I just wanna start this off by saying this post is in a completely non deprecating way, I’m not saying this like I’m complaining or whining or anything at all! I know this post might sound immature, but I’m just panicking and need some insight. (also I’m sorry if this isn’t the place to be posting this kind of stuff!!) Thank you!!
So this girl in my grade today was just committed to Columbia as a junior after choosing between Columbia, Yale, and Brown- that all wanted her because of her lacrosse. Shes an amazing lacrosse player no doubt, and I’m honestly very happy for her, but its made me a little upset and panicky. Columbia is my absolute dream school, and I know that they cut slack for athletes because how important athletics are to colleges. I know that shes pretty smart, and in the nicest way possible she probably wouldn’t be a candidate for these schools if it wasn’t for lacrosse (just saying this from being in her classes and knowing her sat score). I’m not saying that in a mean way at all, lacrosse is her talent and shes a prodigy at it so she definitely deserves it. But it made me realize, what do I have that makes me different? I couldn’t think of anything. I feel like I’m just average at everything. I do have a 4.0 GPA and SATs that can be in the range for top schools according to collegeboard, but nowadays that means nothing. If you have those things you’re just average. I run cross country and play lacrosse, but just in school, not on travel teams with tournaments like that girl I mentioned before. I’m an artist and I’m in national art honor society and I play guitar, and I write for the school newspaper as well. I’m also a neurology research intern at mount sinai hospital over the summers. I just feel like those are basic things that everyone does, I don’t have anything that really sticks out. The one thing I feel like I’m most talented in is painting and drawing, but I’m not majoring in art and colleges don’t have a demand for artists. I always hear about these Ivy league students who have these amazing accomplishments and things that make them so unique and desirable by schools, and I feel like I lack that. I’m not saying this in a whiny, “feel sorry for me” way at all, I just feel like there has to be something I can do that can make me stand out and not be so average.
Supplements!
Try not to worry, there is a great school out there for you, whether or not it’s Columbia. And, with a carefully prepared application you may be able to get there too.
This is the result of fixating on a ‘dream school’ instead of reminding yourself that there are a dozen Columbias out there that offer a similar academic and social experience at a similar level of prestige and selectivity, not to mention many more that are ‘almost fits’ - that is, similar in certain ways and not in others.
So rather than worrying about the kids who get in with hooks (athletic recruits among them - you are not competing with that pool by the way), worry instead about where all those other comparable schools are that you should be applying to. Now is not the time for crushes on schools.
As for standing out, not everyone is an artist or a neurology research intern or similar. Only someone going to school in a hyper-competitive environment (or reading CC too often) would believe that. So quit looking over your shoulder, and think instead about how to enhance your skills as an artist or get more out of your research experience. Are you submitting an art portfolio? College do have a demand for artists, just as they have a demand for musicians, writers, and other creative types. Why sell yourself short?
There are plenty of “average kids” with 4.0’s who get into top schools.
“Average kid with A 4.0” is an oxymoron.
Average kids don’t get 4.0’s.
I am an above average kid and I do not have a 4.0 or a great SAT. I dual enroll at a local community college, and I see students from our best and largest schools instate. They like our community college, because it is cheap and effective. Almost as effective as the large and expensive schools they used to go to.
School is what you make of it. Almost any university will teach you adequately, and a huge amount of universities are amazing. Don’t get sucked into having to attend a top 100 or top 50 school. Instead get sucked into learning, both academically and socially, and remember not everyone has an internship.
You have amazing talents that are incredible by themselves, and you should be proud of that. This site is full of people that have nothing better to do than yell you can’t get in. Maybe you won’t, but many colleges would love to have you as a student. Don’t drown in your own lack of accomplishments, you are 18 at most. You have a lifetime for accomplishments.
Don’t start duplicate threads… you have another with the exact same info.
Dream of Barnard, then :D… and find other colleges to dream of.
Before you project yourself there, though, use the NPC (net price calculator)
for Barnard, Columbia, SUNY Bing, SUNY Geneseo, Hamilton, Skidmore, Fordham, and bring the
results to your parents: what’s affordable for them out of pocket? Do they have an amount they’re planning
on investing toward your college expenses and what is it?