After rejections: Where do I go from here? What choices do I have?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey CC</p>

<p>It seems I overestimated my chances at schools based on pure scores and GPA (34, 4.5, etc), so I was unfortunately not admitted to any schools I really wanted to go to. I would truly appreciate it if anyone could help me out, I'm not sure what to do now. Also I'm sorry for making this the longest post ever but there are a lot of factors, feel free to skim.</p>

<p>I applied to each school for molecular bio, but may consider bio engineering. I'm considering going to medical school, so perhaps a feeder school where I can stand out with a high GPA might be good (my initial thought applying to LACs).</p>

<p>These are the schools I have been admitted or wait listed to, so what paths can I take from here?</p>

<p>UC San Diego
UC Davis
Macalester
Middlebury
Grinnell
U Chicago (W/L)
Williams (W/L)</p>

<p>Notes:
*UCSD: Might be one of the best in which I've been admitted. Bio is really good here, ranked #14 in undergerad bio, ahead of Davis. In state. I like the studious atmosphere. But it gets hot! And I'm not sure if the UC curve & population will favor my hopes of grad/med school.</p>

<p>*Davis: Better than UCSD in everything else?</p>

<p>*Mac: Close friend will attend here, but I don't want that to sway me.</p>

<p>*Middlebury: Might be best I've been admitted to. You guys tout it as an excellent feeder school and one of the best LACs. But would it be better than UCSD for me? I'm also worried it might not be as well known as UCSD and the isolated location wouldn't favor internships/other opportunities. Would it be unwise to enter as a bio major, would I lack research opportunities compared to UCSD? Would it be good to to UG here then graduate/med school at a bigger name uni?
I'm also a bit weary of the preppy atmosphere, it doesn't sound terribly appealing. I'm getting a classist, racist, WASP vibe. As an Indian, that's no fun.</p>

<p>*U of C: My top choice since applications actually. W/L doesn't look promising though.</p>

<p>Financial aid is very generous at each and shouldn't be a problem.</p>

<p>What are my other options? I'm not sure if I'll be happiest at any. Could I take a gap year, do something interesting, and reapply? Could I attend one of those or a 2 year community college and transfer? But that raises the issue of transferring headaches, I would need to plan my courses for freshman year for my desired school, and if I'm denied, I'm SOL in my own school, right?</p>

<p>I feel very lost and actually quite desperate. Sorry for making it so long, there is a lot to consider. Thank you so much if you can help.</p>

2

<p>How can you be weary of something you haven’t experienced? Do you mean leery or wary?</p>

<p>I just erased a bunch of stuff I wrote. I don’t think you will care about my recommendations. You have a really strange attitude with so many good choices.</p>

3

<p>I’m not sure what you want, either. You think the curve at UCSD would be harder than UofC, your supposed first choice? I doubt that very much. UCSD gets hot? San Diego has the most temperate climate in the entire world.
Middlebury, Grinnell, and Macalester are wonderful schools (cold, too!) where you could get a well-rounded education. Any of them could be a spingboard to med school.
You have five wonderful choices. I’m also confused as to why you’re not really pleased and excited. Why did you apply to these schools if you didn’t want to attend them? </p>

4

<p>I am sorry you did not get into any school you really wanted to go to. </p>

<p>But I am a bit confused as to why you applied to five good schools if you had no intention of going to any of them.</p>

<p>@moonchild Crossed post with you. But we were having the same thoughts.</p>

5

<p>Don’t have much to comment on except UCSD: it does not get hot! Year round pretty much sunny and 70s and being in La Jolla it enjoys ocean breezes. Climate close to perfect…
Davis gets hot!</p>

6

<p>go to UCSD. you will be happier there than at any other college on that list. There are sooo many research opportunities in the area. SD is filled with Bio tech companies!
Don’t even THINK about trying to apply to other colleges again. Or Transferring to another college. </p>

7

<p>I have a feeling the OP will not be happy regardless of where he goes. </p>

8

<p>I would go with UCSD, it has notoriously good science programs that would look good for grad school anywhere. As for it getting “too hot,” it really doesn’t. The hottest it’ll ever get is maybe 90, and that’s only in the summer. For the vast majority of the year the temp is between 65 and 80. San Diego weather can not be complained about, haha.</p>

9

<p>I’m sorry if it comes off as a strange. I am interested in all of them and they’re all ones I’d like to attend, but I’d set Mac and Grinnell as safeties which I preferred a lot less than my other choices. I had just aimed too high with too much confidence at schools like JHU and Cal and I’m dissapointed in myself</p>

<p>And thanks all for your suggestions, it really helps. Rather, I should rephrase: which would be best for me out of these? I think I’m mainly deciding between Middlebury and UCSD. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of those points about Midd when applying.</p>

10

<p>Go to UCSD. If you are already worried about fitting in at a small school across the country, it doesn’t bode well.</p>

11

<p>A strong science student who chose to go to Middlebury instead of Northwestern is not too happy with the relative lack of strength with the Science depts there. So once again- go to UCSD. There are thousands of students who would give anything to have been accepted there. 4 years from now you will be so happy with your choice. </p>

12

<p>I agree with menloparkmom- I think you won’t regret choosing UCSD. It’s very well regarded in the sciences, is a very diverse campus and is close to a large city. </p>

13

<p>I’m sorry about your situation. I can understand, because I got rejected from my favorite schools too. But the difference between me and you is that I’m more excited to attend the places that I’ve been accepted to. You should be too, you have some super good options.</p>

<p>Here’s my honest (but probably very unpopular) opinion: LACs exist for kids who don’t really know what they want to do with their life. They need the extra time to sort themselves out. Since you have a pretty straight forward idea of what you want to and for any science major, research/ internship opportunities are extremely important in terms of future occupation/ grad school. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t go to Middlebury, I just don’t think it would suit your needs, no matter how good the school is. I’m going to echo most posters and say that UCSD would be a great option, as would UCD. </p>

<p>Good luck and remember, every college has many niches. There will be something at whatever school you choose to go to that will make you smile =)</p>

14

<p>Are you an international student or something? You can’t consider colleges like Grinnell which give so much as as a safety. That is hubris. I don’t care what your stats were. I gave it as a match to one student who did get into Berkeley and Cornell. Waitlisted.</p>

15

<p>Congratulations OP, you got accepted to some great colleges. Fall in love with one of them. </p>

16

<p>While starting at a CC and transferring can be a good idea for many students who would prefer to “upgrade” their choices of four year school, you already have a list of very good schools to choose from, so there is little room to “upgrade” (mainly UCB and UCLA – note that many private schools take very few transfers). In addition, medical schools often frown on taking pre-med courses at CCs rather than at four year schools.</p>

17

<p>Sorry BrownParent I didn’t mean it like that! Grinnell is an excellent school with an awesome science department, but the acceptance rate from my HS has been 100% so far, I figured I would have a great chance of getting in.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the support, I have a much better sense of direction now, You all make very good points about UCSD, sally and Doge especially. I was leaning a bit towards Midd for its prestige but I think UCSD might be a better bet now for what it has to offer for my major.</p>

<p>The biggest thing keeping me from falling in love though might be that Midd has top grad/med placement rates which I might not want to pass up!</p>

<p>So</p>

<p>Would it be easier to be accepted into grad/med school from UCSD with it’s opportunities or from Midd where I might be able to stand out with a small size?</p>

18

<p>Whether you like it or not, you’re coming off as ungrateful and whiny. Thousands of the very best and brightest students were not accepted to schools like Middlebury and Grinnell. They are dream schools for many. And here you are complaining that you only got into a handful of schools you didn’t really want to go to. How do you think that makes less fortunate kids feel? Please don’t go to Middlebury. You’ll be happier in California. </p>

19

<p>Your best choice may be Grinnell. You’ll get terrific science classes, more personal attention than at UCSD (understatement), research opportunities right off the bat, and an incredibly dynamic college life (+ ACM off campus opportunities if you wish to spend a semester in Chicago, the Twin Cities, Washington DC, or abroad. The Entrepreneurship semester in Chicago looks especially good.) In addition, you’re sure to get good, personal letters of recommendation.
Why you’d consider Grinnell a safety is beyond me, it’s in the top 0.5% colleges in the US… even with your school’s Naviance record, it only made Grinnell a match.
As for standing out, I think you’ll have more opportunities to do so at Grinnell and Middlebury because instruction is more personalized and everything you might want is there if you show initiative, but your competition will be very strong so it’ll be difficult to stand out academically. UCSD, well, that’s a problem for med school applicants, it’s very hard to stand out in a lecture hall with 370 people, none of whose name is known by the lecturer, and thus only a handful get meaningful LORs. On the other hand, med schools don’t really care where you went to school as long as you’re among the best. If you’re confident you can be among the best at UCSD then it’ll be a different experience than at Midd or Grinnell, but certainly one where you have fun, enjoy excellent weather, and have a famous school name on your diploma.
Anyway, if you want a “brand name”, then go with UCSD. Grinnell will be a “brand name” to grad schools and med schools but not to fellow high school students.</p>

20

<p>Middlebury, Macalester and Grinnell all have higher average SAT scores and lower admit rates than UC SD or UC Davis. I don’t know why you would think Grinnell is more of a safety school than UC SD or Davis. Grinnell alumni earn more PhDs in life sciences per capita than the alumni of all but 4 other colleges in the USA (more than Chicago, more than Harvard). They earn more PhDs in physical sciences per capita than the alumni of all but 9 other colleges. <a href=“Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College”>http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Macalester and Grinnell have essentially the same academic programs as Middlebury does. All three are selective liberal arts colleges that employ excellent faculty and keep their classes small. All three were ranked among the 50 top “feeder schools” to top medical, law and business schools in a Wall Street Journal study (<a href=“http://anayambaker.hubpages.com/hub/Wall-Street-Journal-College-Rankings-The-Full-List-and-Rating-Criteria”>http://anayambaker.hubpages.com/hub/Wall-Street-Journal-College-Rankings-The-Full-List-and-Rating-Criteria&lt;/a&gt;). </p>

<p>At UC SD, nearly 35% of classes have 50 or more students. Nearly 22% have 100+.These are very high rates even compared to some other state flagships.
Big classes are likely to be concentrated all the more heavily in elementary and intermediate courses, pre-med courses, and popular majors (like biology, one of the most popular majors at UCSD).
In UCSD’s lower division biology courses listed for Spring 2014, 7 of 13 courses show enrollments of 200 or more. 4 of 8 biochemistry courses show enrollments of 100 or more.
<a href=“Student/Class Info”>Student/Class Info;
<a href=“Student/Class Info”>Student/Class Info;

<p>At Middlebury, less than 3% of classes have 50 or more students.
At Macalester, less than 2% of classes have 50 or more students.
At Grinnell, less than 1% of classes have 50 or more students.</p>

<p>All 5 schools can offer you the premed courses you’d need. None of the LACs offer engineering. You cannot take for granted that you can get high GPAs at any of them without significant effort.</p>

<p>The atmosphere at a small, rural LAC in a cold weather state will be quite different from the atmosphere at a big California state university. </p>

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<p>The US News ranking you evidently consulted is a graduate program ranking. It is based solely on the results of surveys sent to academics in the field. Their assessments may be heavily influenced by the quality or quantity of published research findings, which may or may not correlate to excellent undergraduate teaching. The professors who produce that impressive research may not even teach undergraduates; when they do, you may be one of hundreds of students.</p>