I submitted my 30 ACT to every school except UVA. And I applied direct to architecture for every school as well. I didn’t submit a portfolio either but the only schools that even look at one were UO and UMiami (and I got in without one).
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Thank you! I received a 15k/yr merit scholarship from UMN. I’m not 100% certain but I think Auburn is releasing scholarship decisions later on.
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I heard that the VT waitlist isn’t ranked at this point I guess it’s all a matter of luck. I somehow got waitlisted with a 3.4 GPA and 1330 SAT when I was expecting straight up rejection
Most schools do not rank their waitlist. They wait to see what their yield is by the different programs, IS/OOS, and any other criteria they feel important. If they find their yield was lower than expected in the Architecture program they go back to that pool of applicants and see who best fits.
VT doesn’t look at SAT scores so that’s irrelevant. Something about your essays or the rest of your profile probably helped boost your 3.4.
@Mashinations Are u saying if I try really hard in the last 2 semesters to boost my GPA + extracurriculars I can increase my chances of getting in? Also idk how popular aerospace engineering is. I’ve just heard that computer science is the most overpopulated
Sorry - no - not what I’m suggesting. You could reach out to your AO to see if any “last minute submission” type items would be considered in the waitlist pool.
My statement was that the waitlist pool is just that. If they find out they had a lower yield of OOS, Male, Philosophy majors than anticipated - they’d go back to the pool with that criteria in mind.
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They are test optional but do consider scores if submitted. Class rank is an academic component they do not consider per the CDS (we paid attention to this because D24’s test scores are stronger than her class rank).
They might have changed their position on standardized tests but when S23 and I did an admissions presentation (about a year ago) they said “you can send them to us but we don’t look at them and in the coming year we expect to make a decision to not even accept them”. My statement was based on that - but again, could have changed.
So what you’re saying is that, if there ends up being space, they offer it to the best possible candidates off the waitlist?
That fit the criteria they’re looking for - yes.
A “ranked waitlist” would suggest they have applicants lined up 1 through N and work their way down it if they need to.
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They will offer it to the best fit to meet their institutional priories. We don’t know what those are, but examples would be geographic diversity, gender balance, major/department, etc. There is no way to know that until they have a picture of the enrolled class.
ETA: cross-post with Mash
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Ok but not educational criteria? Like as in best performing student? So what happens is they choose students based on underrepresented statistics (ex. Female candidates, OOS candidates)
Do you mean academic stats when you state “best performing”?
Perhaps others will chime in, but in my opinion (I’m not an AO) the waitlist kids have already passed the academic hurdle or they would not be on the waitlist at all. So I think academics are not that important when choosing who to pull from the waitlist.
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Not an AO either but would agree with you. You met the threshold for admissions otherwise you would not be on the waitlist. If there were someone else EXACTLY LIKE YOU except for your GPA and you had a 3.4 and that person had a 3.2 I would expect you would get the shoulder tap. Things are rarely that clear-cut though.
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Another variable is that some schools are need-aware when evaluating the waitlist, even if they were need-blind during the admissions process. So being full pay may give a slight boost.
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According to some admissions experts, the ability of waitlist students to pay the full cost of attendance is a factor, in part because merit aid and institutional scholarships may have already been distributed.
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I would say the ability of the applicant to pay full tuition is a factor in their ability to accept a spot off the waitlist (wouldn’t expect them to receive any non-need based aid since it would have been doled out already)… but does it factor into who they even offer a spot off the WL to?
S23 got off the WL at a school and it took them another 3 days to present a financial aid package - suggesting, at least there, the decisions were disconnected.
I’m sure every school does something slightly different…
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I don’t think ability to pay has anything to do with getting ON the waitlist. It probably makes a difference in whether waitlisted students get an offer of admission. It’s probably a tie-breaker after everything else like major, residency, etc…
It wouldn’t be the first time a CDS doesn’t seem to match what the admissions officers are actually doing, but fwiw they have it on their admissions webpage. Even on the CDS it is only “considered” vs. “very important”.
https://www.vt.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/freshman-requirements.html
In the admissions session we attended, they told us that the essays were crucial, which I found unusual for a STEM heavy school.
that’s not good advice. No student should be waiting for a decision off a waitlist. They should move on and choose another school