Ashfire: What are you looking for in a university? The ones that you have applied to seem to be large, academically strong, and pretty much span the USA.
You still might get in somewhere that you have not heard from, or where you are waitlisted. My understanding is that you are still waiting to hear from some very good universities. If you don’t, do you want to take a gap year, or quickly find somewhere else to apply?
Most of the UCs require subject tests now.
Here is the site:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/examination-requirement/SAT-subject-tests/index.html
Sorry, I meant “recommend” SAT subject tests. Maybe this year many strong applicants sent in the recommended tests.
Good luck with other schools on your list.
Thank you. I spoke with UCSB and yes, applying as a mechanical engineer completely overturned my chances of getting in, unfortunately. I applied, fortunately, to UCB as undecided and, ironically, I feel that my shot of getting in there is bigger than getting in UCSB as an engineer lol.
If you’re unhappy with your choices, there’s a list of colleges that miscalculated yield around May 5th. Every year there are lots of good colleges on that list.
@ashfire I’m glad you spoke to UCSB and clarified why you didn’t get in. It sounds like Computer Science and engineering majors were more difficult at all UCs this year than they have been in the past.
I’m confused. How is your GPA a 4.2 if you said you never took any AP classes?
@ashfire: any update?
@RetainerBaby I took honors courses and community college classes. my school didnt offer any APs
@MYOS1634 So listen to this. This is very weird imo. I got on the priority waiting list to carnegie mellon as a mechanical engineer. Its like the harder schools are giving me more of a chance then the easier schools WTH.
UCLA, CMU, UCB, Washu, and Upenn were the hardest schools ive applied to. I was rejected by washu and waitlisted by cmu and ucla. Hopefully theres a chance at UCB. Till Thursday…
I hope you get off the UC waitlists or get into Berkeley. If by chance you end up focusing on Carnegie Mellon, it would be good to check with them about a special visit for waitlisted applicants. In the past, showing interest by visiting while waitlisted seemed to help some students get in.
One warning: even if you get into Berkeley or off of the wait lists for UCSD or UCLA, you will have a very hard time getting into mechanical engineering. Possibly near-zero. Look into the process for transferring into the engineering college at each school and do some searching on College Confidential. CMU might be your best hope; beyond that, community college is a great deal and a great option, though transferring to UC mech eng programs will be competitive there as well, I believe.
Thanks guys. Ill def update you soon about my decisions results of this week.
To help you understand the UCSB decision a little more, 2 years ago the acceptance rate for Engineering there was about 15%. It was likely no higher this year. That is less than the overall acceptance rates at UCB and UCLA, so you can see how choice of major can affect your chances. Also, when a school such as the Engineering college says Subject tests are recommended, that should be read as “required”. That was strongly, strongly, strongly hinted at by a UCLA rep at a campus tour.
Good luck on getting off the waitlists if needed. We know kids who that has worked out for.
Thank you. The subject test situation is specifically why i applied to UCB undecided. But hey, I got priority waitlisted at a school where subject tests for engineering is REQUIRED. Anything can really happen.
Well I got waitlisted by Tulane. I dont get any of this at all.
I know a student with a 2250 sat, 4.3 weighted gpa who got into only 1 of 6 UC’s, Irvine… unless he gets into UCB tomorrow. This was an extremely competitive year, I think the class of 2017 cohort is an impressive one. Your list lacks any safeties. Hoping for the best for your remaining schools!
Did you go see your guidance counselor to discuss your application, see if s/he noticed any red flag?
Right now, you need to see if something’s wrong in your recommendations or your essay.
Some flagship universities with rolling admissions still accept applications. If you don’t need financial aid, you can try applying to the Physics major there (physics may not be as requested as other ‘last mibute’ requests). Do you want suggestions ?
@socalmom007 what was his/her major?