@intparent is that the wrong link?
Ack. That is the link at the top of the page… some fluke in the Fortune website. Google “fortune 2014 50 great colleges seeking students”, you get links to the 2014 and 2013 Fortune articles. You have to click through a couple screens to get to the list.
The list is very random and really is a function of statistics not working out. I think Binghamton was a fluke and what the article says is not to be taken literally. I know a number of people in state and out who were rejected last year (and in 2018) with decent stats and in their EA acceptance they claimed to have had 30k applicants EA something for 2019. Same for U of Maryland - College Park, someone miscalculated. Still the schools for both years in the Forbes article were pretty decent.
I AM VERY SORRY FOR YOU. I REALLY HOPE SOMTHING GOOD AND MIRACLE WORKS YOUR WAY. I CUDNT BLAME ONYONE FOR THIS. I THINK WHAT THE SCHOOLS ARE TELLING YOU ABOUT HIGH APPLICATION AND EXTEREME COMPETITION… I BELEIVE THAT. I SEE IT MYSELF. SOMETIMES THESE THINGS HAPPEN. I BELIEVE GOD HAS A BIGGER PLAN.
DONT BE DISMAYED. TAKE COURAGE. BE STRONG.
LET ME TELL YOU MY STORY.
IM AN AMERICAN AND STUDIED IN ENGLAND IN A BOYS BOARDING SCHOOLFROM THE AGE OF 13. AN ELEITE SCHOOL WITH A VERY DEMANDING EDUCATION AND EC.
MY GRADES R AT A 3.9 EQUI OF US.
ACT 36,
SAT MII–780, PHYSICS-750
I STARTED A FOUNDATION AT THE AGE OF 12 FOR UNDERPRIVILEDGE PEERS TO BE EDUCATED AND TRAINED FOR A BETTER FUTURE. FOR THE PAST 6 YRS RAISED USING MY MUSICAL TALENTS TO RAISE MONY FOR THIS CAUSE…MORE THAN 60,000
VERY SOLID RECM LETTER,
VERY SOLID EC AND SOLID INETRNSHIPS IN MICRO FINANCE IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES…ALL SHOWING PASSION AND MY SPIKE IN SPECIALIZING
YOUNGST PERSON (AT 17) SO FAR TO WRITE AN OP-ED ON A SUBJECT MATTER IM PASSIONATE ABOUT…INCLUSIVE CAPITALISM IN AMAJOR US NEWSPAPER.
A VERY GUD RUGBY PLAYER. MANY COACHES WANT ME FRM DIFF IVIES AND 2ND TIER SCHOOLS.
ALTHOUGH IT IS STILL A CLUB SPORT.
I AHVE NUMEROUS PRESS COVERAGE ON MY FOUNDATION WORK, MY PERFORMACES AT CARNEGIE HALL FOR 5 YRS, EVERY YEAR IM IN THE NEWSPAPER…
HAVE LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT SCHOOL.
GUES WHAT… I THOUGH I HAD AN EDGE OVER MY CLASSMATES FROM US—
SO FAR I GOT ADMITTED TO USC.
WAITLISTED AT 3 TOP SCHOOLS, 2 DENIED
A ND I AM WAITING FOR RESULTS FROM THE REST…
I HAVE NO IDEA. WAT IS HAPPENING… WHERE DID I GO WRONG.? I AHVE WRKED SO HARD FOR LL THESE YEARS.
ONLY TO HEAR THE ABOVE NEWS… VERY SCARY AND VERY DISAPPOINTING…
SO DONT FEEL BAD… IT IS TRUE THAT ITS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE… EVERY YEAR IT GETS WORSE AND VERY COMPETITIVE… …
WORK HARD AT THE WAITLIST SCHOOL…
TELL YOU WAT?— YOU CALL THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE FROM THE WAITLIST AND HONESTLY SPEAK YOUR HEART. TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED. THEY ARE ALL HUMAN AND THEY WILL GIVE A EAR TO YOU…
THEY WILL CONSIDER AND WHEN IT OPENS UP… THEY COULD CONSIDER YOU…
GOOD LUCK!! I HOPE YOU GET IN.
Can you not type in all caps? Shouting…
In your state, is the community college to state university transfer pathway a suitable one?
If you had posted this list of schools back in October and asked if those on CC thought it was a good list I think universally the response you would have been given is that it was very top heavy and that you need to apply to at least one true safety and more schools that would be matches. Could the OP take a gap year and regroup? Perhaps retake the ACT then reconsider the schools to apply to? I’ve heard of them but never looked into them.
I go to a private school that is one of the best schools in the state (top 3 I believe…) and I think 94% go to college after high school. The school itself is known for having overall high scores on AP tests in all of the classes.
I agree that you were poorly advised, did not develop the strongest application that you could, and did not apply to any safety. A safety needs to be both an academic and a financial safety.
–Why on earth did you not re-schedule or re-take the ACT if you had mono on your test date?
–And you did not demonstrate interest in schools that count that as a factor (even without visiting you can get on mailing lists, request a local alumni interview, go to a local college fair and see the college reps, take part in online chats etc.).
At this point I would ask your guidance counselor to make some calls on your behalf. Write a letter of continuing interest to schools where you have been waitlisted. Otherwise, think about a gap year (doing something meaningful) and then re-applying.
I hope things turn out OK for you.
@mulligan2020 I urge you to consider the NACAC list that comes out in May. I looked out of curiousity last year and I was really surprised at some of the excellent colleges on the list. If you have no acceptances anywhere, I think this is your best bet. Or, cc for a year, or gap year. You do have a good resume, but I am sorry to say you most definitely were not advised well. No acceptances is proof.
If you go the waitlist route, you will need to do some extra work. I was just researching this myself, there are lots of threads with good advice about how to try and get off a waitlist. I am reasonably sure for most of the colleges you have applied to, getting off a waitlist will mean showing real interest in the college. Best of luck to you.
Just re-read the thread from the top. If you GC was outraged that a school that was not need blind rejected you because you need a lot of aid, then they are not a good GC. That is how it works. That is the definition of not being need blind.
Not the end of the world. Let’s not focus on what happened, but on steps that you can take to get into an appropriate college
Here are the actions I would take
- Retake the ACT on April 9th. Find a test center that will let you sit for it. There is zero downside to doing this.
- Write a letter to the schools that waitlisted you letting them know that you are interested in being on the waitlist. See if your GC can make some phone calls.
- Apply immediately to Truman State University because I believe they will automatically and immediately accept you and they don’t have an application deadline. This is a public liberal arts honors college in Missouri. It’s also very affordable, even for out of state. It attracts some excellent students specifically because of the price and the quality. You are applying here to get an immediate high quality safety school so that you can sleep between now and the time you hear back from the college you will actually attend. You don’t need to love it, you just need to apply.
- Around May 5, there will be a list published with colleges still accepting applications. There are often some very good schools on that list that will offer financial aid. Someone mentioned Hendrix. Others I’ve seen are Lawrence, Beloit and Wooster. University of Pittsburgh has been on there too. Nonetheless, you have to be ready to pounce. If you want to be aggressive, call some of these schools and ask the admissions office if they are still taking applications. Most schools that get on that list do so unexpectedly because they didn’t make their yield targets and didn’t admit enough students.
How much can your family afford to pay? Would you consider Canadian schools - some have late deadlines, and there are some nice liberal arts colleges in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia like Mount Allison and St Frances Xavier and Acadia. Also the Canadian dollar is worth only 75 cents now, so you can discount the quoted tuition by 25%.
@mulligan2020 I’m sorry that you have had the results that you have had. I think like most of the rest of the posters you were not given the best advice by your GC. I appreciate that you attend a very competitive HS with 94% of their seniors going to college. That is commendable . What you need to realize is almost everyone who applied to your chosen schools go to competitive HSs, they have excellent stats , etc. The schools you have chosen are very selective and hard for anyone to get into. That’s not a criticism of you or your accomplishments , it’s a statement of fact. At this point, you need to come up with other reasonable options that you are comfortable with so that you have a back up plan should you need one. That may include taking a gap year , retaking your ACT or attending another school and transferring at a later date.
I find it strange that the top school in the state only has a 94% college rate. The public schools in my area which are 15% very low income have that. Your school should be 99% (to allow for the voluntary gap year and military).
The advantage of private school (at least a good one) is that the GC knows you and has close relationships with AdComs at various colleges. They may be able to trade favors and get you in somewhere you have not applied yet (before someone pipes in and says that cannot happen, you may be right but it is worth a shot, the kid has nothing to lose), have them call your WL schools and advocate, a lot. You need to send letters as well.
Just a thought but since you are a scholarship student do they help the students from wealthy families more in your school? I have no idea. How did your school do overall in college admission this year? How did other scholarship students do? How did the full pay (but not mega rich) students do?
Absolutely retake the ACTs, the scores come relatively quickly so it may be before the WL schools make a decision on you. One trick, make sure you review all the sections of the ACT, even the ones you did well in, the ACT is something that you need to use it or you lose it.
94% instead of 99% or 100% to college for a top end high school may mean that there are others like the OP who got shut out due to poor college application advising.
Yes… a good GC will help a shut out student find a seat at SOME four year college prior to the end of senior year. Although i have noticed that if you read carefully, the wording on the HS websites often say 99% ACCEPTED to four year colleges – they don’t say they all attend (my kids’ school says that, and I know there are kids who were accepted to four year schools and did not attend one – nor did they go into the military).
@mulligan2020 what do your parents say, and what’s your budget? There are still a bunch of excellent schools accepting applications, but there’s no point in applying if they don’t do the type of financial aid you need.
You may want to see if this full ride scholarship is still available to applicants this late:
http://www.pvamu.edu/faid/home/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
^The deadline for that full ride and other scholarships at PVAMU was March 15th
@mulligan2020 Do you think the 3 WL schools are going to be affordable? If so, get the GC on the phones. It is there job to “sell” you now!
If not, the definitely look at this list of good colleges with late or rolling deadlines:
April 1
University of Utah (#127)
Augustana University-Illinois (#181)
MidAmerica Nazarene University (#191)
Utah State University (#202)
April 30
Berea College (#52)
May 1
Martin Luther College (#52)
Clemson University (#123)
Illinois State University (#196)
June 1
Colorado School of Mines (#134)
July 1
University of Arizona (#147)
Texas A&M International University (#237)
August 1
Illinois Institute of Technology (#157)
Tennessee Technological University (#209)
Texas Tech University (#221)
Rolling Admissions: These schools accept applications throughout the year. However, make sure you check with the individual admissions departments — most have priority deadlines that can dramatically boost your chances of acceptance and financial aid.
Manhattan College (#41)
Robert Morris University Illinois (#44)
Massachusetts Maritime Academy (#59)
Citadel Military College of South Carolina (#67)
Gallaudet University (#75)
Bradley University (#88)
Molloy College (#105)
Michigan State University (#109)
Elmhurst College (#121)
CUNY College of Staten Island (#123)
Saint Vincent College (#123)
Michigan Technological University (#127)
La Salle University (#141)
Mount Mercy University (#147)
Xavier University (#147)
Pennsylvania State University-University (#157)
Doane College – Crete (#171)
College of Our Lady of the Elms (#184)
Holy Family University (#196)
Crown College (#202)
University of Tulsa (#209)
Valparaiso University (#209)
La Sierra University (#216)
Mississippi State University (#216)
Bellin College (#237)
Franklin College (#237)
Westminster College-New Wilmington (#237)