I’m trying to make sense of the decision to waitlist my student at two schools that my student “should” have been accepted to, based on the fact that they exceed ALL of the metrics at the schools!
This kid got a 1560 the one time they took the SAT, they have a 3.98 uw gpa, orchestra, mock trial, drama all 4 years at our tiny, rural, public school in Washington State. Their main essay was fantastic, the got 5’s on the 3 AP tests they took - they’ve taken 6 of the 7 AP classes that are offered, 3 this year. They have duel enrollment credit, classes at the college… to get waitlisted at the state flagship is totally demoralizing! It feel like the other waitlist, at a LAC is a case of yield protection… but the large public in-state school?!? That’s tough!
My kid is feeling it, and I’m so surprised by it! Is this really how it is?!?
Has your D connected with the guidance counselor? Start there.
I know kids who were waitlisted at our state flagship and it turned out they never got the transcript from the HS. So even though the application was fantastic- the adcom’s saw the incomplete application and marked it “waitlist” pending completion of the file.
Your D should f/up so the counselor can reach out and make sure that everything was in order.
I’m so sorry to hear it, of course - and I very much hope your child gets off the waitlist! - but unfortunately UW is no longer a safety school for anyone in Washington. ~50% acceptance rate in-state and going down, in-state counselors are generally pretty good about managing their own applicant pool (and so they don’t get a ton of unqualified candidates), and (if your student applied to a particular major?) substantially lower rates for individual departments. I know of other very qualified candidates who have been waitlisted the last two years.
(I hope @blossom is right and it’s a repairable clerical error.)
Thinking good thoughts for all of you!
I’m sorry, that is totally frustrating and I can understand why you would be disappointed.
Yup, 100% this. Treating UW as a safety for in-state Washington kids is like treating UCLA or UCB (or most of the UCs) as a safety for in-state California kids. It just isn’t.
The down side is that it is a bummer to not have the flagship in state be a safety for in-state kids. The upside is that you have an in-state school, at in-state prices, that people in other states are clamoring to go to because their own in-state flagships aren’t as good. But there are still great in-state options. Washington State, UW-Tacoma, UW-Bothell, and Western Washington are great schools, too! Even those non-flagship schools are “better” than many state’s flagships! Washington kids are, overall, very lucky to have the options they have, even if they don’t get into UW-Seattle.
In addition to what has already been shared, for others reading this thread who haven’t applied yet, be sure to look at the acceptance rates for your intended major, not just the school as a whole. Some majors are much much more selective than others.
I hear you, but what more could a kid do?! A near perfect sat and gpa, an engaged and motivated kid isn’t enough?!? Made much more difficult by the fact that their classmates who have lower sat and gpa got in … demoralizing! (Not in an impacted major, btw)
My kid, rightly, prefers that I am not in contact with their school counselor or the admissions office, so I’m just venting, really. They have other great choices…
Sit tight. Accept a place on the waitlist. The rates of acceptance off the waitlist have been high at UW over the past 5 years - over 70% some years. There’s no predicting it because it all depends on the yield they get from those who have already been accepted - and no one knows what that will be.
See the linked article for an explanation:
Define safety - UNC or UVA are different than Kansas. State schools likely don’t yield protect.
Can you name the schools?
I tend to think that when admissions go bad, it’s poor list planning.
At the LAC, do you have significant need and are they need aware?
Did you EA or ED vs. RD?
Could it be major related or rigor - yes, you took a rigorous schedule, but some, as an example, are strong in humanities but aren’t strong in math and run around hard math courses like a tennis player around their forehand.
LORs, Essays, etc.
Could be many things.
Care to name the schools?
I assume they have one affordable acceptance? If not, there’s still plenty of time.
I wouldn’t assume that it is yield protection. There are many other possible contributing factors, such as applying to a major that is far more selective than the college as a whole and/or the college prioritizing/considering different admission factors than you are.
What are the specific colleges? What was the major? Any other relevant factors?
Exactly - U of Washington has over a 40% acceptance rate.
CS OOS - 2%
I’ve been admitted to a T25 and recently waitlisted from Kenyon, F&M, Holy Cross, TCU. I exceed all academic 75th percentiles for top schools. Also 10/10 ECs and 10/10 LORs in my opinion. Yield protection
Yield protection is possible, but it’s also possible that the colleges you mention do not prioritize having a >75th percentile score as much as you do. At selective colleges, it’s common for the vast majority of >75th percentile score applicants to be rejected.
For a more reliable conclusion, you might look at scattergram plots for the school. Does acceptance rate go up as score goes up, even though acceptance rate is far from 100% for top score applicants? Or does acceptance rate go down as score gets high? The latter suggests yield protection may be present. The former does not.
Yes, it is demoralizing and I am sorry your student has been waitlisted. However, it isn’t uncommon. You are describing the average excellent student and though you know your child is amazing, colleges might not see the same thing. When a student like this is waitlisted, it could be due to an issue such as the one @blossom mentions.
There are many other possibilities. It could be yield protection if they think a student like yours will go elsewhere. It could be that they want to see what sort of yield rate they actually have before admitting a lot of students from waitlist. It could be that they already admitted a lot of students ED or EA and are waiting to see who puts down deposits.
If your instate university is quite competitive anyway, especially for certain majors, and is becoming more popular with OOS kids, who pay more in tuition, it could be due to a sheer increase in numbers of apps.
A safety isn’t a safety just because a student’s stats are high up in the range of accepted students. Generally speaking, a safety will have a very high acceptance rate (probably over 80%), and/or a relatively high acceptance rate and a clear history of accepting students from your high school who are well above the 75th percentile, generally speaking. Stats, essays, ECs, and LORs don’t guarantee anything.
I am surprised by this. To me this sounds like a tough situation that I personally have trouble explaining.
Three questions come to mind: Is there something missing from your child’s application? Does your child have another safety where they have been accepted? Is it too late to apply to other universities?
I would be inclined to call admissions at the University of Washington and ask about the first issue.
Of course whether you or your child calls admissions, remember to stay calm and respectful (however difficult that may be). My understanding is that it is generally better for the student to call themselves.
Does this mean that your child has been accepted to other good universities? If so that is a relief.
Just a thought on UW. They don’t really consider test scores. They say that they are test optional but they are essentially test blind for the vast majority of applicants.
That was just an example - but that’s another wrinkle, it could be a state where it doesn’t matter.
Until we know more…
Many parents “over estimate” odds.
That the student has great schools to attend - what else matters?
The OP said their kid went to high school in Washington State, so the flagship is definitely UW-Seattle. Which LAC they are referring to - I don’t think it has been stated.
A 3.98 and high test score does USUALLY get into UW, but not always. Maybe other factors at play. Niche’s scatterplot is obviously not perfect data, since it is just based on self-reporting through the website, but it is at least somewhat indicative.
It likely comes down to the fact that they can charge more in tuition for an OOS or international applicant. There is no loyalty when it comes to dollar signs at many of the large state schools and unless there is a state law mandating a certain percentage of in-state acceptances - this will keep happening. Even then, the state legislature will try to find a way to “reclassify” students to do a work around as they did in my state.
Lately, in-state public colleges also try aggressively to maximize OOS enrollment since OOS tuition >> in-state tuition. Had similar experience with our in-state college which has a lower ranking in engineering and my son was waitlisted but he got into two OOS colleges with higher ranking in engineering.
As @Izzy74 mentioned, the test score is irrelevant for UW since they essentially have a test blind admission process. As UW explains the process, the admission reader doesn’t see the test score. UW only uses a test score in rare edge cases.
So from UW’s perspective, the OP’s student is simply an average excellent student with a 3.98 unweighted GPA. There are a lot of such students applying to UW and they are not all admitted.