Wondering Why Case Wait listed Me

<p>GPA 3.94/4.0
SAT: 2240
APs - 11 (All 5's except one with a 4)
State Science Olympiad Champion
Debate - reached state Quarter finals
Geography bee - State top 10
High school summer intern at U Penn on Alzeheimers reasearch
School Debate Captain
120+ hours of community service at a local hospital
Model UN</p>

<p>Focus area is Bio-medical engineering. Got accepted into Georgia Tech (no aid announced yet), Penn State Schreyer's and Drexel. Wait listed at Hopkins and Case. Really disappointed that the top schools (Harvard, MIT, Stanford, U Penn and Duke) rejected me. I have heard good stories about Case. They have an excellent biomed program with research opportunities at Cleveland clinic even for undergraduates. Also heard that they provide reasonable financial aid with admission. </p>

<p>But first off, I do not understand why I got wait listed. What are the chances of them accepting me with some form of financial aid. I will accept Case even with 50% aid even though it will be $50K more overall compared to Schreyers.</p>

<p>Every feedback is appreciated. Thanks,</p>

<p>i think it’s because CWRU rejects the applicants who have really, really high stats, that they’re bound to go to a better school than CWRU, and CWRU wants a high yield percentage rate. so it could have been the reason why some people with lower stats than you got into CWRU’s biomed eng, whereas you didn’t get in. i am sorry :(</p>

<p>I’m in a similar situation, 2270 SAT, good GPA, plenty of APs, and most of the reaches I applied to (Chicago, WashU, Northwestern) rejected me. I’m currently on the waitlist at Rice and Case. If Case takes me off the waitlist I’d very strongly consider it, but otherwise I’m currently between NYU and Pitt’s honors college. I think the issue we both have is being well qualified for Case but not showing enough initial interest and being waitlisted because they thought we would get accepted elsewhere. For now, just keep your file updated and hope for the best.</p>

<p>On another note, does anyone know whether they’ll be taking students off the waitlist before May 1st?</p>

<p>My suggestion to anyone who is waitlisted at Case but has the statistics to get in and wants to go, should call them and explain that to the admissions department. Case would be happy to have you.</p>

<p>Quite honestly, when people do not lump Case in with those “higher” schools (Stanford, UPenn, Duke, Chicago, WashU, Northwestern, Hopkins, for example), they’re only harming themselves, because in terms of SATs and admissions rates, Case is only getting more selective, rising in the ranks, and becoming as hard and desirable to get into as these kinds of schools. People tend to disregard it and say “oh, but I’ll get into Case”, and maybe 5 or 10 years ago that was true, but the Administration is trying very hard to turn that around, and it is making prospective students who expected to get in without trying very angry. You’re quite lucky you were waitlisted and hopefully you’ll get in, but if not, you have great choices-- I’m a PA/Philly resident and was accepted to both Schreyers and Drexel before choosing Case. Both are great schools with very strong science programs,and I have a cousin in engineering at GTech who absolutely loves it!</p>

<p>Posting a great article on college admissions process: [Making</a> the grade: Inside the college admissions process - Philly.com](<a href=“Inquirer.com: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes”>Inquirer.com: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes)</p>

<p>I am tired of reading how Case (or other schools for that matter) owes you an admissions spot because you have a high SAT/ACT score, GPA and X amount of AP courses. That is not the only factor. This article brings up some great points that you may want to consider when asking yourself why you were waitlisted. </p>

<p>You might also want to keep in mind that with 18,000+ applicants for 2012-13, there are going to be many “top” students waitlisted when there are only 1200 (or less) students that can make up the new incoming freshman class.</p>

<p>It’s not a matter of protecting yield. Case has a consistent policy of admitting only the best of its applicants. It addresses yield via aid packages for accepted students. The more they think you may go to another competitive school, the more likely you are to get a strong aid package.</p>

<p>Yes, but demonstrated interest is clearly an important factor. I have a friend who was accepted at WashU who was also waitlisted by Case and also hadn’t shown any active interest. I regret not having had the chance to visit, but there’s not much I can do about it at this point.</p>

<p>Agree that Case might be getting selective, but they are not using the “selective” admissions process. There are no requirements for essays or interviews, Nor do they appear to analyze EC activities because they do not ask for them. Guess I am missing something in their admissions criteria.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, I really think they are looking at the whole package and not just high gpa, test scores. My son showed absolutely NO interest whatsoever in Case prior to being admitted–he didn’t even visit the school until he was admitted. Yes, he did have the very high gpa, test scores, requisite numerous AP courses, extracurriculars that focused more on helping others (tutoring, etc.), played piano for 12 years–all things a typical Case admit might do; however, his essays on the Common App were really well thought out and edited over and over again because he was applying to reach schools that necessitated “perfection.” I believe that maybe the essays do play a more important role when every other applicant attribute is equal. In any event, he ended up at Case because it’s a great STEM school and they threw a lot of money at him. He plans on getting a PhD and didn’t want to get into serious debt any earlier than he had to.</p>

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<p>I think it might be a little bit of a crapshoot, but it’s not all yield protection. I was admitted with a 3.78 UW, 2350 SAT, and two perfect SAT IIs while demonstrating no interest whatsoever. I may attend, too! (Still on four waitlists…)</p>