Weird procedural question. At my son’s school, admitted students could pay the housing deposit to get in the line for housing. It was refundable until May 1 and they didn’t have to officially accept their admissions offer before paying the housing deposit. It appears that it works backwards at VT?
So… my kid is 95% positive she wants to go to VT and we are planning to attend Hokie Focus (assuming it’s not exactly the same as an open house) but she has that one school, the Hail Mary low acceptance rate school still hanging out there for another month.
She’s afraid that if she pays the $400 “Matriculation Fee” so she can get in the housing line, she’s obligating herself to essentially firmly commit at that point. Then on the very slim chance that her super long shot school accepts her, she’s out of luck (or even that she’s obligated to pull any outstanding applications if she pays the fee).
But, since the matriculation fee is also fully refundable until May 1, do they know this is a common-ish situation and they expect a small number of people to shuffle out (hence part of the reason for the wait list). I think it’s the wording difference - housing deposit vs matriculation fee - that’s freaking her out.
I would think not because they offer to many many more than 6000 people since large swaths of those accepted will ultimately pass. So there will be a number of applications (45,000), a number accepted, and then a number admitted (which is the 6000+). That middle number will be significantly higher than 13%.
Daughter accepted to School of Architecture!
No Honors. $3000 scholarship.
OOS. 1470 SAT. 4.5 GPA. 7 APs.
Varsity tennis. 120 Community service hours.
Campus visit last fall.
Super proud of her! Go Hokies!
No. If admissions is using its historical yield rate, 34%, it would need to accept about 20,000 to get to 6,800 enrollment. Still being under 50% acceptance rate from a school that used to be at around 70% speaks to how competitive things are getting out there. Go Hokies!
DS accepted to School of Engineering (wants CS)
No Honors and No Merit.
In state, 36 ACT, 4.0UW/4.9W
A lot of CS ECs, Eagle Scout
He’s excited and will want to visit again. Good luck to all!
I have a takeaway from the College application process so far.
My son is a good student but I would not put him in the boat of “high stats.” His freshman and Sophomore year hovered at 3.2 (his school does not allow honors or AP first 2 years - but College readers who skim his application in 5 minutes would not know that) then he catapulted to a 4.35 (half honors half AP) Junior year and a 5.0 senior year so far (all APs, but V-tech told him they don’t look at senior year grades AT ALL). His ACT (which he only took once, no prep) was a 30 - he scored above a 31 in all sections other than math - what can I say he is not a math guy. He has been accepted to VTech and other schools around the same competitiveness. Still waiting on the RD schools which are more competitive.
Anyways, I can’t help but be in shock when I read about “high stat” kids being deferred, waitlisted, or flat out rejected but I think there is more to this process than what can be controlled directly by our kids and are factual/100% verified (the stats). It challenges everything I thought about this process as someone who comes from a culture where grades and scores are EVERYTHING. Of course, this may be unfair to the kids who worked their tails off academically, but I think the process could be accounting for yield (who will enroll), as well as what the college “needs.”
If college applications were based SOLELY on stats I don’t think my son would stand a chance in more competitive schools, and for this year, in even less competitive schools. I don’t think ECs are everything. Although my son is BEYOND with his ECs (over the top in all facets in all areas, not going to list - but pages worth) - I never list ECs as a priority in our home but he is just not a studious guy so I felt this was his place to shine so I let him ride with it - however, I also feel like Colleges don’t give it as much emphasis as we all think. I cannot help but feel like this is truly an area where anyone can exaggerate or flat out lie. Plus, they give like what, 5 minutes to get through an application - they probably scroll down the ECs.
So, my takeaway from all of this is there is no magic formula - I really do think it is about what they need in the student demographics, how much money they can give vs. the student’s ability to pay, sprinkled with a bit of luck (the right admissions officer at the right time) AS LONG AS the student is close academically of course to where that College’s own stats are. At the end of the day the kid who got a 30 on the ACT (better than 93% of the population) is not going to be much less bright than the one who got a 35 (did better than 99% of the population) and may not be less bright at all - and a 3.7 is not that far off a 4.0. Right?
Your point is well taken- and I’m glad that admissions dept look at more than scores. But its hard to see a reported 70% acceptance rate and then see my applicant outright denied, but getting accepted to schools with 45% rates. Just have to scratch your head and move on! Congrats to your son!
A lot of universities say that wait list decisions may be announced as late as July. That’s generally because of matriculation deadlines. No one is asking anyone to hang around until then, and in general terms VT’s waitlist has been closed in March.
Terminology is being confused. “Admitted” means “offered admission”. The yield rate, which is how many offers are accepted by students, is the enrollment number.
Unless things have changed recently, the matriculation fee is just saying “I’m accepting your offer” and is refundable. I don’t recall there being a housing deposit - it shows up on your bill once tuition, etc. has been determined. I think you’re safe. RE: Hokie Focus, if you can check with the school to see what’s taking place for that event you should do so. In the past I heard varying reports that it was either identical to open house or a slightly ramped up version of open house. Depending on travel, it might not be worth the trip.
Any idea how much choice of major matters? Perhaps some are getting accepted to more humanities type majors and others deferred from more STEM type majors?
Is it hard to switch majors once you are accepted? A lot of students change majors after they start taking colleges classes.
VT acceptance is 100% by major, and some programs have more slots than others. Transferring into the most competitive programs can be difficult but not impossible.
Has anyone who was admitted EA been able to access the housing portal yet? I have set up my VT Username and can get into One-Campus and most of the apps. Just not able to access Housing.
Sorry your son was denied. Best of luck to him with whatever school he chooses. The admissions rate for engineering (if he wanted CS) is well below the 70 percent type acceptance rate you mention so that is probably part of the issue. Just not enough seats for all qualified candidates. And I believe even the overall acceptance rates seem to be going down.
When we visited VT, our student tour guide told us that she had changed majors “6 or 7 times”, beginning in the sciences (neuroscience, I think) and ending up in theater/film. She gave us the impression that it wasn’t necessarily difficult to do this, but the recommendation was to apply to the most competitive major that you were considering with the thought that switching out of that major would be much easier than switching in.
I’m pretty sure the past admission rates for engineering were close to 65-70% also. Engineering has more high stat applicants, that’s why it’s more competitive.
