<p>This may turn out long, but I would really appreciate it if you can bare through.</p>
<p>I am a 18 y/o senior who is about to graduate.</p>
<p>I have always been motivated to study at a prestigious college throughout my high school career; that is, up until the application due date, January 1st. Prior to the college deadline, I have panicked and spent excessive amounts of time trying to perfect my college application, from the personal statement to the individual word choices that were used in describing extracurricular activities. I have to admit that I've also procrastinated to great lengths in completing the application, which was mainly the reason why I was unable to submit the application on time.</p>
<p>After missing the deadline, I tempted myself to fall for a horribly flawed logic: 'If colleges will accept an application that is one day in late, wouldn't they take an application that's late by two days?' And this mistaken logic, along with my chronic procrastination, continued for weeks, until I finally realized, oh my lord, what have I put myself into... Then a mild case of depression hit. I still had the chance to apply to colleges that had late deadlines (Feb 1st) such as University of Michigan or UW-Madison. However, those were schools that I for long considered as safety schools, which I wouldn't go to even if they offered admissions. It was very foolish thought and a very wrong decision.</p>
<p>And from February until May, I didn't have any evident goal to strive for, and lived out high school as a mere burnout. My interim GPA for the second semester came out be a number slightly over the value of Pi divided by two. I still don't and never will understand how I remained so ignorant and irrational for such a long period of time. I'm sure many of you won't either. Majority of the graduating student body plan to attend the local community college, and I suppose I was partially swayed to do that. (My high school is located in the rural areas and is not known for sending kids to good schools)</p>
<p>Graduation is now in less than a month. All my friends and their families are excited for the new life they'll experience in college. Teachers altogether recite how valuable and precious college would be to one's life. And I'm left nowhere to go, not knowing exactly what to do.</p>
<p>I have thought about some possible options that I have after graduation. I can attend a 2 year community college, then attempt to make a transfer to the colleges of my high school dreams (Northwestern, Duke and Penn). Or I'm thinking about taking a gap year, and reapply for admissions the year after. My senior year grades of second semester would evidently be a problem, but after speaking to my teachers about it, they were willing to work out the grades. I've read an excellent post by 'andison' of how her son dealt with taking a gap year. I am aware that my academic/personal qualifications are nowhere near that of her son and I am not optimistic in that I'll successfully get in. My short term goal for now is to bring up my grades as much as possible.</p>
<p>Here is a short summary of my credentials. I have a 2230 in the SATs and have taken over 10 AP classes, maintaining a 4.3 weight GPA (up until my first semester of 12th grade). I have been very passionate about two clubs, of which I've led the school team to state champions as the president. I guess you can view me as an average student in terms of CC standards. I apologize if I'm being so vague about my accomplishments for personal reasons, but I can PM you if you're curious about what I've done in HS.</p>
<p>I hope people wouldn't view me as someone who is obsessed with the college name value. I personally do not think that the quality of education that you receive at a state school and ivy leagues differ that greatly. However, I do believe that there exist many intangible factors to attending a prestigious college such as the competitive atmosphere, richness in the student body, way of thinking, pride and satisfaction, and other reasons. I don't wish to turn this thread into an argument of how beneficial an elite college may be.</p>
<p>Perhaps I should view this as something positive. Had I applied and gotten accepted to a college, I would've adhered to my chronic procrastination and miserably failed the first years of college since last minute study simply doesn't equate to an A at that level. I'm hoping to use this as an opportunity to make big changes, and I will and already am.</p>
<p>I really would like to give all those who've read this a big personal thank-you message. I really do thank you, and I would appreciate any and all contributions to this thread. Thanks again.</p>
<p>ps. I'm sorry for the double post in college admission and parent's forum. I just hope to gain more feedback and help from more people.</p>