Seniors and senior parents,
By now, most seniors have received a bevy of admission decisions from their designated schools. If anything else, they should hear back by April 1 or so in most instances. March is ordinarily a very busy time for college recruiting offices, as they have largely sent out the bulk of their decisions and have many on-campus programs planned for admitted students. This, however, is no ordinary time, as you’re well aware. The pandemic’s continuation has changed some of the rules, so below are some things to keep in mind in the coming weeks.
If you were ADMITTED to several places, then you’ll want to narrow your choices down and have a final decision submitted by May 1 in most instances (extensions vary based upon individual colleges). Consider all financial stipulations for each school along with personal preferences. Were you offered your preferred major? Did you receive any need-based financial aid or merit-based scholarships, and if so, how much? Do you feel that you “fit” at your first-choice school? As well, if you were NOT offered your first choice major, then were you offered an alternative that you’d consider most strongly?
If you were offered a WAITLIST spot for your first choice school, then what are the parameters/timeline expectations? A waitlist offer is not the end of the world; many admission offices experience a phenomenon known in the admission world as “MELT,” or the process by which students who have deposited to a school decide to attend elsewhere, thus impacting admission numbers. Melt produces a “trickle-down” effect. More selective institutions (such as your Ivy League caliber schools) often make offers to students on their waitlists to fill needs and other circumstances to make their freshman classes, and as students accept those offers, the school with a new spot available might submit an offer to someone from the waitlist, and so-on and so-on. The logic behind waitlist offers is not necessarily cut-and-dry, though. In some years, a college might have such good numbers that they won’t even touch their waitlist. Other times, they’ll select from it based on numbers needed for particular segments (such as they need more “engineering majors” or “psychology majors,” etc.).
Alternative admission offers are also common at this time of year. For example applicants for UT-Austin or Texas A&M might have been offered “CAP” or “PSA,” respectively. These are offers to attend a designated institution within the university system for one year, and upon earning certain criteria, they’ll be offered admission to the flagship. The issue here is that there are no guarantees for preferred major in most CAP or PSA offers. For other applicants, the non-traditional experience is a turn-off.
In these unprecedented times, it’s important to explore what’s available. Many colleges are presumably more flexible with their decisions due to the pandemic, and admission offices are leary to make their classes full. IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE A PREFERRED ADMISSION DECISION, THEN AN APPEALS PROCESS MIGHT EXIST. Admission appeals are not likely to overturn the original decision, and I want to be very clear in stating that fact. HOWEVER, there may be some legitimate reasons that might make this year somewhat more flexible, so it might be worth asking a college about the appeals process and how an applicant can go about being re-reviewed. In most instances, something drastic must have occurred for a decision to be reversed. For example, did your high school make an error in sending materials? Was there an error on the transcript? Was there a mix-up on communication from the college part? As well, was there an unusual circumstance that was not made clear on the application that was not considered? Again, I want to be very clear in stating that admission appeals are not likely to be reversed, but for some applicants, it’s worth a shot, especially if their first-choice school is their passion.
As for the waitlist, do not necessarily expect to be offered a spot. Colleges often will go into the summertime to make waitlist offers, and they know that many from the newly offered list will no longer consider the school. I advise to ensure that you have a definitive plan with or without a waitlist offer. If School A does not come through with a waitlist offer or appeal reversal, then make sure that you have a spot at School B.
Contact me should you consider appealing your offer or if you have any other questions about upcoming deadlines and such. Parents often have questions about scholarship offers and extra money, and I can also help in this area. Otherwise, I hope all is well, and that your senior year is taking form as best as possible in the world in which we live. Take care!
Randy Trevino