OOS
SAT 1430/1600 (CR + M)
ACT 31 (Composite)
3.0-ish UW GPA
Applied EA (Tried for Morrill even, URM for Ohio)
Got ding letter in January (a little surprised, to be honest)
Moved on to other colleges…
Then was notified about acceptance on April 2.
(Wait what?!?) Checked the website, yup it does say Acceptance now.
I’m calling ASAP to find out if it’s really true, and if they’ll still giving out the Buckeye scholarship given the circumstances. Still, what a strange sequence of events.
Has this happened to anybody else? Any theories? Did someone make a mistake?
Managed to talk to an OSU admissions counselor today. She confirmed that DS’s application was “re-reviewed” and they changed their mind and he was offered admission (applied to Fisher Business School). Since he was a late admit, no OSU Buckeye scholarship $$ left to be offered though, even if he does meet the criteria.
We’re grateful for the acceptance, although I do wonder what happened to change their mind. Did they look at the 95th percentile SAT CR score and ask themselves “What were we thinking?” Or perhaps their yield year-to-date is trending a little lower than what they were expecting as of this time? Maybe this bodes well for any wait-listed applicants?
At any rate, just wanted to pass this story along to let people know that these things sometimes do happen…
Thanks @evermom1! Yes, it is always good to have more options. So now we find ourselves with a decision that I’m sure a lot of college applicants have to face each year:
Penn State or Ohio State?
Right now, because he’s not getting the Buckeye merit money, the COA for both is pretty similar (OSU is only 2K/yr less). I don’t know yet what OSU is going to give in terms of need-based grants though. Who knows, they might surprise again.
It has nothing to do with test scores (or incompetence) and everything to do with money. Schools do this at this time of year–they take a second look at borderline candidates to whom they can charge full freight. Without any scholarship, that OOS tuition would be VERY hefty. They promise to give all OOS students that National Buckeye Scholarship–except in a situation like this one. Offering admission to people you’ve turned down–so you get to “surprise them” but not offer scholarship money–is a genius move, I have to admit.
Reject to make yourself seem exclusive, and then accept to create desire for your exclusive club. I like it too. Someone is earning their paycheck. America is great!
@adjunctified You may be right. Except…isn’t that what the waitlist is for? Shouldn’t they offer kids off the waitlist first before actually offering an outright acceptance to any ones who was outright rejected? These waitlisted kids would also be full-pay too. But judging from the waitlist thread, it seems a lot of them are still waiting and DS was “jumped” ahead of them.
Although I’ve only been scanning CC the past 2 years, I’ve never come across a thread that mentioned what happened to us. After all, it’s not as if we called them and appealed. We didn’t even bother to send a FAFSA in February, because it was an outright ding. If indeed this practice is or going to become common, we should have a name for it: “surprise acceptance”, “rejectance”, “review queue” come to mind.
Anything is possible. I’m just guessing. I do know that wait-listing is always looked at by schools as risky because students tend to get turned off when they’re “second choiced.” My grad program tries not to wait-list people for this very reason.
All I know for certain is that I would not pay full OOS tuition to attend OSU. That’s just way too expensive for what you get in exchange. It doesn’t matter than he was rejected and then accepted. It doesn’t matter if it was an honest mistake or because of test scores or a way of getting more money. All that matters now is that he was accepted and that they’re charging him full price to go there.
Full OOS OSU tuition is still cheaper than some of the instate schools. My D's roommate (from Pittsburgh) said OOS OSU tuition was cheaper than Pitt and Penn State. So for her it is a good deal.
We are just guessing, it is hard to explain what is going on with OSU admissions this year. They probably had a flood of applications after receiving so much intense press this past fall. And they appear to have had IT problems too.
So it could just be a combination of these factors.
But as indicated, some of it could be a prudent business decision.
And in my book, this is a plus, not a minus. Many smaller schools are highly leveraged, and are not going to be around in 4 years. This was a factor in my D’s decision making process. She wanted to go to a college that would still be in existence when she graduated.
@OSUmom2018 having just gone through this process, I can tell you coming from PA, full OOS at OSU is not less expensive then Pitt or Penn State. However, the Buckeye and Trustee when added made the cost less than in-state at the other 2. Not huge amounts but enough to help. What ultimately made the choice, was the overall OSU experience and program, including Scholars which the other two schools do not have (only Honors.) I am disappointed so many have had a difficult experience with OSU admissions this year. We feel fortunate and grateful to join the OSU family and have had a great Ohio-friendly experience from day 1. I know where ever our kids land, it will be the best place for them.
researchQ, thank you for the input.
I only have anecdotal information from last year, from my D’s roommate’s father, and from the OOS parents at Orientation. But I did not have access to the actual numbers.
I wonder if last year was different.
Seems like this year people are having a very different experience.
Last year we also had a very OSU friendly experience from Day 1.
Big scholarship, scholars program, hot and cold running emails and letters.
Fabulous orientation programs. It was overwhelming and wonderful.
OSU was not my D’s first choice, but it turned out to be the best place for her.
So yes I agree totally, where ever the kids land, it will be fine.
Most small schools are doing okay financially and will still be around in four, eight, or twenty years. I would argue that many of them are even more financially secure than large publics because they don’t draw as much support from taxpayers and have wealthy alumni to tap. In addition, many are actually cheaper for students because they offer much better aid packages. Sweet Briar wasn’t a great college, and that’s the rub: you have to be able to get into a GOOD private school.
Full OOS tuition at Ohio State is prohibitively expensive, and you don’t really get a benefit from paying that kind of tuition. The classes are huge, the majority are taught by TAs and lecturers, and it’s difficult to get into classes. For a $40+k price tag, you could go somewhere else and get a more individualized experience.
If you can’t get a scholarship from OSU to defray the cost of attending OOS, and you can’t get a scholarship from a private college, then the solution, I think, is to look within your own state. Unless you’re coming from a place with a truly terrible public university system, I’m guessing that there is a school that offers the “OSU experience” closer to home and easier on the check book.