luck happens, but I think that that is where the probabilities lie.
Like UVA, W&M is a tough admit for out-of-state applicants, so I wouldn’t be surprised if your UVA rejection was repeated at its peer VA school. Vanderbilt loves high stats, but it also heavily skews admissions towards ED applicants, so I would guess that you will also face rejection there.
I think you have a decent chance at WashU. My daughter had a similar profile, and a similar interest in creative writing, and she was accepted at WashU RD. Like you, she applied for a specific scholarship (which required a dedicated essay); I believe that that extra step in the application process served in part to signal her serious interest in the school–something that WashU is known to appreciate. I also don’t think that Rice (where my DD ended up) is out of the question, though the admissions rate there is falling yearly and the new Director of Admissions seems to be emphasizing ED a bit more than was the case previously.
I agree with an earlier poster that Sewanee, which is noted for its literary traditions, might be worth applying to, assuming that you could get on board with the Southern-Anglican-meets-Hogwarts vibe and the rural isolation. However, the deadline is February 1, so you would need to hustle. Good luck!
Regarding your chances at WUStL, this seems favorable:
(WSJ.)
I agree with @MrSamford2014’s assessments. If you applied to the School of Humanities at Rice, you should stand a pretty good chance at Rice. Rice gets more STEM applicants than Humanities applicants. Humanities applicants might have a slightly better chance there. My daughter is also a creative writing type and is an English/Psych double major at Rice. She is very involved with R2 (The Rice Review), Rice’s creative writing publication, Rice has an excellent English department, although the number of students majoring in English pales in comparison to the premeds and engineers.
My daughter was also deferred from Yale SCEA. In the end, Rice was the perfect place for her, but it was a long wait from December to March, Fortunately she was admitted to her safety around Valentine’s Day. Once she had her first acceptance, she could breathe a little easier. Like you, my daughter did not want to apply to our state flagship. It will all work out in the end.
This is a stressful time of year for those waiting on RD acceptances. Some of your friends and fellow students have already heard back from their schools and have made a decision while you have to wait until mid to late March. The waiting is the hardest part. If it makes you feel better, send in a few more apps.
Regarding majors: I want to do psychology/English, but I put undecided Arts and Sciences for many schools I applied to; should I contact admissions to change it? Thank you to everyone who replied and had some confidence in me. I did end up applying to the safeties I mentioned, so I will keep everyone updated.
Additionally, regional results for Scholastic Art and Writing came out today, and I got 2 gold awards, meaning those two works will move on to the national competition. Additionally, one work was nominated for the most prestigious award, American Voices, which 5 people from each region are nominated. Should I write to update admissions on this? I am going to be emailing Yale with a LOCI today in which I will include this info, but should I do this for other schools too?
GREAT NEWS about Scholastic! I would absolutely update all your schools!
I too think that you stand a really good chance at some of the schools you mentioned, but I’m also one of those people who does personally know someone with really good stats who got rejections from every reach and every match she applied to, so I’m a big believer in a safety school or two. (This person btw attended her safety for a year then transferred into a T20. She wasn’t applying out of her league. Sometimes someone just has a bad application cycle.) Congratulations on the scholastic awards, agree it’s worthy of an update. Good luck!
Yes! Congratulations on the awards, keep us updated!
I am sure you will end up at one of these schools. For your peace of mind though: apply to one safety with rolling admissions, get your acceptance letter soon, and enjoy the rest of the year. Once you get one acceptance letter, the worst thing that could happen would be to transfer later to a T20, or why not, become the star of the college, get merit scholarships and save money for an amazing graduate school.
Hi everyone! I’ve heard back from SLU and I was admitted! That is definitely a weight off my shoulders, as now I will be at least attending college somewhere! Also, if I put undecided arts and sciences/pyschology but am now leaning more toward humanities, should I write to colleges to change that major on my application or no? I wouldn’t be going into a specific school like engineering or nursing, where it seems to be more rigid.
@elegantideas Congrats and I would not bother changing your major on your application as your current interests still fall within an A&S framework. Best of luck! You can now relax a little because you have an acceptance in hand.
Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to let you all know that I’ve been accepted to WashU!! Thank you all for giving me advice on visiting, keeping in contact, etc. THis is a huge weight off my shoulders.
Congratulations @elegantideas That is great news!
That’s a great school, so you should feel very, very happy. Tonight: celebrate your hard work and your prestigious acceptance. (Probably not the last.)
Congratulations on WashU. The Psychology program is highly rated.
You still have a few more acceptances to wait for. I would wait to compare the cost of all the schools before deciding, but the first acceptance will give you peace of mind.
Hi everyone! All of my admissions decisions have now officially come in, so I thought I’d share them with you all.
WashU-Accepted
Saint Louis University-Accepted
Loyola University-Accepted
Johns Hopkins-Waitlisted
Villanova-Accepted
Boston College-Accepted
Boston University-Accepted
Vanderbilt-Accepted
Rice University-Denied
Georgetown University-Waitlisted
William and Mary-Waitlisted
Yale University-Denied
Congratulations @elegantideas Have you made a decision as to where you are going?
A number of great acceptances there. Well done!
Congratulations. You’ve got a hard decision to make with so many great schools to choose from. Rice missed out!
@elegantideas: Thanks for updating this list. I was correct in my predictions for W&M, Villanova, BU, BC, and WashU, but I missed the boat on Vanderbilt. Getting RD admission to Vandy is really tough these days, so you have a lot to be proud of on that front. I’m sorry that Rice didn’t pan out, but you have no shortage of truly excellent options. Just try not to panic from TOO MUCH choice!