Gpa- W-4.22 Course Rigor- All honors 1 ap both freshman and sophomore. 5 Aps Junior year with all A’s except 2 b’s in my honor classes( not my field for studying). 2 ap senior year w the rest being Duel Credit. Major: Poly Sci. Stellar essays and supplements. Already scheduled an interview; Have visited campus. Have received all A’s throughout career with maybe 4 or 5 b’s. (out of state student; dont know if geography matters)
EC- Boys State, Debate all 4 years ( 2 time national qualifier, toc qualifier, and captain for 2 years), Started and president of club at school( did a major donation pertaining to the club). Chess- Nationals freshmen year; Quit after sophomore year. NHS all 4 years.
Interesting. Being someone that know people that got accepted into Wake you do have a higher chance. Now i have to say this, being a out of state student does put you in a disadvantage due to not actually doing anything regarding North Carolina but dont give up. I still believe you can still get accepted if you write your essay from the bottom of your heart and tell Wake your uniqueness. I know you can do this.
I don’t see where being out of state has any bearing on admission to Wake which is a private school.
Your grades are good. Are you submitting scores? With RD Wake is kind of a crap shoot since it’s test optional- but they prob still want a good overall average SAT to report so I think it does have some impact.
@PFDebater2019 I have a kid that’s a freshman at Wake this year so am sharing what we learned in the admissions process (applied to other competitive schools as well). 3) In / Out of State - Since it is not a state school, it doesn’t matter whether you’re from North Carolina. I am certain on that. They do like to have a good representation of states and some of the top states represented are NC, NY, NJ, VA, FL, CA. So it could work slightly in your favor if you are from a state that they get very few applications for (say, North Dakota) Not sure where you are from. 2)Test Scores - If you don’t submit your test scores, they usually want ‘really strong’ GPA’s in lieu of that. Yours are good - but not stellar. But good. So you will need to stay strong in other areas. 4) Debate - Wake has one of the country’s top college debate teams. Definitely apply for the Presidential Scholarship in Debate - they choose 4 debaters per year for $16K per year. Application review begins Nov 15th for that. here is the link: http://financialaid.wfu.edu/merit/presidential-scholarships-for-distinguished-achievement/ If you are strong in debate and could make the cut for their debate program and / or the scholarship, it could tip the scales for admission in your favor. They really pride themselves on their debate team and as a school they seem to value public speaking in general. So make sure you really highlight your strengths in that area on your application. You could even write about it in one of your essays since Wake has a series of short supplemental essays. 5) Early Decision or Regular? Early Decision gives you a much stronger chance of admission. Approx 38% acceptance rate when applying ED, vs a 24% for regular decision. If you apply ED, you do sign an ED agreement that says you agree to attend if admitted UNLESS your financial aid offer is not acceptable to you. So there is an ‘out’ there… But if Wake is your top choice of schools, why not apply ED if it swings admission that much in your favor? And if their Fin Aid offer just isn’t enough, you could decline the early decision acceptance offer. I think you would have a much stronger chance of admission going ED. 6) Race / Ethnicity - Any hooks such as minority? If so, that would definitely tip the scale in your favor.
I am applying ED. I am not a minority. I am not from the states you mentioned. I also had an interview that went really well, and I have visited the campus.
Where do you see that you can get out of the ED agreement if your not happy with your financial aid is npt acceptable.
The ED agreement on the WF website does not indicate that. Please clarify?
All schools let you back out for this reason. What would they do, somehow force attendance and then expel when the bill can’t be paid? It doesn’t happen.
From the ED agreement (https://professionals.collegeboard.org/guidance/applications/ethics): “Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and be released from the Early Decision commitment.”
@lugnut@PFDebater2019 Re: whether or not you can get out of an ED agreement at Wake, due to a lower-than-hoped-for financial aid offer…When my child applied through the Common App with Wake Supplement, I (as the parent) had to sign the ED agreement before my child submitted their app online. I printed it out and saved a copy ‘as proof’ because our college counselor at our high school was very insistent that you ‘could not’ get out of ED due to financial aid - when in fact, the copy I signed stated clearly that if my financial aid offer is not acceptable, I agree to advise them promptly and release the offer of admission. This was at the very end of the Common App right before my child hit the ‘submit’ key. When I as the parent contacted the school’s financial aid office to ask this question a few weeks earlier, they never really said yes or no. Their reply was “If you feel that financial aid could affect your decision to attend WFU, we strongly encourage you to apply regular decision.” This was last fall 2018. I do not know if the letter / statement you sign has changed for this year. In all fairness, financial aid truly WAS the big hesitation for my child - so we were not using it as a hook to have a better chance of admission. But we did learn in the research process that it does substantially increase your chances of being accepted at Wake. Hope that helps!
@mcr976 Ask them how they have forced a student to attend; what threat do they use? Has there ever been a forcing? Has there ever been an expulsion after forcing? Pin them down and I bet they’ll admit to following the published ED rules. They may be just trying to discourage FA candidates from applying ED.
How could they actually force you to attend if they don’t provide the money needed. Do they fine you? If unpaid, does it affect your credit score? Doubtful.
However, I can easily see it effecting the relationship they have with your HS (as in avoiding in the future). I know many ignore the old fashioned honor system, but you really shouldn’t be applying ED if you are potentially unable to attend. That gives you a clear admissions advantage. If everyone did that, then the advantage would dissolve.
@Southern5062 If I read your post above correctly you stated what I have believed: That unless you have some major hook if you want to get in ED you should not indicate that you are applying for FA. Is that what you learned? I wonder if that’s the case if you don’t need much FA, but you could use a little help.
@citymama9 I should clarify my comments because I did not intend to infer that you should not indicate that you plan to apply for financial aid. Something like 46% of the student body at Wake receives some type of financial aid. And probably more than half of admitted students checked the box saying ‘yes - they plan to apply for aid’ as we know many do apply, then learn they don’t qualify. My son did check ‘yes’ on his Wake application that he would be applying for aid. What I was trying to emphasize is that there is a much greater chance of admission if you apply ED (regardless of whether you check that you plan to apply for aid.) He also did not ask for a waiver of the admission fee. That, I would think, would indicate that you have substantial need financially. And I honestly cannot say whether that would cause them ‘pause’ when extending an offer admissions, if they had an equal candidate that may just need ‘some aid.’ But just checking ‘yes’ that you plan to apply for financial aid - I can’ say that he ever thought about saying ‘no’ when he knew he would be. Possibly he could say ‘no’, and once accepted -still apply - but to me, that would seem unethical. Just my thoughts.
Thank you @Southern5062 My D already applied ED2 and we did the CSS profile and had it sent in. My husband is convinced that it will hurt, but he felt we needed to apply for some aid. I looked at the Common Data Set and a surprisingly small amt apply for aid and an even smaller amt are considered to have need by the school. Then I saw that when they do give aid to that small percentage, they give a lot. We don’t even need that much. 10k would be a big help. We shall see how it works out next month. We are under the impression that most ED students are full pay unless they have a major hook or have stats that put them at the tippy top. Thank you!
@citymama9 If they are at all interested in ‘just how much aid’ she will need, they will be able to look at the CSS profile and see that you do not need huge amount. Wake is extremely generous in the aid they do give, since they promise to meet 100% of full need.
My son received several national scholarships but none could be used to offset the Expected Family Contribution. Also, when Wake calculates ‘need’ they still expect the student to be able to assume a small amount of debt on their own (in addition to the parents’ contribution (meaning expecting the student to take a loan for approx $4500 or 5000 ) AND they expect them to be able to either work during the school year, or during summer, to contribute another $3000, BEFORE Wake starts paying the rest. So the breakout of our aid package was calculated as… We pay our family EFC, then they added in about $7500-8000 a year that they considered ‘manageable’ by the student (not family), then they will fund the remainder. Thankfully, he was able to use his outside scholarships to fund his student portion (the $7500-8000/year) but the remainder of the national scholarships he received simply offset the amount that Wake would contribute. It did not reduce what the family was expected to contribute.
Looking at the Common Data Set numbers for freshmen, 46% of accepted students applied for aid and 30% were awarded aid. (Earlier I had stated I that I thought 46% received aid - I was incorrect.) Looking at the overall student body, that ‘30% receiving aid’ number remains consistent throughout their time there.
Also, any student that does qualify for financial aid receives a free Dell laptop and a full four years of technical support through the WakeWare program. (Their onsite technical support program.) During the summer, they sent my son a code that allowed him to go online and purchase a new laptop through WakeWare (a really nice new Dell) and it covered $1450, which include the laptop, insurance, and four years of technical support, including loaners when needed. That was a huge blessing in addition to the aid they offered him.
My son has had an incredibly positive first semester and told me over holiday break that he cannot see himself at any other school. He really feels grateful to be there. I do hope that, if it is indeed the best fit for your daughter, that she too will become a Deac! Glad that I could share my input and I hope it is helpful.