Villanova - Class of 2023 - Early Action Discussion/Decisions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Villanova University
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@tbrixton, those stats are more than good enough to get into Nova. I think a couple of things come into play with these schools. They actively recruit you to apply, hence pushing up both US and International applicants. The common app makes it easier as well. So they beef up the applicant # and drive down the acceptance rate which they then advertise and market as exclusive.

Nova clearly got a bump because of their Hoop team and the Business school ranking in one publication.

If you look at scattergrams it’s essentially no difference who gets in and who doesn’t.

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@tbrixton I just looked at your daughter’s stats and really surprised with her Hispanic status and activities that she was denied…not even deferred. Very strange…does not make sense at all. I really believe Villanova gets so many applicants that they are not able to process them properly, which makes @Oneiota’s comment about it being a crap shoot even more credible. My son is also Hispanic and he has gotten into every school so far…36 ACT, etc., and he will be attending Notre Dame. He really liked Villanova and it was high on his list. No question he was seduced by the wonderful school spirit and welcoming feel of the students, and of course the sports (basketball team!). I always worried his priorities were wrong with selecting a school, which is why I am grateful he was accepted to ND. I really don’t feel Villanova’s enormous popularity is based on its academics so much…it is mostly marketing and the basketball team. Still, it is a great school – just that it’s a bit overrated for these reasons…hence the large applicant pool.

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ACT: 31 (superscored w/ 2 30’s)
SAT: N/A
GPA: 3.9 UW
Rank: School Does Not Rank
Rigor (APs/honors): 6 APs
Extras: Student Council, Speech and Debate, Beta Club, TED Talk, and Theater
State Residency: NC
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M

Applied date: October 18, 2018
Decision date: January 11, 2018

Decision/College: Accepted/College of Liberal Arts
Major: Undeclared

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Congratulations to those that have been accepted and best of luck to those that have been deferred. Villanova has seen an increase in its applicants since its NCAA win in 2016. I visited Villanova for accepted students day in 2017 when my D17 was accepted. My husband and I were quite impressed with the academics at Villanova and had a chance to talk to a few professors during that visit. My D17 chose another school but I am excited that my S19 has been accepted.

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I got deferred :confused:
SAT: 1480 superscored
GPA: 4.27/5
Classes: IB Diploma Candidate + Physics H + Calculus H
Rank: 15/100 in a very competitive class
Extracurriculars: Competitive Irish Dancer, Varsity Lacrosse Captain, Varsity Swim Manager, math tutor, CCD teacher
White female

166

@Oneiota @WineLover Thanks for the nice comments. To be perfectly honest 'Nova was not high on the radar. My daughter ridiculously applied to 14 schools and 'Nova weighed in at 11 of 14 and as mentioned did not visit, email, etc. Also, at $67k or so we would not be getting loans and I assume little to no merit, 'Nova was not viable price-wise given better schools offering more money. I would say a number of factors are leading to deferrals and denies (apologies for length, but hopefully a good read):

  1. Enrollment is about 7,000 so they can and should be picky and with large numbers of applicants. As mentioned above Villanova won the NCAA Championship in both 2016 and 2018 so that absolutely grows the numbers. I am pretty sure most colleges have an algorithm based on previous years that tell them if we accept this many at this profile they will get this many enrolled. While accepting high numbers overall boosts your numbers accepted, these schools know that kids that can get into Ivies and other top-tier schools are using them as safeties. So if they see a high number with no interest they may be weary vs. slightly lower from a kid who visited several times, contacted, they know they want to go.
  2. Having said that bigger schools can be a bit more flexible with the numbers. And, let's make no mistake about this, one thing I have learned over the last year that this is big business, huge business! Yes it is about educating our children but money keeps the schools moving -- there have been a number of small privates that have gone out of business because of dwindling numbers. So, the marketing machine gets cranked up. I used to be an analyst and as you know there are lies, damn lies and statistics. And making sure the numbers are high add to the prestige to the school and increasing enrollment. Northeastern has a program whereas if you are "under the numbers" but still deemed worthy, you must go abroad your first semester Freshman year so your numbers don't count toward their overall numbers they can publish. Maryland has created a separate school on campus you can attend, where no one really knows the difference but this "school" doesn't count toward their numbers.
  3. And the money has been getting out of a control for years. My youngest is in 8th grade and I am wondering if I will see the $100k/year school before she finishes college. A friend of mine's daughter was asked to apply to a DIII school for lacrosse. It was a small New England private school. They said she could have a spot on the team if she did ED - cost $73k/year, without knowing of any chance of merit (Fin Aid was not happening). There were just a few spots left. They passed, but all I could think of there was 20 kids from boarding schools shelling out $73k/year no problem - another interesting way to keep the $$ and enrollment up at a small school.
  4. Sports plays a huge role in marketing these schools. And, why not? Ask any kid (or adult) from a major D1 how fun football, basketball, hockey, etc can be on campus. It's all encompassing. It can definitely bolster public schools. All things being equal wouldn't you want to go to Univ of X that has a great sports program vs. University Y that doesn't have a football team and basketball team is a cellar dweller in a low-major? If you are into sports, yes! And some schools take it to an extreme during visits having parents asking, "are there academics at this school?" while your kids look up to the rafters of the basketball court or out on the 80,000+ size football stadium! Villanova definitely leverages there basketball team in selling.
  5. Lastly and apologize in advance if I offend, but I will try not to name/names... There is a level of fakery/image boosting that goes on at some schools - and a few Jesuit schools participate (perhaps one on this thread and perhaps one located in Boston). Now don't get me wrong, these are good schools, but I feel like they are a bit overrated. If you stripped down the name/brand and looked at everything, a strong state school can be equivalent. It is a big debate in New England, I can tell you. They have created a premium brand without the premium (except the price). An analogy: Dasani and Aquafina is bottled water you pay for. Aquafina takes public water sources and filtrates it. What if your city/state does that and you have real good water? Do you need to pay for the brand? And look this doesn't go to Jesuits alone there are tons of Private schools that have built this rock-solid aura that if you look at it does not pass muster. Price is the equalizer here and if you can afford it or get a scholarship that puts you in a public school price range all the power to you. But for my money some of these schools are over-inflated on several levels. Duke is not one of these schools. Everyone knows they legitimately have the deserved reputation. They have been known to have the highest denial rate of class valedictorians in the nation. Which leaves some of us asking about some schools, "Who do they thing they are? Duke?"

Ok, there is my (jilted) rant. More than anything else I truly just like to call out what’s looks to be a real anomaly in a process. When things seem to defy logic, I always want to understand what goes behind it more than anything. I’d say #1 above is the most realistic reason for this, but when I hear people getting into Georgetown and ND and not into 'Nova, I think about #5. In the next two weeks my daughter will be hearing from a few schools that have leveraged the same common app and essay as Nova and would deem as higher up on my daughter’s list and likely this thread’s list. It will be interesting to see and when I get this “new data” will be sure to report.

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tbrixon - I know it’s a common misconception, but Villanova is not a Jesuit school, it’s Augustinian. Also, while I agree that Nova’s basketball success has probably made it more difficult to get into, I think the recently adopted EA and ED admission options have also played a role. Only a few years ago, before it offered ED or EA, the acceptance rate was 43.2%. Last year it was under 30% and it will probably go down even further this year.

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Hi all, S is deferred from the Villanova business school. We are trying to figure a few things out (first kid through the process) and stumbled across this CC thread. A few details:

SAT: 1500
GPA: 3.87UW; 4.2W
Heavy EC’s focused on sports, community service, and work experience
Decent essays (we think; who knows?)

Weakness probably in weighted GPA (didn’t think that until I saw other scores out here) and who knows if his essays hit the mark. Villanova is in his top three target schools. I’m curious if you have views on the following:

  1. He applied for Presidential Scholarship. This was a ton of work for him over the holidays, submitted on Jan 2. It doesn't seem they would have had time to look at his PS essays before the deferral decision. Will they still look at those in reviewing his "holistic" application in the RD process (even if he is obviously out of the running for the scholarship)? Hope so, otherwise a huge amount of wasted effort.
  2. I'm a graduate of Notre Dame. He didn't even apply there (long story) and I doubt he would get in anyway. Strange question and this would be crazy to me but reading some of these discussion boards makes me wonder whether schools actually look at parent schools and factor that into their decision. e.g., is it possible they think the kid will just go to parents' alma matter so it will hurt yield to admit them? (I can't believe I'm asking that question. Just goes to show how head spinning this process is).

Thanks for any guidance and perspective!

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@tbrixton I’m not sure i followed what you were saying completely, but if you were referencing Boston College in your 5th point I can personally attest to the fact that for my daughter and her friends that are all seniors they all have amazing jobs lined up waiting for them.They all had amazing internships last summer in Boston and NYC. I’m not sure they would have had the same options coming out of UMass or Rutgers or one of the SUNY’s. Maybe. Maybe not. But the recruitment at BC has been amazing. From what I can tell it was well worth the extra price. And they truly had it all at BC…big D1 sports, beautiful campus on the edge of Boston but in a beautiful town (Chestnut Hill). Access to Boston is very easy with the T having a BC stop, not to mention lots of cheap uber rides. And the academics have been very strong.

I am a huge fan of the state flagships as well and thing they are a bargain and you get a lot for your money…but I think the students have to do more to stand out at those schools. If we lived in Virginia or North Carolina or California, maybe my girls would have chosen one of their state flagships. My daughter turned down Ross at Michigan and Marshall at USC for BC because she wanted a more close knit community. Graduation is in a few months and we have no regrets.

As for your analogy with Duke…both of my girls (BC and Georgetown, Georgetown girl actually was Valedictorian and turned down Dartmouth) got the kind of job/internship offers kids from Duke get or want to get…and while it would be impossible to prove, I’m not so sure you can argue a Duke degree is worth the money where as BC and Georgetown degrees are not. We have no regrets with either school.

And we have good friends who put two girls through Villanova (both of my girls got in there but chose not to go) and they paid full price and also have no regrets. Their girls are set up quite well with their careers and I think they both are very happy with the education they received, even having paid full price

I’m not sure I understand what you are saying but the kids that got into ND and Georgetown and not Villanova…I’m pretty sure that’s a little yield protection going on right now, but I guess we will never know. Either way, they are all great choices and have a lot to offer students, even at full price.

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“Strange question and this would be crazy to me but reading some of these discussion boards makes me wonder whether schools actually look at parent schools and factor that into their decision.”

I doubt that your going to ND had anything to do with your kid’s deferral. Biggest factor was probably that he applied to the business school (tough to get into).

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@Thebigchef is probably right but the same thing has crossed my mind…and I remember hearing that if you submit ACT scores or something like that they can see where else you sent your scores to? That may not be true…

But Villanova Business is really, really hard to get in, so it might just be that.

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My daughter is also a competitive Irish dancer and taught cc’d, is a math tutor and is a captain for xc/track. Good luck to your daughter.

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@tbrixton Now that you have shed some light on the situation, and knowing that your daughter applied to 14 schools, I do wonder if her essay may not have been strong enough (considering she probably had to write 14 supplemental essays)? And if it was low on her list, I do wonder if that came through on the essay. The essay questions, if I recall, were very specific to Villanova and word count very generous. My suspicion is that they may have put quite a bit of weight on the essay, and if your daughter did not seem passionate, that may have had an effect on their decision. I have to say that my son’s Villanova essay was over the top beautiful…so beautiful, that I wanted him to make it his common app essay, but he did not want to have to write a new Villanova essay.

Looking back at your stats, was her GPA weighted or unweighted? If weighted, that could also be an issue. I see she took 7 APs, so not sure what happened there. Also, the as others mentioned, the business school is difficult to get into. I know you mentioned that she did not visit, email, etc., but Villanova does not track demonstrated interest, so doubtful it was that.

Now your comment about BC was a little bit of a turn off for me. I don’t see a need for bashing other schools on a forum like this, especially when many people here applied to BC and will likely attend it. Jesuit schools are known for being extremely strong academically. My son attended a Jesuit high school, and we loved the experience he had there along with the rigorous academics. I am not sure what “debate” you are referencing in New England about BC, but I can tell you we have strong ties in the Massachusetts and RI academic world, and BC is a very highly respected university. I don’t know what other schools your daughter is applying to, but perhaps BC deferred her as well? It’s hard to know why you would want to so harshly come down on a school like that on this forum.

Sports…yes, many schools have great sports and they leverage it. My son definitely was influenced by sports…it seemed he only wanted to apply to schools with D1 sports. He LOVES football more than anything (doesn’t play…just loves to watch) and I was a little concerned about his focus on this when applying. But there are many schools with great sports that also offer strong academics. Again, I feel as though you are saying Villanova relies only on the sports to market itself. Yes, they do use sports (as does Notre Dame to a certain extent), but why a need to call that out for an entire paragraph.

Initially I was very sympathetic to your daughter for not getting admitted, but I have to say not as much now. It sounds like it really doesn’t matter to you or her, so I am wondering if this less about feeling bad about not getting in and more about pride. In any event, I do wish your daughter well and hope she gets into a school that will make her happy.

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@whatacrapshot Sorry to hear about your son’s deferral. I would definitely have him contact admissions and ask the question about whether they will consider the PS essays as part of the RD application review. Have him tell them that it is his #1 choice, etc. I think you might have a point about the ND legacy issue. I do think they look at applications and ND legacy with high stats is probably a red flag? Who knows.

Also, your son’s stats are great. I don’t think the GPA was weak…it was same as my son’s…but all schools weight the APs and honors differently. But the unweighted was same as my son’s.

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I got into the business school with a 32 ACT and a 3.7 UW gpa so idk the admissions process is weird

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This has turned into an interesting conversation on acceptances. I think the salient point is there essentially is very little difference between who gets in or who doesn’t based on the scattergrams. The issue is on the macro level where more and more students are applying, (encouraged by the school to do so) driving up the applicant pool and reducing the acceptance rate. Kids who were accepted at Villanova 5 years ago would have almost no shot now. How they decide between two students with similar stats appears to lack any sense of pattern. It’s an enviable situation for these schools who have kids lining up to pay $280k for an undergraduate degree. I do think Nova has gotten a little ahead of itself though, it’s reputation is not on par with ND or Georgetown.

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So my son has been admitted to Villanova for Comp engineering but the school doesn’t have everything checked off for financial aid. I submitted everything and even went to the social security office for citizenship proof, but there are XS for citizenship proof and tax returns , which are both submitted. If they do not see this by tomorrow’s deadline, will that impact him in getting financial aid. We did this over a week ago and it’s getting annoying trying to call them only to get automated responses. Anyone with any information thanks.

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Just found out on Friday, Jan 11. I was accepted to Undeclared science
ACT:34
SAT:1520
GPA:4.4 Weighted
Rank: 40/500
I’ve taken 12 APs and have very little extracurriculars
OOS White Female
Good luck to everyone hearing back!

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@Oneiota2: Was using older brothers account to post, who is a Soph at PSU. CC made me sign in with new account, hence the banned over @oneiota…now @Oneiota2

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D17 was deferred EA from CLAS/econ; she expected to be denied so a deferral was a pleasant surprise.

SAT: 1340
GPA: 3.9
Rank: school does not rank
Rigor: Competitive public high school with all Honors and APs
Resident: PA
Ethnicity: White
Religion: Interfaith

lots of great EC with leadership, including 12 years of competitive dance, tennis, skiing, working with disabled kids, a job, babysitting, legacy (though not considered during EA);