So I have been reading about a lot of students being wait listed to great colleges like UCD and UCSD lately. I got wait listed to UCD and have the option to try and get in, but I know those odds are extremely low. I have seen several posts from other students that have been wait listed to UCD and have far better academic stats than I do. Students with 2200+ SAT scores, 5’s on AP tests, and even acceptances to better colleges. I do not compare to that, here are my stats:
SAT: 1780 - (650 math, 590 reading, 540 writing) Also, as you can tell I hate English and am a science major
4.15 W GPA - 3.79 UW GPA
I played baseball and football, have several extracurricular and leadership positions, very low income and stated so on my essays (about $7,500 a year), and had very good essays in my opinion. I do not know if these can make up for my significantly lower stats compared to the other students that applied and got wait listed. Honestly, I am shocked that I even got wait listed at all. I would LOVE to attend Davis but would anybody think it is worth even trying to get in? And if you do, any suggestions on how to make myslef look better to the college admission officers? I have heard of writing letters and sorts but know a whole lot. Any information would be great, and honest opinions too please, thank you!
About 40 percent of wait-listed students are admitted to Davis, according to Niche.com. In order to try and increase your odds of being a part of that 40 percent, you need to establish a rapport with the admissions office. E-mail the office about once a month with new information that can augment your application in your favor. Don’t make an effort to reinvent yourself; e-mail them about résumé entries that happened during your senior year that you weren’t able to express previously. If Davis doesn’t work out now, you can go to community college and transfer into the university in two years. California Community Colleges have a TAG guarantee that places you in a UC automatically. This would be a great way to work around your income because going to community college for two years saves a lot of money. Good luck!
If you like the school there is no harm in putting yourself on the waitlist. The best thing to do is to find a college you are accepted into, send a deposit, assume you will be going there, and if you get in off the wait-list you can change directions.
UCD’s waitlist information from Niche.com is incorrect. Here is the wailtlist acceptances from last year courtesy of Ms Sun’s UC Blog. It is not very promising.
Last year all UCs except Merced utilized a waitlist. Berkeley, Irvine, UCLA, Riverside, and Santa Barbara admitted students from the waitlist. San Diego and Santa Cruz did not admit any students from the waitlist. Davis had a press release indicating that no one was admitted; however, there were actually eight students admitted out of the 2,177 who opted in onto the waitlist. Please keep in mind that the waitlist situation can change dramatically from year to year.