Well - for some reason my D did not want to apply to Duke. It’s ok - she gave it her best and it wasn’t meant to be.
My kid feels the same. She has a friend that has no EC’s…and she’s gotten the same waitlist at UNC/admitted to NCSU, so at this point my kid is like “why did I jump through all the hoops?”
As her parents, we know she’s qualified, as she met every criteria published in the UNC stats (aside from being OOS). The hard part is getting the kid to understand that. I had spreadsheets with admit rates from prior years, including OOS admit rates. The data was clear - it was going to be a tough road.
Right now she is taking the rejection hard. She knows hat she had all the qualifications - she feels they just didn’t want her personally.
I recommend sharing with her all the stats above of OOS people who got rejected. It was not her personally. They are more selective for OOS than the ivys.
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Hi, thanks for continuing to offer insights and information on this (and scores of other school threads). I think you have a solid audience with more than 10k posts. You must be super efficient with your HS coursework and all the posts and responses you’re able to make. Congrats!
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With the hard stop at 18% OOS by law and the extremely high number of highly qualified applicants (which was way up this year), it’s as competitive as Ivy admission. It’s not personal at all. Our daughter’s counselor shared his opinion that UNC is one of the more challenging to predict who will get invited into than Duke even (and that’s nearly a lottery). Our D got into UNC and was deferred ED at Duke. Honestly, the deferral stung badly, but it has turned out to provide a much better experience overall. She’s delving deeper and exploring her other options in a way that’s probably healthier. If Duke ends up back on the table with RD, she’ll have a more in depth base to make an informed decision. Right now, NCSU is climbing – and it was 5th on her list originally. Your daughter did all the right things and has everything to be proud of. <3
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Yep. My D24 got a rejection yesterday. She’s pretty bummed. We are OOS out west. Only one other applicant to UNC from her school - one of her best friends. They pretty much have the exact same stats, taken the same classes, both 4.0uw/5.0+ W, both in varsity sports, etc… D24 is 6 out of 520, her friend is 3 out of 520. Her friend got in and she didn’t. She’s super excited for her friend, but bummed for herself at the same time. We are super happy and proud for her friend. D24 keeps asking what she could have done differently and I keep saying nothing. This stuff is a total crapshoot, especially when every applicant is totally qualified. No one has any idea what the admissions team is really looking for on a given year or day. Her friend got in to UNC, but didn’t get into a safety school she absolutely should have gotten in to, so no one really knows.
The fact is, all of our super smart, intelligent children will end up where they are supposed to be and have a great experience. I truly believe that.
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That’s a great way to look at it. Thanks for that. My D24 was rejected yesterday, but she loves her some Clemson and UGA (in at both).
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Letters are in and my son got in!
My D18 UW 4.0; 35 ACT 10 APs etc. cried a lot when rejected from UNC and UVA.
Also rejected Princeton and Brown. Waitlisted at Vandy. Ended up going to Clemson, loved it thrived and is going to graduate from UF law school in May with a great job and debt free.
It is hard when as you noted kid does everything and still doesn’t get in to schools they want.
However college acceptance isn’t the real goal. Getting into graduate schools or jobs is the goal. Wherever she goes if she works hard she will reach her ultimate goal.
Wishing the best for her.
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Ideally, the activities weren’t jumping through hoops and were things your child enjoyed. I know it’s hard to see now, but those activities brought her value that will be useful in life in some way. NC State is a great school.
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Similar issues for us. Earlier today the account was locked. Now it’s not, but when clicking on any of the icons, error messages occur. My guess is that all this stuff is being loaded and just not ready to access yet. If you learn anything new, please let me know.
Son was accepted in-state.
My kid was not accepted. Congratulations to those that were! This was his first rejection (he has received 2 deferrals), and is taking it in stride. We knew this would be an uphill climb coming from out of state. UNC was one of reaches, so no sweat and we move on. Yesterday he got one denial, one deferral and one acceptance (Illinois). We chose to celebrate the acceptance last night!
It’s understandable to be down for a day or two, but kids should then refocus their energy on other schools they applied to. It’s all a part of the process, and you can grow and get stronger getting a “no” from time to time. UNC is a great school and they don’t have room for all the talented applicants. Good luck to all wherever they end up!
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Congrats on Michigan!
My daughter just checked again and still getting the same error. I will try to call the admission office on Monday if it is not fixed by then. Will update you soon!
If anything changes on your end please let me know. 
Absolutely! She’s just frustrated. She found out more from her high school that were accepted, and all have been enrolled in DEs the last 2 years, instead of taking APs. As a result, have a higher GPA since DE’s are weighted heavier than APs at her school. She wanted to take APs instead of DE’s for the rigor (& teachers). She has LOVED all her AP classes and has thrived in them, so frankly, she wouldn’t have changed anything, with exception of being more realistic about her UNC odds.
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You’re in N.C.? How are DE weighted more than AP? They’re supposed to be the same. That really stinks.
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Yes, NC. With exception of AP Psy (which she took this past semester), all her other APs are year long (World Hist, US Hist, Lit, Lang, Calc). Her school is on a block schedule, so only 4 periods in the day. The DEs are only 1 semester, of course. She only gets honors credit for one semester of her year long AP, then the 5.0 AP credit for the 2nd semester, vs a kid that takes 2 DE classes…they get 5.0 each for the same block of class with the same grade/rigor. Do they not do it like this across the state? The HS counselor that heads up the DE program was encouraging kids to take the DE program for the GPA/class rank benefit, and warned us when class ranks came out her Jr year she’d take a hit…but frankly, we (perhaps wrongly) assumed the AP scores (she has 5’s on the 3 she’s taken so far) would carry some weight. It’s all crazy. It’s all going to work out in the end as it should for her, but it’s just frustrating.
Ah!!! No, our AP classes are only a semester. The ones that are full year are every other day. Or, AP bio is paired with honors bio 2 so kids get 1.5 extra points for it, but that is only for AP bio and chem. The way your school does it leads to higher scores on AP exams but doesn’t help the gpa!