I’m at a loss to explain what is happening. DD has 3.85uw /4.5w gpa, all A’s this semester, dual enrollment, APs, competitive athlete, president of charitable club, part time job… Basically has worked her tail off. We told her to stay focused, it will pay off, but…
All we keep getting is “deferred, deferred, deferred.” Even outright rejected at our state school, University of Maryland. Deferred at South Carolina where her brother (who had similar stats) got merit scholarship. It is so hard to see her get knocked down over and over again, especially when I look at some of the admit stats on these threads and she is right in there. Are schools even reading applications? What about the essays and supplemental questions they put so much work into? Is the Common App making it harder ? I am trying to keep a positive outlook and remain confident that some of these will turn into acceptances, but the whole process is excruciating & disheartening.
Outcomes have been unpredictable at my school. It’s worked out for many so far, but not all.
I would check with her high school counselor. Make sure the data that is being sent is accurate.
Did she apply to the other Maryland schools? Towson, UMBC? OOS schools are harder to get into and maybe her brother just hit South Carolina at the right time (covid? a major that didn’t have as many applicants?)
I suggest talking to the counselor and finding out if a letter of continuing interest would help, or updating grades, awards, an extra LOR would help.
Does she have any acceptances yet that she likes and are affordable? What major has she applied for?
I also would encourage her to talk with her HS counselor… have the counselor read the teacher LoRs and your D’s essay just to make sure.
Good luck, I know it’s stressful for all of you.
Hugs to you and your daughter. It is painful to watch your child deal with a situation like this.
Not sure if you are looking to be heard, hugged or helped (any of those are perfectly reasonable!).
If you want help - there is still time to apply to schools with Feb 1st and Feb 15th deadlines. If you give CC people some info of what she is looking for, budget, etc - you will get help and suggestions.
I’m sorry this has been so stressful and difficult for your daughter and for you. I do think the Common App makes it harder, simply because it makes it easier for students to apply to more schools. While I don’t know this for sure, I strongly suspect that the number of defers is in part because schools straight up do not have enough time to thoroughly consider all of the EA applications in the given time frame, and deferring to RD gives them more time to review and weigh institutional priorities against the applicant pool.
Personally I really dislike this extended admissions cycle. ED1, ED2, REA, EA, RD…too long, too much. Your daughter sounds like a great kid and strong candidate- fingers crossed that there will be acceptances rolling in.
This is perplexing and troubling. A few questions:
- Test scores and whether they were sent?
- high school curriculum? 4 years of English, Math, Science, Social Science, and Foreign Language? if less, where is the handicap?
- 5 academic core courses in senior year?
- major?
How are you weighting the GPA?
It could be an essay or LOR? or rigor - if the APs are in one side but not another - meaning in humanities but not STEM or vice versa.
It could be - you don’t show one here - that the student did not submitted a SAT/ACT score which appear to be a qualifier/validator for many.
Major - it could be that.
One thing I’d say is - deferral is not rejection. I’ve read on here, not sure if true, schools are deferring because they simply didn’t have time.
As long as you have an affordable safety, you’ll be ok.
If you don’t, there is still plenty of time to get into “like” schools - just a little farther from home. By like, I mean a WVU, Alabama, etc. and a host of others.
Now that you realize the situation, you simply need to ensure you have a definite.
It may be the deferral is simply a delay of positive news to come - but it could be a host of other factors.
Best of luck.
Frankly, I am shocked that an in-state applicant with her GPA didn’t get into U Md.
I am wondering if colleges are reserving the right to think “holistically” about the applicants that they want for non-academic reasons, who don’t submit a standardized test score, but that all other comers had best submit a nice high SAT/ACT score.
The process is broken. High performing students should be able to count on their state flagship. I am sorry you could not.
I agree that you should schedule a meeting asap with her guidance counselor. The counselor should look closely at the file, see if there is something in there that could be causing this - either incorrect information, or a recommendation that really wasn’t, that somehow slipped through. If an error is found, then the counselor should be in touch with the admissions office at every school your daughter applied to, to get it corrected and ask them to take another look at the file before it’s too late. And I would ask the guidance counselor to reach out to the admissions office at U Md in any event, to check with them, to make sure that there hasn’t been some error. I just don’t understand how a girl with those credentials, whose GPA sounds as if it puts her in the top 10th% of her grade, would be rejected.
I’m not sure all gcs are set up for this.
UMD is a tough admit and has over 20 criteria they use.
Depending on the major it is possible to get a rejection.
Great if the GC could help but many know little about the kids - or college.
Yeah, this is the sort of thing that a private high school’s GC would have been all over, as soon as that rejection came in. It just doesn’t make any sense - unless, of course, they were applying for the most competitive major there, which I think is comp sci, but don’t they have them put down a second choice, too?
WRT UMD and majors…this is from their website:
Prospective students should indicate their preferred major when completing their online application for admission. However, your preferred major does not affect your admissibility to the university
This is an instate student for UMD. Even at the worst schools, the school counselors know about their state flagship university.
I strongly urge this family to reach out to their high school counselor, and ask them to review the application materials.
In addition, I would ask for a copy of the official transcript, and check that for accuracy.
Hang in there! Deferred does not mean rejected. Schools use early cycles differently. Some schools target under subscribed majors, some target highly achieving kids, some DEI candidates, some it’s a crap shoot. State schools tend to cap early admit numbers. She may still have an excellent chance of getting in RD. These early rounds cause so much heart-break for kids who end up getting in RD…
Right there with you (it sucks!) I think common app has made it so much more competitive because people apply to 10-15 schools even though they can only attend one, yet don’t have a choice due to competition. And TO threw another wrinkle into it. It is definitely broken - the only ones winning are the schools making kids crazy and raking in application fees (90k applicants times $75!!).
It’s unfortunate but I’m afraid this is the new normal. Can’t wait until college season is over.
I personally like the states where they have guaranteed admission for high stats students. So you can atleast count on that.
I’m confused. You posted about applying to UMD and U of SC in late 2022 and early 2023. Oh, was this her brother?
I’m so sorry. Where else did your daughter apply?
If you’re looking for other places to apply, I’m sure the community can help.
Was she test-optional? What does she want to study? Any other things we should know?
The problem is not her. Things just get more and more competitive each year to a point where even a 3.85 and 1400 is not considered very impressive by some of these schools (which is shocking to me). The good news is that it is oftentimes easier to get in schools RD since they only let in the most ultra-competitve students EA. This is the case at U South Carolina. However, if she has not gotten into anywhere already, I would recommend putting out apps to assured safetys (schools that admit everyone over a certain GPA in or have 95%+ acceptance rates). Good luck! It will all work out.
That was the sibling.