So my admissions process started out bumpy when I was deferred from Yale, and then picked up with acceptances to UVa (oos, Echols), Northeastern, UMass, PC, and Williams (early write). So going into the rest of my regular decision results I had some confidence. But it’s been only waitlists since the Williams notification. Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Georgetown, and now Duke all waitlisted me. Needless to say, my confidence going into Ivy Day is at an all time low. I just want to know why? I didn’t think waitlist was that common but it seems to be the only thing I see in these letters right now. Does this mean I’m qualified but just lacking something? I have a 2380 SAT, 800/770/760 SAT IIs, 4.76 GPA, class valedictorian, stuco treasurer, class VP, did summer research at a local college in biochem. I thought my essays were pretty good but maybe not? What more could I have done? Am I gonna get in anywhere else?
@bluekou23 First, I will say congrats UVA, and the Early write at Williams. I believe Williams is in the “Little Three”. You know more than everyone else on what you could have done? Did you have a hook? Did you do something you are passionate about?
Based on your stats, you did the best you can. What is your top?
I think you will get into at least one, and if not, you still got a WONDERFUL choice of schools to choose from, especially Williams.
@acron611 Thank you! I am so humbled and excited that I have such amazing options, and I know others would be thrilled in my position. Upper middle class white male here (so no hook), though I am gay (although this means little for college admissions). Forgot to mention my theatre work - been doing it since 7th grade, go to a separate performing arts school about 15 hrs/week, and have had leads in my hs shows since sophomore year (another 10-15 hr/week).
My top of the schools I’ve gotten into would be Williams. Top overall would be Penn, though I have low expectations on that front.
Thank you for your comment, and yes I do know I have amazing options! I would be very happy at Williams! Just wondering what’s going on.
@bluekou23 From what I understand its not your fault you are getting rejected/waitlisted. These days, kids apply to up to 20 colleges, and it has become very competitive. Dukes acceptance rate was like 7% this year. That’s nothing considering they have athletes, legacies, etc to fill in.
I’m guessing around 80% of Dukes applicants are academically qualified and have excellent EC’s but the admissions committee can only offer so many spots so they basically have to do the “ennie meenie” game where they have difficulty separating applicants.
You got accepted into Willian with a <17% acceptance rate, so that means that you’ve stood out ALOT. Now it all comes down to who is reading your application. Your committee reader at Duke could have no interest in your EC’s and as a result, not admit you, and your committee reader at Harvard or Penn really relates to you as a person and admits you.
College is too competitive. Period.
Best of luck and if the ivies dont work out, remember you got Williams.
Thank you very much @acron611 this whole process has been pretty awful and I guess it really is almost random at this caliber of schools. I definitely did not expect this to be my situation when this whole process began, but I’m humbled and am still content with my options. I will hold out hope for tomorrow, but if worst comes to worst I know I’ll be fine.
There are ten million threads about waitlists right now. Please read the one called “waitlist frenzy”. It’s right here on the first page of the admissions forum.
The tippy top schools are reached for everyone, not because you don’t have the stats but because there are too many applicants and too few spots. Don’t take it personal!
You have some amazing choices right now, congratulations!!
@Fishnlines29 thank you! Yeah I guess there are so many with the same stats that other factors really make the difference. I’m very excited with the options I have too!
@bluekou23 - Each college has a desire list of a student body according to their own institutional needs and wants. Their decisions have nothing to do with you as a person. If they waitlist you, that simply means that you’re a bit outside of their desired student body profile. Otherwise, how do you explain that someone with lesser stats and accomplishments than you do get in? Other than the quantitative data that you’ve submitted (your stats are within range to any top colleges), it all comes down to your qualitative profile, for which some colleges deem you fitting while others have different preferences. Ultimately, you can only try to be you.
By the way, my S got accepted to Williams, Pomona, Amherst and Duke. Guess what? If he has to make the decision TODAY, he won’t hesitate to go with Williams or Pomona or Amherst over Duke. Of the four, Duke is the least desired. It’s all about what college is the best fit for you, and what I get from you is that you’re not sure what that is. “Ivy League” is just a conference. Certainly not all 8 colleges in the conference is a great fit for you, right? Think of the college application process as a process of knowing thyself. Do you know what you really want other than the superficial sense of “prestige” that you associate with the Ivy League?
I would confidently turn down all of your waitlist schools for Williams except Yale. There are few schools that I think match the superlative undergraduate experience, intimate community, depth of resources available to the average undergraduate, and fantastic outcomes the college provides. Congratulations on your fantastic choices.
The colleges that waitlisted you have competitive admissions. Accept a spot on the waitlist if you want, but focus on the schools that admitted you. You have 5 acceptances to some very good universities. Are any of them affordable?
All is not fair in love, war and college admissions. Your stats are great, but as someone reminded me in the Princeton bias against ORM thread, these are private colleges and they take who they want, not necessarily the “best and brightest.” Good Luck. Fingers crossed for your “heart’s desire” school.
The “waitlist frenzy” is not new. It’s unfortunately how the long admissions cycle ends these days…
Don’t fall into the “let down trap”, where you get amazing early results, but the spring brings nothing but WL and maybe one or 2 admits that are lower on your list than your early schools. It is a let down, or I would say anticlimactic after all the wait, build up, drama, etc…but think of it this way: if you were still waiting for Williams, and then they admit you in April 1, it’s the same thing. But perhaps a more dramatic ending is all.
Good luck with the rest, and know that most kids in your place don’t even have a school like Williams or UVA in their “Yes!” column. Good luck!
Pure numbers. Too many kids applying to the same small set of schools. Sounds as if you already got lucky! The WLs mean someone else got admitted to one of those places, so they’re probably feeling lucky too! It all evens out, but it would probably be easier if everyone dialed back the sheer number of applications.
You look good on paper. So do thousands of other applicants for the very top schools. They look very similar to you, in fact. I’m always amused at students who are surprised that they don’t get in everyplace.
^^^That’s a cheap shot. But I think another way to say it, is Harvard’s admission officer said, How to get into Harvard, “Be interesting.” True, you have to stand out in some way, separate yourself out from the pack (to say it in a more useful way.)
I’d love to hear from an admissions officer but my theory is that the majority of top students applying to a dozen or so schools (I’m reading of others who apply to even more, in the 20 range) are getting waitlisted at a few and don’t see the irony: They’re the ones causing so many students to be waitlisted; they’re applying to some schools just because they see it as a numbers game and knocking each other out of acceptances. But I do understand: They feel like they have to in order to have a few choices at a few top colleges. I don’t know how you stop the frenzy.
I kinda understand your problem. I got rejected (not waitlisted like you) from Duke but accepted to Georgetown. I also got into UVA but waitlist Amherst. I, as well, am nervous for Ivy day… it’s a crapshoot. Your stats are higher than mine but I got into some schools you didn’t, and you obviously got into many schools (Williams) and waitlisted from many schools that I didn’t. I think you have a great shot with your stats.
PS: my stats are 1520 SAT and 3.85 UW GPA/4.0, but as I say in many posts, I go to a boarding school where the “valedictorians” or top 1% have approx 3.9-3.95