If you don’t mind me asking, what makes you believe that the deferal / waitlists at unc and UChicago will correlate to Ivy waitlists?
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This is just a guess based on observations, so take it for what it is (nobody can predict).
Years ago Vanderbilt was courting students from NY, often giving big scholarships. Fast forward…and now they get a lot of applications from NY/NJ and value ED. Many who apply regular decision are waitlisted.
I predict a WL, but of course I may be wrong because really…. nobody knows.
And congrats on your son’s accomplishments!
One issue is that it is very difficult to predict acceptances. I have seen cases (including me) of a student being rejected from a slightly lower ranked program and accepted to a higher ranked program. I do not think that is is possible to predict acceptance other than to note that your son is a very competitive applicant for every university on his list. To me a wait list or a rejection from one school does not say much at all regarding what will happen at a different school – particularly when a student who is obviously academically very highly qualified is applying to schools that get way more qualified applicants than they have places to put them.
Of course since he is already accepted to a few very good schools, your son will have a very good university to attend. On this web site some of us repeatedly note the importance of applying to safeties, but nothing can be safer compared to already having an affordable acceptance to a very good university with a very good program in your major.
One daughter had a major that is very similar to your son’s intended major (at least the cellular biology part), and applied to a very similar list of schools (the overlap is large), but for graduate programs. Where she is currently attending is a program for which her acceptance came quite a bit later than mid February.
It would not surprise me at all if your son has a few more very compelling acceptances to come.
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I recall last year on the board a SDSU reject got into UCB and a BU reject got into MIT.
One never knows - as they all make decisions independently.
The OPs profile is outstanding.
A weak link (not weak but not superb for this list) and it’s a ridiculous statement to make with a 1520 but it is - is the test.
Since OP is done with apps, meaning they’re not adding, they’ll know soon enough.
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Good point. The holistic component adds a “randomness” to the process and likely depends on who is reading your app.
My son’s friend is also neuroscience- got into Michigan and early acceptance to Berkeley. yet, got rejected to UNC and Stanford. My son with slightly lower stat but different EC got into UNC and Stanford deferred. (Stanford only defers about 10% REA)
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This is just through an experienced Ivy lens. So it is not set in stone but UNC and UChicago as waitlist outcomes seem to make chances for Ivies not so great. As an example Do not know of a kid in either of my kids HYP classes that didn’t get in to UNC or UChicago. Several at UNC with full merit aid
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Were the applicants ever EA or are these typically RD results? I know Uchicago EA is pretty impossible. I’m not sure why he was waitlisted at UNC and that makes me nervous but perhaps UMich OOS is promising
UNC has OOS caps and a LOT of OOS applicants. The acceptance rate for OOS is currently about 8-10%. I don’t think Michigan has caps.
This does not take anything away from your son, who is clearly an outstanding applicant.
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Unc OOS is much harder than UMICH overall I believe although I imagine some get into UNC and not UMICH. But UNC OOS acceptance rate is far lower. But so is the price - so that’s a big advantage.
No need to be nervous.
He built his list and he’ll have access to med school from all three acceptances.
He’s in a great place.
And it can very well be possible more are coming.
And all decisions come independent of one another - no one knows why a BU rejection got into MIT as an example.
The list he chose will definitely be nerve wracking but as you noted he chose it for a reason.
That he earned a full ride at one and a potential full merit at a very selective school should give him pride regardless of other outcomes.
At this point I’d try as best I can to stop thinking about what college acceptances may or may not happen. Applications are completed and it is out of his hands now. Your outstanding son has some excellent acceptances already – anything else is a bonus.
Please do come back and let us know his results – the information could help future applicants.
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He was waitlisted due to the OOS acceptance rate and the crazy high number of OOS applicants. This does not take anything away from your son, who is a very competitive applicant.
The good news is that your son already has some outstanding acceptances.
these are EA results and some RD. I am not taking anything away from your son who has an amazing record and I think he has great chances at some of the reach schools on his list. You asked so I am giving my educated opinion but it is just that. It is so hard to watch our kids through this process and the highs and lows. All the time and hard work they put in. He will land somewhere that will be great for him and a full ride would be great for paying for grad school.
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My nephew was accepted to UNC OOS, rejected from all ivies, but accepted to Duke.Thus, I do not necessarily think UNC OOS rejection is a bellwether for Ivy rejections.
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As many have said…this is all a crapshoot.
You should see what Parchment says when you enter your son’s data.
I would put you into WashU, Notre Dame, BU, Tufts, JHU, GT, and Cornell although you might get a couple of rejections from this list.
And I bet you get 2 or 3 random “surprise” acceptances from the rest of the list.
The UCs are under increasing pressure to admit in-state and your high test scores will not count there.
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My daughter attended 1 of the schools on your list. She applied to 3 on your list, was accepted to 2, and waitlisted at 1.
We visited a lot of schools. She interviewed for various scholarships at a bunch of schools. One of the lessons we all learned was that it’s a big world out there, and HS is a bubble.
It was a humbling experience to visit these schools and speak to all of these incredible students…all doing amazing work. For example, my daughter told me about a student who had his pilots license. He also loved to cook, and flew food to pantries all over the country. Another student started a club (had to do with mental health) that expanded to high schools nationally. One was the president of a student-run community healthcare center that raised a lot of money for families, one took his music business to schools and nursing homes, and others were involved in research etc.
Sit tight- he will know soon enough. In the meantime he/you should be proud of his acceptances ( not suggesting otherwise) and understand that he will meet his goals at any of them.
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Just to clarify I didn’t say getting accepted to UNC meant you would get into an Ivy. I said not getting in to UNC OOS was a tell that you may not get into Ivies. Subtle but different enough to clarify.
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I always find this misleading. It may look like a “crapshoot” to the applicant, but the admission committees at these schools work very hard to create/craft a class. Many (most) of the applicants are more than well qualified. But just because we can’t see their process and procedure on our side does not mean it is a crapshoot.
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No…the odds of getting in elite schools for highly qualified applicants ARE a crapshoot. I personally know this as I got into Harvard and was rejected by my state school.
Being a crapshoot has NOTHING to do with admission committees working hard to build their classes. You are weirdly drawing conclusions from what I said. Of course they work hard.
But your odds of getting in are related, in many cases, to VERY specific needs/priorities that the school may have. Hence all the “Tuba players from South Dakota” jokes.
T20 schools are all drawing from admission populations with far more “4.0 GPAs with a 35 ACT” than they can actually admit. So they default to other institutional priorities.
But you, as an applicant, probably don’t know what those institutional priorities are. Hence, a crapshoot.
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I mean just because no one from either of your children’s classes got waitlisted from UNC or deferred from UChicago but then was accepted into any Ivy League doesn’t mean that can’t happen. It also doesn’t seem like a large pool of people that you base this observation from
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The implication that it is a “crapshoot” implies that you have no control over the roll of the dice. You as the applicant do not have much control, although what you place in your application gives you some “control”, not none. It is not gambling. It’s a terrible analogy in my opinion and is in my opinion and in insult to the readers, staff and the employees throughout the application process at these elite schools. I’m not talking about your public institution. Just because we can’t predict the probability of an acceptance does not mean it is totally “random” which is what a crapshoot seems to suggest.
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