Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:40     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here,

I think had his gpa been even 4.3 he could have gotten in to couple more… he has 4.1

He has top rigor classes like AP Physics C and Multivariable Calculus BC. But he never took 4 years of a foreign language.

Yes, he is also in a very competitive NOVA high school.

Just so baffled to see the string of rejections come in.

Maybe a waitlist will happen that is meant to be.




Sounds like all of your other schools were actually reaches, not targets. My child had a 3.63 weighted and 1230 SAT and got into every school he apploed to because he targeted schools within an accuate range. There is no reason for a child with a 4.1 and 1540 SAT to get waitlisted or rejected at 10 schools unless you were aiming too high across the board.


Congratulations to your ds. Am so glad his outcomes were all good.

Something went wrong somewhere and we are not sure where. We applied to achools where his SAT were on par or anobe average.
We think the score does not match his gpa. And that has set him off everywhere.

To a pp, his unweighted gpa is 3.58.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:40     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:Op here,

I think had his gpa been even 4.3 he could have gotten in to couple more… he has 4.1

He has top rigor classes like AP Physics C and Multivariable Calculus BC. But he never took 4 years of a foreign language.

Yes, he is also in a very competitive NOVA high school.

Just so baffled to see the string of rejections come in.

Maybe a waitlist will happen that is meant to be.




At a competitive school they are going to have a hard time with college acceptances as the colleges only take so many from each school. He was competing with 30-200+ from his school.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:37     Subject: Rejections
Without mentioning the actual schools, it's difficult to tell you anything.

UM, UCB, UCLA, UIUC, G-Tech, these are reaches for everyone.

But if you are rejected at Ohio, Michigan state, Alabama, a different story.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:37     Subject: Rejections
OP - what was the unweighted GPA? I’m assuming that you are referring to UVA, VT, W&M and JMU as schools to which he was waitlisted or rejected? UVA is obviously really hard, VT is unpredictable and accepted many kids with lesser stats and rejected many with similar/better and, if he was rejected at JMU, I’d have to assume the unweighted GPA was below 3.6.

What OOS publics?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:34     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:Op here,

I think had his gpa been even 4.3 he could have gotten in to couple more… he has 4.1

He has top rigor classes like AP Physics C and Multivariable Calculus BC. But he never took 4 years of a foreign language.

Yes, he is also in a very competitive NOVA high school.

Just so baffled to see the string of rejections come in.

Maybe a waitlist will happen that is meant to be.



What was the unweighted gpa?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:34     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:Op here,

I think had his gpa been even 4.3 he could have gotten in to couple more… he has 4.1

He has top rigor classes like AP Physics C and Multivariable Calculus BC. But he never took 4 years of a foreign language.

Yes, he is also in a very competitive NOVA high school.

Just so baffled to see the string of rejections come in.

Maybe a waitlist will happen that is meant to be.




Sounds like all of your other schools were actually reaches, not targets. My child had a 3.63 weighted and 1230 SAT and got into every school he apploed to because he targeted schools within an accuate range. There is no reason for a child with a 4.1 and 1540 SAT to get waitlisted or rejected at 10 schools unless you were aiming too high across the board.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:30     Subject: Rejections
What schools rejected / waitlisted him?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:29     Subject: Rejections
So he was rejected from every school he applied to total except for VCU and GMU?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:29     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:In complete surprise.

Ds got into 2 safeties, waitlisted at 2 and rejected at all other public schools in VA and OOS.



Which OOS publics? That matters.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:29     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Being South or East Asian is still an additional hurdle due to stereotyping by admissions counselors.

FGLI Asians have a huge year this year. UMC Asian outcome didn't change much. Overall I expect to see % of Asian increases at various top schools.


How do you know this?
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:27     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:Being South or East Asian is still an additional hurdle due to stereotyping by admissions counselors.

FGLI Asians have a huge year this year. UMC Asian outcome didn't change much. Overall I expect to see % of Asian increases at various top schools.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:26     Subject: Rejections
In general, GPA is the most important element of the application for most schools/most students.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:26     Subject: Rejections
Op here,

I think had his gpa been even 4.3 he could have gotten in to couple more… he has 4.1

He has top rigor classes like AP Physics C and Multivariable Calculus BC. But he never took 4 years of a foreign language.

Yes, he is also in a very competitive NOVA high school.

Just so baffled to see the string of rejections come in.

Maybe a waitlist will happen that is meant to be.


Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:24     Subject: Rejections
Being South or East Asian is still an additional hurdle due to stereotyping by admissions counselors.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2026 21:23     Subject: Rejections
Anonymous wrote:Was he at a competitive high school?


That's almost always an additional hurdle more so if its a big public school.