I got my waitlist email today and to be entirely honest I’m floored by the fact that I did not get in.
My SAT was a 2370, 3.73 GPA with an incredibly rigorous schedule, and a number of leadership positions and extracurricular engagements. My common app essay and recs were, at risk of sounding pretentious, fantastic. I’m at a loss as to why I wouldn’t be a strong candidate; I was told that this was a safety for me, and I considered it as such.
My only thought as to why I wasn’t accepted is that I didn’t visit. Would that have been enough to discount me as an applicant?
Because they know it’s a safety for you and they don’t think you are going to attend. Look up the term “yield protection.”
You should hope it is yield protection. Other considerations are that you may have a lukewarm reference. Or your essays aren’t as strong as you think they are. Maybe they don’t think you are a good fit for some reason. If you need a lot of financial aid, they are not need blind in admissions, so that could hurt your chances.
Just checked the Common Data Set, and level of applicant interest is considered as part of the admissions decision.
I would say it’s most likely because standardized tests don’t hold much weight in the Conn admissions process so the 2370 sat may not have helped you as much as it probably should have. The 3.73 GPA was probably viewed as much more important which obviously isn’t as stellar as your sat. Or, as the post above mentioned, maybe there was another factor as well.
IMO, he would not have been waitlisted if this were the case. He did not visit. They have no idea whether he is really interested in the college. Why should they waste an acceptance on him (her?)? Small colleges like this don’t just blanket-admit every single applicant that has good stats. They admit students who WANT to go there. My strong hunch is that they WL you because they want to see if you jump. If you call and write and visit and humble yourself at their doorstep and say that you will DEFINITELY attend if you are admitted, then you have a good chance of getting off the WL.
BTW, is the WL result just a hit to your ego? Or do you really want to go to Connecticut College?
@intparent I didn’t even think to consider the need as being a factor, but my household income has been basically nonexistent over the past few years (<30,000 range).
@brantly While I would err towards the waitlist result being more of an ego hit (although CC looks far better than my current college options), a big factor in my being worried was that my failure to get into Connecticut reflects an inability to get into other prestigious liberal arts colleges. I’m still waiting on schools like Williams and Wesleyan and this waitlist designation doesn’t bode well for my chances at them.
Just as a waitlist at a school I thought I would be rejected from made me optimistic, the results from Connecticut add a tinge of dread to the coming weeks.
Wes is also not need blind, but Williams is.
Well, this is right from the Conn College website:
Demonstrated Interest
Starting with the Class of 2020, scheduled to matriculate Fall 2016, Connecticut College will be considering demonstrated interest as an important factor in our Regular Decision admission decisions.
Students can demonstrate interest in the College by:
Visiting campus
Interviewing on campus
Visiting with admission counselors during their fall travel (high school visits and college fairs)
Participating in off-campus interviews (with admission counselors and alumni)
Wesleyan and Williams are reaches for everyone, regardless of stats. Do you have any likelies (“safeties”)?
Not visiting and not interviewing at Conn college is a negative mark on your application. Did you have any interaction with them? Did a rep visit your hs?
They likely viewed you as using them as a safety option
@trekslxchick I’ve gotten acceptance letters from Pitt Honors, UVM Honors, Northeastern Honors, BC, Brandeis, and SUNY Geneseo. I’d say that most of those were safeties, either by virtue of my whole application or due to auto-admit policies related to my SAT score.
Sounds like yield protection and lack of demonstrated interest. With the schools you’ve gotten in, why do you care?
If you really want to go there, make clear its true – if it is true – and I’m sure you’d be off the wait list. If it’s your ego, let it go.
You have tons of great options and are probably still going to get into more selective schools yet.
Northeastern and BC aren’t safeties. People with higher stats get rejected. Check out the RD threads. You’ve done great.
Did you interview? Conn highly reccomends them, so perhaps that was a factor. And It may not be as selective as your other schools but it is not a safety for anyone since the acceptance rate lower than 50%.
They also take into account where you live regionally. Perhaps they had already taken to many people from where you live.
Don’t stress to much about it, at the end of the day you did everything correctly. They just decided to take other students.
My advice would be to focus on the schools you have gotten into. There is no point beating yourself up on what has already happend.
@mylesparslow You have done a great job with your college list! Sounds like you are in fantastic shape. What do you want to study? If you think you would prefer a small liberal arts college to your other options, then reach out to Conn. In general, you will find that small, selective liberal arts colleges, Conn included, care deeply about demonstrated interest.
@trekslxchick I’m planning on studying philosophy in undergrad before moving onto law school so I can work on social justice causes. I probably will contact Connecticut, if only because the benefits far outweigh the effort it’ll take. Thanks for the advice!
@mylesparslow do you know about the Interdisciplinary Centers at Conn? This is very unique and seems right up your alley (https://www.conncoll.edu/academics/majors-departments-programs/majors-and-minors/holleran-center/). This is the program at the Holleran Center that you would apply to as a sophomore: https://www.conncoll.edu/academics/majors-departments-programs/majors-and-minors/holleran-center/program-in-community-action-pica/
If this resonates with you, you could mention it when you reach out to them.
The CC at our school told us that last year, a kid with exceptional stats was rejected. The CC talked to Admissions about it and was told it was because the kid hadn’t visited or otherwise shown any indication that he was really interested in going there.
Looking at the Naviance data set for our school, that was the only rejection outside the (Naviance) box. All the others were accepted or WL. What I don’t know is how big the WL is or if it moves. If you have another option you like, my advice (for whatever it’s worth) is to move on.
Just to add, I think one of the big factors are based on your essay and demonstrated interest. I got in with a unweighted 3.67 with tons of IB/AP classes (like everyone else) and test-optional. So show them that you care!
OP from the info kindly posted previously about Conn Coll very clearly stating that demonstrated interest plays a huge role I think you have your answer. You need to move on. You have some excellent options. If you are still interested in Conn Coll you can contact the admissions team and let them know that you could not visit due to financial limitations (If your income is as low as you posted that is surely a major issue?) Great for you that you already have some acceptances. It sounds like you are looking for a smaller setting, but the honors programs you mentioned, and Brandeis, with social justice and law, were really good ideas for you and it sounds like you did your homework. Be sure you are clear about financial aid before making a final decision. Good luck and please come back and keep us posted!
@mylesparslow, you didn’t go wrong anywhere. conn college (and the others engaging in strategic enrollment management and yield management) should advertise their maximum GPA and maximum testing scores. i am bewildered by the continuing suspicions about some secret effort to maximize yield by denying admission to or waitlisting qualified students. it’s no secret and it is rampant. if you looked at my high school’s admission statistics on naviance for conn college, it’s hilarious. you’d think you needed to be under a maximum GPA and maximum ACT/SAT.
i don’t mean to demean anyone going to conn college. i’m just making a point. if you are overqualified, they don’t want you because they have to bear the risk of you not attending. and it’s not fair to the students who really want to go there. and you can’t blame a college for wanting the students who apply to actually go there.