Was at Amherst recently. This is what they said about demonstrated interest. Said it is not considered because they know many applicants don’t have the resources to visit or access to high schools where a rep makes a visit, so they don’t want it to disadvantage anyone. Said they know that a certain type of applicant knows how to play the game with regard to interest and they want to try and level the playing feel.
Many of the “not considered” schools have a “why our school” essay prompt. I suspect that what’s not considered is visits and phone calls and whether you read their emails, not whether you’ve sufficiently convinced them that you love their school.
For the “considered” schools, I read “considered” like “recommended.” Unless you have extenuating circumstances, it’s more like a requirement.
This is a lesson for all future applicants as it happens every year. Select a school that has early or rolling admissions that you have a very good chance of getting into (preferably in state) and has your preferred major. (notice I didn’t say anything about great/reach/dream/ school here, just minimally acceptable) Hopefully you get admitted before the Jan RD application date. It worked well for my DD as she was admitted to a very good school in October and ended up accepted at a reach school in March. It really takes a lot of stress off the process when you know your admitted somewhere that has your major or area or interest.
For the OP, your DD WILL get in somewhere but unfortunately it will be a very stressful experience.
@CU123 that exact scenario doesn’t work if the student is undecided. Plus, something like 70 percent of kids change their major. So, I guess that early app needs to go somewhere with lots of options.
That would work too, generally the state flagships will take a student of the OP’s caliber and have lots of majors. Most have some type of EA program.
Selecting a college can be harder for undecided students. The colleges must have all of the student’s possible majors of interest, and not be excessively competitive for an undeclared student to declare those majors.
In addition, undecided students need to be able to construct a first year course selection to keep options open and avoid shutting themselves out of a possible major by not starting prerequisite sequences early enough. Some students can figure this out themselves from the catalog, but others may benefit from better advising, though quality of advising is hard to assess and compare beyond anecdotes and hearsay.
@CU123-- this is a very long thread, but the OP’s daughter HAS now been accepted at Boston College & Villanova-- still waiting on some other colleges, mostly reaches. (She applied to several Ivies). Here’s her list as of 3/22: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21347315#Comment_21347315
I’m sure the daughter will find academics to meet whatever level of challenge she aspires to at BC, if she doesn’t get into her reaches.
@ucbalumnus One of the things that struck me about UMass Amherst is that they have a specific path for undecided students with special advising. Students are led to look at variety of options. It seems like a wonderful plan.
Here is the UMass program: https://www.umass.edu/admissions/exploratory-track-program
However, some of the majors at UMass are competitive or high GPA based admission for those who enroll undeclared, whether or not they are in the associated exploratory track.
@3littlebirds Congratulations! BC and Villanova are awesome schools! I tried to push my son to BC for undergrad, and my daughter there for their graduate divinity program, to no avail. I would go there in a heartbeat!
Your daughter has some wonderful choices!
If it’s not too late, did you check out Loyola University in Chicago? Rolling admissions school, decent ACT range (25-30), generous with merit scholarships. Beautiful campus along Lake Michigan. This was my daughter’s safety school last year that she would have been happy to attend had she not be been accepted by UCLA, Notre Dame, Grinnell, UIUC. Might be a safety school for your daughter too, given your daughter’s excellent stats.
Sorry I missed the part that your child has been accepted by Boston College. That’s a great school. Congrats.
Such great suggestions here from everyone, I won’t even try to add to them. I’m new to this so tend to ask more questions than answer them at this point, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that you and your daughter are going through this. I know it is hard not to panic, but there is still time (rolling admission suggestions, waitlist suggestions, plus the possibility that another college will come through.) Hang in there!!
I know a top student who went to their state college and got an actuary job. He has only an undergraduate degree and he is now making 200000 and headhunters are always after him. The university of Maine Orono.
The hard part of becoming an actuary is to pass those darn tests. No one cares where you went to school if you could pass those tests. You don’t need advance degrees to be an actuary.
@oldfort exactly they told him not to bother with his masters. Why would he need to making that much money they said.
@3littlebirds Congrats. I see that your D got into USC too. Now she has a choice to make!
I notice your D was deferred from EA at Michigan.
Please note that EA deferral at Michigan RARELY means that the application was thoroughly reviewed and evaluated as “not good enough to admit EA.” The most likely scenario is that they did not even LOOK at the application. They get so many EA applications that they prioritize the legacies and some other categories that will help them maximize yield.
I will say this: If your D is very interested in Michigan, she should continue to show interest. She can email and say that Michigan is a top choice for her and say why it is. If she can commit to going there, she can say that if admitted she will definitely enroll. (It’s actually better if the GC sends that email, but it doesn’t sound like your D’s GC is that helpful in this regard.)
Ugh! If the “they” in that statement has anything to do with the University of Maine at Orono, it reminds me how all educational institutions are not necessarily created equal.
It’s a possibility – just a possibility, mind you – that someone smart enough to pass the actuarial certification exams might just want to learn more and to explore actuarial science on a deeper level, unconnected to specific employment. Math PhD programs – and other PhD programs, as well – are full of people who could probably pass the actuarial exam with some prep. And yet . . . the prospect of earning $200,000 doesn’t deter them from studying more math, even if it doesn’t immediately turn into more money.
I don’t mind if people use universities to get just enough education to qualify them for a lucrative job. But I do mind it if universities tell them there’s nothing else that matters.
@JHS I am sorry I miss spoke. The university did not discourage the man His job did. They said forget the masters because now that you have graduated what do you need the masters for we will give you 200000 to start so that is why he has not gone for his masters yet though maybe at some point he will. He is certainly smart enough.