I received a rejection from BU today and it has left me surprised and very disheartened. BU was supposed to be one of my match schools.
SAT 1 : 770 EBRW, 750 Math (1520/1600)
SAT 2 : 800 Biology M
TOEFL : 118/120
ECs : Pretty good. Take my word for it. I had a lot of impressive healthcare related ECs.
Academics : I go to a school outside the US. I have taken up all the toughest courses available. While my grades seem poor (due to deflation), I have scored pretty well compared to other students with the same course load. My counselor has repeatedly emphasized this in her recommendation (she told me she did). I was even on the honour roll for Biology and English.
Intended field of study : something in Biology/ Healthcare/ Medicine
Stellar recs from Bio and English teachers and Counselor (I think).
This was honestly such a slap in the face. Was this decision made because of my grades? I thought the admission process, being holistic, would have accounted for the fact that I am academically at the top of my class despite the seemingly poor grades. Has anyone had a similar experience?
I really need some closure. I have a Biology exam coming up in a few days, and this is really distracting me now . I have applied to schools with acceptance rates way lower than BU and this is honestly making me dread the weeks to come.
Honestly, I wouldn’t sweat it. The college process is unforgiving and a little random. For example, I have a friend who applied to Boston University and got in, but he also applied to Rutgers, which has a significantly better acceptance rate, and he was denied and waitlisted. Does it make sense logically? No, but instances like this are going to happen. Keep your head up and keep working hard because colleges appreciate people who don’t give up.
Thanks for the encouragement @James.84055
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens. If it was my academics that put them off, I really hope that other schools look at my grades within their context.
You’re an international student. Why is it a “slap in the face” not to be accepted to a competitive university? Matches aren’t safeties. They may well have considered your grades in context – I believe most US colleges do – but holistic means they look at other things besides grades and test scores. Many high stats kids are rejected from competitive schools because there just aren’t enough spots.
Did you apply for financial aid? If they’re need aware for admissions, that can matter. Did you apply to any affordable schools with higher acceptance rates?
@Publisher@austinmshauri I am not an international student. I only study abroad. I am a US citizen. I have applied for financial aid, but I don’t think it would have affected my chances.
@austinmshauri it came as a shock because as I said, my ECs are really good and I do have some really strong ones related to my field of interest. I do not mean to sound conceited. Obviously, my application had some flaws, which I thought would be overlooked. I have only posted this to speculate on the reasons for my rejection and understand whether or not these flaws will be overlooked by other colleges.
I have received three other decisions till now. University of Rochester (accepted but not happy with financial aid), Union College (accepted but not enough aid again), and University of Minnesota (accepted and awaiting aid decision). I won’t be able to attend college without aid, and since I don’t live in the US, I won’t even be in-state for any college. That is why I’m really stressed about this.
I don’t think you have flaws. Your stats are excellent and you’re satisfied that your ECs are competitive. Financial aid requests will affect chances at need aware schools, but your results at one school aren’t necessarily indicators of what they’ll be at others. Did you apply to any safeties (schools you’re sure to be accepted to, that are affordable, and that you’d be happy to attend)?
There could be two major reasons why you didn’t get into BU:
Your excellent stats make you a match for higher-ranked schools, and BU wants to protect its yield. In other words, if you get into "better" schools that's where you'll go. (AKA The "Tufts" syndrome.)
You applied for financial aid. BU, along with NYU, is a popular school well known for offering little good financial aid.
With your excellent stats, you still may get into some very good schools, hopefully you applied to a few “safeties” or campuses that award significant merit aid.
@austinmshauri I thought BU was need-blind.
My family can spend a maximum of $10-15k on my education (including boarding) and maybe $20k with loans (this itself is a stretch). So I don’t really have the option of ‘affordable safeties’: all colleges cost at least more than $35k per year.
Do you qualify for automatic merit anywhere? If your parents can spend $10k and you take the ~$5500/year federal student loan that would cover room and board. Did you look for full tuition scholarships?
@austinmshaurii I didn’t know that there was anything like automatic merit. Even with the federal loan, there aren’t any colleges that cost $15,500. As for full-tuition scholarships, most of the universities that I have applied to automatically consider you for scholarships. I was a finalist for one of Union College’s full tuition scholarships, but I didn’t end up getting it and was awarded $25000, which isn’t enough.
Also, my dad told me that I am quite unlikely to get merit aid even at safeties, because every school will have other applicants with similar stats and grades that aren’t really confusing. Most colleges will certainly pick the other person because they will definitely be a more reliable investment than me. My grades might make it harder for them to predict my academic success in college.
i just wanna chime in and say you have options. you could study at community college for two years and transfer to another institution, and there were a lot of colleges that if you applied during the normal deadline had auto admit and merit offered. i think texas a&m and a few others had full ride scholarships. but it can be done- i got into a satellite campus at upitt with a scholarship and will only have to pay a couple thousand a year. definitely less than the 10k your parents are willing (and able!) to pay.
@Essel wow, I was absolutely not aware that there were tuition free colleges. Is it too late for me to apply now?
@ACollegeHopeful3 I was thinking about community college too, but I think it is too late now, isn’t it? Also, my parents have some sort of irrational prejudice against community colleges because my cousin went to one and absolutely hated it. They would rather I go to a college where I live and go to the US for my post-graduation. This really sucks for me because I’ll have to drop Biology if I stay back here (long story). If it isn’t too late, I could try convincing them though.
I guess I was just too naive about this entire process and wasn’t aware of all the options I had.
its absolutely not too late for community college, they operate on rolling admissions. @blanktae i was very naive about this process too, i am my parents oldest and one parent got a 2yr degree and the other went to college but did not graduate many, many years ago, and none of us knew how this worked. just because your cousin hated it doesnt mean you will too. however you will have to find somewhere to live if you go to community college in the U.S. because they do not have room/board for the most part.
Several California CC have guaranteed transfer programs (TAG) after two years in CC; two fabulous campuses that come to mine are SMC (Santa Monica) and SBCC (Santa Barbara) A friend of my D attends SBCC (Santa Barbara) and lives in UCSB dorms and loves it - The full college experience for a fraction of the price.
. I have applied to schools with acceptance rates way lower than BU and this is honestly making me dread the weeks to come.