Quote: "changed majors 6 or 7 times”
Every parent’s nightmare. Especially moving to theater/film at a mostly Stem and Business school like Virginia Tech.
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All freshman admission and enrolled rate vs engineering. Pretty much the same, with admission rate falling under 60% for both only last year.
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Meh, I don’t know. I teach at a college and students change their majors all the time – not really a nightmare for anyone, except if it delays their graduation (almost never does). And this tour guide actually spoke to your point – with a smaller program like theater, she was able to connect up to a robust network of alums and got an internship at a major film studio which was likely to land her a job after graduation.
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Good info. Acceptances are going down and are now well below 70 percent for many majors.
What would you estimate the acceptance rate is for the College of Engineering/Class of 2026?
Sorry,not really sure. But, but based on recent past, around 55 percent might be a good guess. But, there is self selection and most applicants should have good grades, scores and EC’s.
@LeastComplicated or @ShenVal18 might have a better guess/estimate.
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I’ve heard the term “Self-Selection/Selecting” several times during my brief time as a participant on “CC.” Is there a standard/universal definition for the term?
I would guess in the low 50’s based on the number of applicants this year.
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In 4+ years on here I don’t recall seeing waitlist pulls extend beyond April, and in recent years the waitlist closed my mid March I believe.
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I think it means only a certain type of student will apply. Engineering isn’t going to have the wider range of applicant stats as some other majors bc high stat students will be the typical applicants.
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Thanks for the info.
I think that’s probably the best explanation too. It can apply in an overall sense to a university as well I would think.
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Really unpredictable, but that 50%-ish range is probably a decent guess. We do know there has been a another pretty big jump in overall applications, so that could play a big role depending on what individual departments were most represented within the boost in applicants. If CoE is overly represented and they anticipate yield to remain consistent to prior years, then you could see that drop into the 40%-ish range.
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Nice analysis.
First off, congrats to your son for getting VT. AS this thread shows that is not easy this year.
Second, I am beyond trying to figure out the admissions process this year. I have a high stat son (3.98 GPA, 1560 SAT, 35 ACT, 7 APs/8 Honors, Class VP, Civil Air Patrol officer, Robotics Team Leader, Tutor, 3 varsity sports, etc…) who has yet to be accepted by any of his “reach” or “target” schools and has been rejected by several “safety” schools. He only applied to engineering schools so maybe that is the problem, but he wants to study mechanical engineering so more power to him. He is still waiting to hear RD from some of the tougher schools he has applied to so he is resigned to getting more rejections from them. As he said the last night, “if I can’t get into VT there is no way I can get into Duke.” And he is probably right.
its just nuts that he has higher scores than the 25%-75% SAT range than all but 1 school he applied to, and the ones he isn’t higher than he is 10 points off (1560 to 1570). He also fits in near the past accepted GPA ranges. One thing I think that has not helped is he doesn’t have the number of AP classes other kids have because his school switch how they offer classes to accommodate virtual learning. Prior, he could take 7-8 classes per semester. Now they only can take 4. So he was unable to take AP classes because he couldn’t fir them into his schedule or they weren’t offered every semester. (The class counts for a full year). He also goes to a public school where the counselors don’t really know him because he took virtual classes and was out of the classroom and school building for 18 months. The school also did not offer the PSAT his junior year. While accommodations have been made to allow the ACT/SAT to be optional, there seems to be no relief given to kids who had their course schedule totally turned upside down.
Anyway, I’m done with my rant. We are not counting on getting in to any school he has been deferred at or waitlisted at - he just doesn’t have that kind of luck. He’ll be deciding between the bottom four schools on his list that at this point he is not excited about (two arr just family ties that he really only applied to because of the link). Time to start taking tours and getting him excited about the options he does have.
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These admissions rates are averages but what really matters are if you are in state and which major.
The offer rates vary by a lot. Much higher chance out of state (60-70%) than in state (50s%) due to lower yields.
In state engineering and business offer rates are in only in the 30s% range which is approaching UVA selectivity.
Forget what you’ve heard about high acceptance rates. Virginia Tech has become much, much more selective over the last 2 years!
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You captured my thoughts perfectly. It’s baffling. VT was actually a bit of a safety school and my son was waitlisted. I have no issue him being rejected at reach schools but some of this is very strange.
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I agree. The overall increases in applications will definitely result in a noticeable reduction in admission percentages.
My son qualified for the Pell Grant at one of his other schools that he was accepted to, but I don’t see a Pell Grant listed on the VT financial aid offer. VT participates in it, right? Anyone have an idea why this would be the case?
Rant away, I feel your pain. My kid actually seems very similar to yours – nearly identical stats, also going for engin. He was accepted to VT (thankfully), without merit or honors. He’s also received very surprising negative results from schools in the low target zone for him. No reach success at all.
I think it’s a strange year, and I wouldn’t read too much into to it. It feels so personal, but it really isn’t in the end. We’re hoping for something to come through at RD time, but if it doesn’t, he’ll be choosing between what he thought were safeties and maybe one target. He’s made his peace with it, and is actually getting pretty excited about his safeties, which I’m grateful for.
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I think you are perfectly justified in ranting over this. My heart breaks for you and your son. It honestly makes no sense! A student with his level of achievement should have lots of excellent options!
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