Main content
Course: College admissions > Unit 4
Lesson 2: College application process- Deciding when to apply: Early vs regular decision
- Filling out the college application: Common application walkthrough
- College application checklist
- Applying to the right number of colleges
- Receiving an admissions decision: Admit, deny, or waitlist
© 2024 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Receiving an admissions decision: Admit, deny, or waitlist
When students receive college decisions, there are three possible outcomes: admission, denial, or waitlist. Admitted students can celebrate and consider their options. Denied students should move on and focus on other opportunities. Waitlisted students face a long shot, as colleges only accept a few from the waitlist after May 1st.
Want to join the conversation?
In my school, I have heard some people saying that a college application was defered. What does that mean? And is it a good thing? Thanks!(6 votes)
This means that they applied to an early program, like early decision or early action. They weren't accepted, but they weren't denied either- they were deferred, which means their application will be re-reviewed with the regular timeline applicants.
This is different from the waitlist, because waitlisted students' only chance of admittance is a open spot whereas a deferred student will have their application seen again by the admissions officers and possibly be offered a spot.(9 votes)
Okay this is a question about admission that really frustrates me on many levels because I constantly worry about it, but do colleges factor the grading/difficulty levels of the courses? For example my high school has a very hard grading system plus we have required midterms and finals that are worth big portions of our final grades so if we get even a A- on that, it will bring the whole overall grade down. While a neighboring school that my friend goes to has easy grading system since its a vocational school and half their grade comes from just going into the workshop and everybody in her workshop has at least a 96. They also don't have any finals or midterms .... her gpa is far higher than mine because everything is so easy in that school. How is that at all fair??(4 votes)
It would seem like this is unfair, but one thing that you can do to combat this is to send in a High School Profile with your application. This will show every course available to students, their method for calculating GPA, graduation requirements, etc. as well as statistics like average SAT scores and average GPA. It will even show a spreadsheet of how grades are spread out in your school - how many people get A's, A-'s, B+'s, and down from there. So they'll be able to see if your particular GPA is high or low for your school.
Sending in this profile is something that I hadn't heard you could do until I read this book: In! College Admissions and Beyond by Lillian Luterman and Jennifer Bloom. I'd suggest that you read it to find out the specifics of sending in your HSP if you're really worried about this. Plus it's an all-around good book for the rest of the admissions process too.(3 votes)
How can I apply for FAFSA, if I do't Have a social security number?(4 votes)
You can't apply for the FAFSA without a social security number. You could apply to become a naturalized citizen or for dual citizenship and then receive a social security number, or if you are unable to do that, look for other scholarships that aren't through the federal government.(2 votes)
- can you help me with some schools which can be applied using the common up(3 votes)
You can see the full list of schools that accept the Common App here, Tarrick: http://www.commonapp.org/search-colleges
As you'll see, there are MANY! Of course, many schools require supplemental essays beyond the Common App essay, so make sure you look for each individual school's requirements so you give yourself enough time to finish all of the applications!(4 votes)
I've been wondering how to get into college from a homeschooled backround?? Because I have no teacher/tutor to give a reccomendation or whatever, and therefore it'll be harder? Right? Please help, as I am confused!!(4 votes)- You have a couple options. If you participate in some sort of extracurricular (Scouting, sports, volunteer service, dance, music, chess, debate, etc.), you could ask your coach or leader there to submit one. You could also ask the school if your parent could submit a recommendation, since they are the ones that help you set your curriculum, I presume? The purpose of a recommendation is for the admissions counselors to hear what other people who know you well think of you, so even a priest/rabbi/imam if you're religious or your supervisor at your job if you work could fill our a recommendation. You could also hire a private guidance counselor, but those can get expensive. If none of this works for you, it could be helpful to search for the school's name and "homeschool" online, to see if the school has a policy for homeschooled applicants. Best of luck!(2 votes)
- How do you convince a college to match or exceed what other schools are offering? Do I apply for housing at both schools once admitted even though I haven't made a choice yet?(3 votes)
- Regarding financial aid, on the FAFSA form, one should always check the 'on campus housing' for all schools.
I don't think you can apply for housing until after you've sent in your 'letter of intent'.
From one's FAFSA form, the college knows what other colleges you have applied to and what other colleges have likely accepted you. Generally, the college will offer a financial aid package that is the best that they are willing and able to offer you. For the most part, go to the best school you can afford to go to (including whether you can actually do well at the school). If you narrow it down to two schools, you can try to have them 'fight over you' by mentioning what other schools are offering.(4 votes)
- is it free to create an account with common application app? How can one get a fee waiver and how many waivers do u qualify for?(3 votes)
- The guidance counselor at your school is probably the best person to talk to about this.(3 votes)
If your not accepted into the school then do they give you some sort of notification that you haven't been admitted or do you just not hear back from them(2 votes)
The send you a letter letting you know that you have not been accepted (denied).(4 votes)
- Can I apply for financial aid if I didn't apply to all the colleges I wanted to yet?(2 votes)
- You can fill out FAFSA as soon as it opens regardless of the schools you apply to, but for school-specific aid through that school's aid department, you'll need to have directly applied already. Many schools will automatically apply for their aid programs if you apply overall by a specific date.(2 votes)
- I applied to a university and on my student portal account it says my application was "Received-Complete". Does this mean that my application has not been reviewed yet? Also, I applied to another school and it says it is under "counselor review", what does this mean?(2 votes)
Video transcript
- Ok so this is decision day and you're about to get to decisions that you've been waiting
for, for sometime. The outcomes can be three. One, you're admitted. Horray for you! That's pretty exciting, and so you're going to
have an option immediately, and so that's something that you should jump up and down about. Two, you're aren't admitted. And that's ok, but in that case you just need to move on, and say, 'Well, that was one of 'the choices that I made, but...' rather than even being too disappointed, just let that go and lean towards the admitted decision. And the third one, of
course is the wait list. Some institutions will invite you to be on the wait list. The wait list is a way that institutions ensure that they meet their
full enrollment targets. So in fact, they over admit their class, knowing that they are not going to yield the entire class, and then they wait for those decisions to come in in May one. After May one, really in
the middle of May or so, colleges and universities will determine whether they have the ability to turn back to the waiting list, and then they consider those students they've invited to the waiting list in a secondary review. It is really, really hard to tell what the outcome will be and actually, I feel if I was a gambler, I would say that you should
look at the wait list, as one that going to be a
long shot, in most cases. becuse there are a lot of students on it, they're not going to take too many students from the waiting list, and if you're fortunate to be one that they invite back, that's wonderful. Good new about wait list is if you, even if committed,
which you probably have to the student, to the institution you were admitted to, that you chose from those you were admitted to, they will release you from your commitment if you're admitted from a
waiting at another university. So there's no issue here in terms of your ability to accept
that wait list offer.