<p>Can anyone tell me what the real deal is regarding denial, admission, and waitliting at JMU? Was a real target school for D, and she got denied - other kids she knows with lower SAT/ GPA and less honors/AP classes were waitlisted or admitted. Does not make sense. She also was admitted to other schools with much more stringent requirements. She is from OOS. Would like to make some sense out of this, as this was one of her top schools - loved the campus and the friendly environment and what it had to offer. Very upset, to say the least.Thanks for any insight.</p>
<p>A lot of kids from my school got denied from JMU (instate). I don’t know for sure, but they had solid SAT/GPA (no 2000+/4.0+ though).</p>
<p>insight?</p>
<p>acceptance</p>
<p>because there is absolutely no knowing “why” she was rejected . . .or how “how” others got in despite their lower SATs/grades (hint: they had something else going for them that you don’t know about, whether it was superb recommendations or better demonstrated drive or JMU needed oboes or a softball catcher or tai kwan doe-ists . . . )</p>
<p>your experience is not unique to JMU; search for “MIT massacre” on CC</p>
<p>the sooner you “let go of the school that said no” the better</p>
<p>sorry</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>Maybe there should be an appeal. I know everyone says they rarely, if ever, work, but there must have been mistakes on admission made at some point in the past. If not investigated, the mistake would never be discovered. If it means prolonging hope and a bigger disappointment, however, then I don’t advise it.</p>
<p>One thing you have to know is that not everyone gets into a school that they would deserve. When you get rejected, it’s not because you weren’t good enough or your stats didn’t meet their requirements. Your daughter is probably brilliant and had she gotten into JMU she would have done amazingly. However, if JMU tried to admit all the brilliant students who applied, they would need to annex the entire state of Virginia to fit them all. </p>
<p>One disadvantage that your daughter faced was probably being OOS. Because JMU is a state college backed by Virginian taxpayer dollars, most of its admitted students are in-state every year.</p>
<p>It depends on major, IS/OOS status, and there’s a lot of emphasis on the more subjective aspects of applications - essays, recs, ECs. Different schools are looking for a different combination of factors, but I wouldn’t worry about it. You can’t compare her to other students just on her numbers.</p>
<p>As difficult as it is, she needs to let the dream of JMU go. Concentrate on the schools in which she was accepted. Things generally work out for the best. If her heart still remains, she can always apply as a transfer. I can’t imagine anyone in admissions able to give you an answer as to why. Remember this is a life lesson. When she’s not hired for a job, will you try and grill the employer was she wasn’t hired? Just think of it as JMU’s loss!</p>
<p>You should call the admission’s office and ask for the weakness’ in her application. I also suggest appealing as well, if your heart is set on it. You never know what might happen. :)</p>
<p>What were her stats? Ive had a similar experience through the whole college process. Colleges are looking for well rounded students and are getting more competitive every year. ECAs, GPA, SATs, sport recruitments, connections to the university, and even ethnicity plays a huge role in the admission decision. </p>
<p>If you feel that you have additional information that would make the JMU admissions reconsider your daughter, I would appeal the decision! Does she have any disabilities, family issues, etc that would have made her stats higher? Those make great support when appealing a rejection or waitlist.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>My son has been accepted and we attended the CHOICES event on Friday. One thing that was made clear early on – JMU, like most of the other Virginia state schools, had a record number of applications this year, mostly from students who are fully qualified. 22,400 applications, 3950 spots in the freshman class. Acceptance rate was 54%, down from 65% in the past.</p>
<p>Based on my son’s experience this year with college, scholarship, and honors apps, I’ve concluded that very little makes sense. He received a STEM scholarship but not an Honors Program spot (I’d have bet anything that it would have been the other way around), made University Honors at Virginia Tech – the groups reviewing the apps are different and are obviously looking for different things.</p>
<p>
This will almost never get you anything other than a boiler-plate answer (we had many applications from highly-qualified…etc., etc.). Unless you think there’s a real possibility that an error was made (i.e., guidance counselor sent the wrong transcript, scores weren’t sent), it’s better to shake the dust off your feet and move on.</p>