For some reason, my DS20 is really, really interested in Wake Forest. We live in MA and I know almost nothing about the school. It seems to have a lot of what he is looking for, broad academic options (he’s not sure about major yet ), big sports culture (he’s a fan, not a player), warmer climate. But it’s farther away than we were considering, also very expensive tuition compared to lots of other places.
He has asked us to plan a visit. It will involve flying and missing a 1 1/2 days of school/work. We’re willing to do it, but I am not convinced he has a chance of getting in and wonder if it’s a waste of time.
He is B+ student. Mix of honors/AP/regular classes. Just took SAT, no score yet but expecting very high on math and more average on verbal. Nice EC’s but nothing outstanding.
Do kids like this get in? Is it worth the trip? I’d rather we only go if he is accepted, but he says he wants to apply ED if he likes it. Also, should we try to get an interview?
Typically WFU lets in approx 60% of their incoming class through ED. I would visit and interview and then if he decides it’s his #1, I would recommend applying ED. Also, Wake is always looking for diversity in terms of many factors.,…racial/economic/geographic/etc…if you would add diversity to the campus, that always helps and RD might be an ok option. In our experience, they value grades and class rank very highly. They are test optional, so having high scores doesn’t help as much here as it does at other schools. A couple years ago my son (an over-represented majority kid), who had great EC with leadership, recommendations and SATs, had gotten 2 Bs in our very high performing high school and therefore did not have a good class rank (i.e. not in top 5%). Despite being a legacy (I went to Wake) and having visited twice/interviewing/sitting in on class, he was only wait listed from RD. He chose another great school and is very happy,…so all ends well! Another piece of advice…see if your school uses Naviance to look at how other kids with his stats did in applying to Wake. Good luck!
My son is a mostly A and some B+ student. We visited Wake. He didn’t end up applying, but it would have been a reach for him. There is a web site that I don’t think I can list here, but you plug in GPA and test scores and it shows you your chances for a school (if your highschool doesn’t have Naviance…ours doesn’t). It sounds like it might be a reach for him; we’ll see what others say, but you would have to consider if you want to take the time and effort to visit a reach…and if it’s a reach, likely not much scholarship money. Which is another thing to consider about ED…you don’t get to consider scholarship offers. I believe interviews are required; my son didn’t want to do it on campus so we set up a Skype one later (and then after that, he decided not to apply).
It’s a great school, well known academically, has been called “work forest” and has a work hard play hard type of vibe, with large Greek presence. Beautiful. That web site I mentioned above would also list schools that are similar, I believe.
If he really wants to go to Wake, he needs to apply ED1. He will then be accepted, deferred, or rejected. ED2 applying students are never deferred; if not accepted or rejected, they are wait-listed, and there are very few students taken from wait-list. Also it is expected to interview.
My daughter was deferred from ED1 and we are waiting to see if she gets accepted. We will find out in a couple of weeks. She only had one B+ in AP Chem, the rest straight A’s. She felt it was a reach for her.
Since being deferred, she has been accepted to 5 other schools: FSU, Clemson, UTenn, VTech, Baylor, and Auburn. She visited several and just loves Auburn Honors, so if Wake says yes, it will be a big decision to make.
@mammag: Your post might tell me all I need to know!
He is my dear son and I adore him, but I honestly don’t see how he has a chance of getting in. He has mostly B’s. Only a few A’s. Our school doesn’t rank but I would estimate him in top 20%, maybe. Naviance is not encouraging at all. He’s a regular upper middle class white kid. He’s a great person!, but odds at this school sound very long.
@TimeFlies2 my first question is Wake affordable for your family? If it is then I say why not take a look. When my son was looking at colleges I told him reach for the stars on a couple of schools you never know what will happen. Wake is a demonstrated interest school so a visit is definitely a plus if you can visit and if you do why not do an interview. I agree with @mammag he would want to apply ED1 to give him the best shot at getting in. As long as you have target and likely schools that he likes everyone has reaches. My son is happily a sophomore at WFU
There is very LITTLE merit money at Wake. Per the website, 3% of admitted students. However, Wake is very generous with need based aid if you qualify (100% need met, primarily in grants).
Academically, it would be a reach at best IMHO. Is it worth a visit? Only you can answer that. I’d put it in the same category as any other reach. Do the EFC calculator on their site and see what you get. Although not perfect it should put you in the ballpark. If that number is not doable, don’t waste your time and money, as Merit (unless there’s some very unusual circumstances undisclosed) will not be accessible.
I was accepted to Wake through the EDII decision plan for the class of 2023. To be quite honest, I am not up to par with many of the students that go there. I most certainly did not have straight As: sophomore through second quarter senior year i received a B in two of my seven classes. Furthermore, freshman year I averaged with a C- in biology. I am not in the top 5% of my graduating class, not top 10%, most likely not even top 15%. I got a 1450 on my SAT (740 English + 710 Math). I got my score to rise 200 points between my March SAT and Summer SAT (tell your son to work every day and he can change that). On my school’s naviance, I was the lowest circle; every student that had applied in years past. However, now I am the only check mark. Students with GPAs and test scores that tower overnight me were denied and I was accepted. I did not interview. I am not an exceptionally above average student, but I have passion. My love for theater, track, and trivia was displayed throughout my extracurricular, essays, and recommendations. Find what you love and tell the Forest about it. They care about your talents and what you will bring to their community. Take your son to Winston-Salem.
@Bluecottoncandy That’s great, congratulations and welcome to The Forest! It’s an amazing place.
My point to the OP was simply that merit aid is not really an option, so regardless of admissions decision, can they afford it? The EFC will provide a good “guestimate” of cost. Typically a school like Wake is either financial need assist (in varying amounts based on EFC) or full pay as merit is only for a very few.
@Bluecottoncandy: Thank you for posting and congratulations on getting your dream school! What was it about Wake that appealed to you so much? I’m trying to figure out why my DS is so enchanted with this one particular school.
@rickle1. I think we could afford it but would not be comfortable unless sure it was worth it. Also depends where his twin sister ultimately goes, she is a whole different topic but the fact is we will have 2 freshman in 2020.
@TimeFlies2 Wow twins, that’s a lot to figure out at one time.
Wake is a great school. Really smart kids who are active, engaged, and pretty social. Tons of school spirit, especially for a small school. The word I would use to best describe it is Community. There is a definite overall sense of community. I think that stems from a number of things (like small intimate classes, a three yr on campus residential requirement, campus wide events - this weekend is Wake N Shake, a dance marathon to raise funds for cancer research that draws about 1/3 or more of the entire student body).
You might decide to just have your child do a skype interview (they do a lot of these as not everyone can make the trip). If he gets in, attend admitted students day. Just a thought.
My D applied ED2, and it was all very last minute. We had visited in 2017, and she kind of put it on the back burner, as there were schools she liked better. She got deferred from her ED 1 school and didn’t know if she loved anything enough to apply ED2, but somehow she kept on thinking of Wake.
As I said, it was a last minute decision to apply. It was too late to interview so she didn’t have that to help her. She had zero hooks, her school does not do class rank so she didn’t have that. Also, she did not send in her SAT scores. They were pretty good, but not amazing. When we visited the admissions person told people that it wasn’t a strike against you if you didn’t send them. However, I heard from others that if you don’t send them everything else better be great.
So how did my daughter get in? I’m not sure. What I do know is that she wrote her best essays for Wake. Her top ten list was very thoughtful and it seemed that every aspect of her application kind of tied together. Whoever read it probably had a very good idea of who she was. I think she came across as curious and intellectual. I think they really value that. Also, good writers.
She was an A student, but she did get one C+ Soph yr in math. I think she redeemed herself by getting an A+ in math in her senior yr first semester. She goes to an interesting HS and had lots of interesting ECs in and outside of school, and some leadership, but not like some people you read about. She applied for FA, even though we were prepared to be full-pay if necessary.
Hope this helps. We were all surprised, but when I thought about it I realized that it shouldn’t have been THAT surpirsing. Oh, and I imagine teacher recs and GC rec must have been good and confirmed what she discussed in her essays. They also may have compensated for her not interviewing
I would go visit and interview. It’s a beautiful place. To get your money’s worth try to see Elon while in NC. Easier to get into and just as beautiful with lots of great majors to choose from. You don’t have to know what you want to major in right away.
DS can’t stop talking about Wake Forest. We decided we will go look in the fall if he is still interested.
Anyone have ideas for other schools a student might like if they like Wake? Medium size, full offering of majors, big sports culture, midatlantic (or further?). We are in MA and he wants out of New England weather. He loves the idea of Duke or UNC but would never get in there. He is a B+ student, though trajectory is upward with time.
My sons experience was a bit different, we visited twice - regular college tour and then went back on a second visit for the interview -highly recommended btw. He was encouraged to apply ED or ED2 due to the acceptance rate associated with that route, but he decided that he wanted to keep his options open and gambled with regular decision. His GPA is 4.08 (AP & Honors), SAT 1480 with a good resume’.
We felt his chances for Wake were at best 40/60 based on the RD application and his GPA. Also,classmates of his with similar credentials who applied ED were either deferred or denied. Interestingly, he got his acceptance letter today from Wake. Go figure.
I am an admitted student to the class of 2023. Is Campus Day worth going to? Furthermore, can we bring our parents to this event because it seems as if it is only for admitted students, not their families.
