Hello All,
I’ve been lurking here for awhile now, but decided to finally make an account to ask some questions, see results, and maybe assuage some of my fears in the current admissions cycle.
I just got back decisions from a couple colleges that I applied to, and was especially confused about Tulane’s decision to waitlist me.
My stats are as follows:
-2330 SAT, first attempt (730 M, 800 CR, 800 W, with a 12 essay)
-770 Math 2 Subject Test
-730 Literature Subject Test
-Taken AP Psych, AP Comp, AP Gov, AP US, currently taking AP Calc AB and AP Environmental.
-Got a 4 on the APUSH exam, and 5s on Comp and Psych.
-Taken Honors Geometry, Honors Alg. 2, and Honors Precalc, and am currently in Spanish 5.
-Was a National Merit Commended Scholar.
-Have several school-wide awards for things, like Chemistry Student of the Year, etc…
-AP Scholar award.
4.0 unweighted GPA.
-E.C.s include being a level 8 gymnast, Varsity track and field athlete, musician (drummer for past 10 years), member of National Honor Society, Student Senate, and Mu Alpha Theta.
-Essays were very strong. I have OCD and a Generalized Anxiety Disorder, so I wrote about that for Common App essay.
Long story short, I’m starting to freak out a little. I was waitlisted at Tulane, which I was not worried about until now. I have read that Tulane could be wait listing top candidates because they are trying to protect their yield, but still, I’m getting really worried about my chances at some of my top choices (Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, etc…).
I would appreciate hearing people’s thoughts.
Thank you!!!
P.S. I was rejected at Pomona, which isn’t entirely shocking, as its acceptance rate is now sub-10%.
You must realize that Tulane has a 27% acceptance rate, which while better than Pomona means they still reject 73% of applicants (likely higher this year) from entering the school. It’s now that I ask this; what sets you apart from others?
G.P.A.? They have their pick of 4.0s.
A.P. classes? There are those who take 7, 12 or 14. (However, this criteria is based in the context of your school).
SAT? They have 2400s applying there.
Subject Tests? Math II has many 800s, and 730 for literature I believe is in the 85-88 percentile.
Maybe Extra-curriculars? There are thousands of people who were in NHS or their student government. And plenty more who did track and field.
Essays are of subjective quality depending on the reader.
The reason I say this is not to degrade you or your chances, but to reveal that no one should necessarily get their hopes up for a university with acceptance rates below 35%, as it is highly subjective and dependent on the types of people applying to a university. Perhaps Tulane didn’t need another gymnast, perhaps your essay didn’t come across correctly, perhaps you got in but were overturned at the last second for another applicant. Who knows! Such things are a dice roll.
It is because it is a dice roll that you shouldn’t necessarily be worried about those aforementioned top choices. A Harvard reader might perceive your Common App essay differently. Yale might need one more gymnast. Not to mention the personal essays required by those colleges for differentiation.
At worst you might be rejected by all of them. At best you might be rejected by all of them, like 90%+ of the applicants to those schools. So it goes. But it is out of your hands now, and you’ve likely gotten into one good school/program or another. So enjoy your life for the next 11 days without worrying what one college predicts about your acceptances!
My take on it based on personal experience is yield protection. Did many students from your school apply to Tulane, especially in the early round? That’s what happened at my school (15/30 ED applicants got accepted) and an applicant with a 2400 SAT who got into Johns Hopkins applied and got waitlisted as well. Someone else with a 2200+ SAT got rejected.
Or like Nedcone said, the selective acceptable rate could have been a factor.
I don’t think many people from my school applied, if any at all besides myself. My school has a large percentage of the graduating class that goes to our state schools every year, with few applying to other private schools, and fewer still to ivies. The school only offers 8 AP classes, and the majority of students don’t take the exams.
I know that at this point it’s a dice roll. I’m just so worried that a waitlist from Tulane is just the beginning of a long list of rejections, especially after how hard I’ve worked the past four years.
I’ll find out in 11 days I suppose, but it’s extremely difficult, especially for me, not to doubt it all.
Thanks for your responses.
I thInk it is yield protection. At EA, they deferred a lot of top candidates but accepted those with lower (but still good) stats. They may have assumed you wouldn’t attend if accepted.
Did you show any interest in the school (ex. visit etc.)? That factor is “considered” per the common data set. If you showed no demonstrated interest and admissions felt like you were using it as a safety it could explain the waitlist.