Agree that parent and kid should meet with guidance counselor ASAP and make sure there were no glitches in the application. Then, since waitlisted at CWRU should immediately send letters and updates saying that he would definitely attend (if true). If there was a glitch in the application, that should be corrected ASAP. If CWRU is out of reach financially, then he needs to look at other options such as the guaranteed transfer to BU (which is just as expensive if not more so than CWRU and does not give much merit money).
Add Iowa and Iowa State.
I’m pretty sure that UK schools like St. Andrews take applications until May. They don’t give much or any aid to American students, though, so its a strategy that might apply only to full pay candidates.
What’s his budget?
UA-H is still taking applications, is mostly strong for engineering, and has scholarships.
Lawrence, Wi, is another fantastic college, especially for the sciences. Top-notch academically + their LR1 program is a great opportunity to do real research at “famous” universities.
Hendrix is a terrific college (plenty of high achievers there), the Odyssey is a great concept (it means they give you money to fund your projects, from volunteering to studying abroad…)
Wheaton, in New England (MA, not IL) has excellent facilities and a great location, plus excellent outcomes. I don’t know if they’re still taking applications, but he should email.
New College of Florida is an intensely intellectual powerhouse but its intensity (and tendency to veer toward weed on weekends) cause a lot of students to drop out. It’s also an Ivy-league feeder.
I think Pitt still has space, but he wouldn’t have any merit scholarship.
Taking a gap year would mean potentially earning full tuition scholarships.
BU and Trinity are highly to very selective colleges; no college with an acceptance rate below 30% (or even 40%, depending on stats) should be considered a match or safety. It’s a reach-for-everyone.
It’s however very surprising he didn’t get into Bing. He should absolutely make an appointment with his GC (or his parents should, actually) and get to the bottom of this, to see what went wrong. THere may have been a problem.
@hiltenjp, all the schools you applied to were reach schools.
To the OP: wait, he has a guaranteed transfer to BU, so why can’t he go to CC for a year and then transfer to BU?
I am taking that into account, ClassicRockerDad. However, if finances don’t work out for this student, I don’t see how he can avoid a gap year. Do the colleges that are still accepting apps still have money to give out too? If he checks their websites, will they say so or does he just have to take his chances?
Your friend got cheated, everybody in my school with 1650’s on the SAT get into Binghampton University, and a bunch of them get into Boston University with 1600s and some 1800 SAT’s. Your friend got rejected from those schools because admissions knew they were his safeties, he pretty much was just screwed over. Thats BS if people dont say those schools are safeties because they are
^not to mention that a student with excellent stats can get full tuition merit scholarships (totaling savings of $100,000 at a minimum) whereas a transfer student can’t, hence losing that amount - it can be a very good investment time-wise for a high-stats students.
As to what to do: CityYear and AmeriCorps are still accepting applications (but hurry).
As for the guaranteed transfer to BU: is BU affordable? My guess is that students offered this opportunity are expected to be full pay or close.
If OP can afford to be full pay at BU and doesn’t mind paying that much money for a school that’s overpriced, I wouldn’t do the 1st year at a CC, but at a “real” 4-year college.
@MYOS1634, why? At a CC, many people expect to transfer and ties aren’t formed as much.
A low-level 4-year college can actually be worse than a CC. That’s assuming that there is a place he can go.
Plus, a CC can save some money.
@PurlpleTitan: Because if OP stays at home, it won’t “feel” like college - at a random 4-year, at least he’d have a “regular” freshman year, with life in the dorms, freshman orientation, etc. Plus, if he attends one of the colleges where he was admitted, which all have pretty good academics, it wouldn’t be such a jump to get to the pace and rigor at Cornell. (Then again, OP may enjoy a year of not working very much!)
Tompkins Cortland Community College, which isn’t far from Cornell, has very nice dorms, and it seems tailor-made for these Cornell 1-year transfer students.
http://www.tc3.edu/catalog/ap_honors_college.asp
http://www.tc3.edu/
There’s a branch of TC3 in Ithaca, too, if OP wants to hang out on the Cornell campus.
@MYOS1634, ???
- The OP's friend actually has a guaranteed transfer to BU, not Cornell.
- He actually hasn't been admitted anywhere.
Big whoop about CC not feeling like college. BU will feel like college.
So he isn’t really shut out. He has a place to go.
OOps, got confused between this student and another among a few students who had that “1-year then transfer” thing to Cornell (and a few admissions).
Sorry!
@thegrant BU is not everyone’s safety. It can be a reach for someone with low stats. Anything with an acceptance rate under 50% is NOT going to be a shoo-in unless you have top SAT scores, amazing essays, desirable demographics, etc. and even then there’s a chance you could still be rejected.
“Add Iowa and Iowa State.”
I second this. (But I’m biased) Iowa State is a spectacular school were he can get aid and interactions with professors that are harder to get at schools like BU. And if he does well and applies himself, further educational plans can be at a top school. (I’ve taken advantage of graduate classes, independent research, and mentors in my department that have been educated at the best schools in the nation and world. Now I’m going to Harvard for the summer.) If he’s an URM, (which I’m not) he can get lots and lots of aid because ISU is really into increasing diversity. I feel bad for your friend, but sometimes people give kids a warped view of what they’re capable of, especially if his essays were not great. BU is not a safety. A school with 50+% acceptance rates is, however. But just because that acceptance rate is high doesn’t mean you can’t excel and use your education to be nationally competitive.
Certainly he applied poorly but that can’t be changed now. The clear options are either do a gap year program and reapply or take the BU spring admit and either go to CC for a semester or sometimes schools run programs for spring admits (ex. my D’s friend who was a spring admit went to Europe for the first semester through the school for the first semester)
"Full IB Diploma student
Took two sciences both junior and senior year
scored only 5’s on AP classes I took and 6-7s on the IB exams I took
native american
straight A’s (never have gotten a B in my life)
4.0/4.52 (unweighed/weighted)
35 ACT
Ton of extra-curriculars of course (I could post them all but I’m not really feeling like it sorry)
I have actually invented some software and have patented it
I have had three jobs and 2,000 hours spent between them all
I was turned down from Harvard, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, CalTech, Stanford, and Duke
People, you can seem to have everything and get turned down."
@hiltenjp “Inventing some software and have patented it” What did you expect from Stanford? A silly patent, really? Thanks for the laugh. Most people who I know who got in this year code and actually launched their programs/products/software. The competition is real bud.
If you’re from CA, I’m having a hard time to believe this, as at least UCM and UCR should offer you a spot because you are definitely in the top 9%.
To the OP:
Yes, take a look at some Canadian Universities! Except Waterloo, for most majors there, you are required to have a 3.9-4.0 GPA unweighted to even apply. Ridiculous, I know.
University of Arizona is actually a spectacular school, even more so for Computer Science. I am astonished to see what those CS Students there can make. Many get jobs at Google even.
Good luck to your friend.
There are lots of good options for fall 2015 still available, but the OP must act quickly!