Give it to me straight…my son would love to attend Wake. We are from New Jersey. He has a 1370 SAT score and a 3.7 gpa, cross country, track, and diverse volunteer work through high school. Good, all American, polite kid. We will be full pay. He is applying ED. I know it is a challenging school to get into. What do you think his chances are?
So, one very valuable thing I learned from College Confidential when we were going through the research process is about the “Common Data Set”. Most (though not all) colleges fill this form out about their students, so you can really see what your chances are based on the numbers. Just do a search on “Common Data Set” and the name of the college.
Here is Wake’s: https://prod.wp.cdn.aws.wfu.edu/sites/202/2022/04/CDS_2021-2022_2022-04-25.pdf
Your son’s SAT is below the 25th percentile which was 1380 for this last admission cycle, so it’s not going to be a help to submit that. Does he plan to take it again?
They do not list the GPA for 2022 freshmen, but 91% are in the top 25% of their high school class and 69% are in the top 10%. Do you have an idea of where your son ranks?
I think Wake will be a reach for him, but it’s worth applying. Hopefully he can write a stellar essay and get some excellent letters of recommendation. Is he a recruited athlete?
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Look at the most recent Common Data Set for Wake. 1370 is ten points below the 25th percentile of the SAT scores submitted by admitted students. Wake does not publish GPA ranges, but does assess high school rank (73% of admitted students were in the top 10% of their high school class).
We don’t know what college advising services your son’s high school provides, but if they offer Naviance or Scoir and there’s enough data from prior students from the school applying to Wake, you should get a sense of how “reachy” Wake might be.
Assuming your son is a rising senior, he should have a balanced list of schools by now. Make sure he has a strong, “near final” draft Common App essay by the time school starts again, and that he asks a trusted English teacher to give it a look. Also, do not sleep on the supplemental essays. For Wake, the prompts are not garden variety – they require some time and thought.
In addition, your son should have already asked for teacher recommendations. Teachers will also be very busy once school begins and you don’t want to be one of the students asking at the last minute with a lot of deadline pressure.
Given what we know, if he knows Wake is what he wants and you can afford it, ED will improve his chances. I would not submit test scores, though, unless he retakes the SAT and achieves a strong bump.
https://prod.wp.cdn.aws.wfu.edu/sites/202/2022/04/CDS_2021-2022_2022-04-25.pdf
Looking at your son’s stats I think retaking the SAT would certainly be worth it. How many honors/APs/IBs/dual enrolment courses has he taken by the way?
I agree that Wake will be a reach, but ED is hard to predict. He should do an in-person interview and spend a lot of time on his application. Rec letters will also be important. Submitting test scores won’t help him. ED is rolling, so he should submit his application as soon as possible: he can apply now with the WFU application.
WFU had a record number of applications this year, over 17,000. The admit rate is likely to be in the low 20% range for 2022-23.
Feel free to PM me and good luck. Go Deacs!
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Wake is holistic so make sure he works hard on his essays. Application opens August 2 and it’s 6-8 week rolling ED. I would not submit that SAT score. His chances are greater if his 3.7 has lots of rigor. Lastly, sign up for an interview, the more they know him the better his chances. My DD23 is also applying ED to Wake Forest - good luck to them both!
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Definitely retake the SAT after practicing. But after that, Early early application and full pay will probably help a lot.
I would think ED is the way to go. That gets a huge percentage of class admissions due to the nature of ED. RD would be very difficult with those stats. The 3.7 is pretty low and I wouldn’t send in a test score unless he can improve by at least 50 points.
S21 had 1480 SAT, 4.7 GPA, great extra curriculars, volunteer work, leadership and and internship and was waitlisted regular decision.
As long as you are willing to pay the application fee and he really wants to attend there ED would be a great choice. Their app is very different than most, so you never know.
Is the 3.7 weighted or unweighted? I’d say if he has a weighted GPA of ~4.3 with good rigor and in the top 10% of his HS class, going test optional in ED as a full pay will likely result in an acceptance. Make sure you show interest and reach out to your regional AO and do an in person tour.
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One thing I would also look at is your school’s history with Wake. They have not accepted anyone from our upper middle public NJ school in 7 years now, and many have applied with scores well in line with and above their published median scores.
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I was bored and looked at our school (a well known academic private but where Wake Forest isn’t very popular it seems). Almost no one in the Scoir applied early. Based on this info, they seem to be very scores focused. Almost everyone with ACT 34 or SAT 1500 and above got in and almost no one with score below that got in. I am sure this isn’t very generalizable to other places.
Wake has been test-optional before COVID. I also agree with getting on your AO radars. ED is the ultimate in showing demonstrated but with Wake, in particular, going above and beyond can make a difference.
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My daughter had a 34 ACT and got in regular admissions in 2021
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The OP’s son’s current SAT score is 1370. A 34 ACT is the equivalent of a 1520 - 1550 SAT score.
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Ha and you are from Mass I assume which also kills my theory that they don’t take a lot of New England kids because many even if accepted don’t go. Well it shows how school specific all this is. Did your d end up going there?
She didn’t end up going. She is going to Middlebury
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Whoops. I didn’t read the original post and was responding to relaxmom who mentioned they took kids from her school with that score.
Lol yep. That is what most kids from our school who get in do - go to a New England LAC. Congrats on Middlebury - a great school.
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My daughter got in this year RD with no test score OOS.