D25 just pushed the button! So excited to be part of the UW community. Any current parents on here who can advise on the best parent Facebook page? Thanks!
Congrats- there is a very active and supportive parents page on Facebook. If you canât find the link by searching- ping me and I will get it for you.
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I think I found it but they wonât let new parents join until after May 1st. I get it!
It is quite comical on our high schoolâs instagram page of the class of 2025 senior destinations all the kids who used the âmajor loopholeâ have posted as âundeclaredâ which we all know isnât an option at UW 
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While I suspect this is more about this major loophole theory - in fairness to these kids and their instagrams - they are factually correct. They are undeclared unless directly admitted to a major like Foster or CS.
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My S26 loves UW and will definitely apply this fall. But heâs truly undeclared and loves many subjects. He will pick something for the purposes of applying but he too would consider himself undeclared.
This âloopholeâ also exists at Cal Poly SLO. There are kids at our high school posting about their major in âagricultural communicationâ â I donât even know what that is. But I guess itâs a way in.
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I can only speak to the students at our high school, but only the students who selected random majors for the purpose of admission posted âUndecidedâ on their Instagrams. Students who selected majors of true interest with high GPAs post those majors even though as you point out they are technically undeclared. Again, this is just our local school where I know firsthand the kidsâ GPAs, rigor and motivation for admission.
I think maybe you are searching more for loophole validation here than anything else. I admire your ability to know GPA, rigor and admission motivation for all classmates. Weâre lucky if our kids tell us their friends names and answer most of our questions with âBruh chill.â
But just for funsies - someone is clearly allowed and able to want to be in CS or Foster or anything else but apply for UW Standard Admission. The risk is they might have been directly admitted out of HS and do not get in later. UW makes you (I believe) put down an intended major on application. Iâm not sure if you want to apply SA to Foster or you are just not 100% sure that it should matter whether you list Econ or Real Estate or French. You are pre-A&S in every situation. And you might not actually know. I am certain what an 18yo puts on their instagram could not matter less. If you believe someone who does apply DA to Foster, not admitted and is then somehow less likely to be admitted to UW as a result - your issue is with UW not with 18yos. Just my view.
I believe the point is that the issue has been validated in the high schools, mine as well. But yes the issue is with UW. The messaging from UW this summer through numerous âask anythingâ videos was to âchoose the major that most closely aligns with what you want to studyâ. Our personal fault was not understanding (but also never told by UW admissions) that your major choice may take you out of the running to attend UW-in state. My student was honest (and had stats that well covered the average) and assumed that if foster didnât work, then they would still be given the second choice major or undecided. Lesson learned. And I do hope this will help future applicants.
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Iâm extremely interested to understand this issue. This is an actual honest question - what major did you put down as secondary? And why do you believe you would have been admitted if not for the Foster or whatever first choice major? Maybe if I ask differently - do you believe you would have been admitted if you put down second choice major and/or do you believe you would be admitted with a different major?
Whatâs difficult for me is there are plenty of very qualified above average stat kids with majors not in the Foster/CS universe who do not get in. Regularly. UW is pretty clear IMO that itâs looking for the diversity of the class. Major choice maybe being one factor maybe not. Is it the factor we choose to compare or is the actual factor? In the point for future applicants Iâm not sure that this is true, Iâm not sure itâs not true on major. So could it be dangerous for someone to read this, apply to French with no seeming background and find out they do not get in because UW finds it BS?
I want to understand too and your questions are exactly what I have been asking to try to understand as I was the parent who encouraged honesty. Again the messaging was to choose what current interests reflected and second choice to choose what closely aligned with first choice. So second choice was economics. (Stats edited to keep confidential) I agree with the diversity issue and believe they try not to take too many from the Eastside or Seattle. I truly believe the economic times added the need to take more oos. I would have paid more to stay in state honestly. UW prides itself on appreciating that students donât always know what they want to study. Other schools like IU are clear, Kelly direct admit is what you want. We did not see UW as a school that took major choice as a significant deciding factor. The risk was trying for Foster, but again (resume and essays screamed business) since they asked we assumed the second choice would follow. Did the second choice fill before they got the look? Who knows. The rubber will meet the road when these kids all try to get into Foster later down the road, but since it is more open then, it will likely work out.
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As far as I can tell the in-state and out-of-state + including intâl mix really hasnât fluctuated much in years. Some of the details of those numbers have been discussed above.
Major is certainly considered. They admit it now (didnât previously). And there is a risk/reward putting down a competitive major. As Iâve said before, I probably weigh an institutions motivations much more than what they may say in a public setting. Based on experience I guess.
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Thanks for sharing. The loopholes donât really end at admission, thereâs a substantial number of Foster applicants taking all the pre-reqs at CC to try to up their GPA vs the curved UW courses. So kids arenât paying much UW tuition those 1st two years. That also massively increases the average GPA for admits who then freak out if they take UW courses with the curve they wonât get admitted and stress nonstop.
I do appreciate UW maybe saying you want to be Foster (or CS or ENGRUD) - go somewhere to be business versus being unhappy here. But with instate tuition maybe that should be your choice not UWâs? I donât have an answer but I suspect the loophole if it exists is more about the DTM app than it is the non-capacity constrained one. I wish you the best of luck.
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Iâd just add that the kids do know who the good students are in a high school. Both generally and often very very specifically, down to GPAs, AP test scores, and exact grades in a given difficult class. And many of these competitive universities are passing on top students who have worked their a$$ off and done everything right, so they can mold an incoming class as they see fit. At huge financial expense to those students and/or their parents. Iâm sorry, but so much of it is BS. I try not to be this blunt, but beating around the bush and giving too much âbenefit of the doubtâ to these schools may just be adding to the problem.
Changes need to be made.
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We should begin to hear soon if UW will be accepting many students off the in-state waitlist. Maybe report any reliable updates here.
As discussed previously, many of the most competitive state schools rely more heavily on the waitlist to fill in their allotted out-of-state slots, as the in-state yields are much easier to estimate.
Weâre waiting on the WL for UW- does anyone have a general idea as to when they start taking off the waitlist? Also- does the student get an email to check their portal?
It will all be communicated through email. May/June would be your best shot to get off the waitlist.
Everyone on the lists will also receive an email when they close. Sometimes in-state and out-of-state lists close at different times. In-state would typically close first.
The tide does seem to be turning on many of these fringe âprotestsâ. UW seemed to handle it pretty well. Good to see some progress!
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