Some schools say that they demonstrate interest on the common data set because they have ED. ED demonstrates interest, and that pool usually gets a higher acceptance rate. But they don’t count the going on tours type of interest.
Not doubting what you are saying and that might indeed happen as you predict.
But they do use some strong words in the waitlist letter saying you should pick other schools.
accepted.
OOS 1520 SAT (800 math)
4.0 unweighted
mechanical eng.
full IB diploma
7 honor societies
2 sport varsity athlete
Girl Scout Gold award.
475+ volunteer hours with tons of EC and leadership. (started own business etc. etc.)
NO honors 
QUESTION: had applied for Stamps scholarship, since she didn’t get in for honors, does that mean she doesn’t have a chance for stamps?
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I think I posted this somewhere upthread, but she will be invited to apply for honors after her first semester if she maintains a 3.6 or greater gpa.
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What does it mean to have an unranked list? How do they determine who comes off the list if a seat becomes available?
That’s a really good question. What I think it means is unranked in the aggregate sense within a given major. In essence, they try and replace an accepted student of profile type A with a waitlisted student with a profile that matches as closely as possible. That’s just a guess though.
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thanks. but my question was really would she still be considered for the Stamps scholarship :(. the wording said eligible students that indicated an interest in the honors college… but I would think that since she didn’t get in, they wouldn’t consider her
Well, I stand corrected. Never mind, Norm.
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I believe the Open Houses are for Prospective students, Hokie Focus is for Admitted Students.
@Julie_Lizarralde It’s probably worth a call to the school to get some details to see if add’l programming is something being offered or of interest. If you have to travel and spend the night it may not be worth the trip and hotel expenses - rates may be jacked up a little above normal. I recall hearing that a couple years ago.
Do you know what the notification said word for word? Can you copy-paste what it said?
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Hello, my son was admitted and then received an honors college offer letter today.
In-state public school
International Studies Major
4.2 weighted
1550 SAT
12 APs
No merit
He is deciding between VT and a small LAC with enough merit to make it comparable in price to VT.
Congratulations to all the future Hokies and best wishes to those who are hurting. I’m shocked at the stats of the kids who were waitlisted. It will be VT’s loss when these great kids commit to other schools!
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Funny- I created this account when my daughter was applying to college and her top choice was UVA. I need to figure out how to change my profile name, lol!
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My guess is, VT waitlists high stat students bc VT thinks they will attend somewhere else.
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Hmmmm…I think you may have guessed wrong.
I see a 1550 and a 1520 SAT accepted above. My accepted son is in that same ballpark and got an invitation to Honors.
Always easy to blame it on yield protection but having been through this process successfully 4 times now, I think there are some obvious admission factors beyond high stat’s that parents continually look past.
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Thank you! It is probably not intentional but sometimes I feel like these comments about High Stat kids being waitlisted because of yield protection implies that they are just too good for the University. It sometimes also diminishes others’ acceptance. But maybe I am too sensitive? It is always good to take a step back and look at the application that was presented - ECs, LORs, Essays matter too - Universities are holistic in their admissions approach. At the end of the day I am sure there is an element of yield protection , but I don’t think it plays that large of a role. My son is OOS and did not visit or write to admissions or speak to anyone that visited his school - that should be telling for yield. He is a great stat kid, would not say high stat as defined by CC, and was accepted to VT and invited to the honors college as well. I think it is not because they are certain he will attend since he cannot go somewhere better - but because after a holistic review it is clear that he is a good candidate and VT could be the right fit.
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Thank you. I wonder if VA Tech will be subject to class action law suit over lack of transparency, like Asians suing Harvard or other colleges.
I think a lot of it has to do with major as well. Certain very competitive majors like engineering and architecture attract a lot of high stats kids . There are only so many slots available and application numbers keep increasing. Some high stats kids will get accepted and some will get rejected. Rejection can be a hard pill to swallow when you know your child is qualified. Most of the applicants are more alike than different and it can be hard to stand out. Some kids / families are just better at marketing themselves or fit a certain niche. I know my child (1530 / 4.4 / Architecture/ waitlisted) did not spend as much time on applications as he could have. We had limited knowledge heading into this process and so much has changed from when I applied to college 30+ years ago. It has been eye opening to say the least!
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Great points and well presented. At the end of the day, the college has to want your kid over somebody’s else’s kid for whatever reason they chose. I truly believe it is mostly “holistic” (as defined by their admissions team).
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