I got my decisions from college, and I got waitlisted from pretty much all of the colleges that I applied to (Pepperdine, UCI, UCSD, UCD, etc).
And my friend who had much lower stats than me got into the schools that I got waitlisted at.
This is making me so sad because I worked so hard to get into at least one of them.
I also don’t know what I should do. Should I deposit for the college that I got in for safety, and move to another college if any of them gets me off the waitlist?
On another thread, you say you got accepted to Chapman. Is that college affordable for you? Was that your safety?
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Yes, that was kind of my safety. I also got into UCR.
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You might want to change the tag here…and eliminate “transfer” because you are not currently applying as a transfer student.
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Yes, you will need to deposit at a school that has accepted you by their enrollment deadline (usually May 1). Hopefully Chapman and/or UCR are affordable. If you then get off a waitlist after May 1, you can choose to attend the school you were waitlisted at, but will likely lose the enrollment deposit you made on or before May 1. Good luck.
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To answer your question…YES you should deposit at a college which has accepted you. If you get in off of any waitlist (don’t count on it happening) you can give up your spot at that college and accept one at the waitlist school. You should expect to lose your deposit.
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Are you planning on majoring in education with the goal of becoming a teacher? If so, the school where you receive your undergraduate degree does not matter. Riverside has a well respected school of education. They offer both a teaching credential program as well as a MEd.
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My son and the other top 4 kids in his class all got waitlisted at UCSD and UCI today, and all rejected from UCLA. You’re in good company. Acceptance rates are crazy low this year. I’ll tell you what I told my son, love the school that loves you back. SIR at one of your acceptances and don’t wait around for the waitlists.
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So - this is why you applied to many schools - because there are no guarantees. You should be excited about UCR and Chapman - as both are fine schools - and unless you had interest in attending, you shouldn’t have applied.
You should not compare yourself to friends - because every kid is different and you are not just a statistic.
Of course, you need to deposit so you have a school to attend - and whil you can stay on a WL, get those out of your head and you’ll probably fall in love with UCR or Chapman, the more you study them. You might get off the WL and decide to stay anyway…many surely do.
If you’re unhappy with these, then find another school you can like that’s a similar that you still have time to get into - such as Arizona.
No reason to be sad - you’re going to a very good college next year- whatever it is.
And if your goal is to teach - it could be Cal State San Marcos…it wouldn’t matter.
Good luck
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You got into Chapman and UCR.
YOU. GOT. IN.
There are way too many students who didn’t get in anywhere in state. Comparing your record to your friend’s isn’t fair to you.
If you can afford Chapman and UCR, you are set. Put those deposits in, especially for HOUSING! It will go quickly from now until August. Love the school that loved you.
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I’m sorry for the disappointment. As much as it would be ideal for students to do their best in the application process without getting overly invested in particular schools, in reality the application process requires an amount of work and soul-searching that makes not-getting-invested impossible for most.
Just remember that as important as “holistic” factors are, they are mostly used to distinguish one high-GPA applicant from another. Especially now that UC’s are test-blind, GPA is by far the biggest single filter. The students who fill out the lower end of the GPA curve among accepted students typically have a “hook” beyond just making a good impression in the essays - they’re recruited athletes, or they are one of the top students at an under-resourced school in an under-represented area. You were applying to highly-competitive UC’s with (according to your other thread) a 3.6 UW, 3.96 weighted-capped UC GPA. That’s right around median for Riverside (middle 50% for weighted-capped is 3.81 - 4.20), but well below the middle 50% at Davis (4.06-4.3), Irvine (4.08-4.29), and UCSD (4.12-4.3).
I’m not trying to make you feel “less than” - on the contrary, I’m saying that these results aren’t a referendum on your worth as a human being or your potential as a student; they’re just following a formula, based primarily on your high school grades, and you were trying to beat some fairly well-established odds. In fact, the fact that you got waitlisted and not rejected speaks well for the quality of the “holistic” aspects of your application.
Riverside and Chapman are both excellent schools, particularly for your interests (education and/or business). It’s possible that you could clear a waitlist (it’s not a pipe dream like it is at some privates, but also not to be counted upon) but for now, you need to consider which of these fine schools will be a better fit for you. (Or, if you truly can’t see yourself at either and are focused on transfer possibilities, the community college option would save money and position you best as a transfer applicant. But IMHO, if UCR and Chapman are affordable for your family, chose one and make the most of four years there.)
The good news is that both UCR and Chapman have strong undergraduate programs in both business and education (something that isn’t the case at many of your more-desired schools!). In addition to majors in both areas, both schools have minor options in both areas as well, so you’ll be able to figure out what combination of major+minor (or possibly double-major, although that could be both unnecessary and tough to grind out in four years) will best suit your goals. You could have a great undergraduate experience at either school. Which are you leaning toward?
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As you might have known, there are holistic factors in college admissions. You can control your GPA, rigor but you can’t control how AO looks at your essays and EC. Those are the things that beyond your control.
Don’t feel inferior. College is just a phase in your life and where you go doesn’t determine how successful you will be. As long as you work hard, apply yourself, explore new things (and always with a little bit of luck), you will do well. A lot of people didn’t go to their first choice colleges, some didn’t go to to T20, not even Top 50. But they ended up being successful in so many ways and have fulfilling lives. You are the one who can decide how excited you are to go to these schools. All the best to you!
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