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OT: Uconn Admissions

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not sure where to put this...

based on everything I've been reading about the State of CT and the state of Uconn's finances, I thought being an out of state application would be a benefit.
My son has 1300 on the SAT's, has a 3.6 GPA with several AP and Calc BC classes. Not sure of class ranking, assume he's in top 25-30%. Got into UMASS Engineering. Just found out he didn't even get a sniff at Uconn.

as much as I would like him to attend Uconn, I just assumed he'd get in with minimal financial assistance and he'd end up somewhere else that gave him more. he's been really into the co-op program at RIT and I think that's his first choice. i know uconn is competitive, but geez. really surprised he didn't even get into the Liberal Arts program (he applied to the engineering school).
 
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My niece is #3 in her class of 646 and got 1400 on her SATs. She didn’t get into UF as an in state applicant. State flagships are getting so competitive that it is a disservice to residents. Not terribly surprised on the out of state rejection given the above. UConn and UF are similar.
 
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Don't apply to the highly sough after colleges within a university. The bar is raised even higher. Simply apply to the university as undecided. Once in, then declare for the target program.
 

polycom

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It doesn’t make sense who gets into UConn now.
 
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Doesn’t work that way. If you want to change schools at UConn, you have to be accepted by the new school.
Heard almost impossible to transfer into business or engineering
 
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I don't know if it is accurate or not, but I've heard that they take a class of 60% in-state one year, and then 40% in-state the following and continue to flip back and forth. If this is a 60% year for in-state, it makes it much tough to get in from out of state.
 
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I don't know if it is accurate or not, but I've heard that they take a class of 60% in-state one year, and then 40% in-state the following and continue to flip back and forth. If this is a 60% year for in-state, it makes it much tough to get in from out of state.
Unless UConn’s out-of-state/country undergrad target’s changed within the last few years, it remains about 20-25%. 2018 admissions: 75% in-state residents. Current undergrad population: 80% CT residents. Reasonable mix.
 
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Nephew about 15 years ago wanted to go to Virginia from Ct. and didn't get it, went to James Madison for two years and then transferred in. Seems much easier to slip into "non freshman" slots as students leave and schools want to keep each "year" more or less filled.
 
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It doesn’t make sense who gets into UConn now.
My son's high school guidance counselor told him the exact same thing. He applied to 15 schools, got in to 14 of them, but for UCONN, it was the Hartford branch and not Storrs.
 
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Doesn’t work that way. If you want to change schools at UConn, you have to be accepted by the new school.

Yes, that is true at most universities. But it is better to take your shot as a native student than as an incoming student.
 
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Nephew about 15 years ago wanted to go to Virginia from Ct. and didn't get it, went to James Madison for two years and then transferred in. Seems much easier to slip into "non freshman" slots as students leave and schools want to keep each "year" more or less filled.

Because it is easier.
 
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If you go to another school for a year, transferring into UConn is super easy.
It's almost too easy to transfer in. I'm pretty sure you only need a 3.0 from a branch campus, at least that's how it was when I was there.
 
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Don't apply to the highly sough after colleges within a university. The bar is raised even higher. Simply apply to the university as undecided. Once in, then declare for the target program.
This is very false. For instance, to transfer into the business school once you are a student you need something like a 3.6-3.7 GPA. For the nursing school its even higher, like 3.8+. Im sure the engineering school is similar.
 

polycom

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How so, and in your opinion or backed with documented facts?

Anecdotal data. But, I know a handful of kids from CT who didn't get in with 3.5 1200-1300, granted I know it isn't only about stats but it is surprising.
 

HuskyHawk

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Ugh. Daughter will be a HS junior next year and I am dreading this aspect. Has no idea what she wants to do. We will start casually looking at colleges this summer.
 
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The college application process is an absolute crap shoot for average white males or females. My son had killer grades and applied to some top colleges with the fantasy that the SAT/ACT ranges and other admissions data was actually relevant to all applicants. He applied to Penn early decision and was denied. The denial was not a surprise, but when we broke down the numbers it was quite apparent that he had no chance.

48% minority, 23% legacy, 13% international, 11% 1st generation, and then you add in athletic scholarships and you see how little chance a student really has for acceptance. This impacts UConn and other State schools as a bunch of incredibly intelligent students no longer have the top colleges as a option and many are applying to State schools.

My son has received a "likely" acceptance from William & Mary indicating that unless he basically commits a felony he will be admitted. He is waiting on other schools (Duke, G'town, Northeastern (deferred early action), Vandy and a couple of other similar schools) but with limited expectations. We are thankful that W&M worked out as our stress level would be through the roof as we grossly underestimated the need for safety schools. We joke with my daughter that she needs to be LGBTQ for her senior year in high school.
 

polycom

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The college application process is an absolute crap shoot for average white males or females. My son had killer grades and applied to some top colleges with the fantasy that the SAT/ACT ranges and other admissions data was actually relevant to all applicants. He applied to Penn early decision and was denied. The denial was not a surprise, but when we broke down the numbers it was quite apparent that he had no chance.

48% minority, 23% legacy, 13% international, 11% 1st generation, and then you add in athletic scholarships and you see how little chance a student really has for acceptance. This impacts UConn and other State schools as a bunch of incredibly intelligent students no longer have the top colleges as a option and many are applying to State schools.

My son has received a "likely" acceptance from William & Mary indicating that unless he basically commits a felony he will be admitted. He is waiting on other schools (Duke, G'town, Northeastern (deferred early action), Vandy and a couple of other similar schools) but with limited expectations. We are thankful that W&M worked out as our stress level would be through the roof as we grossly underestimated the need for safety schools. We joke with my daughter that she needs to be LGBTQ for her senior year in high school.

What data are you referring to? Those %s seem odd to say the least.
 
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What data are you referring to? Those %s seem odd to say the least.

Sorry it wasn't clear. The data is from Penn's 2023 Early Decision admissions. This is directly from Penn's publication. I agree that the percentages seem odd, but these percentages are similar for all "elite" schools. You have a tremendous number of top students filtering down to the next level of schools and it has a domino effect on all college admissions.

Penn's early decision acceptance rate drops to 18 percent for Class of 2023
 

polycom

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Sorry it wasn't clear. The data is from Penn's 2023 Early Decision admissions. This is directly from Penn's publication. I agree that the percentages seem odd, but these percentages are similar for all "elite" schools. You have a tremendous number of top students filtering down to the next level of schools and it has a domino effect on all college admissions.

Penn's early decision acceptance rate drops to 18 percent for Class of 2023

Interesting stats, in an effort to avoid this post ending up in the pool. I wish they gave more data on family income. 48% minorities seem crazy high, I'd love to know what % of that was kids who would have made it anyways.
 
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Anecdotal data. But, I know a handful of kids from CT who didn't get in with 3.5 1200-1300, granted I know it isn't only about stats but it is surprising.
As with many to most very competitive public universities, kids, parents, less clued in guidance counselors, etc may ignore applicants compete against other applicants, e.g., 1. identical grades at higher vs lower level college prep curriculum levels within the same high schools are not equal; 2. Kids from more vs less competetive schools; 3. heavy AP vs less to no AP; 4. Extracurricular leadership vs little to no participation; 5. Schools with many vs advantage to those with few UConn applicants (in-state separate from out-of-state/country); 6. Kids in socioeconomically advantaged vs disadvantaged backgrounds, locations, etc (a la UConnRock’s Penn reference) 7. Kids applying to engineering, nursing, business & other tougher schools/majors vs traditionally easier schools/majors such as Coms, Ag, some liberal arts, etc; 8. Other related considerations at UConn, MD, IU, Michigan, UVA, UT, Cal, UW, etc

Bottom line: it’s highly likely applicant analyses are far more involved or sophisticated than may initially meet the eyes, form anecdotal opinions, etc
 
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I agree that the PC nature of these discussions could drag us down a hole. My only advice based on my experience is for parents and students to have a very practical approach to the college admissions process and spend as much time evaluating "safety schools" that your child would be comfortable attending as you do evaluating the schools where you think he/she belongs.
 

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