Although GT says demonstrated interest is not a significant factor, I really think it helps to at least create a dialogue with their regional admission rep. I just feel it is harder to turn down a student when they can place a face to a name. Did your DD visit GT? attend any admission events? We visited GT in 2012 (the end of my DD's soph year) and in Spring 2013 we talked to the then current regional GT admission rep who told my DD that it would be beneficial for her to visit GT again in the fall of 2013. I asked why and she just kept on telling us over and over again to do it so my Dd signed up for an organized overnight visit for that Sept. When we got to GT I realized why the rep kept on telling us to do a repeat visit. There were new admission reps assigned to my DD's area of interest who had just started working for admission and I think she wanted to make sure they met my DD.
This next point may be painful and that is not my intent but colleges really do know which students fit best for their particular college. Back in 2010 when we visited my oldest at his college for family weekend, he told us he was so thankful that Yale, Northwest etc (all his reach schools) had denied him because Ohio State was really where he fit in best and that he loved his college. Seeing how his four years at college went , I could agree completely with his statement. Same for my DD. I try to protect her privacy so I don't post her specifics but her high schools grades were not over a 4.0 and her SAT was not over 2000. She had transferred from a weak STEM high school to a powerhouse high school her soph year so in her words she "went from being bright to average." She had wanted to be an engineering since 7th grade when she met Sally Ride who encouraged her to get into robotics. We knew she had an uphill battle gaining admission to GT because in the bell curve of acceptances she fell into the 25% where most accepted applicants were 75% better than her "statswise" and number of AP classes (with the transfer she was eligible to take as many as the other students had her high school). GT was her number one school and she had very good EC's that were unique-as we say GT wants a well-rounded class of well-lopsided who have 2-3 things that they really love to do for "doing's sake." GT was her number one school and some people snarked that my DD was accepted because she is Hispanic. I like to think instead she was accepted because of the fact that my DD was the kind of student that fits well within the GT model. It was intimidating when she started at GT because she knew many of the students had better grades and test scores that her. But GT knew what they were doing when they accepted her- she got a 4.0 her first semester at GT and continued to get great grades, is part of the exclusive engineering honors society and will graduate with highest honors. She has won national engineering awards, been part of two research projects (one at the invite of the head of the dept who specially selected her out of the class), regularly gets at least six job offers each summer for internships, won over 20 private scholarships, been part of a sorority and is a regular ringer on basketball intramural teams (she play for 12 years) (I post the last to show she also has fun at GT). If GT only admitted based on grades and test scores, they would not have admitted her, but instead it is the margin issues that GT relies upon and that is why my DD has been so successful at GT. (by the way please forgive me for bragging, my point is just to demonstrate how GT looks beyond test scores and grades).
I would be happy to look over your DDās application and essays so pm if you want me to do that. Back in 2014 I had a family come to me when their Salutatorian daughter was being denied left and right by 13 colleges (reaches and matches). After looking at her application (where she did not follow directions on the EC/CS chart and didnāt fill it out completely and correctly (in order of importance) and her essays (not answering the prompt, writing really pompously), I could see why she was turned down by so many schools and her results made sense.
Good luck with the rest of the process and trust me, your DD will end up at a college she loves more than GT. Plus with her stats I am sure she will get some great merit awards and nothing takes the sting off of rejection like a nice merit award (that is what happened to my oldest).
When I read through the EA thread, I was surprised that so many high stats kids got rejected. Many kids with ACT 35 - 36, GPA 4.0, and great ECs, didnāt get in. Maybe this is GaTechās way of yield protection. They know kids with these stats will be admitted by some other higher ranking colleges and would likely to choose those in stead of GaTech.
@sweetest , where else did your DD apply? Any acceptance yet? As I mentioned in another thread, in my area, girls who are interested in STEM majors got into fantastic schools, such as Stanford, UPenn, Princeton, Northwestern, MIT, etc. You DD will have many great choices in the end, no questions about it.
As I said upthread (but may have been overlooked), how many AP courses does Dās high school offer? If she took only 9 out of 25+ that were available, her transcript may not show absolute maximum rigor comparatively. I donāt like this extra pressure for students from competitive high schools, but it may also have been a factor that worked against her. CC sometimes espouses a common fallacy that 6-8 AP classes are enough for anyone from any school for selective college admissions. This is patently false in some cases.
@Studious99 ā itās not that. My D18 will have a total of 8 AP classes at the end of HS (she completed 4 through junior year). Her large public HS in the ATL suburbs has 25 or so AP classes available and sheās just outside the top 10% of her class. Another kid with more APs, similar stats, same EC spike, and in the top 10% was deferred EA. However, the deferred kid applied for BME while D18 chose Psychology. I think thatās a significant factor. I also think D18 is a better writer (even though I havenāt read any of the other kidsā essays). Her AP Lit teacher reviewed her Common App essay and said something to the effect that, āpeople who read it will know youā (the subject would be considered somewhat risky here on CC).
It seems to me, after having gone through most of this process, that these higher-end colleges have a bar that kids have to meet in terms of stats and then itās totally subjective. Having even higher academic stats doesnāt make that much of a difference (the deferred kid had an ACT 36).
After reading everything, I can see how my dd was denied. Itās still socking because we know that sheās such a great student. Her friends and ours are like, āWHAT!?!?!ā when we share the news that she was denied.
Her school probably offers 25+ Ap classes, more once you consider that a lot of kids will take APās online. She also was part of band through 10th gradeā¦ she stopped band so that she could have room for more AP. She took AP Human, AP World, APUSH, AP Chem, AP Calc ABā¦ all 3ās and 4ās but 5 on APHuman. She also took the AP English Exam (on teacher recommendation) and got a 4 but did not take the class. Senior year sheās taking AP Calc BC (has an 88), Ap Psych, Ap Physics A (prob should have taken C for Engineering at Tech), AP Spanish.
My daughter has had a pretty balanced HS life. She loves school and has always done well, but she puts a lot of time and energy (if not more) into her athletics, family activities, friendships and social life, working part time jobs, and church. So maybe tech could āseeā that in all honesty she is not that top notch studentā¦ and thatās okay!
Weāve done a lot of reflecting (and her mom turned to the internet for advice ), and we know that this rejection is not the end of the world for her. Tech was the 1st school that we toured when she was a freshman. We fell in love and it felt like a perfect fit for her. As we toured and visited multiple schools over the next 4 years, Tech was always the barometer to which we compared every other school. Thatās what I mean when I called Tech her āsafeā schoolā¦ it just always seemed like the best fit for her.
Thanks again, congrats to everyone who was accepted EA, and best of luck to those deferred!!!
@sweetest, I assume she applied to UGA as well? For the first round they are very much stats oriented and I would assume she has been admitted there (if she was in the EA round). Also, with her stats she would be a āfull rideā at University of Alabama, and many other schools close by (Auburn, Clemson, etc) will more than likely give her great merit.
@sweetest Just wanted to say that your D sounds like a very bright, very well balanced young woman. I have every confidence that she will move past this disappointment and bloom at whatever college is lucky enough to have her attend.
@sweetest - sounds like your daughter and my son might have attended the same highschoolā¦he was admitted early and also applied and got into the honors college at uga but was deferred and ultimately denied at techā¦he wanted to be an engineer so he headed off to Auburn - no regrets and a very, very happy campus. If he had not wanted to be an engineer he would have attended UGAā¦great school.
My son was rejected from Georgia Tech. Out of state
. ACT 35. GPA 4.0 All AP. Classes. Good ECās and leadership but not off the charts. Applied for engineering. Works every summer. Around 250 volunteer hours. Accepted to Purdueās engineering program.
Scores do not mean everything, specifically the act. They also do pay attention to her actual achievement vs. how she does in the class. Sure, she made all Aās, but only 3-4s? This shows that either the class was too easy, or she worked enough for a grade but not enough to understand the material. Her 35 is great, she still does have a solid application, but Tech is renowned for its engineering programs. Sheās good, but they take the cream of the cream of the crop for their technical degrees. I think she may have just chosen a major that is too competitive for her stats. (Extracurriculars seem like a weakness, some but not enough)
Then again, Tech does say that they do not base their decisions too heavily on the applied major. In other words, they would possibly have still rejected her if she applied to computer science or electrical engineering.
@Studious99 Yeah, I believe the exam scores hurt her application. I went to a seminar at tech talking about admissions, and they said they do consider the correlation between the grade in the class vs the score on the exam. Maybe they got a mid low B in the class because of xyz, but clearly understood the material as they got a 4-5 on the exam. They would look at that studentās mid year report to see if they are increasing to work harder etc, then decide. But for the opās daughter, if she got Aās but only made 3-4, thats a bit of a red flag, signifying either the class was too easy or she worked for a grade but didnt understand it thoroughly. Of course, overall AP exams do not make or break an application, but they do offer insight to the student.
GA Tech is never a safety school. According to Prepscholar, her stats are about average for GA Tech applicants. With a 33% statistical acceptance rate, she still has a 66% chance of being declined. Itās about the same statistical chance of getting into Baylor Law School. The University of GA has a very good engineering program as well.
@sweetest, I also work as a college consultant, and I would love for your daughterās GC to contact Ga Tech and ask about her. This is a very legitimate thing that GCās do on behalf of their students. Maybe GC will get an answer, and maybe not, but it wonāt hurt for GC to reach out.
The in-state EA admit rate was 46%, so even with the less than stellar AP scores, Iām a little surprised by her denial. You both sound like wonderful people, and I know sheāll have other options, but it would be nice if you (and the rest of us in CC land who always want to learn more about the mysterious world of college admissions) were able to learn something that would answer some nagging doubts.
Keep us posted, and I wish your DD the very best. I think sheāll do smashing wherever she goes!
Rejected (after Deferred from EA)
BME
ACT: 36
History SAT 800, Math II SAT 790, Biology SAT 790
AP Courses: 10 (Scored 5 on all tests taken including Biology, AB Calc)
GPA: 4.00 (uw) and 5.15 (w) at HS ranked Top 5 in state by US News&WR, WaPost, and Niche
GPA senior year: 4.00 (uw) and 5.83 (w) ā 5 AP (6 w) and 1 Honors (5w)
Class rank: HS does not rank but in Top 5%
Co-curriculars: NHS, Sports Captain, leader SGA, Honor Committee, Social Committee
Community Service: Eagle Scout, church leader, community fundraiser, camp counselor, other
OOS
Schools Accepted, all to Honors programs: UVA, UNC-CH, NCSU, Clemson
Congrats to everyone that was accepted to Georgia Tech. Unknown what else was needed.
I have an instate friend who had the sam thing happen to their student. Similar stats, stellar studentā¦rejected from GT. Their feeling is that because their child attends a large, competitive GA suburban school it made their admissions quest more challenging. GT was only going to admit so many top students from the same suburban high school. I am so sorry for all. This is so wrong.
From what Iāve seen on the threads for UF, FSU, and GT, Iām getting the impression that:
[ul]
[] SAT/ACT scores are being given much less weight in the applications than most people assume.
[] The total number of AP and DE classes are less important than UW GPA and the presence of at least some of the more challenging AP courses. This makes sense to some degree since not all AP and DE classes are the same level of difficulty (e.g. AP Environmental Science vs AP Physics 1 vs AP Physics C)
[] Geographic diversity is definitely a thing and it may even hold a greater sway than ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic diversity in some cases
[] The impact of essays will remain a mystery
[li] Universities (these three at least) are doing everything possible to maximize the use of their existing resources so that they reach as many students as possible. Iām really impressed by the guaranteed transfers, summer and spring starts, and other pathway programs that these schools have developed in order to accept more students[/li][/ul]