<p>I've been so dissapointed lately that I didn't get one of my top choices and so far I have been rejected from every school I applied to, except for my safety...Can you guys please look at my stats and see what you think?</p>
<p>GPA: 3.85/4.0 (i go to a dual high school/early college program in texas for math and science..highly recognized in the country)
SAT: 2200
ACT: 35</p>
<p>Essays were very strong. I had multiple peers look at them, and I had 3 english teachers review and give me feedback on how to improve, and I took it to a college prep organization with a high reputation where I live near</p>
<p>Recs were also strong because I asked my teachers who absolutely loved me and actually offered to let me see the recs.</p>
<p>Major EC's: NHS, STUCO, Tennis for 8 years (my school doesn't have an official team so I play for country clubs), Started up a volunteering/tutoring program at a middle school for underprivileged students, hospital/nursing home volunteering, shadowing a doctor, Spanish Club president, and Multicultural President</p>
<p>At the school I go to, most are very open with their stats and whatnot, and I'm really not trying to hate on anyone else, but I can't help compare my stats to other people that got into the places I wanted to (these people have lower grades and scores than me), and I just wonder what was wrong with my application.</p>
<p>I've been rejected from UCLA, Rice, UT Austin, Wash U, and UNC-chapel hill so far...I have only gotten in to UTD, and Berkeley & Brown come out this thursday...#soexcited</p>
most people overestimate the strength of their letters. just b/c a teacher loves you doesn’t mean they can write effective letters- the fact the referees are willing to let you see them makes me wonder how professional and candid they are.
From your description above you had too many influences on your essays. Professionals can read when an essay has been “over cooked”. They may not have seemed genuine. Big problem especially when using college prep organizations/services</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight. I would just like to add that I actually didn’t change my essay much after my first teacher looked at it…I just wanted to see what others thought about it and they thought it was strong, so yeah I just went with it :/</p>
<p>Your entire profile seems too cookie cutter/good. I hate to put it like that, but I know many people who had worse stats than you but so much passion/desire, and they had to fight the system so much more. I am not trying to say that you do not have any of that, but an admission officer might perceive things a certain way.</p>
<p>It a kind of depends how adcoms look at things. Here’s what looked weak to me. 1)Do you have a weighted GPA. If no honors or AP, that’s probaly a deal killer right there. 2)How many times did you take the SAT? 3)EC’s are a bit weak-Country club tennis is just to vague. Just my opinion-Thanks</p>
<p>QUOTES: **** I took it to a college prep organization with a high reputation where I live near***** <strong><em>so I play for country clubs</em></strong></p>
<p>Colleges perceive your upbringing as privileged. Therefore they expect more of you. They expect a 3.9 UW because your parents could pay for tutors. They expect serious EC’s that you have dedicated many hours too. Other than tennis, yours sound pretty weak. If you had hired an expert admissions officer, they would’ve told you to hide the fact you have money. Even if you are NOT wealthy, something in your application might have made you come off as wealthy. </p>
<p>Also, correct me if I’m wrong, it seems like you are NOT URM.
Sorry kid, life is unfair. But hey, since you have money, in 10+ years you’ll probably be doing better than the poor kids that went to Rice. There’s research about this.</p>
<p>I normally don’t reply on these threads, but this was at the top and caught my eye.</p>
<p>Potatoes…colleges do NOT reject students because they are wealthy and should have more expensive ECs. That is just plain POPPYCOCK. Actually the opposite is true…colleges accept wealthy students because they can pay full freight to attend. Also, just FYI, admissions at these schools are need blind meaning that admissions did NOT know whether or not this student was “wealthy” or not when deciding admissions.</p>
<p>You applied to some highly competitive OOS publics. Brown,
WashU and Rice are also competitive for admissions.</p>
<p>To the OP, I’m perplexed by UT-A. We’re you NOT in the upper 10% of your HS graduation class?</p>
<p>At this point, just wait for the rest of your decisions. You have an acceptance do all is not lost.</p>
<p>Agree with thumper, bologna on the rich angle, if anything being wealthy would be looked upon as a way to stick it to you for full cost.</p>
<p>UT-Austin, I think, now requires you to be top 8% for automatic admission so that may be part of it. </p>
<p>The uncomfortable truth is that your profile is ‘average’ for the schools you listed. It’s a really nice average but in those applicant pools you need a way to stand out. What was the rigor of your classes? At Wash U & Rice you’ll be up against UW 3.85s with nothing but APs on their transcript.</p>
<p>Finally, it sounds like you didn’t get your message across - why should these schools choose you? How would you have made those campuses a better place? You needed to convey what makes your addition to a particular campus important to that school. You have to make it impossible for them to say no.</p>
<p>I think your results are disappointing based on the stats you posted. People will give you all sorts of specific reasons why you might have been rejected–but they don’t really know. Sometimes, there is something that’s not so good in an application package that the student doesn’t mention. (For example, if the GPA is lower because of a number of Cs in academic courses, that might be a problem.) Was that your whole list? It may be that for somebody trying to get into highly selective schools with stats that are mid-range for those schools, 8 is not enough.</p>
<p>I do not know if we really know the real reason. I have seen people with perfect stats getting in, being waitlisted, rejected and the same for people in the 3.8 range. I guess schools chose a mix of students. Nowadays stats are just one part of the game. You also need to have a talent, a hook, or " be the candidate most likely to apply". Do not feel bad. Feel proud of your achievements and do not judge yourself based on your acceptance letters.</p>
<p>Your results seem surprisingly unlucky. Sure, everything’s a toss-up, the review process is holistic, blah blah blah, but I’m surprised that you didn’t get into any of those. That said, your extracurriculars seem pretty common. Or maybe your essays seemed to them to have been written with too generic a voice - that tends to happen when they’re reviewed and changed by enough people. You aren’t a bad student or anything, but no one can do anything about your decision now, and any changes you’d be making to yourself as a candidate wouldn’t make much of a difference for the future. Focus on what you have done and still can do.</p>
<p>UT Austin automatically admits students in the top 8%. Since they turned you down, you are simply not going to be a strong candidate at selective colleges nationally if you aren’t even in the top 8% at your HS.</p>
This is not necessarily the case. OP says he’s in a special program–and more than 8% of those kids may be highly qualified. This hurts them at UT Austin, but not necessarily at other schools.</p>
<p>You have already gotten some great feedback, but I wanted to add that, in addition to applying to so many top schools, your resume’ as you have described it here doesn’t seem outstanding in comparison to the other applications these schools would be receiving. For instance, you say you started the program for underprivileged MS students, but when did you start it? In 9th grade or in 11th/12th grade (when college would assume you realized you needed some CS for college apps)? Any state or national awards? For top schools, most successful students have, at the very least, AP awards, NMF, competitive subject area awards, etc. I am not saying you are not an outstanding student who has accomplished great things. I am simply saying that the brief outline you provided here does not in any way compare with those of the students I know who are being accepted to the schools you named. I also agree that there is no mention of AP’s or SAT II’s which are very important to top schools. Finally, you say that you attend a top Math/Science school, but I don’t see that you have taken advantage of that educational opportunity by entering science and math competitions, pursuing research, etc. These are all sort of “basic” criteria that the schools you applied to would be looking for that I don’t see represented above. Crossing my fingers for you to finish admissions strong and find a perfect college fit!</p>
<p>@potato What does URM mean? And no I am not wealthy lol…And i do not know if that GPA is UW or Weighted…The issue with my school is that it takes over the place of my 11th and 12th grade years and allows me to get an early start on earning college credit. I live on a campus and attend college classes. My 9-10 HS had 2 AP courses (with more offered once you are in 11-12 grades) and I took them. Every school in Texas knows about this program, which is called TAMS, and many of the Ivy leagues and other higher level schools do as well.</p>
<p>@thumper Yes, I know they were competitive, and I knew it would be hard, but I was surprised that I wasn’t even waitlisted
And my school does not have a ranking, but many people from my school end up at many Tier 1 schools, so it’s not like they don’t know our situation. Also, 35 percent of my class got rejected from UT Austin while the other 65% got in.</p>
