What is this statement based on?
OP, I concur with many of the other posts that you should get some additional applications in ASAP. Some schools still accepting apps include Rutgers, Pitt, ASU, and U Alabama. Do any of those schools appeal to you? Do you have a GC helping you?
Thoughts @MYOS1634?
You are in NY and all of the SUNY schools accept applications on a rolling basis. Some majors do close early. Call the admissions offices. Schools like SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Stony Brook are good safety schools for you. Check out the SUNY forum on CC for more info too. There 64 SUNY schools with one online application. It would be a good back up plan - just in case one of your original schools does not pan out. Best of luck!
You have to go to each school’s website. SUNY Bing’s RD deadline was January 15: First-year Applicants: Get Started Here | Undergraduate Admissions | Binghamton University
Stony Brook’s was Feb 1: First Year
OP can check the other schools’ websites to see if any SUNYs are still accepting apps. Some may also appear on NACAC’s list of colleges with openings, released sometime in the first week of May.
Edited to add: OP could call these schools and ask if they can still apply, even if the deadline has passed some schools will allow it, especially if apps are low. Total SUNY apps were down 20% in Jan/Feb time frame: The Pandemic Economy Has Left Millions Struggling. A New Approach in Higher Ed Could Help Pull Them Out - EMPIRE REPORT NEW YORK 2023® NEW YORK'S 24/7 NEWS SITE
Thank you for pointing that out - I didn’t realize.
Was the program you did in bioengineering at JH a competitive program that you had to apply to - in order to be accepted? Was it free or something you had to pay to attend? If it was a paid program - then it would be frustrating that they would find you were qualified for the program but that JH would not at least waitlist you given your other stats. I just can’t believe the caliber of students that are getting rejected this cycle. I wonder what more these kids need to do, other than just go and be amazing at wherever you end up. I understand the “holistic” approach but geez this is brutal.
Please go talk to your high school guidance/college counselor to get his or her advice.
There are options for you, if you are not accepted to any of colleges you are still awaiting decisions from. As others have mentioned, there are schools with rolling admissions
Also, there will be colleges and universities that do not attain their target enrollments after the May 1 commitment date. The National Association for College Admission Counseling puts together a list of such college openings annually. Here is the link to last year’s page: https://www.nacacnet.org/news--publications/Research/CollegeOpenings/.
The schools presently listed are from last year, so ignore them, but the website will be updated sometime after May 5 this year. You can call the NACAC at (800)822-6285, if you want a more precise update about when they anticipate the website will be updated.
Good luck.
P.S. You may want to contact one of the CC moderators to see if your post can be edited to remove some of your personally identifying information (first name, name of high school and elementary school). Please be more mindful about posting identifying information online in the future.
Does your school usually send students to the colleges (or similar colleges) on your list?
What can your parents afford ?
Can you think of something interesting to do next year if you took a gap year (ie, study abroad, a job or internship)?
Did qualified people look over your essays or did you do them on your own?
What State do you live in?
Based on your post, I have serious concern that you didn’t present yourself well in your applications and you’ll likely face similar outcomes from the other schools that you’re still waiting on. At this point, you need to seriously consider a gap year (you likely wouldn’t consider a school that can’t fill its seats by May 1 to be a good fit).
Another thing I don’t understand is why you didn’t submit your SAT score if you have perfect SAT Subject test scores, which you presumably submitted. Wouldn’t all the schools assume you have a bad score?
If the OP does end up needing to consider a gap year, do you think it is a waste of time to re-apply to the same schools, or would they need to consider a whole new set of schools? Basically - do you think if one is rejected one cycle - is it even worth trying again at the same school a year later? Is it worth it to re-apply if they were wait-listed and then never called off the list , or better to just start fresh with new schools?
Typically, college adcoms don’t go “oops, we made a mistake last year”. Re-applying where one was waitlisted: possibly, if the essays can be greatly reworked (the other unknown here: recommendations. For all we know the GC wrote “OP is an arrogant little punk who doesn’t listen to adults and insulted his math teacher” or “OP is a nice girl who raises her hand a lot and has many interesting things to say”, both of which would be bad, and this will remain unknown.)
But typically it’d be recommended OP apply to a whole new set of schools, including 3-5 with 25-40% acceptance rates and 2 with 45+ acceptance rates in addition to totally new universities with sub 25% acceptance rates.
For those with an interest in the topic, this hypothetical example demonstrates how event dependence arises. In theory and practice, early denials at some schools lead to lowered predicted chances of acceptance at the remaining schools.
The prior rejection will be a hint to the applicant that chances at the same colleges will be worse than what would otherwise be estimated. I.e. the colleges have already said that the applicant was not competitive enough (either borderline but just below, or clear reject; the clear admit possibility is no longer a possibility). So the time and money spent on next year’s applications after a gap year would be better spent on different college applications. Obviously, the new set of colleges should include at least one true safety (assured admission, assured affordability, has the desired academic programs).
Many shut out students just go to the nearby community college and transfer to a university later. However, it looks like the OP has already taken two years’ worth of community college courses, so that option does not look like a good one for the OP.
All is not lost! You have fantastic stats, and unless you have a letter of recommendation that says something nasty about you, I think it is possible that you will get into Georgia Tech off the waitlist, or Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt, Duke. But you are definitely running the risk of not getting in anywhere.
I’m assuming that you are not in search of merit aid. I don’t know if you are expecting financial aid.
I doubt that you had much communication with the guidance counselor at your school, because they would absolutely have advised you to apply to a SUNY school as a safety, and some match schools. All your schools are reaches. I do think that you will eventually be admitted to one of them, if not on April 1st, then off a wait list over the summer, but it’s gonna be a real nail biter.
Assuming that you want to continue with Comp Sci, I think that you should contact SUNY BInghamton and Buffalo (I think that these are the two SUNYs with big comp sci departments) and RPI, RIT, WPI, other second tier schools with the degree you want, and ask if they would let you put in a late application. Or you could see about which schools have an articulated transfer agreement with the community college (looks like Stony Brook and Buffalo DO!) - you could transfer directly into that school with junior status, zoom through the curriculum, and apply for a master’s at someplace prestigious in Comp Sci, and that would give you the prestigious credential by age 21 or so. You’d be entering the work world at the same time as you would have otherwise, but with a master’s degree from a prestigious institution.
Meanwhile, it is time to learn something from this experience. Make an appointment to see the guidance counselor at your school. Ask them to review your ENTIRE application before the appointment. Sit down with them, and ask them to give you feedback on your application - the essays, and the letters. They cannot show you the letters, but they can tell you whether there is something that you could have done differently. After you have heard them out, you could ask flat out, whether there is something on the application that would have put off an admissions committee. You might get some very valuable advice.
If you work the articulated transfer angle from Suffolk Community College, you could be starting in the summer or fall as a junior at Stony Brook or Buffalo, and it won’t matter that you didn’t apply by the freshman admission on time. Since Stony Brook is close, I would apply for this, and start in the summer or fall. With your track record of achievement, I suspect that you could be done there in four semesters, but if the courses you need are offered in the summer, that could be in less than two years. Then straight into a prestigious masters degree program for a year, and you’re in a great place for jobs.
Thank you for all your help everyone. My GC said that if she made some calls that I could probably get into a SUNY institution, which would not be horrible. My biggest fear is that I won’t fit in if I don’t get into one of these schools, that’s all.
To address some people’s questions:
As far as what my GC has told me, my essays and letters were what they needed to be. I’ve had the essays proof-read multiple times so I really don’t think the essays are the issue. Especially on the Harvard and Princeton essays (which of course haven’t came out yet) I feel as though I have ripped my heart out and smeared it on the paper lol. In all honesty, I believe my worst essays were for the ones to which I already I applied, which gives me a bit of hope :).
I really wouldn’t want to take a gap year just because I really want to get working on something important. I wouldn’t feel fulfilled if I were to lay back for a year.
Also, my family and I have agreed that the debt should not be a concern. They are extremely supportive and have said that they would help pay for whatever I want to do. I am blessed with them.
Lastly, the JHU credits were paid but I had to apply. It really baffled me when I got rejected for the sheer fact that I have multiple credits from them already.
Truthfully, I am so afraid that my application is diluted in the huge spike of applications this year because of the waiving of the SAT requirement. Again, thank you all so much for your advice and encouragement.
And yes I put my school on here :P. I didn’t realize it was there lol. I’m okay with it being there. It actually kind of helped since you all figured out I was from New York.
You could do a SUNY for a year and try for a transfer if all else fails, good luck on 4/6!!!
Why wouldn’t you fit in at a SUNY or other college that is not a reach for admission?
Issues with transferring: far fewer places at schools OP finds desirable; no merit aid, lower odds of financial aid (if OP isn’t full pay).
You are going to find other strong students at a SUNY. This might not be every student. You might need to look for them (if only because they will be quietly studying or practicing their music somewhere). However, there will be many students like you.
Given how many activities you have done, it probably will not even be all that hard to find other students who you have a lot in common with.
My guess is that it is probably better for her to make the calls sooner rather than later.
@jdemat What @dadtwogirls is saying here is correct. You will find your people everywhere and you don’t need what some view as an “elite” school to find those people. There are people that could have attended any of those schools at SUNY’s too but for financial or other reasons choose not to.
As others have said, you may have over-reached and should definitely have applied to safeties and likely schools. It’s ok to have many reaches, but not when you have no safety or likely schools in there as well, especially this crazy year.
Just because a school is test optional, if you have a great SAT you should submit it. The subject tests are not really relevant since most schools won’t consider those anyway, but as far as SAT score, if you have a great score, that’s just one more bit of information that can help you if it was a great score.
As I’ve always told my kids, I don’t care if they apply to 10 reaches, but they need to have 1 safety they know they will be admitted to and are ok getting in if they don’t get in anywhere else. Which they’ve all always done. It’s worked out that they’ve been fortunate enough to either get into their ED schools or schools higher up on their list, but they had the fallback of the safety as well.
Lastly, there are plenty of schools that are still accepting applications, and some are decent schools with good Engineering/CS programs. (Btw, CS is one of the most competitive majors right now. You can have a lot of honors and activities, but if you’re applying for CS and don’t have a lot of CS awards and background then that can unfortunately be a negative, so with the ultra reach schools that could hurt your chances no matter how strong everything else is if you applied for CS). But back to the point of there being many schools still open for applicants. My son is solicited constantly. You may have to just suck it up and go somewhere else for freshman year then if you don’t like it you can apply to transfer.
Good luck
That’s good news. Hopefully, your GC will start calling right away. If not, you can call too. Just don’t delay in actually submitting your applications, school reports, recommendations, etc. so you can be considered for any remaining spots.
Again, this is the back-up plan so you can go to college in the Fall. I do hope that one of your dream schools works out for you.