wisenheimer2u

I just got waitlisted today! I thought I was in for sure and Bard is my #1 school. Does anyone know WHY? I mean I know Bard is a great school but I thought I was qualified:

GPA UW: 3.9
GPA W: 5.2
SAT: 780 CR/800 M/760 W
SAT II: Math level 2 800/ French 760/ Chemistry 780/ Physics 800

Took the hardest course load at my HS: all honors freshman and sophomore year (no AP's allowed until junior year); junior year APUSH (5), AP English Lang (5), AP Chemistry (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Computer Science (5); senior year AP Econ, AP Euro, AP English Lit, AP Physics C, MV Calc/Linear Algebra, AP French.

ECs: Captain of the math team, co-captain of Science Olympiad, co-captain of the chess team, volunteer tutor, started own web design company.

Why on earth did they reject me? I know I must sound stuck-up but I really can't figure out why, my stats are above their accepted averages, I'm a good student and I thought my ECs were good enough. What was missing?

ReInventor

Maybe contact the school and find out why? That does seem a bit odd.

randomname25

Tufts syndrome?

20LEGEND

Yield protection.

wisenheimer2u

I guess that makes sense (I looked up Tufts Syndrome) but I really was going to go! I didn't apply anywhere else besides my state school because I love Bard so much. I visited twice, interviewed (the interviewer TOLD me I was in for sure), looked at their science programs and senior project and knew it was the place for me. Are US News and World Report ratings all that colleges care about?

Now I just have to worry about getting off the wait list... what are my odds?

ivanadoeslimbo

Getting off wait lists seems difficult. Try contacting the Admissions Office, maybe they'll tell you if you had any weaknesses in your application. Then, you can try to center your strategy around supporting that. Tell them it's your first choice. There's another thread about somebody on a wait list for WASHU, you may want to look at it.

mtngoat1

i was wait-listed as well, but have a 3.2 GPA (w/ AP classes) and a 30 ACT...so i guess i have no chance of getting off of the wait list then. it was still impressive that i wasn't rejected with my stats. they must've liked something about my application.

mountains

wisenheimer2u - Definitely contact them. Here's a link to the Colby Admissions Blog on waitlist which may be helpful. I would think most colleges work their waitlist in a similar manner.
Colby College | News & Events | Read Blog Item

ctParent2006

Certainly contact them and make it clear they are your number 1 choice. For some reason that must not have made it through to them.

Meugenio

Are you top ten in your class? If so you would have qualified for a scholarship in which you get in-state equivalent tuition. Too late for that I think but, hmm, that is a puzzler.

diminlovebi

I think you should definitely contact AO...your GPA and SAT are sooo high...there is no reason that they rejected you...

don't worry too much....

vahevala

My daughter applied to Bard last year Early Action and was turned down. She resubmitted RD with an essay on why she thought Bard was right for her, some photosw of artwork and additional teacher rec. and was accepted RD. I would definitely contact them, speak to someone personally. Bard seems interested in the more individuality in a student, not so much with the SAT. Good luck

froghorn

I have similar stats (slightly lower SAT, slightly higher GPA and similarly strong ECs/recs) to the OP and was rejected... I'm guessing yield protection, too.

jocan

Who knows why? I was rejected from one school with a similar acceptance rate as Bard, with numbers way above their averages. I don't think you can write it off as yield protection, especially if you visited twice. There's an awful lot of waitlisting going on this year. There are a ton of stories on this site about weird acceptances/rejections.

dealwithit

Can someone quickly explain yield protection and Tufts syndrome? Sorry to be so ignorant of these terms.