hunter17

Recently, I was rejected from UC San Diego, Pomona College, and Pitzer college, and waitlisted at UC Irvine and Grinnell. I have a 4.3 GPA, scored a 2210 on my SATs, over 700s on 3 subject tests, 5s on the AP Biology and AP Language/Comp tests, and am a National Merit Scholar. I currently have a 4.7 GPA and am on track to pass the 4 AP tests I'll be taking this year. I've done sports since 6th grade and have earned 3 varsity letters, and I was an all-league runner and varsity captain on our cross country team this season. I've done community service on a regular basis since 4th grade, and have been involved in CSF, NHS, and HOSA. I am a white male from an upper-middle class family, and that seems to have a negative impact on results. However, a friend of mine (also a white male from a middle-class family) got accepted to UCSD in the same major I applied for. He has a 3.8 GPA, a 1720 SAT score, no AP classes, no community service, and involvement in choir and JV cross country. Many other people I know with lower stats and less community involvement have also been accepted. I can understand being rejected from highly competitive private schools like Pomona or Pitzer (about 6% acceptance rates this year), but I'm becoming concerned because the strongest school I've been admitted to is Cal Poly SLO, and I'm only waiting on admissions decisions from Claremont McKenna and UC Berkeley, which are both highly competitive. Who else has experienced this? Does anyone have some form of an explanation for why this would happen? I'm hoping to use this to help me strengthen my qualifications for applying to grad school, so any advice would be appreciated.

EskieLover

Are you an Asian male?

And was your friend NOT an Asian male?

As I've been told, being an Asian male is basically the biggest disadvantage in existence when it comes to college admissions

detoidi

he is a white male, and so is the friend. Gosh, why do you have to ask when he stated specifically right there

EskieLover

Sorry, I'm always really bad with the wall-of-text format since my eyes routinely skip lines and I have to keep looking back to places I left off

If you were both the same ethnicity then I have no clue; maybe essays?

Waverly

Could your essays have been weak or negative? Any discipline or other issues?

hunter17

I had my essays read by my AP English teacher, my school counselor, and a family friend who teaches English at a local community college and oversees transfer applications and essays...they all said that my essays were strong and well-written.
I've never gotten into any trouble. The only times I've ever been in the dean's office were when I was getting a parking permit and when I was asked to be a disaster drill runner.
And sorry about the giant block of words...sometimes I don't consider the fact that people will actually have to read what I write.

Waverly

I'm really shocked about UCI. What major did you apply for? Pitzer is also surprising. No way they have a 6% acceptance rate, Pomona is low, but not that low either.

Every year we say it's crazy, but this year is truly insane. You're in a highly competitive pool, there are a Tom of qualified, high stats kids in CA.

Pecanshell

I'm curious, are your parents highly educated?

detoidi

Tufts syndrome?

GrammerNazi

There's really nothing more to it than the fact that the colleges may not have seen you as a good fit. Nothing more, nothing less. You put your time and effort into it, and that's all that matters. At this point, there's nothing you could've done to better your chances. Sometimes, things just don't go your way. C'est la vie, eh?

I wish you luck with Claremont McKenna and Berkeley! I genuinely think you'll find that things go your way with those schools.

fall2016parent

How many APs did you take sophomore+junior year.
I am definitely surprised about Irvine. What major ?

On another note, you made National Merit SF? Did you apply to USC since they give scholarship for NMF. And yes, file that appeal...you never know.

maani9422

I have a 2220 SAT and a 4.25 GPA...waitlisted Lehigh, Boston College, and GWU. Totally shocked.

I applied Premed though so I think that's why I'm not getting in. I'm a South Asian female, if that makes a difference...

Demonstrated interest also makes a huge difference at schools because so many qualified people apply. I never visited any of those three schools and kids with lower stats that mine (think 1900 SAT, 3.6 GPA) from my school got in.

All I'm really learning about admissions right now is that it is SOOO unpredictable.

Logan6518

I would definitely call to make sure they received the correct stats from you school.

hunter17

I applied for biology or biochem to all of the schools I went for. I think Pitzer's acceptance rate might have been a bit higher, but in my Pomona rejection letter, it said that they accepted 400 applicants out of 7400, which is actually 5.4%. A friend who works at the Claremont Colleges said they all had record numbers of applications this year.

My mom has a master's and teaches 6th grade, and my dad has a bachelor's and teaches aeronautics at a CC. So they're educated, but neither of them are doctors or lawyers or anything.

Thank you! I'm just nervous about my undergrad opportunities because I'm planning on applying to med school, and I have my heart set on the UCB/UCSF joint medical program, which seems to be even more selective than most med schools. But I'm hoping that a strong performance at SLO would still be enough to get me in.

hunter17

Oops! Too many responses!

I only had 1 AP class each of those years, but I had some extenuating circumstances sophomore year and was trying to get back on my feet for the first half of junior year. I've done much better this year, though. I was also planning on calling UCSD to at least find out why I was rejected. But I didn't apply to USC because I've never liked the atmosphere of the area and I didn't think I'd be happy there.

I don't know the standards for those schools, but I'm sorry! Waitlists and rejections are terrible. When I got rejected from Harvey Mudd early decision, I cried. Admissions are definitely hard to figure out.