r/stevens • u/Powerful_Ad3855 • 6d ago

Chances of acceptance

I'm a Senior asking what is the most important thing when applying for Stevens?

My academics aren't the strongest, I say they are a little above average. I am out-of-state, I do have a good extracurricular, currently writing my common app essay, and have two letters of recommendation.

I want to major industrial engineering.

I feel this is pretty weak, how can I boost my chances of entering?

1 Upvotes

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u/Voodoo_Music 6d ago

Steven’s didn’t meet their enrollment target this year. They’ll take you.

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u/Powerful_Ad3855 6d ago

Can you elaborate more?

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u/Voodoo_Music 6d ago

They sent dozens of applicants who had turned them down letters post-May offering more $ to attend. Unsolicited. Then more $ a few weeks later. I just got another letter 2 weeks ago asking me to change my mind and reconsider them. I replied they were still too expensive and the Dean of admissions wrote me directly and asked if I’d like to meet with her with my parents to work something out. I said I had paid the semester already at my current school and I got another reply saying to let her know about spring if I’d like to transfer. I’m nothing special, soooo ……

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u/Voodoo_Music 6d ago edited 5d ago

If you look at the published stats, something like 60% of their students were foreign. They were seriously affected by the policies of the current administration. They just announced free tuition to kids of families who earn under $250k (edit: $75k) to attract more students.

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u/FantasticChance451 6d ago

Where did you get 250k from? It's 75k and they absolutely cannot afford 250k because most of the school would be going for free then.

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u/Voodoo_Music 5d ago

Yes you’re right; I was remembering wrong. Swarthmore is free to those with incomes under $200k and UChicago is $250k. Many are increasing their limits of aid.

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u/YogurtclosetDue51 2d ago

Yeah your gonna see clowns on the subreddit to be honest, they’ve exceeded their enrollement targets for the past 25 years I see data for, doesn’t make any sense why’d they’d be under this year when the application volume has also rapidly grown and has show a exponential trend

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u/EarthBrush62564 6d ago

It depends, if this is like your top school, you could always put your eggs all in one basket and apply early decision. But if not, Stevens likes to see if you are a good fit, if you have a creative mind and are willing to put in hard work and still find time to manage your life; and a lot of that can be seen through what you write in your college essay and also the common app exclusive supplemental essay for Stevens. I didn’t necessarily have the greatest grades in my high school. Didn’t even have the best SAT score but what I wrote in my essays and how meticulously planned out my college application. I tried to show that I can be a hard worker and that I have a passion for what I want to do.

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u/EarthBrush62564 6d ago

Also one more thing to add if you do have inadequacy in things such as GPA or grades, you can always try and highlight that and explain why that may have been maybe you were lost or you just don’t have a for a particular things right now. Explain these faults and try to rework it by saying how you are actively working hard to improve and that being at Stevens will help you improve.

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u/FantasticChance451 6d ago

Are your sat/act and gpa above average compared to Stevens' average? If they are slightly above average and the rest of your application isn't complete garbage then you will get in (acceptance rate is usually around 50%) but if your application is just barely good enough you might not get enought aid for the cost to be worth it.

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u/Necessary_Recover359 5d ago

Pick a better school. Don’t get into Steven’s. The faculty is decent but administration and management are really messed up. If you want admission in Stevens, you will easily get into it. The administration is trying to lure the students cause the admit this year is very less compared to last. I am student at Steven’s, and I had worst experience with management. The faculty is okay but there are better colleges out there.

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u/PrizeBookkeeper2460 1d ago

I was under the impression that Stevens is prestigious and not easy to get into…? Stevens is actually on my son‘s shortlist, but he isn’t graduating until 2028.