Why was I waitlisted for UMN Twin Cities?

[sheldonrocks97]

I applied early decision for Fall 2014 freshman admission to UMN Twin Cities school of Science and Engineering back in September and they never got back with me with a decision until yesterday, where I finally found out I was waitlisted!

I applied to Clarkson, Hofstra, Indiana Tech, New Mexico Tech, Rochester Institute of Technology, Missouri S&T, Milwaukee School of Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines, University of Portland, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University and got into ALL of them with merit scholarships.

I'm just wondering what went wrong. I have a 4.03 GPA and am valedictorian of my high school class and a 27 ACT (33E, 27M, 23R, 26S, and 9 Writing). I also had 39 college credits by the time I finished 11th grade. I'm also receiving an additional 25 college credits my senior year.

It wasn't my first choice school anyways, but I'm just curious why I wasn't accepted. Do you think I should call them and ask?

Thanks for your input!

 

[D H]

By your own admission, it wasn't your first choice school, and you apparently did get into your first choice school. Why do you care what happened, and is it worth your effort to find out what did happen?

 

[ModestyKing]

@D H, it'd be beneficial in order to reflect on some possible self improvement that can be done. Not everyone will like you, but if you find out that some dislike you for a legitimate reason, you can work on that.

As for you sheldonrocks97, I think an email to whoever your admissions counselor is/was would suffice. If they don't get back to you, then I'd say don't bother'm. Heck, it could've even been an accounting error!

 

[Mmm_Pasta]

@D H, it'd be beneficial in order to reflect on some possible self improvement that can be done. Not everyone will like you, but if you find out that some dislike you for a legitimate reason, you can work on that.

As for you sheldonrocks97, I think an email to whoever your admissions counselor is/was would suffice. If they don't get back to you, then I'd say don't bother'm. Heck, it could've even been an accounting error!

Even if people don't like you for a "legit" reason, you can't please everyone. The OP is best off doing something fun.

 

[ModestyKing]

Even if people don't like you for a "legit" reason, you can't please everyone. The OP is best off doing something fun.

For me, that's kind of my way of life, to be honest! I'm a happy individual, but when I don't succeed in some capacities, I like to learn why. Makes me better as a person. It's like... It's like going to your teacher or classmates after getting a question wrong on a test, and trying to figure out how to do it right. You don't have to; with your argument, you shouldn't, since that test is over and you could be off doing something fun. :)

But anyways, big respect for the OP! And I hope you have a good day. :)

 

[D H]

@D H, it'd be beneficial in order to reflect on some possible self improvement that can be done. Not everyone will like you, but if you find out that some dislike you for a legitimate reason, you can work on that.

Maybe I'm old and hardened, but if someone dislikes me, they dislike me. I'm not going to change who I am just to please some mindless bureaucrat.

As for you sheldonrocks97, I think an email to whoever your admissions counselor is/was would suffice. If they don't get back to you, then I'd say don't bother'm. Heck, it could've even been an accounting error!

Assuming the OP's claimed credentials are correct, this is the most likely explanation. Perhaps his high school didn't send his transcript to UMN, perhaps the ACT didn't sent his ACT scores to UMN, or perhaps UMN lost the transcript or ACT scores somewhere between points A and ZZZ in its byzantine process. In this regard a quick contact regarding Why am I on the wait list? might be worthwhile. There is a lesson to be learned here: Bureaucratic organizations always mess up. Always. Check that all relevant information have been sent from bureaucracy A to bureaucracy B, and double check that that information has been received by bureaucracy B.

 

[turbo]

sheldonrocks97, this action might not have been aimed at you. Have you contacted the school? It could be that they waitlist applicants until they decide to deal with them all at once. Just a thought. Good luck.

 

[mpresic]

Nobody can be sure. The admissions process can be idiosyncratic. Luck of the draw may apply. By the time they got to your credentials it may have been late, and they may have already settled on too many early applicants and need to cut down. It may have been early and they passed your creds looking at some others and never looked at the beginning again.

Admission to schools (or that favorite job) will be a hit and miss process. Being good or very good does not always ensure you will be selected. UMN was not your first choice, and many other schools are very good. I know Clarkson is very good although I never went there, I know some of their graduates. I think RIT is up an coming (I lived in Rochester). Arizona is very good for physics (this is a physics forum so I assume your interest in physics).

 

[jesse73]

By your own admission, it wasn't your first choice school, and you apparently did get into your first choice school. Why do you care what happened, and is it worth your effort to find out what did happen?

So true. College admissions is a crapshoot there are no guarantees if you come across as there is a guarantee you will have a bad time.

If I was to venture a guess I would guess the application materials probably came off like the school wasnt your first choice. Schools do not want to accept someone who will not end up going messing up their yield numbers which are used to judge schools.

 

[Vanadium 50]

There seems to be this idea that the school has declined to admit you outright for some reason. This is far from certain - it may be as simple as "we decided these were the N students we would admit".