<p>elastine, sorry to hear about your dilemma. I would seriously pursue the waitlists and seriously consider LSE.</p>
<p>Gap years are actually encouraged by most selective colleges for ACCEPTED students who defer admission. However, as an admissions strategy to increase chances of acceptance to schools you haven't yet applied to, or want to re-apply to, the jury is still out.</p>
<p>There have been several success stories on this board, but I only know of one case in which an applicant was accepted to a school that had previously rejected him/her. </p>
<p>If you do decide to gap and re-apply be sure to cast a wider net of less selectives. Concentrate on the most resume-grabbing activity in the front end of your gap year. Take another look at your essays. Your profile should be of interest to colleges that seek diversity.</p>
<p>@elastine I am from Resource Academia... if I don't get off one of these wait lists, I am definitely considering a gap year. I am even thinking of all the things I could do in that year and make my app really great...</p>
<p>take LSE,,seriously.
your grades can be transfered to any univs in the world easily next year..
US is not like the only place you can study and be successful..
your next year app will be better with tons of activities and your freshmen GPA from LSE..</p>
<p>a story by a user named "andi" is incredible.
Three years ago, her son, known as "andison", had no acceptances (rejections + three waitlists). And he is also an amazing kid with various awards, perfect SAT II scores, passion for piano etc etc! Her whole family was devastated and at first, and didn't know what to do. They were also considering a uni in UK. </p>
<p>And what happened?
Come June, he was rejected by his waitlist schools, too.
He took a gap year, made a plan on major things he wanted to do in that year, made a new list of colleges, and wrote applications from scratch. In the meanwhile, he had all the amazing experiences and that April...</p>
<p>this when your college counsel needs to get to work -NOW. this is what they are for-this is always plausible no matter how great the student, no matter how easy the college. Your college counselor needs to start making some calls to colby and a position grinnell stat and explaing your situation to the admissions officers. this is that calls for some serious groveling.
quick question- is english your first language? b/c if not, that makes a huge difference in how colleges read you sat scores.</p>
<p>nvm congrats on lse!!!! thats amazing! i day go and you can always transfer after if you have to. my big bro got accepted 2 princeton last year, enrolled, and then deferred a year to be class of '12, and took a gap year. he did a backpacking program across patagonia, and alot of kids doing it tried to do a gap year and then reapply to schools. he said it really didnt work very well.</p>
<p>I heard (hearsay?) that grinnell is all full for this year. One of my friends who got accepted this year said that now they're even over enrolled.</p>
<p>@ Isabel: No english is a second language. </p>
<p>I've dropped the US as an option really. Lost hope there. I don't think there's going to be a wait list intake with my need for financial aid. Which is pretty sad since thats all i ever wanted to do- study liberal arts(i hate pre-professional specialization, you know..).</p>
<p>Oh well, its either LSE or a gap year now. Still deciding...</p>
<p>And i dont want to transfer really because the first and second year American college experience with academic freedom is what i was seeking. Professional bachelors study (and getting a respected BSc degree) i can do at LSE or Warwick or UCL, that was never really the issue.</p>
<p>Why do you give up so easily. There are still many good colleges still accepting applications, and plenty of people in the same boat. If you want liberal arts you can still have it. </p>
<p>Classic, going to the London School of Economics doesn't count as giving up in my book. It's way, way better than whatever American schools are still taking applications.</p>
<p>elastine you never said which school you are from???? And good luck with LSE.. think about transfering credits or taking a gap year... both are worthwhile options..</p>