<p>Oh yeah. Got a waitlist letter today. Now, I'll readily admit that Muhlenberg was a safety of mine. I have a 2180 SAT (710 M / 680 CR / 790 W), 3.20/4.12 GPA (yes, about 70% of accepted students had a higher UW GPA than myself, but my SATs more than make up for it). My ECs are good, my essays and recommendation letters were good. Here's the problem: I didn't interview, I didn't go to any campus events...they figured (correctly) that I wouldn't ever attend Muhlenberg. My suggestion to any serious applicant with stats like mine (above the 75th percentile overall), show interest. This is no offense to Muhlenberg, but if I was accepted at American, a school with equal selectivity, and waitlisted at Brandeis (a much more selective university), the yield thing would probably explain it best.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg also takes almost half of its class ED. So applying RD may make it harder to get in.</p>
<p>Since Muhlenberg is an SAT optional school, perhaps they also weight grades higher than test scores.
I agree about showing serious interest to all your schools. It can't hurt.</p>
<p>I agree that showing interest is helpful, but I don't think it would be a deciding factor. I got admitted with a higher SAT and I have not yet visited campus or gone to a Muhlenberg event.</p>
<p>They don't weight grades much higher...and even so, my weighted GPA was above the majority. It's probably the interest thing....</p>
<p>My S has similar unweighted GPA, much lower SAT scores and has been waitlisted. He applied ED. He visited and interviewed in June, then returned in February for a two-day stay and auditioned for theatre/directing. That's quite a bit of interest. His stats however, made this a school a reach. He's decided to decline the waitllist spot since he's admitted elsewhere with a very nice financial award and the waitlist letter made it clear that there would most likely be no financial aid.</p>
<p>Well, the much lower SATs part...I mean, I'm almost positive the only reason I was waitlisted was because of no interest...Muhlenberg wants to increase their rank, I presume, and improving yield is a good way of doing it...</p>
<p>They also do not want to accept too many students as they did last year, and have to scramble to house them.</p>
<p>did anyone apply to the 4/4 medical program at muhlenberg?</p>
<p>Seriously, there is no method to their madness..they REJECTED a friend of mine with a 3.8/4.7 GPA and a 34 ACT..and he INTERVIEWED! My Dad actually wants to send a deposition to the dean to make him squirm, lol..</p>
<p>Colleges are weird sometimes. I got waitlisted at Skidmore, my safety, probably because I didn't have an interview, visit the campus, or show any interest. Wasn't too upset of course. </p>
<p>Muhlenberg is also trying to move up in the world, investing in new programs, facilities, and faculty. I expect it will be much more well-known in the coming years. I say yield must be a somewhat important consideration.</p>
<p>The housing crunch is another big thing. It was a nightmare. Kids were kicked off campus, stuck in random apartments around the "city", forced into doubles-become-triples, and upperclassmen were taken out of suites with their friends. Housing here isn't the best so it was handled as well as it could be, I suppose. The college has, by default, become more selective this time around.</p>
<p>I understand that's become more selective, but my SAT was well above the 75th %ile...my GPA was well within the range...my friend's ACT was well well well above the 75th %ile, and his GPA was well above the range...and he even INTERVIEWED...isn't that interest? I guess Muhlenberg is tired of being ranked below #70, but I sincerely hope that their USNWR rank drops below 80...jerks...</p>
<p>Remember that every school is trying to build a class; they're not just looking at individual students but how they all fit together. You don't know what how his essays looked, or what his recommendations said. You don't know how his interview went. There's a lot more to admissions than statistics.</p>
<p>This is just reality..Unless you're a black guy with really high stats (and even then there is that 0.01% chance you won't get in) there are no guarantees... If it weren't for those type situations, then PLENTY preppy whites would basically 'buy' their way into certain institutions.....So many places already have bad names for excluding blacks, and they don't want their image tarnished even further....Peace!</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many students are on the waiting list?</p>