I concede there is definitely variation (and in some cases extreme outliers) in colleges’ preferences and processes. But you don’t generally base a course selection strategy or advice on that, right? Especially as colleges rarely make this public (for the worse, IMO)– if only everyone published what Wesleyan did… They don’t have to give everything away, but it is so opaque now to be silly …
One of my kids goes to a school with some kids who took BC calc in 7th grade and have done like 6 semesters of college-level physics. Their HS course selection looks different than any generic advice….Maybe I sounded TOO absolute, but that is such a very rare case and is not relevant to anyone I have seen on CC at least recently.
I’m wondering if OP needs FA since Skidmore, Macalester, and Bates are all need-aware schools.
@gmoney999 I agree that it’s impossible to know how your reaches will shake out. A few years ago my D was accepted to Middlebury, Williams, Colby (as a Presidential Scholar), Vassar, and Haverford; waitlisted at Bates; and denied at Bowdoin and Wesleyan. Hang in there!
You’re right. I do need significant financial aid. All of the schools I haven’t gotten into besides CMU are need aware, which I didn’t realize at the time of applying.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen my other comments. As I pointed out, basically no one takes more than 2 years of a language at my school. This year, only 1/40 in the graduating class will have taken more than 2 years. Kids have already gotten into UVA OOS, CMU for CS, Boston University, UMich OOS, and some other very competitive schools that I’m probably forgetting with only 2 years of language. I think this thread is trying to artificially poke holes in my application.
Please do not feel that way. People are just trying to understand the past to better predict the future. Personally, I do not think foreign language is what may be limiting you.
The foreign language thing just isn’t something I had much control over. My school only has 1 Spanish teacher (no other languages offered), so, generally speaking, after you take Spanish 1 and 2, you’re done. There is an option to continue studying a language independently for people who are looking to major/minor in a language or who are going into linguistics, but only 1 person in my grade is doing that. There are a million reasons why I could get rejected. I don’t think 2 years of Spanish is one of them, especially given my areas of interest.
You may have a decent chance for the need-blind reaches: Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, Swarthmore. However, NPC’s can still vary significantly among the need-blind, “meet all need” schools. Colby and Wesleyan are need-aware, so they just may not have enough money for you. The remaining ones are just insanely difficult to get into without an early application and a hook. Being a male should help slightly with the LAC’s. However, people keep harping on language for a reason - it is very important for the LAC’s (not so much for CMU.) If you were able to take 15 AP’s and DE, you could have found a way to take more language. You say that you took classes that you were interested in. You’re supposed to be interested in foreign language if you are targeting an elite LAC, even if you’re already bilingual.
OP, congrats on a very successful HS career and a strong application. Would you say that you were able to engage with and show your specific interest in these colleges that have waitlisted you? I tend to agree with others that the languages issue probably wasn’t major factor here, but if schools like CWR and Skidmore and Bates didn’t see any history of engagement with their process or other evidence that you were likely to accept an offer, that alone could account for a waitlist result. Obviously we’re all speculating here, but my cautious prediction is that you have a solid chance for 1-2 acceptances out of Colby/Hamilton/Midd/Wes if you have shown demonstrated interest through emails, webinars, virtual tours, college fairs, etc. The super-selectives (Princeton/Brown/Amherst/Williams/Bowdoin) are impossible to meaningfully predict - you have enough on your resume to justify admission at any, but the numbers say your most likely result is rejection or waitlist for all.
I had pretty much no demonstrated interest for Bates. I visited CWRU and Skidmore, filled out the LOCI after I was initially deferred from Case, and applied for an optional stem scholarship for Skidmore. That was the full extent of my engagement. I would say I had pretty good engagement for Macalester (my only rejection so far) though: an interview, well written supplementals, a music portfolio, and they visited my school so I got to very briefly speak with the AO… but it wasn’t enough I guess. I am trying to avoid getting trapped in the mindset that I’m doomed because of past results because, at the end of the day, no acceptances/rejections are contingent on previous results from other schools.
Agree with this. OP - you’re admitted at some great schools: congratulations, and I hope the financial piece works out.
Here’s why I’m seconding circuitrider: you have better objective stats than my older kid who not only got in to Mac (EA not ED) but was given a substantial merit scholarship that wasn’t requested (didn’t even fill FAFSA). So I’m trying to figure out what was rejectable in your app. Could be just the need-aware, could be the foreign language (Mac is very international-focused.)
That leads me to my second point. It does seem elite colleges are very serious about foreign languages. This won’t help you, OP, but for future readers: my family has a hunch that our kid was nixed at a particular tippy-top reach partly because the student who did get in (from same high school) had continued to AP level in foreign languages. I’d never have even considered that comparison (the other student had many other great qualities for sure) but I heard a rumor that the college in question was very clear that language classes should not be dropped mid-senior year.
We’ll never know for sure why you were waitlisted or rejected some places. The languages issue is something we can at least observe. But we can’t see your recommendations, or any evaluative interview reports, we haven’t read your essays, we don’t know how exactly they evaluated your transcript overall, we don’t know if need played a role, and on and on.
I personally wouldn’t give up hope for the remainder of your list, even your harder reaches, because if there was something completely disqualifying you wouldn’t have gotten the offers you did. But realistically we can’t know more offers are coming either, not with your remaining list. It is just a classic wait and see situation.
That’s no reflection on you. The number of truly need-blind private colleges (thanking you in advance, @ucbalumnus) can probably be counted on the fingers of two hands and it’s doubtful you’d be in any stronger position than you are now, had you restricted your applications to just them.
I will say that someone else from my school got into Mac with 2 years of foreign language, so I really doubt that was it. I doubt there is a single concrete reason that I was rejected. I think it’s a combination of being middle class (not a hardship case nor anywhere close to a full pay), not being an ethnic or geographical minority, competition from other people at my school (the person who got in over me is a much better applicant, in all honesty), and perhaps they didn’t like my essays very much or something.
As another data point, my D23 was rejected from Macalester a few years ago. She had high stats, a lot of engagement with the school, a well written supplemental for them, 5 years in one foreign language and 3 years in another foreign language, 15 APs, top 2-3% of her class, clear reasons why Mac was a fit for her, and financial need. She got into quite a number of reach-for-all need blind schools in the RD round (including several of those OP applied to) but was deferred EA by Mac and later outright rejected.
(Oberlin alum here.) Oof, hang in there — this month is sooooo long. One of the things we really tried to do when we went through this process last year with our D25 (she applied to a number of the same LACs you did, attended a tiny chartered high school, and had no hooks and mixed stats — no access to AP courses, for example), was to not take the decisions personally (it helped that our daughter was not overly invested in any one school — so much so she applied RD everywhere and didn’t visit anything but acceptances). It was clear from the get-go that all the schools she (and you) applied to receive so many strong applications that you can get in at one place and not at another and it can feel completely random. (Plus schools no doubt reject and wait list students they think won’t accept an offer to help their stats, lol.) In the end our kid received 6 acceptances (two of which were safeties she wasn’t that interested in), 2 rejections, 1 wait list, and a January admit offer, which seemed like a nice mix to us. All acceptances came with the same level of aid (she only applied to need-blind schools). You sound like a super talented, interesting student who will have wonderful options — you already do — and I have no doubt you’ll find a good school for you. The trick is going to be deciding on one!
