<p>^That’s <em>theoretically</em> true of any college with an EDII option (every selective college has a waiting list.) I’m pretty sure the adcoms would draw the line at two bites at the apple. </p>
<p>Is Wesleyan really "uber’ selective anymore?, I don’t think it is! 20%+ admitted and going test optional, falling applications…top 25 LAC Yes, but not really “uber” selective, very limited endowment restricts its ability to do much for students…housing???</p>
<p>Bowdoin is test optional - does that make them less selective? Also, Wesleyan has been around 19-23% acceptance rate the past few years, so I’m not sure what you mean by being uber selective “anymore”… Wesleyan is just about as selective as its ever been. Also not sure what you mean by the housing and endowment.</p>
<p>I think with any elite college there is a degree of sheer luck to getting accepted. Maybe you were just unlucky. Even Warren Buffet was denied from Harvard Business School. Your stats are good enough I would think you could still get into a decent school. If Wes is really your dream school then go somewhere else good, do awesome, and apply as a transfer student. Your odds of getting in as a transfer might actually be better especially if you do well at that school. </p>
<p>@Islandsofwaikiki, re your post #16, you sound like you are wanting to appeal your rejection. If that assumption is correct, please don’t. Admissions is very busy this time of year and they don’t have time to give you or any other rejected candidate a reason that you were denied, you just were. The reason is the same at every other selective school…there are just not enough seats. Your focus should be making sure your RD apps are the best they can be, not trying to figure out why one school didn’t accept you. </p>
To shed some light on this:
The admissions committee is trying to create a class as a whole and not just pick out the people with the best stats. If you didn’t paint a compelling picture of how you fit into that scheme, you’re probably not going to get in. Most competitive school could field a class 2-3x over changing the stats of the class.
Your story is important and you need to stick out. If your application and activities were cookie cutter, then there were plenty of people like you in the reject pile.
Agree with ride; you could be a victim of “category admissions” aka “crafting a class.”
Your GPA is below the line and your SAT is just about on the line.
Your ECs are middle-of-the road.
You are a marginal candidate at best in any circumstances.
Being a white female from NY puts you in a way over-represented demographic for Wesleyan.
Hence the rejection, since if they want white females from NY, there are likely dozens of stronger applicants than you to choose from.
It is also possible that financial need is part of the reason for those so asking for it. Though a school may give generalities as to how need only plays a role at the tail end of a group or whatever language used, there is a lot of leeway there and no school is going to give the exact mechanics of how the need awareness works. I’ve seen it work a number of different ways, just as general procedure, and not down to the nitty gritty.
^^^ Boy, I don’t know. GPA - competing factors here. First, a 3.7 in an appropriately rigorous curriculum would be nothing to dismiss out of hand. Now, she says she’s taken 5 APs total, so we know it could be more rigorous. I think of what my daughter has been through since elementary school and I shake my head and wonder why we do this to our kids. But I digress. I would factor in living in an abusive house heavily if I were in admissions, and I’d take that into deep consideration as I evaluated her 3.7, the 5 APs and the upward trend. THEN I’d look at her SAT of almost 2200, and, to me, along with her other quals, she’d be a very interesting candidate. Maybe I’m a softy, but overcoming abuse … those aren’t just words. That’s impacting.
All that to say, I would hardly call her a marginal candidate anywhere. Is a 2180 SAT really “just about on the line”?
I believe the mean SAT score for Wesleyan admits is 2200, so yes 2180 is really “just about on the line.”
but “marginal candidate at best in any circumstances?” 20 points from the mean, a good GPA with decent academic rigor and one heck of a mitigating circumstance.
maybe. I just don’t know and since you’ve had a child go through (mine is attending next fall) I’ll defer to you. But I’d be thrilled to have someone like that on my campus. Overcoming abuse in childhood is no small thing.
The mean SAT is 2110. Ambnyc combined SAT scores are 80 points above the mean. Her CR+M is only 10 points below the mean
Could not agree more!
It has been brought to my attention that I made an error. The mean scores I posted were for enrolled students. Soze’s is correct that the mean SAT score for admitted students is ~2200
^^
Opps…Drop the s from Soze’s
^^ interesting. Can we then deduce that wes loses its highest scorers to other schools? That’s a pretty big difference.
I think @CrewDad chose the approximate figure in order to coordinate with the previous poster. So, exact apples-to-apples from the same Wesleyan PDF file for the class of 2018: admitted SAT, 2180; enrolled, 2110.
Almost all colleges have a lower enrolled students SAT mean than for that of the admitted applicants. Yes, the figures indicate that Wesleyan does lose some high scorers to other schools. But a comparison to other similar colleges would be needed to determine whether this occurs disproportionately at Wesleyan.
Enrolled students have mean SAT scores 70 points lower than the mean of the admitted students.
Amherst class of 2018: Admitted SAT, 2197, 2155 enrolled, which is a 43 point spread. There isn’t anything significant to glean from the fact that Wes has a paltry 27 > spread.
@neatoburrito & @CrewDad I think that’s a huge drop from the admitted mean for Wes, clearly the best scoring students don’t choose Wes but rather enrol at…name your school, Williams, Vassar…et al. @CrewDad…Do you not think a spread like that is meaningful?, I do… I think I should correct your numbers:
Amherst College Class of 2018:
Admitted 2139,
Accepted 2196
Enrolled 2155
To my evaluation, enrolled students at Amherst have a 16 point higher SAT mean than admitted students, Wesleyan appears to have an enrolled student mean SAT 70 points LOWER than the admitted mean.
Clearly alot of students apply using Wesleyan as a LAC ‘safety’, with no intention of enrolling if accepted elsewhere, as in Williams or Amherst , Swarthmore, Carleton, Pomona, Pitzer or pretty much any other top 25 school?..Debate?
“Admitted” and “accepted” are not separate cohorts.