I would suggest the student (not you) reach out to the guidance counselor.
Sorry this happened but glad there are good options available.
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I’m sorry this happened. And I agree with you that it’s unusual since you noted it’s not for an “impacted” major. In state acceptance rate is 50% and your kid’s accomplishments are well above average. I totally get the need to vent. Best wishes to your child on continued success.
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In 2023, instate admission rate at UW Seattle was 52%, out of state = 38%, international = 45%, overall = 43%.
For this year’s freshman class, the instate accepted rate dropped to 48% and overall dropped to 39%. I don’t have access to this year’s out of state rate, but given the overall rate for this year’s class, my assumption is that it also saw a drop of about 4%, which would bring it down to 34%.
According to College Factual, 16% of UW students are international and another 17% are out of state. So, 1/3 of the student body is from outside the state of Washington.
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did they apply for CS? If so, not as shocking to me.
Umass Amherst CS (not even as prestigious as UW) WL kids with this sort of stats.
Edit; Seeing now you said in another post, not CS. This is a lot more surprising then, that said, surprises happen. I would be disappointed in your shoes too but agree with others MANY state flagships aren’t safeties anymore for anyone. Their relative costs have made them SO much more attractive over the years and many have upped their game. US News also factors in different things than a generation ago, which also benefits their rankings.
Also, if test scores aren’t really considered at UW, than a HUGE number of kids have 3.9 GPAs now, it is bonkers!! I was floored seeing our flagship in naviance (big enough school, there is lots of data).
Another thing to consider - did your kids application “telegraph” CS or some major they didn’t apply for? AOs may assume kid isn’t going to come, so didn’t admit. e.g. if all ECs are business, and are DECA champs and took AP Econo and apply for biology, they may think you are trying to sneak into business. That is a random example…
Did the student apply by November 15th?
The students GPA is at the 25th percentile.
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It does appear that a very large percentage of majors at University of Washington are capacity limited, although it appears that most majors other than CS or engineering majors do that in secondary admission rather than frosh admission.
https://advising.uw.edu/degree-overview/majors/list-of-undergraduate-majors/
This is terrific news in your posts. Love the colleges that love you back.
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Couple of updates:
- the guidance counselor at the high school was shocked by the waitlisting from state flagship. My kid said the guidance counselor was planning on contacting admissions.
- the kid got another very compelling offer from a prestigious LAC today, which very much softened the blow. The kid will be going to a great school no matter what!
- Thanks for those of you that expressed kindness and understanding!
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I hear about surprises happening like this more and more. I worked with a student last year who got a flat rejection from an in-state T100+ that typically everyone gets into but got into our extremely competitive in-state flagship. This student’s stats were good but not nearly what your student’s were - so I don’t believe that yield protection was a factor.
I’m also hearing that admission to historically less competitive flagships in surrounding states that used to be “safeties” for average excellent students have also become much more competitive - resulting in surprising waitlists and rejections. The term “safety school” may becoming obsolete.
I’m glad your student has other great choices and may end up getting off the waitlists.
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Your kid’s credentials are so impressive that I’m betting that she will be one of the ones picked off the waitlist if you submit for a spot on it. For the reasons explained in the article I linked above, I believe that this door is still very much open. I’d almost see it as more of a “delayed admit”.
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Actually, it just means that applicants need to find “safety” schools that actually are safe, meaning 100% chance of admission (including to major if applicable) and affordability.
Obviously, some schools are more transparent than others about admission difficulty (including by major if applicable).
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You would think - but the safety I mentioned above is just about as “safety” as it gets (I just looked it up - 90%+ acceptance rate). They actually come to our high school and do in-person admission meetings with interested students, and hand out decisions right there. I don’t know why they rejected this student. The student wasn’t interested in pursuing it because they got into the competitive flagship. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen the rejection letter for myself.
But did it have auto admit criteria that the applicant met?
Or, if thresholds are competitively determined, did the school publish admission thresholds for the prior year?
Did the applicant apply for a major that was much more competitive?
Great news… happy for your kid. This proves that hard work and his/her accomplishments did not go unnoticed
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Counselors at our high school were shocked as well yesterday. We usually have a pretty good number heading to UW. I have been following several state schools, I think this will be an interesting year as so many students applied to 25+ schools. Will be interesting come May 1 to see how things shake out.
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I can totally relate to this. S24 with straight “A” throughout middle school and high school, with UC CAP GPA 4.33, got rejected by all top and mid tier UCs, except waitlist by UCD last year. I was really upset and frustrate for him, what else can he do to get accept by his own state college?
He ended up came off UCD waitlist and attending there now. And he got the $450 Kraft Prize from UCD (given to freshmen who achieved the highest GPA in the first quarter of attendance). I have no doubt he can do the same in the other UCs which rejected him. Good Luck.
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A number of years back, my son - who was accepted to all his reaches: MIT, Harvard, Yale - was warned by his GC to expect rejections from some/most of his safeties. The warning were based on the safeties expected yield protection strategies. If they have no reason to expect the kid to attend, they have no reason to accept.
Colleges that practice yield protection against “overqualified” applicants should not be used as “safeties”.
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Not a competitive or capped major.
Not sure about your other questions as the student chose not to pursue the reasons why they were denied, so no additional research was conducted.
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May have been something “technical”, like when the CSUs reject a qualified applicant because they did algebra or FL in 8th and forget to add it to the transcript? But doesn’t sound like for OP, this is something that would be an issue at UW.
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