So I abstained from making a CC account all through my college applications process, but I’ve been down recently about my rejections and wanted to ask if my admissions decisions were normal. I thought that the admissions process would be slightly more favorable to me, but then again, I know I can’t be objective. Let me know if my results or normal or not, because I’m really confused. (Also, I know that it’s weird I applied with different majors to different schools, but I did two waves of applications and changed my mind on what I wanted to do halfway through.)
Rejected:
Stanford (applied for comp sci major)
Columbia (applied for econ major)
Princeton (applied for econ major)
Yale (applied for econ major)
Cornell (applied for econ major)
USC (applied for comp sci major)
UCLA (applied for comp sci major)
UCB (applied for comp sci major)
Pomona (applied for econ major)
Claremont Mckenna (applied for comp sci major)
Northwestern (applied for econ major)
Waitlisted:
UChicago (applied for econ major)
Accepted:
UCSB (with the Regent’s Scholarship, which I’m very happy about!) (applied for comp sci major)
Objective Stats:
SAT: 1540
SAT World History: 700
UC GPA: 4.42 (most objective value I can give because schools weight their APs differently)
APs: World History (5), US History (5), English Lang (5), Environmental Science (5), this year taking Comp Sci, English Lit, Stats, and Gov
Subjective Stats:
Danced ballet and contemporary since I was 4
Ran small business selling jewelry, created online store and social media presence
Significant community service
I think my letters of rec were good; I got one from my math teacher that’s given me the only Bs I’ve had throughout high school, I thought maybe his recommendation could outweigh the Bs. And the other I got from my french teacher that I’ve had for three years.
I have opinions on why maybe I was rejected, but I won’t say anything so that your replies can be as unbiased as possible. Thank you all for your time and opinions!
Gee, your stats are really spectacular and you should be proud of those achievements. I think anyone in your position would be hopeful about the schools you applied to.
But is it possible to be rejected from all of those schools? Definitely yes. None of those schools are guarantees.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but it probably would have been a good idea to apply to a few schools in the Notre Dame/WUSTL/Georgetown/NYU/Boston zone. I think you would have seen acceptances in that range for sure.
But buck up - there couldn’t be a more beautiful campus than UCSB. You will love your time there. Congrats!
It has really been a bloodbath this year. My kid had slightly higher stats than you and was similarly rejected from many major universities and LACs. We were chagrined, to say the least, but it’s OK because - just like you - a great public university made a great offer. So did a great LAC. Deciding between them now.
The deluge of rejection was painful, and unexpected, I know. You can only go to one school, though, right?
To answer your question - yes. It is the new normal.
You shotgunned for the most competitive schools. Ofc these results are normal. Enjoy Santa Barbara. I’m guessing winter there is probably way better than winter in Ithaca.
@KTJordan78 In retrospect, that was probably my best option. I know that UCLA is a very competitive school, but I was fairly certain I would get in there, and there was no other mid-range school I preferred. But I realize now that that was a risky assumption
@prodesse congrats to your kid! I’m sure any university will be glad to have them.
@covfefe5 thank you thank you thank you my reaction exactly
My daughter with 1550 SAT, above 700s in three subject tests, perfect IB score - was rejected to 8 schools and waitlisted at 5. Luckily she was accepted to 8 with great scholarships. There are simply not enough places in the tippy top schools for all the kids with stellar academic records. Glad you got in someplace you are happy to go - congrats!
This year has been crazy. My daughter is in the same boat and it has been emotionally draining everytime we think about what just happened. She has UC weighted GPA of 4.6(4.4 otherwise) , 1560 SAT, 780 in SAT II Math and Chemistry and a NMF Finalist.
Rejected at Wharton, Uchicago, Washu, Northwestern, Yale, Duke, Georgetown, Columbia , UCB, USC, Cornell and CMU
Waitlisted at UCLA, UCSD, UCD and NYU
Accepted at Northeastern, UCSB, UCI and UCSC
She is probably going to UCSB.
I absolutely believe that you guys have something great in store for your future! Everything happens for a reason.
You guys are going to shine!
@suzuki7 Wait, your daughter had a 4.6 GPA and a 1560 SAT, and she was waitlisted at UCD? Its acceptance rate is 43% and the GPA range is 3.95 - 4.25 and the SAT range is 1190-1430.
@suzuki7 I’m sorry for the ordeal admissions have put your daughter through. She sounds like an amazing candidate and it is ridiculous she wasn’t accepted to one of her top choices. On the other hand, maybe I’ll see her at UCSB!
@CValle congrats to your daughter with her scholarships! That’s still an amazing achievement.
@suzuki7 – @KTJordan78 is right, that is very, very strange. The only explanation I can think of is that the UCs talked to each other and decided to admit her to UCSB and UCI only–but I know that that is unlikely and doesn’t make much sense. What major did she apply to? I know UCD’s veterinary program is very competitive.
EECS at Cal and CS at UCLA? They’re probably as difficult to get in to now for those majors as the lower Ivies, which are reaches for everyone.
Everybody wants to major in CS these days so they are a very difficult major to get in to now, especially if you don’t already have outstanding CS ECs.
If you didn’t like schools like UW-Madison and NYU, I probably would only have added UCSD and some LACs below Pomona and CMC.
It’s impossible to have a 4.42 UC GPA with some Bs. Or 4.6 UC GPA for that matter. For the vast majority of high achieving kids, the UC GPA is roughly .3 above the unweighted GPA. Unless you were only taking 3 or 4 a-g classes per semester which I suppose is possible but highly unlikely. Without more information it’s hard to tell all the rejections. I know that people tend to mention only the best part of their stats (including me sometimes) but without complete information it’s hard to answer your questions. For example I know that you took more than one subject test but you only listed one. Also how many times did you take the SAT, and what was the score for each one? What were your first semester grades for senior year like?
My kid got rejected for Stanford, UCLA, Northwestern, and USC as well, all for CS, with very similar stats plus having a 35 on his ACT. Got accepted for UCSB, which is a very fine school for CS, as well as UCD and UCB. So the results don’t surprise me at all, as shocking as it may be.
Time to stop looking back and start looking forward.
ALL it takes is one acceptance-- and you have that.
This may be God-- or “the Universe” if you prefer-- pointing you towards UCSB.
Go, with the determination to love it there, and forget about the college search-- it’s over.
@KTJordan78 In retrospect, that was probably my best option. I know that UCLA is a very competitive school, but I was fairly certain I would get in there, and there was no other mid-range school I preferred. But I realize now that that was a risky assumption
@prodesse congrats to your kid! I’m sure any university will be glad to have them.
@covfefe5 thank you thank you thank you my reaction exactly
@KTJordan78 In retrospect, that was probably my best option. I know that UCLA is a very competitive school, but I was fairly certain I would get in there, and there was no other mid-range school I preferred. But I realize now that that was a risky assumption
@prodesse congrats to your kid! I’m sure any university will be glad to have them.
@covfefe5 thank you thank you thank you my reaction exactly
You keep saying UCLA is a mid-range, but UCLA received the most applications of any school in the country. And for UC calculated GPA the highest someone probably can receive is 4.4. That is with 6 classes a-g classes a semester for soph and junior years and all A’s (given the max AP accepted grades of 8). If you took any more classes, even with A’s the GPA actually goes down. The highest GPA with 2 B’s (1 class, 2 semester receiving a B) and 6 classes a semester would be 4.17. My guess is that is in the average GPA range for UCLA. And like has been mentioned Computer Science is impacted everywhere. Think about it, most of the schools you mentioned, if the admissions counselor had 10 applications to go through one hour would only pull out one or none. I think you would have received more acceptances 5 years ago, but this year, there are just too many student that have great stats like yours. Definitely congratulate yourself for getting into UCSB. My daughter has similar stats as yours (as of now still pulling all A’s) and she will be thrilled if she is accepted to UCSB and she isn’t even looking at a computer science. We just visited UCSB last week and she loved it. You should be very proud of your accomplishments.
When you receive enough feedback I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on why you feel you didn’t get more acceptances.
You probably should have applied to more schools at a little lower level rather than all highly competitive schools, but this is surprising. You didn’t take that many APs, the SAT IIs are not that good, and the ECs are nothing special. Tbh, this doesn’t look like Princeton or Stanford, but should be good for UCLA or USC.
If you needed financial aid, that might have effected things adversely. You didn’t mention ethnic background, so I am assuming white. Obviously, if you are an overrepresented minority it is more difficult.