@123Mom456 is absolutely right. VT is my dream school and I made sure to make my essays tailored to that and my essays were really good. I have pretty good stats but the essays what I think really pushed me to make the school. It’s more about stats for the college admissions process
@123Mom456 No slander, the original deadline was December 1st. By December 8th they had extended the deadline to January 15th.
Their prerogative to change the deadline. Doesn’t make someone who might have applied later in the cycle an idiot who couldn’t handle the deadline. (Sorry, just don’t like the calling of others idiots.) Technically, they got there applications in on time. Admissions changed the deadline and I can see maybe being frustrated with them.
I’m not looking to argue the point. You’re welcome to take issue with the words of a 17 year old rejected from his first choice school because admissions arbitrarily changed the finish line after the race was already over. It was a great teachable moment for my son.
Love VCU - what a great option
Until students get accepted, they don’t have a spot. The spots that accepted students took were theirs because the college offered admission to them.
Generally, when accepted students turn them down, schools fill their seats from the wait list. Was your son wait listed? The assumption that if some other kid had been rejected he’d have been accepted is wrong. You’re not doing him any favors if you let him believe someone “stole” something that was never his.
For some applicants it is the first time dealing with rejection and it is hard to take. However there is a lesson to be learned and that is not to be bitter. It is not the end of the world. If you have other acceptances consider yourself fortunate and a good college experience can be found at any college campus. There is always the possibility to attend another school and transfer later on. No one steals anyone’s spot. Every applicant’s file is reviewed and any admissions office will tell you that they want a diverse incoming class of students.
My daughter applied four years ago regular decision and was accepted to the College of Engineering. I believe the deadline to apply was Jan 15th then too. We felt it was so competitive then as you feel it now. It is even more difficult for out of state students. Some programs like engineering are just harder to get into and require higher stats than other programs. It is not a safety for anyone even not for instate students. At the end it all works out for the best.
@Time2Shine No offence but I kind of found it rude that you claimed being upset over a rejection was a “first world problem”. Some people can just handle things better than others and others even have mental illness that affect how they handle things so it’s not really fair to generalise.
I’m sympathetic to your S plight. My son graduated from UVA and I would hop on that offer, my D has a 4.37GPA yes all A’s since 8th grade, took 4 AP courses plus two full credit university courses at UVA over the summer (A’s) and was rejected from UVA ! However VT accepted her as a cinema major, so go figure? White female in state,
I really think the holistic approach is really just a crap shoot, your son should be proud UVA is nearly impossible to get into from VA.
Yes, Tech can change the admissions dates at their whim but many students applied by the December 1 deadline having less time to tweak everything than the January 15 applicants. I spoke directly to admissions after they changed the date and they said that many high school counselors and students didn’t know that the date changed from the 15 of January to the 1 of December. That’s ridiculous. What wasn’t noted was that the admissions director had left and a new one arrived the first week of a January. January 15th deadline Students had an extra 6 weeks to get their applications together which definitely seems unfair. My son was admitted but many qualified students were not and may be those extra 6 weeks would have made a great difference particularly with the essays. We loved Tech when we visited but I’m not impressed at this point.
.@daylightskies I meant no offense to you, and apologize if you took it that way. That was in reference to my son. Like you, he has several acceptances and I’m confident he’ll be just fine. Good luck.
Frankly I think the little bit of snark reflected in the “some idiot” comment is healthy. As a parent of a kid who struggled at times with low self esteem and anxiety, I am much more worried about potentially debilitating affect of rejection than I would be concerned about a mildly arrogant response. I have seen some kids and parents on here express a sense of entitlement about admissions that is offputting of course, so everything in moderation, but a little bit of self assurance is a fine thing. Seems like,@time2shine’s son will be just fine.
When waiting on college acceptances my son said “mom don’t worry about me. I’ll be happy anywhere i go. I’m pretty sure all colleges have parties”
LOL @AnneShirley. On the morning of VT acceptances, I asked my son if he was nervous and he said “Why? What’s the worst that can happen? They say no” The morning after his waitlist to COE, I told him I was proud of how mature he was being about all of this and he rolled his eyes and told me to quit worrying so much. Very different from his older sister who was very anxious during her admissions cycle three years ago.
On the deadline debate, I can totally see why some may be salty about that. In many other areas of life, missing a deadline or not knowing a deadline had been shifted is no excuse. I would posit that had Virginia Tech been your “dream school” or one you even showed the slightest interest in, you would have know the admissions deadline.
And the shift here went past the holidays and mid terms and even (possibly) allowed an extra testing cycle.
Lastly, considering the ballyhoo about MOST APPS EVER !!eleventy!!, it can sure seem like the only reason they extended was for a headline.
I certainly understand being upset if you rushed to get all of your admissions information in for the December due date and were either rejected or waitlisted after VT extended the due date which gave others “additional” time to get their information in. But, I wouldn’t be so quick to say they did it to get a headline as they moved the deadline back to where it has traditionaly been for many years. The amount of time that the applications were open was the same as it has been for many years. VT’s deadline has been in January for years. A large number of state schools across the country had their largest application pools ever this year. I would suspect it had more to do with the cost of attendance and the increase in the number of applications student send rather than an extension of a deadline.
I was accepted into the music program with a 3.34. Im black, legacy, from roanoke VA. I have a lot of Ec, taken 11 AP courses, and take classes at a local community college. I will be double majoring in biology also. A lot of kids from my school with a 4.0+ got waitlisted. VT is HUGE on community service, and diversity. They expect you to bring more to the table than good test scores and a nice transcript. Odds of getting off of the waitlist are good tho! It happens every year, best of luck to you!
Congrats to You! I have seen some concerts at tech and they were amazing!!!
@sellerslynn congrats. It seems like a really great time to be going into the arts at Virginia Tech. The university and Blacksburg generally are investing a lot and on both the performing and visual arts, and are really emphasizing the intersection of Art and Technology. My daughter got accepted to the Visual Art program and is reallly excited about the creative technology aspect. I understand that Creative Technologies is also a new major for music program as well.
My daughter was accepted VT with lower scores as an Environmental Sciences major. Have your son call VT admissions. Let him ask if going undeclared makes a difference. The Chemistry
Major is extremely competitive with a finite number of seats. Penn State UP does this often. For example, my friend’s son rejected from main campus Engineering major, 1340 SAT, accepted 2nd choice campus at LeHigh. A call to admissions got him an acceptance to main campus with an undeclared major. He can declare engineering major in Sophmore year and still take the courses he knows he will need in Freshman year. Penn does this often. I’ve read many parents’ posts who took this route.
Good Luck! He’s an amazing student who will do well anywhere he chooses to go!
My son was accepted at VT and we are pleased. I know your pain though as three years ago my daughter had a rap sheet a mile long and was declined by Stanford (1st choice). I wasn’t disappointed in her, of course, just that she didnt get into her dream school. All is good now at GT (2nd choice).
The college process seems a mess these days compared to when I was accepted at UF in 1979. Not sure how it got that way as I did not pay much attention to this until five years ago. It appears that you have to be savvy. Here are a few thoughts (1) register (as soon as you can) then visit the school bringing your admission ticket; open house over a typical school visit and sign in to the presentations given by the colleges you are interested in (2) essay(s) should have a heart-felt direct connection to the school or something it holds dear, (3) major selected needs to play the odds given childs credentials; XXXXXXX-undecided may get you in versus exact desired major; you can make the grades on campus then flip over (4) geography might matter though that is tough to affect, (5) athletics especially team-based would be a good one, (6) being a tutor or teaching assistant with a good example of how you made a significant difference in the life of one individual, (7) in another essay, an example of how you took the “high road” or made sacrafice so that someone else would benefit or be spared, (8) do the schools know (or feel) somehow that they are secondary rather than primary? Data science has advanced to the level these days that the application “says it.” 34000 applications are judged at some point by an algorithm.
I’d order these (8), (3), (1), (6), (7), (5), (2), (4). Might not help for this child but perhaps the next one. I have one in eighth grade so I will be in this one more time.