<p>You’re considering whether or not you should try to get off the waitlist?!</p>
<p>If all you got into was Cal Poly SLO and you’re on the waitlist of two Ivy League schools with those incredible numbers, then you’d be doing yourself a massive disservice to not even attempt to get off the waitlist (it’s not like it’s difficult to give those schools an update, either, and even if it did, I would fight tooth and nail to get into one of those schools).</p>
<p>If you got into, say, a Vanderbilt or WashU (two schools a bit worse than Penn and Cornell but significantly worse), and you really liked one or both of those schools, I’d say it’d be okay to not try to get off the waitlist. But Cal Poly?</p>
<p>come on, to get off waitlist is much harder than get accepted. Some times its less than 1% got off and you have to be extremely lucky, I know because DD got off from her #1 choice. We later found out she was the lucky 14 out of 1000’s.</p>
<p>SLO is not bad, if you are a 4.0 student in SLO, you are going places. A S of my friend is graduating he got 5 very good job offers to choose from. Besides, it is very low cost. My DD’s Safety was Stanislaus, she could go there practically free, as DW is CSU employee</p>
<p>@artsandletters - you make an excellent point, the Common App process has made it easier for people to apply to many more colleges and hence this HUGE upsurge in the applicant pool. D got accepted to all the ones she had a separate application to fill - UIUC, UMN, UWISC, UC’s INCLUDED. She was wait listed in 6 of her CA schools and all of them stated the obvious - too many applicants (I am sure this is the result of it being simply easier to apply to more schools via the CA process)… Alas, D will not go to her dream LAC, but she has several public options and hence we are ok… </p>
<p>I really feel sorry for the kids having to endure this form of the March Madness…</p>
<p>Depressed Asian student here with 3.9 UW GPA 2230 SAT top 2% of class/8 APs… got 5 rejects (Princeton, Upenn, Cornell, Rice, Duke) 3 Waitlists (WUSTL, Emory, NYU Stern), and 3 acceptances (CMU, GA Tech, USC-Columbia), what I don’t get is how I got waitlisted to Emory? Is it because 10 people from my school applied? Emory was my top choice and I’m really bummed. Still waiting on Georgetown…</p>
<p>OP I totally understand the pain but you still should have applied to safeties, even if just one school. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>I was either waitlisted or rejected from all the Ivies. I’m not depressed about it because I have a handful of good acceptances to choose from (Johns Hopkins, Pomona, Rice, state college) but if I were to tell my junior-year self that I wouldn’t get a single Ivy acceptance, my past self would probably be shocked.</p>
<p>Before you stomp me with “safeties”, I applied to UK (EU student) and got accepted there. It still rips my heart though. Probably gonna attend Warwick, reapply in November to schools that allow me to as Freshman (H, MIT) ,improve ACT, essays, and see if I am really not Ivy material. If not, well, there is still graduate school. </p>
<p>Also, I know ‘waitlist’ sucks, but I’d be proud for even getting waitlisted. It shows that a school like X thought about accepting you. I guess. </p>
<p>Okay, so I know I shouldn’t really be complaining. But I came here so that I could feel like I wasn’t the only one suffering from OD disappointment. SO sorry for all of you who are in the same boat…</p>
<p>SAT 2390
3 SAT II’s, 790, 800, 800
GPA of like… idk, 3.8 ish?
very ‘prestigious’ (ugh, I hate talking about my school this way but I guess its relevant) prep school in NYC area
some ECs
no hooks</p>
<p>The reason I say I shouldn’t be complaining is that I was actually accepted by Cornell, which my mom convinced me was a shoe-in. HAAAA… But rejected by HYP Brown, Waitlisted by Duke, Rice and UPenn (which my sister attends) and accepted by Cornell, Northwestern, Vassar, Wesleyan, and McGill.</p>
<p>I really regret all those years of trashing Cornell cuz I somehow developed the notion that it was ‘beneath’ me. Just frustrated that some of my bird brained peers were accepted into UPenn instead of me.</p>
<p>Wow I sound privileged and really all-around unpleasant. Again, sorry… didn’t mean to sound ungrateful and annoy everyone here… just genuinely frustrated.</p>
<p>Though honestly for everyone who didn’t end up getting into the college of your desired caliber or prestige, remember that its all a crapshoot anyway and that you’ve worked hard to get wherever took you, and you made it!!! and that you’re gonna kill it!!! don’t deprive yourself of your own credit.</p>
<p>Why are people on here complaining about “having to” go to CMU, Rice, JHU, Cornell, Pomona, Grinnell?? Those all are excellent schools, and in a year like this you should be counting your blessings. As the spouse says, you only can go to one school. Moreover, I am confident that the OP would trade places with you in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>I really don’t understand why you even would go to the effort of applying to a school you are not excited about. If you would not go there even if it was the only place where you were accepted (and you have to ask yourself that question, really, you do), why apply?</p>
<p>I strongly revommend that you sign up for CMU and JHU waiting list.</p>
<p>I know one student with perfect stat of 4.0 UGPA, 10 APs, 2400 SAT and lots of ectracurriculars but rejected by all top schools except one(waited). She was so desperate and started to think deeply who she was, why that happened, and what her life-goals were, traveling overseas. And he decided to sudy at the safety school.
Fortunately, she became the last person off the waitlist by the one of top schools. Now her perfomance is really excellent. All As in the courses and she work very hard to achieve her goals.</p>
<p>Now you face a tough challege but after this you become a different person, motivated, well-orgarnized and matured. This would be a valuable asset for your entire life.</p>
<p>“How hard is it to change majors or get transfers after you get in a school?”</p>
<p>That varies widely from school to school and department to department. If you want to transfer to Wharton or Stern after matriculation, it is VERY difficult. However, if you want go from English to History or Biology to Chemistry, not so much.</p>
<p>To read this thread, one would think the only colleges that matter are the very most selective schools. </p>
<p>There are many MANY schools that offer a great education. And frankly, your eyesight is very skewed if you are turning up your nose at schools like Cal Poly SLO, which is very well thought of around here. </p>
<p>Come out of the clouds, folks. Look around and realize that if you go to local State U it’s a pretty sure bet you won’t be the smartest student there.</p>
<p>@megan (and others). Often waitlists are not ranked or weighted. It could be that you were a finalist and there wasn’t enough room in the final selection. It could be that your stats were so strong that you might likely be recruited by other universities. The waitlist university wants to know it’s not being used as your “safety.”</p>
<p>If you are waitlisted by your top choice - make sure you contact them and send one or two pieces of supplemental material (a new award, another recommendation, current grades). DO NOT bombard them with information, but something to let them know you still want to be considered. Even if it’s just a phone call.</p>