I agree with this. It’s all speculation. The only comparison that my son has made that got him upset was comparing kids from within his own school. Most got wait-listed, but 1 or 2 got accepted into COE with lower SAT and GPA…similar clubs, sports, etc. But I told him there must be something out of school that he isn’t aware of that put those students over the top. Or, and this was always the rumor even back when I was applying to school, the admissions officer that read through his application was just having a bad day. The process is human, after all.
@HokieCrazy Good point. I’ve also read it could come down to something as simple as an application being read early or late in the application window. Seems unfair for something so inconsequential to have such bearing on a decision. But I guess that’s the way it works sometimes.
We are OOS. D was waitlisted for Industrial Design (in CAUS) with 3.9 UW GPA, 4.4 weighted, 9 APs and 8 honors courses. 3 sport varsity, numerous leadership roles and great ECs. She had also interviewed in January for the CDP in the VT Honors college - didn’t get it.
The process is so random but have heard similar stories from others at other schools - top students / valedictorian types that were waitlisted or flat out denied. Tough to make sense of the selection process at any school, but is what it is.
Just have to move on…these schools and admissions departments don’t care about hurt feelings - their end goal is to fill the incoming class with the right mix of students they see as ideal for their institution. It’s not personal…tough lesson but good learning opportunity for parents and kids - basically, don’t get your heart set on anything!
Oof, I don’t like that lesson at all. How about, “get your heart set on something, reach for it, and when you don’t reach it, dust yourself off and get your heart set on the next thing” ?
@HokieCrazy you are right. I guess many of the kids within your own school are the ones they know best and can compare themselves with. Different majors will cause definitely be determining factor. My son knows 2 kids who were both deferred from JMU who got,into VT and he knows for a fact both have much lower GPA and scores . He’s not upset really just questioning .
The applicant’s package (test scores, HS GPA, extracurriculars, essays, etc.) determines how many balls he/she gets in the hopper for the lottery that is the college admissions decision. That’s it. It’s a fool’s errand to try to figure out “why” a specific student was not admitted. It’s a complete waste of energy, so, when the answer is not the one you wanted, help your applicant pick him/herself up and move on. As I always told my Little League players, “Next Play.”
@my3sonssd very well said
OOS waitlisted, 34 ACT, 1540 SAT plus all the EC.
@my3sonssd I agree. The factors VT (or any school) use to determine admission will get a student only so far. At some point, just due to sheer number of applicants, it becomes a random draw. Depending on the popularity of ones major, you have a greater or lesser chance of getting picked. It’s futile to spin your wheels and ask why.
@jgwolf As the parent of an OOS kid, I can tell you that my daughter has pretty high stats and was waitlisted, certainly higher than some that were admitted for her major but definitely not stratospheric to the point that we would ever assume “yield protection”. We cannot really figure out any rhyme nor reason which I think is what is frustrating everyone. We are certainly not blaming OOS, IS, high stat kids, low stat kids or anyone. Rather we are just scratching our heads about the process in general.
At the end of the day, everyone can compare stats, scores, tests, kids with the same school, etc. However, every kid is different, their essay is different, its perceived differently by the each admissions person, there is no way to compare one person to another in my opinion, so to keep throwing stats and numbers is futile, as we don’t know what was going thru the head of the person reading the application. Its energy thrown at something that you will never get an answer to, and wouldn’t it be better to use the energy in a more positive way, as in helping your child get past the disappointment and start a new path. Just my opinion, don’t want to debate about it or offend anyone.
It seems like a lot of the upset is that historically, VT decisions have been easier to call. They were like most big state schools, very stats-dependent. Now, VT has changed the game and seems like the non-numeric pieces have become a lot more important. I’ll be very curious to see what our HS’s Naviance scatterplot looks like after this year. Right now all but one or two dots above a certain GPA/SAT are accepts so we have assumed that for next year my son is a strong match being well into that range (applying COS). Now, looks like we need to change that assessment and figure it’s a 50/50/who knows??? Definitely adds more stress to the process.
I know VT has stated an aggressive goal to greatly increase the proportion of students who are 1st generation, low income and/or underrepresented groups. That is a good goal but the outcome of that is to make admission even more competitive for those who don’t fall in those groups.
@50nTheHill I agree. I congratulate all who got in and know everyone who worked hard. I think like you there is some flaw to the process where kids who are NMF or top in their class are getting waitlisted . . It still baffles me though that kids that got deferred from JMU got into VT
I think VT is truly applying holistic assessment of applications this year. We are OOS and our D has been accepted for Engineering with WGPA 3.95 and 32 ACT super scored. Not the highest stats I have seen on here but her ECs and essays are super strong with leadership positions, volunteer and community work. Her main essay was about what she learnt about her abilities to lead and inspire others and make a difference in others lives as a camp counselor last summer. She was a finalist for the Davenport leadership scholarship but did not get offered one - but we are very proud she has been offered a place at VT.
The essays have definitely become a big factor. I was curious to see what they are saying is important in their common data set and it did change from the 2017-18 year to 2018-2019. In 2017-18 (and many prior years), Application Essay was just “considered” and now it is “very important.” Adding to the other “very importants” of rigor, GPA, test scores. Everything else is either considered or not considered, nothing “important”. However, since the essays are going to draw from ECs and Character/Personal qualities, it does seem like those end up being higher than just “considered.”
VT does not look at the “main” Coaltion essay-only the 4 -120 word “answers” to the questions
Correct - but they now say their “essays” aka short-answers are “very important”, on par with the rigor/grades/test scores.
https://aie.vt.edu/content/dam/aie_vt_edu/common-data-set/18-19/CDS_2018-2019_C.xlsx
Is there a chance, based on replies from Early Action, that they would offer admission to some off the waitlist on March 5th when regular decision comes out?
Wouldn’t that be great?! My guess is not, though. I think they had a pretty good idea what they had in their RD pool before they wait-listed the EA pool, though. Just a guess. I’ve been wrong about 100 times so far.
@ hopefulhokie24 - Applicants who got waitlisted from EA will be not re-evaluated during RD process so there are no chances to get off wait list until late April or early May. I think RD will be extremely selective and very big portion of RD applicants will probably end up waitlisted or denied.