<p>I applied regular decision.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>
<p>I was deferred and still haven’t received word whether or not I am accepted. I was wondering who else found out about there decision after being deferred and where they are from?!!</p>
<p>While some have already gone out, decisions about deffered status are being mailed every week.</p>
<p>Received letter today which offered admission for Fall 2014 yet I applied for Fall 2013. Letter said “Committee has selected you to receive a special conditional offer of admission to SMU for Fall 2014, provided you complete a minimum of 24 credit hours with at least a 2.7 GPA.” My high school GPA is 4.0 unweighted or 4.4 weighted. I applied for engineering. Looks like I would need to dumb myself down to a 2.7 or something stupid like that.</p>
<p>SMU was one of my back up safety schools. SMU is not even ranked in the Top 200 world wide. Even UC-Riverside is on the Top 200 list. See link below for the Global Top 200:</p>
<p>[World</a> University Rankings 2011-2012](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-12/world-ranking]World”>World University Rankings 2011-12 | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>
<p>Fortunately, I did get accepted to a few top 100 universities on the global Top 200 list and will attend one of them.</p>
<p>I will “pass” on the Fall 2014 SMU offer and SMU in general. Just shows you what a crap shoot this whole thing has become. </p>
<p>Good luck to those that attend !! Hope you do not have to be a “full pay”.</p>
<p>I was deferred EA from admissions this winter. I was accepted to the music school for vocal performance about two weeks after my audition. I received my big red envelope on Tuesday, with my personalized letter date March 1! I tried hard to get in, and am so glad that I did. I can tell that it is a truly lovely place to be.</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS to all that were accepted!! I know that amazing feeling of joy when you receive that red envelope. Anyhow, three years ago I visited SMU and absolutely fell in love with the campus. For me that was the world’s perfect university and I could not imagine myself at any other school. My senior year I decided to apply and make it my #1 choice; unfortunately, I was offered the conditional acceptance program and was not able to to attend the following semester. I attended the University of North Texas and worked super hard to earn good grades and make my dream of attending SMU a dream come true. </p>
<p>This year I was received that big red envelope saying I was admitted. It was honestly one of the best moments of my life, knowing I could possibly make my dream come true. Honestly, don’t be discouraged if you get the conditional acceptance or don’t get accepted. Everything happens for a reason and you will end up at the right school in the end. </p>
<p>Again, congrats to everyone who was accepted!!</p>
<p>@calcan13 We have seen some extreme variables in SMU admissions in our area, as well. My educated guess (I know admissions officials at several other schools) is that they are getting smarter about who is using SMU as a backup/safety. While they have greatly increased their average GPA recently, they know certain students, especially OOS, view them as a safety. They have to take a risk on losing kids who might actually have attended because a majority of over 4.0’s UW will not matriculate there.</p>
<p>Accepted RD today!!</p>
<p>Note to students wanting to go to SMU Cox Business school. If you were not accepted DIRECTLY into the Cox business school (carefully read the acceptance letter), be ready for a surprise. Buried in the fine print on the website is the fact that you have to APPLY to get into the Cox school after 3 semesters at SMU, and you need to maintain a 3.3 GPA. If you have a 3.29…</p>
<p>@oldindie This is no different a process than any other Business School, some of whom don’t even offer freshman admission. Many even require a 3.5. The moral of the story? Work hard to get what you want. Study and get a 3.3.</p>
<p>@oldindie is no one directly admitted into Cox? Because my letter just said I was accepted, not that I was admitted into Cox. Is the same for everyone or just certain students?</p>
<p>In the past some people have been directly admitted into Cox as a freshman but I’ve heard the numbers are very small (like 100). It may have changed but honestly, I wouldn’t worry about it because most or almost all the students enter SMU as a pre-major and you’ll be able to declare your major as a sophomore. It is rather simple process in order to gain admittance. You just need to meet the minimum requirements, which is based off of your GPA and more importantly you have to maintain a certain GPA in order to STAY IN the program. Your advisors will help you through the whole process. It isn’t like UT Austin, where you have this extremely competitive process where you have to apply to the business school in order to gain acceptance. You can get into Cox simply if you meet the GPA requirement, however, I would say it is more difficult to stay in. </p>
<p>My son is a sophomore at SMU and it was a fairly simple process for him to declare his major. He was accepted into Lyle as a incoming freshman and he declared his major at the beginning of his sophomore year.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. Congrats on your acceptance and good luck! If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Actually, it is VERY different than every other school my teen was accepted to. Included are several schools ranked higher than SMU by Bloomberg, US News, etc. In all other cases, you apply to the Business school, and are accepted/rejected. If rejected, you may be offered admission as undeclared.</p>
<p>I have no problem with their policy, but I do have a problem with the fact that they hide it several layers down in the Cox website. And, there is no mention of this is all the glowing letters we have received each week. Again, if that is the policy, fine, just be up front about it. </p>
<p>I understand that it is an outstanding school and I look forward to visiting, but our initial encounter is less than positive.</p>
<p>I have always been very aware of how to gain entrance into the business school. At any visit or information session it has always been made very clear. It’s certainly not a hidden secret.</p>
<p>Actually, it is a ‘hidden secret’ if it requires a trip to the school to find out. </p>
<p>Similar policies are discussed up front and very clearly in the admissions packages from comparable schools we are considering. No airplane ride needed. Why not at SMU?</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Admission - SMU](<a href=“Frequently Asked Questions”>Frequently Asked Questions)</p>
<p>A quick glance at the frequently asked questions and you can explicitly see that SMU declares what the major declaration system is for incoming students. There is no hidden secret, it took me less than 15 seconds to get to that page without ever having seen it before.</p>
<p>"How and when will I choose a major?
SMU offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors. Your academic advisor and many other support systems are available to help you choose your major. You will make this decision by the end of your sophomore year.</p>
<p>May I declare my major during my first year?
Upon entering SMU, you may declare your intended major. All students enter the university through Dedman College of the Humanities, Mathematics and Sciences. You may not officially declare your major until you have successfully completed at least 24 hours and satisfied the entrance requirements for your intended major."</p>
<p>I don’t think SMU is hiding anything behind a plane ride. </p>
<p>As for this thread… happy to post some stats for next year’s class :]</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Objective:
ACT: 34
SAT II: not reported but… 700 Chemistry 740 Math IIC (with a calculator)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.47 Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 57/450
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5s on Chemistry, English Language, World History 4 on United States History and 3 on Biology
Senior Year Course Load: AP MacroEconomics, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C (Mech+E/M), AP US Government, AP English Literature, AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, AP European History… and PE
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1st Chair at TMEA in the Texas All-State Band (4A) in an unnamed instrument to protect privacy.</p>
<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Band, Work, Spanish Club Freshman Year, A few computer science competitions.
Job/Work Experience: A job at a local farmer’s market with an average of 17 hours/week for 16 months
Volunteer/Community service: 50-ish hours that weren’t reported
Summer Activities: Work/Mechanical Engineering Internship
Essays: Killed them, explored my passions in depth, tried to convey SMU as my #1 choice
Teacher Recommendation: Chemistry Teacher - Probably Above Average - Excellent range. AP US History Teacher - very fond of me, probably a top 5% or 1% letter.
Counselor Rec: She said it was ‘good’. To be honest I didn’t really get to know her until 2nd Semester Junior Year.
Additional Rec: Calculus Teacher talked about how I taught the class, included a quote from a substitute that loved me - she was a graduate of SMU for her undergraduate and master’s degrees. </p>
<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Received Merit Scholarship? Yes, Founder’s Scholarship ($15,000/year) + BBA Scholars ($5,000/year)
Intended Major: Financial Consulting+Mechanical Engineering MAYBE Minor Music (BBA Scholar so I’m in Cox already)
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Large, Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Grandfather attended SMU Cox and graduated Banking School there.</p>
<p>Reflection
Strengths: High Test Scores/Recognized Musician/Well Rounded Individual with a lot of passion
Weaknesses: GPA/Class Rank
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Honestly I think part of it was my ACT score - the other part was using my essays and especially ‘Why SMU’ to show that I was in love with SMU. This might have been the most important thing for the committee when deciding merit based scholarships for me.
The most unique thing in your application: Wide variety of activities across 4 years, but accomplished great things in whatever I set my mind to.</p>
<p>olindie, my son was accepted directly to cox school as BBA Scholar. He applied EA and got his accepted package to SMU in middle of DEC with Founder Scholarship (15K per year). The BBA scholar invitation came at the end of DEC. It was nice Happy New Year gift. In the middle of Jan, he received Cox School Scholarship (5K per year) letter in the mail. We are so proud of him. </p>
<p>SMU still offers to about 100 BBA Scholar per year.</p>
<p>Oldindie - I’m sorry you have misinterpreted SMU’s process on how to declare a major. SMU allows YOU to decide what you’d like your major to be. YOU can get into whatever major you’d like as long as you meet the minimum GPA requirement for that major. YOU will not be denied if you meet the minimum requirements. That is what makes SMU unique! </p>
<p>Unfortunately that doesn’t hold true for the other colleges like you said. For example, at UT- Austin you have to apply to the school of your choice, such as the business school, which is a very competitive selection process and you may end up getting DENIED even with excellent stats! That’s crazy if you ask me. I can understand why those colleges have to do that though. There are way too many students and they cannot accept everyone.</p>
<p>ljiangrsf~Congratulations to your son!! My DS was also accepted into the Cox BBA scholars program and was also lucky enough to receive the additional scholarship :)</p>
<p>I must say, everything we have read from beginning to end informed us of the requirements to either apply or stay in the Cox BBA program. We have found SMU to be very upfront with their GPA standards and have made sure that Jr was aware of this when he committed to the program.</p>
<p>We are VERY excited to become apart of the SMU family this coming fall…PONY UP!!</p>
<p>If you happen to get a lousy, tenured Prof and a ‘C’ as a Freshman, you are hosed. No Cox admission for you. Parents dumped $100K, students either end up in a useless liberal arts major or transfer with 3 semesters wasted. Is this the way we build business leaders of the future?</p>
<p>None of the other top schools my younger student was accepted into have this policy. SMU appears to be a great school. I just do not understand why they would subject Freshman to this.</p>