Disappointment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was WL at UVA because she applied RD, it’s much more competitive in RD, especially from NOVA and since she didn’t apply Early Action (with all of her classmates who apply ED elsewhere) she was signaling that she wasn’t really that interested in UVA.

So much about this reads as a troll post---with a lot of energy to keep coming back with updates.

If a school has EA, you must do EA. It is not binding, it just means you get your application in by Nov1/15 and get a result typically by mid February/late February. It signals to a university that you have your act together and know you want to attend. If you wait until RD, well by then you are AFTER ED1/ED2 and EA. So the school has already picked the vast majority of their freshman class. You could have done EA, you chose not to. Not a smart choice

Because she wasn't interested in UVA, she preferred to go OOS. She thought that she had a high chance with RD and wanted to focus on the rest of her applications. JHU has been her dream school for a very long time - We know it's very competitive, but she still thought she had a chance. And yes, I'm definitely spending my Tuesday evening on here "trolling" instead of asking for advice/support from those of us in a similar situation - Please think of more original insults.

What prevented an ED application to JHU?

Exactly, most of the schools OP DD applied to are going to be $80-90K+. If you need FA, you are not applying to that list typically. You would have several "1 tier down" that give great aid if you cannot afford it.

This makes no sense. The Ivies give the most generous financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else facing a lot of disappointment during this cycle? DD got into a couple target schools + most of her safeties... Rejected or WL from the rest. She was (imo and told to us by many others) a great applicant - High stats, great ECs + essays, LORs... Her interviews all went very well, especially JHU. She applied to JHU EA and the rest RD, and we're from NOVA. Intended major is BME (biomed engineering).

Stats:
4.0 UW/4.7 W GPA
1570 SAT (800 M, 770 R&W)
14 APs, all 5s

ECs:
- A few regional awards (STEM)
- 200+ volunteer hours @ local hospital
- Founder of non-profit
- Research w/ prof at T30
- Competitive summer program for BME
- Lots of community service

Results:
JHU EA - Deferred -> Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
Brown - Rejected
Dartmouth - Rejected
Columbia - Rejected
Duke - Rejected
UVA - WL
Cornell - WL
CMU - WL
UNC CH - WL
VT - Accepted
W&M - Accepted
Lehigh - Accepted
UPitt - Accepted

DD is incredibly upset and so are we... JHU was her dream school but she relied on UVA + CMU as well. Anyone here confused and facing a similar situation?We all were convinced that DD had it in the bag - Worst of all is that many of her classmates w/ lower stats and worse ECs have gotten into a few of these schools.

JHU does not have EA. CMU and UNC do not have BME (probably a few others on the list too)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was WL at UVA because she applied RD, it’s much more competitive in RD, especially from NOVA and since she didn’t apply Early Action (with all of her classmates who apply ED elsewhere) she was signaling that she wasn’t really that interested in UVA.

So much about this reads as a troll post---with a lot of energy to keep coming back with updates.

If a school has EA, you must do EA. It is not binding, it just means you get your application in by Nov1/15 and get a result typically by mid February/late February. It signals to a university that you have your act together and know you want to attend. If you wait until RD, well by then you are AFTER ED1/ED2 and EA. So the school has already picked the vast majority of their freshman class. You could have done EA, you chose not to. Not a smart choice

Because she wasn't interested in UVA, she preferred to go OOS. She thought that she had a high chance with RD and wanted to focus on the rest of her applications. JHU has been her dream school for a very long time - We know it's very competitive, but she still thought she had a chance. And yes, I'm definitely spending my Tuesday evening on here "trolling" instead of asking for advice/support from those of us in a similar situation - Please think of more original insults.

What prevented an ED application to JHU?

Exactly, most of the schools OP DD applied to are going to be $80-90K+. If you need FA, you are not applying to that list typically. You would have several "1 tier down" that give great aid if you cannot afford it.

Like I said, she applied ED2. I meant to write ED instead of EA.

DP. If JHU was her first choice, why didn't she apply ED1?

DD worked a lot on her application for JHU and thought that more time would be beneficial. Maybe it was the wrong choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:well then, she got what she "deserved", the school "wasn't interested" in her either. Seriously, if you don't have the time or interest in applying by Nov 1/15, then why should a school care if they admit you? If she doesn't care, why should the school care? They are focused on finding the right number of students to admit so they yield the correct number of students come fall, and they also need to balance those so there are not 600 BME majors (UVA typically has only 300-330 BME majors each year) or 5000 engineering majors

And here's the advice/support you want: she got into several great schools. Pick from one of them. VaTech or Pitt seem the best fit, simply because they have strong engineering/BME programs. So time to start helping your DD get excited about one of those. Visit both and help her figure it out.
Stop trying to figure out why or how to get into one of the other Highly rejective schools. You can get on the WL at those and write a LOCI if allowed. But in reality, you have to have your DD assume she won't get in/off the WL. Have her focus on her choices and move forward.

And yes, you read like a "troll" because it's extremely difficult to comprehend how someone from NOVA can (in 2025) actually not understand how competitive the 10+ schools your DD applied to are. and that yes, even a high stats kid with National ECs can get rejected or WL. It's simple math. 90%+ will get rejected

You are quite dense, and you're putting words in my mouth. Of course we knew how competitive the Ivies or equivalents are. But, for example, the VT acceptance rate is around 57%. Please do share with everyone how someone with DD's stats should not have been extremely likely to get accepted.

DP, I honestly think you were fortunate with the VT acceptance. I'm serious. A couple of years ago I swear similar stats were getting rejected unless they were ED.

[Anonymous]

My child was not the same academic level as yours but still had a really disappointing cycle. It’s not easy to watch as a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else facing a lot of disappointment during this cycle? DD got into a couple target schools + most of her safeties... Rejected or WL from the rest. She was (imo and told to us by many others) a great applicant - High stats, great ECs + essays, LORs... Her interviews all went very well, especially JHU. She applied to JHU EA and the rest RD, and we're from NOVA. Intended major is BME (biomed engineering).

Stats:
4.0 UW/4.7 W GPA
1570 SAT (800 M, 770 R&W)
14 APs, all 5s

ECs:
- A few regional awards (STEM)
- 200+ volunteer hours @ local hospital
- Founder of non-profit
- Research w/ prof at T30
- Competitive summer program for BME
- Lots of community service

Results:
JHU EA - Deferred -> Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
Brown - Rejected
Dartmouth - Rejected
Columbia - Rejected
Duke - Rejected
UVA - WL
Cornell - WL
CMU - WL
UNC CH - WL
VT - Accepted
W&M - Accepted
Lehigh - Accepted
UPitt - Accepted

DD is incredibly upset and so are we... JHU was her dream school but she relied on UVA + CMU as well. Anyone here confused and facing a similar situation?We all were convinced that DD had it in the bag - Worst of all is that many of her classmates w/ lower stats and worse ECs have gotten into a few of these schools.

No extra curricular activities? Just school work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So W&M was a "shotgun application" but she couldn't find the time to apply EA to UVA? W&M has 6 supplemental essays.

I think I used the wrong word - I was trying to say that W&M wasn't her top choice but she was very impressed with the campus life + students when she visited with a friend, which is why she decided to apply.

She’s not a good fit for W&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else facing a lot of disappointment during this cycle? DD got into a couple target schools + most of her safeties... Rejected or WL from the rest. She was (imo and told to us by many others) a great applicant - High stats, great ECs + essays, LORs... Her interviews all went very well, especially JHU. She applied to JHU EA and the rest RD, and we're from NOVA. Intended major is BME (biomed engineering).

Stats:
4.0 UW/4.7 W GPA
1570 SAT (800 M, 770 R&W)
14 APs, all 5s

ECs:
- A few regional awards (STEM)
- 200+ volunteer hours @ local hospital
- Founder of non-profit
- Research w/ prof at T30
- Competitive summer program for BME
- Lots of community service

Results:
JHU EA - Deferred -> Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
Brown - Rejected
Dartmouth - Rejected
Columbia - Rejected
Duke - Rejected
UVA - WL
Cornell - WL
CMU - WL
UNC CH - WL
VT - Accepted
W&M - Accepted
Lehigh - Accepted
UPitt - Accepted

DD is incredibly upset and so are we... JHU was her dream school but she relied on UVA + CMU as well. Anyone here confused and facing a similar situation?We all were convinced that DD had it in the bag - Worst of all is that many of her classmates w/ lower stats and worse ECs have gotten into a few of these schools.

JHU does not have EA. CMU and UNC do not have BME (probably a few others on the list too)

She obviously applied ED, got deferred and rejected. Not sure why you are pointing out a sore spot.

I have a high stat kid who wants to eventually attend medical school. I wonder if it is better to major in something like history and just take all his med school pre reqs. Ds loves history, but knows he wants to go to med school.

[Anonymous]

JHU does not have EA. CMU and UNC do not have BME (probably a few others on the list too)

As I said many times, I meant to write ED instead of EA. CMU + UNC do, in fact, have BME. UNC's is technically a joint program w/ NCSU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy, but personally, I think schools see kids with 15 APs (all 5s) and think "she'll graduate early so that's a year less of tuition." It's a business.

I completely agree and have seen this so many times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else facing a lot of disappointment during this cycle? DD got into a couple target schools + most of her safeties... Rejected or WL from the rest. She was (imo and told to us by many others) a great applicant - High stats, great ECs + essays, LORs... Her interviews all went very well, especially JHU. She applied to JHU EA and the rest RD, and we're from NOVA. Intended major is BME (biomed engineering).

Stats:
4.0 UW/4.7 W GPA
1570 SAT (800 M, 770 R&W)
14 APs, all 5s

ECs:
- A few regional awards (STEM)
- 200+ volunteer hours @ local hospital
- Founder of non-profit
- Research w/ prof at T30
- Competitive summer program for BME
- Lots of community service

Results:
JHU EA - Deferred -> Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
Brown - Rejected
Dartmouth - Rejected
Columbia - Rejected
Duke - Rejected
UVA - WL
Cornell - WL
CMU - WL
UNC CH - WL
VT - Accepted
W&M - Accepted
Lehigh - Accepted
UPitt - Accepted

DD is incredibly upset and so are we... JHU was her dream school but she relied on UVA + CMU as well. Anyone here confused and facing a similar situation?We all were convinced that DD had it in the bag - Worst of all is that many of her classmates w/ lower stats and worse ECs have gotten into a few of these schools.

Literally everyone is a founder of a non-profit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: She obviously applied ED, got deferred and rejected. Not sure why you are pointing out a sore spot. I have a high stat kid who wants to eventually attend medical school. I wonder if it is better to major in something like history and just take all his med school pre reqs. Ds loves history, but knows he wants to go to med school.

I know of a friend that majored in history before going into med school, went to a great one as well. Many people major in humanities before applying to med - I feel like it can also help GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She was WL at UVA because she applied RD, it’s much more competitive in RD, especially from NOVA and since she didn’t apply Early Action (with all of her classmates who apply ED elsewhere) she was signaling that she wasn’t really that interested in UVA.

So much about this reads as a troll post---with a lot of energy to keep coming back with updates.

If a school has EA, you must do EA. It is not binding, it just means you get your application in by Nov1/15 and get a result typically by mid February/late February. It signals to a university that you have your act together and know you want to attend. If you wait until RD, well by then you are AFTER ED1/ED2 and EA. So the school has already picked the vast majority of their freshman class. You could have done EA, you chose not to. Not a smart choice

Because she wasn't interested in UVA, she preferred to go OOS. She thought that she had a high chance with RD and wanted to focus on the rest of her applications. JHU has been her dream school for a very long time - We know it's very competitive, but she still thought she had a chance. And yes, I'm definitely spending my Tuesday evening on here "trolling" instead of asking for advice/support from those of us in a similar situation - Please think of more original insults.

What prevented an ED application to JHU?

Exactly, most of the schools OP DD applied to are going to be $80-90K+. If you need FA, you are not applying to that list typically. You would have several "1 tier down" that give great aid if you cannot afford it.

Like I said, she applied ED2. I meant to write ED instead of EA.

DP. If JHU was her first choice, why didn't she apply ED1?

DD worked a lot on her application for JHU and thought that more time would be beneficial. Maybe it was the wrong choice.

Now I really think you are a troll. You know all about trying to do whatever it is that is beneficial to college admission including setting up a non-profit but you write EA instead of ED.
Then you admit she applied ED2 to her dream school.

551 students were accepted to Hopkins for fall 2025 in the Early Decision I cohort. That is over 1/3 of the freshman class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

JHU does not have EA. CMU and UNC do not have BME (probably a few others on the list too)

As I said many times, I meant to write ED instead of EA. CMU + UNC do, in fact, have BME. UNC's is technically a joint program w/ NCSU.




CMU is not ABET. Either is Dartmouth or UNC Not sure you or DD did the proper research. Just shotgunned apps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child was not the same academic level as yours but still had a really disappointing cycle. It’s not easy to watch as a parent.

Yes, I wish all the best to you and other parents in the same situation. Nothing hurts more than seeing your kid who worked so hard facing so much disappointment.