So a few weeks away before decision needs to be made and here is where we are at:
Waitlisted at 9 school (Skidmore, Bowdoin, Amherst, Pomona, Smith, BU, Wesleyan, etc)
Accepted at University of Rochester, Rutgers Honors, UVM Honors
Stats: 1560 SAT, IB, lots of AP classes, 4.0, top 8% class, great EC including theater, writing and music, year-long writing internship, p/t job for 2 years, great recommendations, blah blah blah
DD has decided that they really want a small liberal arts undergrad education but did not get into any school offering that. Future goal is to be an English professor or work in publishing. She is thinking it would be best to accept to Rochester and take a gap year at which time she would like to intern at a publishing company and then reapply to schools for next cycle. We do need financial aide (I think this could be part of the reason we were waitlisted at most schools - we are in NJ in a wealthy area, high performing high school, majority kids full pay). Visited Rochester on student admit day. Great school. DD liked it but did not love it cause she wants the small experience. Rochester gave great scholarship too. UVM is off the radar now due to all the sexual assaults that have come to light.
Any advice on how to proceed greatly appreciated. I would love to see DD take a chance on Rochester but I know the English department there is struggling a bit after speaking to students and administration. DD afraid that if she transfers aide will not be offered. I’m afraid that if we do this all over again, we will be in the same position.
I am sorry your DD is disappointed with her results. She is certainly an excellent student and will be successful wherever she lands. If the strategy is to do a gap year an reapply to the same LACs on her list, her results may not be any different. Those schools are increasingly impossible to get into. If the strategy is to expand her list of LACs, then I think she may do well. Schools like Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, Drew, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, etc. should welcome your student, maybe with merit, and give her the LAC experience she is looking for. Best of luck.
I’m sorry that the admissions season didn’t work out the way you hoped - it’s been a tough year. For what it is worth, U of R is a great school - S22 has a good friend who attends and loves it. It could be a good choice for your daughter if she is open to it. If she is set on a LAC, a gap year could work if she applies to a different, and less selective, set of schools - Conn College, Trinity, Union etc. Typically, just taking a gap year won’t result in getting in to schools where a student has already been waitlisted/denied or a “better” school. I’d eliminate transfer as an option since selective, small LACs take very few students this way (the acceptance rate for transfers at these schools is even lower than the rate for incoming freshman).
Did she apply early anywhere? My daughter took a gap year but did not reapply to college . My daughter went to Spain. I would think a gap year at home might be really long. Let me know if you have any gap year specific questions and feel free to PM me. U of Rochester seems like a great option.
If your daughter starts somewhere and then tries to transfer, she might not get in anywhere that she likes better and might not be offered financial aid. I would not start anywhere unless it would be acceptable for a full four years.
If your daughter takes a gap year, then it is not clear why the results would be any better in a year. I would not do this unless your daughter is planning to apply to some schools where acceptance and aid are more likely compared to where she applied this year.
What is your budget? What is your budget without taking on any loans at all?
I think that @Cascadiaparent sort of nailed it. There are a lot of LACs. If you want suggestions for other LACs that are more likely to be affordable where your daughter could apply while taking a gap year you are likely to get a lot of suggestions here on CC. LACs that are as famous and highly ranked as Skidmore, Bowdoin, Amherst, and Pomona are all reaches even for the strongest students.
Do you have an internship lined up or connections to get it? Just wondering if relying on a gap year if the internship doesnt come through? I do not expect most companies would welcome a high school grad intern
I completely agree. We are looking around $40,000 being completely doable without loans. Which works with all the numbers we got through net price calculators. This year our high school had a lot of waitlists which was shocking to the administration. The school is use to getting kids into all top schools but not this year. What is interesting is high schools around us in lower income areas had record high number of top school acceptances which they have never seen before.
We are in such an unpredictable college admission cycle right now. I actually did some research and transfers at some of the smaller LAC had higher acceptances rates this past 2022 cycle compared to regular admission (talking 10% to 30%). I checked the common data set. That though never shows the full picture cause I am sure most of those are full pay students. One admissions officer told me that this unpredictability is going to continue for several more years due to a flood of international students finally being able to come back into the US since Covid.
when a top 8%/4.0/1560/strong ECs doesn’t get you into Skidmore we are in a different world…it is stunning to me how fast the standards are rising- Skidmore was a safety for one of the collegekids (with notably less impressive credentials) not that long ago
Re: UVM, I understand the skittishness but…I don’t know that the situation is actually worse at UVM than other schools- perhaps the students are more successful at being vocal about it? Between the college kids friends across multiple unis (including UVM) I am not hearing that the rate of sexual assault is any higher than anywhere else, or that the admin is that different (not to say that it’s great, just that none of the reports I am getting indicate that admins are good at this anywhere).
IOW, you are hearing about it from UVM- but that doesn’t mean it is any more likely to happen there than anywhere else. Just be sure that you aren’t closing the door to an otherwise good option based on a news cycle that may not be providing a full picture.
I agree transfer merit aid will generally be less (need based aid should be the same especially at the schools that meet full aid or come close), but it’s not clear you qualify for need based aid), and many LACs don’t even take many transfers because well, they’re small.
If she takes a gap year, realize she will be applying in a matter of months, and nothing will have happened that is likely to change the results at the schools where she wasn’t accepted. I agree with the other less selective LACs listed above, if your D does take a gap year.
Also do you know if Rochester allows those who take a gap year to apply to other schools…most selective schools do not allow that)…has your D asked them?
Unfortunately, I think a lot of schools are admitting a large percentage of their class through ED these days. A neighbor’s daughter got into Skidmore ED this year with nowhere near the stats of the OPs daughter (a good student, of course, but not a tippy top one). The ED affect is especially strong at schools where the class size is already small.
Do the Net Price Calculators normally get you to your price point? If they do, I would find one new school that makes your price point and apply ED next year. I would also expand her schools to include some of the midwestern LACs. Did she look at places like Kenyon?
The NACAC list of colleges with openings is now available. Often some very good schools are on that list. Many are LACs in areas other than the northeast. Take a look and see if any of those schools are of interest. The list will be updated daily.
The UVM issues seems to more than just a handful. We are talking hundreds in just the past few years. There were just accusations this weekend of several girls being drugged at a local bar (heard this from a student we know who is there and looking to transfer due to the current situation on campus). I do agree that sexual assaults on campus are probably high everywhere but no one is reporting.
WL are rejections. But a hedge for the school. And whereas schools may be need blind ( most of yours if not all), the WL may be aware.
If you do it again in a year then you need to change your list.
It needs an Allegheny or Wooster. Allegheny is still taking apps!!
Rochester is fantastic. I assume you are from NJ but I guess I would have questioned applying to Rutgers or UVM unless at the time large was possible.
Your other option, if $40k is your #, there are schools still out there taking apps. Find a small one from the upcoming NACAC list. They would love to have $40k in revenue.
See attached. I guess it just came out. And will likely grow. You can check for size. Congrats on Rochester though - it’s not huge and her major will likely be comfortably sized with research.
Edit. Just saw a post from @momofboiler1 I haven’t looked at the list but said Juniata and Earlham are on too. I’m sure other LACs. And these fine schools would love your $40k!!!
If she is applying again, I’d check the Colleges that Change Lives list. Your student may want to consider schools where she might be a more geographically interesting candidate. Many of those can be generous with merit and fall under the radar. You can likely get under 40K at many which may be money well preserved for grad programs.
I think a gap year can be fine IF you have a plan for it. Rochester is a great school, my older kid was admitted but it ended up too expensive for us. But transfer path is definitely risky.