@infinigirly There is a NoVA penalty in applying to UVA. While you’re right, it is more difficult for an OOS applicant to be accepted, at the same time, it is also more difficult for someone from NoVA than it is someone from Lynchburg, given the same stats. NoVA is very competitive.
Accept the W&M offer, forget UVA. No need to beat the dead horse or yourself up. College admission process is increasingly unpredictable and competitive. Fellow students are applying 10, 15 schools on average, and many have great stats. The pool of competitive applicants has changed in past few years with this insane chase of top schools. That said, W&M is a really good school and good students like you (based on the stats) should do well there. The chance for UVA WL to become accepted is low (depends on the year… maybe 5-10% ish overall?) and the school will tell you the decision only after May 1st. This creates a horrible situation - let alone the anxiety. It’s time to move on. You have a great option with W&M, congrats. JMHO
This is at least the third or fourth thread that you’ve either started or lamented about your UVA admissions decision. I am in the exact same situation as you - deferred EA, then waitlisted at UVA and admitted to W&M. Sure, I am disappointed because UVA was my first choice but I am thrilled to be admitted to W&M and have some other really good options, as you probably do as well. Neither of us will ever know why, despite all of our hard work, the colleges decided how they did and no random people on this website can offer any true insight. It is time for you to move on!!!
If my daughter’s learned anything during this process, it’s the complete randomness and unpredictability of college admissions. Early in the process, I told her she’s a viable candidate anywhere but not a slam dunk at all the top schools, no one is these days.
Schools are breaking application records all over the place. She was rejected at UVA and waitlisted at W & M (she’s in state VA) and Davidson. Accepted at Richmond, VT, and was one of 200 students accepted into JMU Honors. She was accepted at University of Southern California which is half the acceptance rate of UVA and W & M. USC was even harder than normal this year as the 2021 class was 67% URM’s (daughter is unhooked WF).
If I had to guess, probably the essays are playing a role in some of these close decisions. Daughter just wasn’t feeling it at either W & M or UVA. That may have shown up in her essays. I looked at some of her essays and mentioned that to her (her USC essays were great) but she thought the UVA and W & M essays were ok and didn’t want to revise them as the schools weren’t high on her list and she was worn out by then.
She loves University of Richmond and I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t accept the USC offer (which seems crazy). I told her a while ago that feeling comfortable is a very important part of choosing a college and will support whatever choice SHE decides on.
@11colleges sorry
Thank you all for your replies, I realize that I keep harping about this but I really needed some guidance besides “admission is a crapshoot”. All of your responses have helped me, and I do feel a little better about this whole thing.
@jcwjnw99 it’s crazy how she didn’t get in to W&M and UVA but got into USC OOS. That’s a major accomplishment - she should be very proud. I hope she succeeds wherever she goes.
Admissions are indeed very unpredictable.
Just to clarify that USC is a private university, so OOS doesn’t matter.
In response to a comment above, article about USC’s recruitment of minority applicants and their high rate of Pell grant recipients:
http://www.president.usc.edu/files/2016/06/WSJ-Recruiting-Minorities.pdf
I think that many tippy-top students have been so driven, for so long, trying to control every factor leading to success (sometimes a bit obsessively, given how competitive the world is) it’s very hard to let go and accept that some things in life boil down to …just random luck.
But you really DID create an opportunity to succeed (that’s why you worked hard and applied to many schools.) Congratulations! You got into a fantastic school, so pat yourself on the back for that.
The little bit of admonition I will give you is this: Most humans on this earth do not get their first choices, or even their tenth or 100th, no matter how hard they work. Most have to accept that life is not fair. Many people toil, and toil relentlessly, and cannot even send their child to school at all, or afford clean water or food. Please. You have worked hard. But your problem is very much a top-of-the-heap first world problem. Grieve your loss (I say this without sarcasm, it IS hard to do) but try to enjoy W&M. You can get anywhere from there.
@inthegarden you’re right. I have been pretty competitive all my life so far, so this has been pretty hard. It’s not that I haven’t faced rejection before (I’ve faced a lot of it), it’s just every other situation I have been able to understand. I definitely am considering W&M, and am extremely grateful that they have accepted me. I had no idea before this week that it was that competitive of a school, and that a lot of students have not gotten in. I should be more thankful. I look forward to visiting next week.
Thanks for your reply!
Glad if it helped. I doubt if anyone, even adcoms, completely understand every facet of admissions outcomes. I would imagine every entering class is just a little different from every other. (Snowflakes, lol! ) Even with controllable things like stats, there are so many subjective aspects. Not easy for someone who has done everything to “up” the chances for years. That’s why so many CC old-timers say “Don’t have a dream school, have a dream life and several paths that can get you there.”
I think W&M is an extremely distinguished school. Maybe because you are in-state, it does not seems so! Honestly, if it were my choice ( I’m a late-middle-aged-mom, but I loved the idea of this school when young ) I would choose W&M over UVA…but that’s just me, and so much is a matter of personal fit. W&M is large enough not to be claustrophobic (as some LACs can be for some students) but small enough to have a tight-knit community, reasonable class sizes, a chance to know professors. I do understand that many students want the large university experience. (Maybe you got into one or some of those OOS?) But in terms of academics and reputation, I think they are in the same league, depending on program, of course, and what kind of environment YOU function best in . Maybe you will go to UVA for graduate school, or transfer in after a year, if you’re not thrilled to be at W&M or wherever you end up going. Or maybe you will fall in love with your first school and think you were crazy to ever want UVA. :x
As I mentioned before my D is in a very similar position (see comment 8). What she has done since: accepted her waitlist spot, joined the facebook and group me groups for 2 of the other schools she has been accepted to, asked her guidance counselor to reach out to the admissions representative for our area and relay her interest and intent to attend (She was told only if you are 100% sure you will accept including financial aid), started thinking of what she wants to write about in her letter of continued interest, today she is at an admitted student day at UF (she would attend for total COA with her scholarship), she planned an overnight at Holyoke and she will attend classes there for a day. We will also stop by her waitlisted school and let them know she is still interested when we are in the area.
She said it is like a break up. She was angry and sad- now she is moving on. Start focusing on what is ahead. Don’t let the why’s consume you. The reality is you will never know-ever.
She is enjoying the group me pages and getting to know the other accepted students.
I wish you the best- you have good choices. Scream it out a bit, get mad, cry then plan what is next. Do not let this define you or take up too much energy (emotionally and physically). Start to look at the other schools- they liked you - they saw what you wanted them to see. Focus on that.
@sflmom your advice was great. Thank you! I will focus on the colleges that actually did appreciate what I did throughout high school, and put all my focus on those.
I know it sounds weird but join the accepted student facebook pages and group me. It made my daughter feel better to get to know some other accepted students.
I promise you- next year this won’t matter. Today it sucks.
@exoheat11 I know it’s so hard to feel like you’re in limbo. I’m glad some of this great advice as helped. If there are any linger questions that I can help with, please let me know.
@Muad_dib, I represent Fairfax and Arlington Counties in our office. There is no penalty, restriction, or quota for NOVA. There is nothing of the sort for any high school, town, county, or region. I’m sorry that someone has given you bad information. I am more than happy to talk to you to give you the right info. Feel free to be in touch!
@sflmom Lol I actually was considering it but I thought I’d be ostracized when they realize I didn’t get in… “one of these is not like the others”
“What you offered was wanted by W&M and not by UVA.”
I’m not so convinced this is true and it isn’t fair to tell you this. The person who wrote it does not really know.
I think ClassicRockerDad’s scenarios may be closer to how it happens at some of these schools that get huge numbers of applicants.
I have a younger friend whose housemate is an admissions officer at a local desirable university that gets too many applicants. She told me she felt bad for applicants because of what she saw her housemate do going through piles of files stacked on the chairs. Sometimes the admissions officer was high when picking who to pick, or had a group of other admissions officers over and they picked quickly without reading them closely because they wanted to go out. She described to me that they picked some they would accept and then just basically waitlisted everyone else without even opening the folders.
What matters more than “what you offered” is where you fell in the pile according to the admissions officer’s day.
I don’t think this always happens, but it certainly happens often enough.
@redpoodles adcom was high while determining student futures??? that’s dope!!11!!111!1!
anyway, yeah, that explanation does seem good and it’s really unfair how it’s determined mostly by one person.
@exoheat11 - ok- possibly I was confusing you- join the pages of the schools you were admitted to. Do Not join the ones from the school that waitlisted you. Get to know the admitted students at W & M.
You can find out more on the admissions blog, but I believe most final decisions to admit are usually made by a committee. I believe 2 people read most applications, and I believe numeric criteria are used for the initial screening. The problem is that with over 30,000 applications, there are many more highly qualified applicants than there are seats.
There are some other colleges that hire recent college grads for a few months to do some of their admissions screening. That may explain some of the horror stories you have heard.