Was that mentioned in the initial congratulations letter? I don’t think my son looked beyond that.
I won’t disagree with this. My D is put off by the fact that privates and OOS colleges saw through her application and admitted her but UCs gave up. Anyway I’m happy for UCLA and UCSB acceptances. At this point she has almost made up her mind so no qualms. I’m sure yours will rock whereever she is in. All that they need is a drive and passion in whatever they do.
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It was in her portal itself. A separate button in blue.
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How do you get past it when you see or hear of kiddos with lower GPAs and less of everything else getting into multiple schools and yours is rejected from everywhere? I feel so sad for her.
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It is difficult but she cannot compare her application to others. Her worth is not linked to which schools she did or did not get into but that she is a hard worker and did her best. Her accomplishments may not be appreciated by all schools so embrace the schools that love her back.
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S accepted as Undeclared in Letter & Science. 1st choice was Mech Engineering. I read the Alternative Majors FAQ - “If space does become available in my first choice major in the College of Engineering, will I be automatically considered? Yes, for freshmen only. If your first choice major was one in the College of Engineering and a space in that major becomes available, you will automatically be considered for that major.” What’s the chance of this happening?
But none of them did. She is devastated.
Very low chance of getting in but I would contact the ME Department and ask directly.
So you are saying she did not get into any colleges she applied? Did she have a couple of safeties on her list? Which schools did she apply and her resume? You can PM instead.
We all like to think that our kid “deserves it more”. It’s easy and human nature to feel that way. The reality is that they saw something in those “lower stats, lower everything “ kids that they didn’t see in ours.
Rejection is painful. But I believe it builds resilience and character. No doubt your daughter will find her place. 
I don’t believe she ‘deserves’ it more. I am just trying to understand the system. I guess her PIQs didn’t fit in with the culture of the schools she applied to. I certainly don’t begrudge anyone accepted - it’s wonderful for them but as a mum, I am just trying to find peace.
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Well my son is likely to decline is ME offer in favor of UCLA. So there’s a spot! 
We are struggling with this too. We didn’t know enough about the process during the application phase to add in ‘safeties’ – but we did add in 3 that we thought would be a for sure (Davis, Santa Barbara, Cal Poly SLO) his stats are strong, and he meets or exceeds all ‘Freshman profile’ standards for all the schools he applied to (Not Cal Tech - that was more than a stretch given their acceptance rate and was more just like a ‘why not, let’s see’). The safeties would simply be to get some Yes’s – but how good are the Yes’s from schools he doesn’t want to attend? He applied where he actually wanted to go.
I never in a million years thought a solid A student, with a UC 4.27, who is an excellent writer, with 8/9 HARD AP’s (all 4’s and 5’s) and 2 college credits from UT Austin, NHS AND is top 9% statewide, would be mainly waitlisted/rejected – but here we are. His major is not particularly competitive – and he has some ECs (not as a leader though, just an active participant) and has a job with a tech start-up – He feels like all the hard work he’s put in for the last 3+ years has been a waste.
I don’t have high hopes for the last 3 schools we’re waiting on, given the current status.
I am sorry that you’re dealing with this too – it doesn’t make sense – and this is so hard as a parent to watch.
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Totally agree here.
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We are practically in the same position with our daughter. She even did 2 APs independently because her school didn’t offer them!
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@mummabear - I don’t know if this helps, but my son drafted PIQs that I thought were great. We ran them by a former admissions counselor, who told him “I love these, but the UCs will not. They are too creative and UCs are not looking for that.” He did revise and submitted what I thought were PIQs inferior (more boring) to what he started with. Of note, of the 4 UCs he applied to, he only got in to UCI and was waitlisted at UCSD and UCSB (UCB pending), so who knows - maybe his more creative essays would have been a better choice after all (or maybe his original essays would have gotten him rejected everywhere).
That’s a long way of me saying that who knows what AOs are looking for when they read essays? Your daughter may have had great PIQs that happened not to line up with a reader who could fully appreciate them.
I feel for you with the disappointment though. There are so many factors involved in admissions and sometimes we don’t get the lucky breaks. This year has been so surprising in so many ways (for us, some good, some bad); I am sorry that your surprises have all been the yucky kind. Hang in there.
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Can you elaborate more on what was too creative? Or what the UCs are supposedly looking for in the essays?
Yeehaw!! Rejected (in state, typical strong applicant stats) UCSB, UCSD, UCLA and waitlisted at UCSC. Thankfully, admitted to several other OOS flagship state schools that liked what he has to offer. So thrilled to get to repeat this again with my daughter in a year. Lots of lessons learned, but also many questions. Congratulations to all of us for raising great kids - we got through some fo the worst years in history and have found a way to keep going!!
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I am so sorry you are going through this. I’ve basically given up trying to make sense of the process. Every admission cycle seems to obliterate prior historical assumptions around the ease of getting into a school - all schools getting incrementally and sometimes dramatically harder every year. I hope he has other options and I wish the best for getting off the WL.
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@JenBar - I would have to go back and look and see what I still have access to. There were so many essays across the schools and I don’t remember UC’s questions off the top of my head. I just remember the guidance, because I hated hearing it and struggled with whether to tell him to ignore it (even though I know less about admissions than she does). Ultimately, I told him I thought the UC essays were great as he had them originally, but it was his call. He decided to revise.
She told him “just answer the question,” which to me sounded very contrary to the usual “make yourself stand out” advice. In contrast, his UChicago essay was a wild ride of creative thinking (and, in my not-so-humble Mama opinion, absolutely fantastic), and I am virtually certain that it is why he got waitlisted at Chicago when his grades were well below the typical accepted student there and we were fully expecting a rejection.
That’s probably not very helpful, sorry. I was just trying to put context on the possible differences in who is looking for what in essays/PIQs, so some of the essays that we thought were great as parents may have not aligned for a given school. Outside of that, it’s all out of my expertise.
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