So I got waitlisted to University of Utah. Their acceptance rate is 75% and I had an above average ACT and a solid GPA and a great list of extra curricular. I wrote an essay that took multiple rewrites and was approved by my English teacher. Everyone from my school that applies gets in including people with worse stats.
What should I do? This is my go to safety. Is it too late to apply to other safety schools?
If you call admissions and talk to an admission officer you may be able to find out why you were waitlisted and do something about it, or they may see your interest in the school and bump you up. Otherwise there are still plenty of school accepting applications, though you may have missed their priority window for financial aid.
https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=707 says that “level of applicant’s interest” is considered at Utah.
Also, is it possible that you applied for a major or division with more competitive admission than the school overall?
Ask your guidance counselor to follow up with admissions.
See if any colleges with 2/1 deadlines make sense for you to apply to.
You have until March 1 to meet the priority deadline for Utah State, which is comparable in most areas (engineering and pre-med the biggest exceptions). You can also try some of the Idaho schools (Boise State, University of Idaho) or Colorado State if you’re looking to attend school in that region of the USA.
You have until Jan. 15 to apply to University of Colorado-Boulder, which may be the closest equivalent to University of Utah in prestige and desirability.
Isn’t UC-Boulder a bit more selective, though? And… today is Jan 15.