<p>So whether you're hoping to get in as a freshman, or transfer by this point everything has been sent in. Right now its universal waiting time. I'm just wondering if there's anything that, looking back, you wish you'd done differently in your application?</p>
<p>For me its gotta be a handful of those little 300-character essays on the Stanford essay. I wrote what I felt but looking back I know I should have gone more hippie and existential. </p>
<p>And my "intellectually stimulating idea" short essay too. I liked it at that point but looking back, it wasn't the best topic possible. Too heavy.</p>
<p>would have changed my roommate essay a lot to give it an actual topic instead of rambling. lesson to next year's people: don't write stanford's essays at 2AM when you've consumed a crapload of caffeine.</p>
<p>also, i made a mistake on my commonapp that went to all my schools. on the writing section, there is an additional info box. i thought this was for an additional writing sample, when it's really a place you can elaborate on stuff. oh well.</p>
<p>i haven't looked over my apps again since i sent them in, though, and i probably never will.</p>
<p>Regret is not something I am too fond of...I know everyone has different philosophies but here's mine:</p>
<ol>
<li>Hindsight is always 20/20</li>
<li>Evaluate past decisions or you wont learn from them</li>
<li>In the course of evaluating those decisions DO NOT I repeat DO NOT judge your past self based on the decision.</li>
<li>Regret is possibly the most useless feeling on the planet!</li>
</ol>
<p>@dhruv-That's good advice. I just find it difficult to follow right now. xD</p>
<p>My main regret is not filling in more activities on my commonapp. I suppose if I had been on CC earlier I would have realized that you should put everything you've ever done, but I took "primary activities" literally. I wish I had included my acting lessons and Japanese lessons.</p>
<p>Oh well. It's done now. At least my essays were mostly acceptable.</p>
<p>My essays were not as good as I would have liked them to be - specifically my roommate letter and my intellectually stimulating idea one. My roommate essay was complete BS - didn't really write anything about myself and I think it was a little to laid back. I also regret not spending as much time proofreading - I wrote Stanford's address wrong on all of my envelopes - put Montag Gall not Montag Hall... I know my app got there, though, so not a big problem.</p>
<p>Before I found out whether I got in or not, I tried not to think about my application. But when I got my likely letter, I decided to read all my essays. And after reading them, my only thought was, "Wow, my essays were so crappy." There was no flow to the roommate essay, my why stanford essay seemed forced, and my intellectual vitality essay was pretty generic. There were other little things that I didn't like, but I won't go into them in detail. </p>
<p>So, those of you who have regrets about your applications, I wouldn't worry about it until you actually find out your results - because what may seem bad to you might not seem bad to the adcoms.</p>
<p>i dunno only regret might be talking too much about running, my major passion in my app, espcially ssince im not a recruit, but hopefully the intellectual stuff is worthwhile as well</p>
<p>My essays turned out better than I expected them to be - but still not good enough. :(</p>
<p>My intellectual vitality essay was about a poem I wrote and how I rediscovered it after reading it again - and how that process stimulates my sense of intellectual vitality. I abstain from swearing now, thinking how STUPID I was. I wish I was on CC earlier.</p>
<p>My roommate letter was pretty ok, but I think I came across as a freak who was messy, didn't study much and cried over novels in the middle of the night. Not so good.</p>
<p>No grammatical or spelling errors, thank god. But I am sure I am going to be rejected. 11% is horrible.</p>