WPI Class of 2023 Hopeful Thread!

Thanks I will try since the admission counselor knows me when she visited

@Holyjennybieber Im talking about the one at your school, not the WPI one

Yeah, I would ask her. But the counselor who wrote my recommendations doesn’t know me very well, my academic counselor is really mean so I didn’t pick her.

Also looking at everyone’s stats and looking at my 3.2 GPA I think I can go cry now even though my portal did not update

@Andy38 Btw does your rejection letter also says “unfortunately, WPI determines that your application is not approve?”

@hahahahelp I agree these credentials are impressive to not get in but like I said before it really is a crap shoot with seemingly no rhyme or reason. In some cases they actually reject over qualified candidates assuming they will not accept. The one hope I hold is in the deferral letter they said they would reconsider “especially in light of applying early action”. Hopefully they were sincere.

@Holyjennybieber yes indeed

@Andy38 ohh I see, I was just curious cuz usually colleges don’t reject like that

Accepted for Comp Sci! Also Great Minds and Presidential scholarships for a combined $37,100/year.
1530 SAT/35 ACT/4.0 UW GPA/4.8 W
Also a bunch of stem ECs + tennis and chess

For all those who rejected, I’m sorry that you didn’t get the result you were looking for. However, I don’t think contacting admissions would do any good at this point. Take a day or two to get over it, then put WPI in the rear view mirror and don’t look back.

STEM universities have experienced a wide growth in applicant interests over the past ten years. Even within the STEM group, WPI’s application growth has been above average. This results in a changing admissions picture which requires more careful planning. This growth has largely been represented by an increase in the GPAs of the applicant pool.

Correct data helps planning. By way of illustration, a 3.9 GPA and a 3.89 GPA (the correct, most current WPI average) are virtually the same. This means there will likely be a mix of 3.9’s that are not admitted if only 43% (fall of 2018) of the actual applicant pool is accepted.

When shooting at a moving target, adjustments have to be made or the target may not be hit. When planning for our education, we cannot relax in a world of aged data. We need to collect current data. This is why it is wise to collect all the current data possible and why, in the age of the internet, we cannot rely on the two year old sources commonly used by many parents, students and even guidance councilors. We all tend to assume that the good cookies will always be in the jar, but we have not checked the jar for awhile.

Take a thoughtful look at your remaining options. Successful geniuses come from a very wide variety of colleges and universities! It is quit evident that this troubled world needs your help!

I had to wait till 5 PM today to receive my decision. After not receiving it yesterday, I emailed WPI Admissions, and they responded that a special group of decisions would be released late. I was waitlisted, much to my disappointment.

I got wait listed
GPA: around 3.3/3.4 (weighted)
FRC 4 years, lots of personal stem projects
SAT/ACT: really embarrassing

The wait list at WPI (and other colleges) has gotten totally out of hand. Last data I saw for WPI was 2000 offered, 1000 accepted being on waitlist and only 100 admitted. The waitlist is purely to the benefit of the university at the expense of the student. To me they are saying sorry you are not good enough but stick around for 6 months waiting because if we are desperate to fill a spot at the last minute and take your money we will get back to you. I thought WPI had better standards but I guess not.

@BagODonuts

Almost agree with you!

The waiting list is clearly protection for the University and is used as such by all universities. I do not believe that it means you “are not good enough” It is actually an indication that you ARE GOOD ENOUGH! or they would not respond with a wait list offering. In some recent years, WPI has not offered admission to any students on the list (three years ago, I believe). To me, that makes for an even less fair position. It is insane to me to offer a waiting list and never take anyone off of it.

Why does this happen?

In order to offer students the needed beds. labs and maintain a quality student/faculty ratio, the numbers need to be managed. Universities that do not do this end up with students sitting on the stairs of a lecture hall because they did not arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the lecture. (based on a true story).

Small project research groups require matching faculty and facility. Like most “system” decisions in life, the exact response from acceptances cannot be perfectly predicted. The smaller the college/university, the more difficult the process. That is why we study subjects like “Bid Data” and economics.

These are the times that it would be nice to offer the opportunity to every qualified and motivated applicant. As an alumnus I have followed your CC conversation and really wish you were there, but I am not on the admissions committee and if I were I would have only one vote and would have to weigh it against other applicants.

Myself, and many fellow alumni have reached the conclusion that we could not gain admission in today’s application environment. Our proud history is built on the shoulders of alumni who could not gain admission in today’s process!

Study hard and find a better answer!

Son off the waitlist and accepted! 1400 SAT 3.6 GPA. Staying in touch with admissions and writing a letter of continued interest really helped!

Congratulations, @hak7735 on your son’s acceptance! Welcome to the herd!

State universities offer honors colleges within the university to help them compete with private colleges for the top students. For the student, besides more affordable tuition, there are benefits such as smaller class sizes, specific honors housing with other highly motivated students, research opportunities and preferential access to sign up for classes. Also having attended the honors college at the state university indicates to graduate schools and potential employers you are a top candidate.

@homeeducator, I am not sure why you posted your comment in this particular thread. However, I do have an opinion about this matter. While your comments regarding Honors College might be true for most degrees, when looking into options for my son, we found out that a vast majority of Engineering students opt out of honor colleges because the extra classes often required to be involved in these programs are an unnecessary burden to an already academically intense curriculum where there is often little room for added classes (ABET dictates most of the required classes).
In most colleges and universities, engineering students are already a motivated group of individuals in the higher end of the selectivity spectrum, which eliminates the need for honor colleges (for the purpose of challenging the student’s intellect).
In my son’s case, in particular , he did apply and got accepted into honors colleges in large institutions, as well as smaller private colleges. After merit scholarships, out of state tuition for flagships was about the same as private (give or take a couple thousand). The opportunity to have smaller classes in ALL subjects (not just the honor classes) combined with individualized attention at a private institution, was one of the deciding factors when he chose WPI.
Regarding research, at WPI he was presented with the opportunity to be involved in research during B term (1st semester) of his freshman year. He deferred research to this summer to concentrate in academics during his first year and is currently on campus enjoying his research opportunity. Had he been in a large institution, it would most likely have been a “take it or leave it” situation where he would have been forced to take the opportunity immediately to avoid risking loosing the spot. Furthermore, I am not sure he would have found an opening this early in his college career even if involved In honors college.
Regarding employability, WPI’s Career Services was Voted #5 for “Best Career Services” by the Princeton Review (2019 edition). With an average starting salary of $69,219 (2018) and a 93% success rate, I would argue that WPI candidates overall are considered top candidates in the industry.
There are other added benefits of a WPI education that are unique to this school. Project based learning, combined with the opportunity to study abroad during IQP and/or MQP are some of the opportunities that have attracted my son and many other young talented students to this school.

@homeeducator

I too was confused as to why you posted your comment on this WPI related thread so I went back and reviewed your prior entries.

It does appear that you have concluded that, by and large, private colleges are just a more expensive version of a public institution.

I am sure there are some public and some private institutions which are not of the highest quality. I am equally sure that their are many privates which actually offer a higher quality education than many, BUT NOT ALL, public universities.

What is your point?.

You probably do not know a great deal about WPI and many other fine private universities.

If your daughter or son had received a very large scholarship for four years at WPI, graduated in four years and won a fully paid scholarship to obtain your PhD in the most respected University in your field, would you consider it an unfortunate event? Would you consider your time at WPI a waste.

This is not the single exception to your rule. As already pointed out, the placement rate and salaries paid upon graduation are very strong and they consistently report one of the very lowest default loan rates of all New England universities. The collection of well credentialed universities and colleges in New England is very large.

I am proudly a WPI alumnus who contributes through taxes to support our state universities and who donates to my private college to help students participate in their unique program, We need both of them!