On top of everything else that has been pointed out … let me add one more point. What is the highest level of Maths you reached in high-school? I did not see AP Calc listed, and it actually tends to be rather common among STEM applicants. AP Physics and/or AP Chem in your coursework would have helped too.
@amNotarobot Sorry, the OPs "top heavy reach"schools were Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell.
I still believe if there were more applications to the Notre Dame/WUSTL/Georgetown/NYU range there would have been a few more acceptances.
@osuprof I do think it was my major that hurt me, especially since I did not focus primarily in STEM during high school. I took calculus last year but it was not AP, and I got a B first semester (it was with the math teacher that’s given me my only Bs). I also have not taken AP Chem or Physics. I didn’t realize how much harder applying as CS would be.
The stats are good, but it sounds like there were several Bs and the SAT IIs are not what top 30 schools are looking for.
I agree it was an error getting a rec from a math teacher where you got Bs in the class. i had a recommendation from a teacher whose effectively an AP class I had the highest score in. That is the sort of thing they want to see.
"At the same time, I was not expecting to get into any of the Ivies–my strategy was to apply to them out of hope but really spend time on USC, Northwestern, and the UCs "
Well, NU is as difficult to get in to as the Ivies, USC is close to there now as well, and CS at Cal and UCLA is also as difficult to get in to as the Ivies, so that’s a confusing statement. In particular, I’m befuddled why you thought NU would somehow be easier to get in to than the Ivies considering that it’s RD admit rate and entering class stats fit in right along the Ivies.
Talking about RD, BTW. You would have had a better shot if you had applied ED anywhere.
@KTJordan78: Notre Dame, WashU, and Georgetown are reaches for any unhooked candidate in RD these days as well.
Only NYU maybe might be a high match.
@PurpleTitan, re “Talking about RD, BTW. You would have had a better shot if you had applied ED anywhere.”
Do you agree with my prediction that ED at the tippy top schools will, over the next few years, become almost as insanely competitive as RD. Hoping you disagree here…
Congratulations on your scholarship acceptance to UCSB and making a waitlist at University of Chicago. As many of the other posters have said, your list is too top-heavy with reaches.
@USCWolverine, it’s tough for ED to become as competitive as RD because kids can only apply to one ED school (in each ED round) while there is always a percentage of the applicant pool who do not apply ED anywhere (because they are fishing for merit money or want to compare fin aid offers or have their eyes set on the SCEA schools). Note that ED admit rates have not become nearly as crazy as fast as RD admit rates have.
My son was wait listed a bunch - including from George Washington (42% acceptance rate), Middlebury, etc… - yet admitted as a John Jay Scholar at Columbia. Why? Who knows?
@PT, thanks for you input, as always!
@chocolatepoobear, Congrats on your son’s acceptance to Columbia, which I’d guess is among the top 5 or so most selective colleges in the United States! My guess re his GWU denial: Yield protection.
I don’t think competition at most of the schools listed are any tougher this year than last year or the year before that. The prevailing comments on CC from parents of applying students this year seem to be that it was a tougher year - but except for the UCs, I’m not sure I believe that. These are ALL reaches that rejected you, probably due to the high number of applicants with strong stats at each one. I guess I’m a bit surprised at USC, but not really the rest. If you had come out here earlier, I think you would have been advised that you needed more matches and safeties. Also, UChicago puts many, many students on the waitlist. It is very tough to get off of it just because there are so many students on it. So that is pretty unlikely.
The good news is that you have an acceptance! So you are going to college in the fall.
If you’re unhooked, you have to find a way to stand out in some way. High stats just isn’t enough these days.
What’s your ethnic/race background? It could be a major factor, especially if you are from California.
@primacaterina - My guess is that there are several things that didn’t make your app as compelling as it might have otherwise been:
At most schools, CS is a very competitive major and Adcoms generally want to see very strong math and science skills and a lot of demonstrated strength and interest backed up by course rigor and ECs. Not taking AP Bio / AP Chem or AP Physics was a mistake (AP Env. Science is not considered very rigorous). Not taking Calc AB or BC and only getting a B in the regular Calc aslo class probably hurt you.
I suspect that the teacher rec might not have been as strong as you would have wanted. For reach schools you want teachers to say that you are among the strongest students they have ever taught and that you practically walk on water. It’s likely that your math teacher’s rec was not that effusive.
Consistent involvement is a STEM or CS-related EC would also have been expected. Add to that the lack of diversity that you bring to the schools and you haven’t given schools like Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell any compelling reason to accept you.
You probably overreached and needed more safeties/matches. That said, UCSB is a great school and the Regents scholarship is quite an honor. Have you considered UCSB’s College for Creative Studies? (It’s often described as a graduate school for undergraduates and serves as a school-within-a-school honor program; they offer a Computing major):
https://www.ccs.ucsb.edu/majors
CCS requires a separate application.
“In fact, getting into Comp Sci major at these two schools is IMO as difficult as getting into top 10 schools, so I don’t find it surprising that you got denied from the schools.”
Comp Sci is tough to get into but it’s actually the EECS programs at these universities that are the most difficult to get into. EECS at UCB is in the engineering school and does approach Stanford wrt selectivity, CS is in the Arts and Science college which is not as selective. Same for many other public universities. CS however is not direct admit while EECS is.
“At the same time, I was not expecting to get into any of the Ivies–my strategy was to apply to them out of hope but really spend time on USC, Northwestern, and the UCs (which I know are also very, very good schools; I did not factor in my CS major as an extra condition of getting in). I also think my ECs hurt me.”
Again, I don’t think CS is the toughest major at these schools, USC has some music programs that are more selective, NU’s Medill School of Jounalism may be tougher as well.
“The best he could have said about you was that you tried hard, were diligent, curious, pleasure to be around, etc…, but he could never have said you were an exceptional student in mathematics.”
It’s good for a LOR to say you’re curious, and in this case, if the OP applied to non-STEM majors, this strategy would have worked. Because the college will give credit to the applicant for picking someone that gave Bs for the LOR from the STEM teacher, which the waitlist for Chicago econ sort of shows. For CS of course, may not have been the best choice.
If you are in-state in California, then I think that it is probably quite reasonable to apply to UCSB and a lot of reach schools. There isn’t much point in going to a school that is ranked a tiny bit higher than UCSB if it is going to be twice the price – it wouldn’t be worth it. If it were me I might have added a second safety, but this doesn’t matter since you are in at a great school.
It is a bit scary to see a student with such exemplary stats turned down by such a long list of schools. However, it looks to me like you have one very good choice with a great scholarship, and you can only attend one at a time.
Congratulations on your hard work and success to this point. Good luck and best wishes to do well at UCSB.
@intparent, why are you specifically a bit surprised at OP’s rejection to USC, among the others?
I just think it is a bit less selective. I know it has gotten more selective in recent years, though.