SMU Waitlist?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Southern Methodist University
1

I just got the news tonight that I am waitlisted at SMU, which is baffling to me because I have a very strong application.
34 ACT
1500 SAT
4.27 GPA
Cornell sent me a handwritten note that my essay was one of the best they got this year
And I’ve interned at 2 prestigious institutions
and I volunteer and have hobbies and all that jazz

The internet says the criteria to get into SMU is way less than that so…
I was just wondering if anyone else got waitlisted and is confused.
(I don’t have anything bad on social and I have not committed any crimes btw)

2

Waitlisted also
1590 SAT
4.34 gpa
2 varsity sports, focused, interesting EC’s
Highest rigor, 12 AP’s (5 on Cal BC sophomore)
US presidential scholar nominee

Received Regents scholarship and highest merit scholarship from other schools. Go figure.

3

Yield Protection, folks. They know you will most likely enroll at a higher ranked school.

4

“Yield Protection, folks. They know you will most likely enroll at a higher ranked school.”

I bet there is alot of merit in this statement. I am betting SMU knew both these students were over qualified and would likely not attend.

5

How much interest did you show in SMU throughout the process? Visit campus? Regularly communicate with recruiter? Open marketing emails from SMU? All that is tracked. If you really want to go, they will make room for you. Pony Up!

6

hi guys. i got waitlisted at smu,and its been 3 months but i havent heard back from them? even though i have already committed to another school but it would still be nice to get a final answer :confused: have you guys heard back from them?

7

This thread is old, but I know a kid last year that got into SMU w/a 1560 SAT and 35 ACT, but he was denied by U of Miami and other schools that were lower ranked. He was told it was b/c they knew he wouldn’t attend, and those schools had to protect their yield. It happens. SMU told him “yes” b/c his HS has a very high yield for SMU. At some point, they know that a bright kid from OOS (SMU has a high in-state student body) is going to end up at Wake Forest or Colgate or somewhere else. Also, compared to a lot of schools, SMU has a higher rate of kids who go there but don’t stay. They know some of these more stellar applicants might go to SMU 1st year, then transfer their 2nd year to something that makes more sense.

SMU is a school that would like to be Vanderbilt or Rice, but it ain’t quite there yet.

8

I do agree that there is an algorithm used by all colleges to enroll the smartest kids possible while hedging bets on some they suspect are applying possibly as a safety. The end goal seems to be having a low acceptance rate. However, I do not agree that it is “no Vanderbilt or Rice”. One of my daughters was accepted to both Vanderbilt and University of Texas - liberal arts honors (out of state) & she chose SMU & never looked back. It was unequivocally the right choice. Her educational experience was exceptional. By the way, I have also graduated kids from Elon University, Amherst College & I have one getting a PhD from Yale right now. The education my daughter received from SMU, the social & residential experience, the opportunities to grow as an intellectual, and the doors that opened after graduation stand toe to toe with all of these other institutions. It is a top notch school that only continues to get better.

9

I wonder the difference between the student apps that get accepted early action verse early decision? Isn’t early decision binding? So, they wouldn’t not take you because you might go somewhere else.

10

@*90 You’re right. ED is binding. Most Elite schools have much higher acceptance rates for ED and much lower acceptance rates for RD. SMU (according to their Common Data Set) has a lower acceptance rate for ED than the school’s rate overall. Common Data Set shows that for the year before last, SMU had an acceptance rate of 52% (which is very high for a Selective school), but the admit rate wasn’t as high for ED. My guess is that the kids who applied ED weren’t that strong. SMU is a very good school, but it tends to be a “Safety” for kids trying to get into Vanderbilt, Rice, UT-Austin, USC, etc. I am not knocking the school at all. That has just been the historical nature of its student body. SMU gets a lot of good kids who wanted to go somewhere else but didn’t get it. The student profile is generally a lot higher than TCU, which tends to be more of a 1st choice, but the TCU kids I know generally weren’t even remotely interested in a Vanderbilt or USC. JMO.

11

Correction: For class starting in Fall 2018, I went back and checked the CDS for SMU. The overall admit rate is: 52% but the ED admission rate is 61%.

12

I have similar statistics (34 ACT, 1520 SAT, 4.9 GPA) and was accepted but I also showed lots of interest throughout the process, including auditioning for the music school, shadowing some classes, attending Destination SMU, and attending a Lyle Students reception. They really do track how interested you are in the university.