Mac ED/EA 2025

I was accepted with DeWitt Wallace Distinguished Scholarship!!

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I have read other posts on CC about this and the rec seems to be around sending a letter of continued interest, more grades or achievements if possible, another letter of rec and also seeing if your school can help to advocate for you.
I think the last one very much depends on your school. My daughter is at a large public school and I don’t think that is in their wheelhouse.

Good luck! It is disappointing, but better than being denied at least.

Daughter also deferred. She has not visited or had an interview.

D21 was accepted. Congratulations to all who got in and for those that got deferred - chin up. Still a possibility for sure.

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I believe in everyone who was deferred! Remember that you applied EA the first year it was offered, so your interest has been made clear and will hopefully help!

Accepted with Charles J. Turck Presidential Honor Scholarship (the one for international students)! :wink:

Here’s my profile

Nationality: Chinese
City: Beijing
Intended major: psychology/anthropology
No SAT
School has no GPA/ranking, but I got all As except for 2 Bs (89/100)
APs: calculus BC (5), computer science principles (5), psychology (4), physics 1 (4), Eng language, biology, art history, macroeconomics
Toefl: 109/120 (29-30-25-26), superscore 110/120
SAT 2: math level 2 800, ecological bio 740

Common App essay: how I choose to explore for myself, actually I think it needs some improvement
Supplement: I wrote the location one basically talking about the internship opportunities and natural environment
Recs are good (in my opinion)

EC: USAD club (honor), China HOSA conference (was invited to the international conference), a small biology research about the purification of a protein on SARS-CoV2, A cappella group co-leader, taekwondo teaching assistant (black belt), basketball varsity team manager, painting, LGBTQ related open round table discussion, exchange with American school, leader of a mask donating group during the local outbreak

Good luck and happy holiday!

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Hello – does anyone know when ED2 decisions will be posted? On pins and needles over here waiting for our daughter to hear back…

Welcome! Looks like the decision is released on January 31. FWIW ED 1 came out around 3:00. Good Luck…and Go Scots!

For those of you that applied ED, how did you get comfortable with the financial aid situation without knowing what your merit aid might be? I know that the net price calculator shows up as zero scholarships for many, so any insights as to how you can estimate your total aid package including merit?

Thanks! Just wondered if anyone knew whether decision notices might be posting early.

Our son was a Scot (class of '18) – like his sister, he applied ED. He had an amazing experience! Really hoping our daughter gets in as Mac offers everything she is looking for in a school.

We did a FA preread. It won’t estimate merit but gives a good indication of your final cost. In our case, a good chunk of institutional aid was replaced by merit. The merit will be awarded at the same time as admission. Hope that helps!

Both ED and EA posted on the exact date…both Sundays I believe. I spoke to an AO before my D’s and she said they do not release them early.

I think it is very hard to accurately predict merit aid. The net price calculator is only for financial aid I believe. My D was awarded both, which was a huge relief, but she applied EA and not ED so it is not binding. Was your AO able to provide any help?

Good luck to your child! So hard to wait;)

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@annegp, that was the big challenge. They were unwilling to provide any indication on merit aid. It becomes very hard to make a binding commitment with the prospect of being on the hook for $75k per year. We chose not to go ED for that reason. Too risky without knowing.

Has anyone seen any info on the admit rate for EA? ED is posted on mac’s site, but not EA. Very curious as this was the first year.

Where is ED posted? I’ve been looking for EA stats too!

Hey – just wanted to share… our daughter was accepted ED2 today!!! We are all over the moon. She also received a very generous FA package – a 23k/year merit scholarship (DeWitt Wallace Distinguished Scholar) and a need-based grant! 55K grant/scholarship total plus 5k loan.

Looks like we’ll have yet another Scot in the family!

FYI, her stats were:

4.0 unweighted GPA
33 ACT
4 AP exams taken (4s & a 5 on the AP Euro test); taking AP Stats, Enviro Studies & Gov, plus honors Euro Lit Senior year
Strong ECs: Nationally ranked in Forensics (lettered 4 years), Tutored, volunteering, theatre sound crew head, worked last year (before Covid)
VERY strong essays

We visited in late fall, and she also did an interview over Zoom.

Good luck, everyone!

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Congrats! So happy for your D. Mine was accepted and really happy, but she won’t be able to visit before the fall. Any insight on what it’s like to be a student? I know people have described the campus a bit, but having had a kid already there do you have any more thoughts on what the campus vibe is like?

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@anneegp Thank you! Congratulations to you, too!!

Hopefully, this will help answer your question… Our S found the campus vibe at Mac to be open, warm, collaborative, and fun. As I’m sure you know, there is no Greek life. And the party scene is not huge. That said, it could be had on Friday & Saturday nights – though nothing like what many of our S’s friends who went to UW-Madison experienced, for example. A focus on academics most definitely ruled.

I texted my son to see if he could shed some light for you – he said, “Tell her to watch the Day in the Life videos! They are better than any words I can give. If they aren’t enough, let me know – but they literally follow people around Mac.”

If you haven’t seen these already, you can find them here.

It’s a shame you are unable to visit. With our son, we visited the fall before he applied – he did a campus overnight and fell in love with the place, moving Mac to his #1 choice. We went on to visit his previous #1 (Tufts), and it only further cemented his desire to apply early decision to Mac. We visited the Mac campus a 2nd time that spring for an admitted students event. By the end, my husband and I were saying that if we could do it again, WE would have attended Mac ourselves. :blush:

We did get to do a campus tour this fall with our D on a very cold, snowy day. With Covid, we couldn’t go inside any buildings… still, our daughter was enamored with the place. She will have a different experience than her brother’s (he was an Econ major & student athlete; she is interested in Media & Cultural Studies/History & has a background in the performance and fine arts). And, of course, there is Covid. But it sounds like Mac is doing a good job on that front.

Hope this helps – and again, congratulations!

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@sandraleem Wondering if you can expand a bit on your son’s decision making process (pros / cons, what tipped the scales, etc.) between Tufts and Mac? Both excellent schools on my D’s list, but maybe not the most typical head-to-head. We are in WI so understand well the contrast between Mac and UWMadison. Thanks in advance!