Bad Judgement? -Should I be Freaking out?

Applying to College
1

<p>Ok, first off, I haven't ever done any "chance me" threads because frankly I think they are lame. I just judged my own stats by what I've seen and heard.</p>

<p>-But some recent disappointments lead me to this thread, where I will post some stats and let you judge. </p>

<p>In the past few days I have received 2 decisions
1. Rejection at Univ of Chicago
2. Priority Waitlist at Rice</p>

<p>-problem is, Chicago was supposed to be my safety and Rice a match, but also my up to now number 1 choice.
-These decisions also make little sense to me. First I pondered that maybe UoC decision was Tufts syndrome, but then shouldn't I get into Rice?</p>

<p>-Other places I applied are Johns Hopkins (safety), Pomona (match), Stanford, and a couple top ivies (reach)
-Those were my judgments based on how I evaluated my application package</p>

<p>Call me an Arrogant sob, but that is how I realistically viewed my chances</p>

<p>Here are some stats:
GPA: 3.9uw -something higher weighted
SAT: 2340 cr:770 m:800 wr:770 SATII's - M2c - 770, lit 720, chem 720
Rank: (low point, but way higher this year) flirting with top 10%
-School ranks by unweighted gpa
Location: small midwestern state
-go to public school (state doesn't have nonreligious private schools)
-Applied for interview wherever available, but only received a telephone interview from Rice, and from top Ivy. (small state...) - both interviews went great
Race: White male
Awards: this was low point. just 4yr all-state, NHS
ECs: 1 uncompetitive sport, church, camp counsellor, play a few instruments - take private lessons, read a bunch, internship at firm (science-related)
Hook: started a business on ebay -(I call it more of an extended hobby)
-now a powerseller, around 900 + feedback
Classes/APs - I have/am taking all (7) ap courses our school offers
-All A's this year w/ 5 ap's. -scored 5, 4 on junior ap tests.
Recs - supposedly at least 2 were "stellar" but haven't read them.</p>

<p>So there it is, probably forgot some area, but let me know if you need clarification.</p>

<p>And now, you judge and let me know if I was being arrogant, pretentious, irrational, or whatever. Should I be getting depressed over these results so far?</p>

<p>Again, I don't like these type of threads, but I just need some outside opinions. And I didn't slack off on any applications, essays were pretty good, and I took time on them.
-One thing though, I applied for financial aid, but didn't get fafsa in until a week ago, because I hadn't done my taxes yet.
I hope that isn't some bad sign or reason I could have been rejected
-Basically I am second guessing myself and my entire application after these two decisions, thinking that there must be some flaw somewhere that I didn't notice.</p>

<p>And you could diagnose this as I wasn't a "match" for Chicago, personality wise, but the whole match thing never made much sense to me.
-If colleges' ideal is diversity, how can they judge whether a student "fits in" at their college? They surely don't like some specific character or type of student do they. </p>

<p>Well thats enough for now... comments...?</p>

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<p>UChicago isn't a safety for anyone nowadays. You're a great applicant, but you're one of tens of thousands. You had as much of a chance at Rice as 80% of their applicants did, and you pulled the short straw.</p>

<p>And "diversity" firstly means race, secondly means 50-50 gender split (ideal), third means geographic, fourth means anything that you can change (ECs).</p>

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<p>your problem started when U Chicago was your safety. Your stats are great but something has to stand out. And an e-bay powerseller can't really make up for nothing all that interesting in terms of awards & EC's. Your class rank is also a little odd. Good luck in the coming schools, but I wouldn't count on Stanford or top Ivies.</p>

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<p>No way Chicago is a safety, like these people said. (Neither is Johns Hopkins)</p>

<p>You overestimated.</p>

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<p>chicago isnt a stats school, they care way more about who you are and your essay.</p>

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<p>I wouldn't consider Pomona a match for anyone. My son had similar stats as yours and he was waitlisted.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>I'm not sure how much weight the ebay thing holds, but do you have any national/state awards?</p>

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<p>UChicago and Johns Hopkins as safeties? Pomona a match? </p>

<p>It's not that you aren't a great applicant, it's that these schools are crapshoots.</p>

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<p>There's plenty of Ebay-sellers who get rejected from Wharton. It's not really anything unique anymore.</p>

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<p>Yes, probably. A real safety would have been a Michigan or Wisconsin that are more stats driven..</p>

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<p>I was flat-out rejected EA from Chicago with a 3.9UW and a 32 ACT; actually I'm in kind of the same boat as you coz I've been rejected everywhere thus far except my safeties, even rejected from low match schools I thought for sure I'd get into..did you apply to any real safeties? Chicago isn't a safety school for anyone. College admissions aren't a sure thing for anyone especially this year with so many people applying. If you didn't apply to any real safeties then I hope you get in somewhere and just do whatever you can to get off the waitlist at Rice.</p>

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<p>pomona is not a match school in my opinion...its the most competitive LAC that there is. I had a friend get into yale and princeton and get rejected from pomona last year</p>

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<p>Thanks for input, I'll answer a few things</p>

<p>I didn't mean to be cocky when I said I thought schools were matches or safeties, I was just labeling them based on where my scores fit in with accepted students - looking at collegeboard stats. </p>

<p>I know there is more to that, but I really thought my EC's were decent. I mean, there really isn't much more I could have done besides pandering to what colleges "look for" and I am not going to do that.
-I personally don't find a need to enter big competitions and vie for large awards. (Even if I did, you have to realize, there are few national competitions you even hear about in a small midwestern state)</p>

<p>I'm at a point where I don't really think there is anything more I could have done. -I mean sure, I could have tried a little harder and secured straight A's my freshmen year, but no one at our school even thinks much about college until near the end of junior year. </p>

<p>(if I'm venting a little I apologize)</p>

<p>And if operating a business buying/selling on ebay isn't a hook or a great EC I really don't know what is. Maybe it isn't as desirable for colleges, who knows, but it sure does take a lot more time than it would to win an award.
-I didn't really want to get into details, but I spend around 20 hrs/wk, and I sell around $10k/month of stuff - though I didn't put that last stat in application, just gave a link to my website.</p>

<p>Anyways, I thought I was being realistic, but I guess I didn't really have enough experience to know that people aren't exaggerating when they say its a crap-shoot. I seriously didn't think I would have any problem getting into UoC or JHU, and I thought I had moderate chances at Rice/Pom, but this has all kind of been a disillusionment. </p>

<p>And call me an idiot, I know, no "real" safeties. I do have connections at a small LAC that I can go to if all is lost, but I guess I will wait and see.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
First I pondered that maybe UoC decision was Tufts syndrome

[/quote]
</p>

<p>U of C really suffers no effect of Tufts Syndrome. It tends to accept many and yield few while still maintaining a statistically strong entering class.</p>

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<p>A word of caution for those reading this thread and the admitted students' statistics - Be sure to read them in the context of the admissions rate. Rates of 30% or lower means that the school is not a safety for anyone. Rates in the 30-45% may mean that the school is not a safety unless your statistics are well above the 75% mark. Only schools with rates higher than 45% can be considered true safeties for anyone.</p>

<p>JHU's admit rate is 24%. Not a safety.
87% of Pomona's students were in the top 10% of their class. Definitely not a safety for someone barely making top 10%.</p>

<p>You may have looked at the "chances" threads, concentrating only on the statistics, but you forgot everything else you may have learned on these boards.</p>

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<p>U of Chicago is a top 20 school. Even I had a better "safety" than that, back when I did this, which is saying a lot. Johns Hopkins, your other "safety", is also top 20. I don't think you meant to be arrogant, you just overestimated your chances.</p>

<p>Your stats and such are good, but there is an element of luck in admissions (and also the fact that U of Chicago puts a lot of emphasis on personality fit, and you may not have fit). You've been unlucky so far. Your luck could still change, and you could get in somewhere. But you do have to realize that you may not, and figure out what you are going to do about it. Don't start freaking out - it's not fun and won't help you - but start working on your backup plan, whether that's a productive gap year or applying to a state school with rolling admissions or whatever. You may not need it, but if you do, you will be glad you worked on it, and the work will probably lower your anxiety.</p>

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<p>UChicago definitely does NOT suffer from Tufts syndrome, and I’ve always thought of it as just as hard to get into as Rice: it may have a high acceptance rate relative to its peers, but it also has a self selecting applicant pool.</p>

<p>
[quote]
And you could diagnose this as I wasn't a "match" for Chicago, personality wise, but the whole match thing never made much sense to me.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It may not make sense to you, but it makes sense to most of the schools you’re applying to – especially UChicago, which is another reason UChicago is really a safety for NOONE, no matter how overqualified they are. It’s not that they want all of their students to be EXACTLY the same, it’s that they want students who demonstrate certain traits (in Chicago’s case, intellectualism/love of learning, creative thinking, etc, which is why they care so much about the essay). I don’t mean to imply that you necessarily don’t have those traits, just that maybe they didn’t come through if you do. </p>

<p>Anyway, it sounds like your application was fine—your potentially fatal flaw was overestimating your chances, as others have said. The schools you applied to are safeties for almost nobody (I mean, maybe if you’d won a Nobel prize :P ), and especially not for someone barely in the top 10% of their class. </p>

<p>Definitely continue to emphasize to Rice that they’re your top choice and continue to send them anything that might improve your chances (like senior awards if your school gives them, etc)—priority waitlist is good, you’ve still got a shot.</p>

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<p>Son looked at applying to both U of C and Rice, has slightly better stats than you, I would not have considered either of them a safety. Good luck with the other schools, you sound like a nice kid!</p>

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<p>yea.. i'm in the same boat =/
i think i overestimated my potential and might possibly be rejected/waitlisted from all the schools i applied to. i don't know what to do now expect to wait it out i guess.. and look for colleges that are still accepting applicatons =/ goodluck to you!!~</p>

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<p>I'm new to these posts, but it seems to me, if you add up the total number of freshman students at Ivy League schools and other top national Universities (and top LAC's), there are a lot less "slots" open than there are students applying for these slots. From my amateur perspective, nothing is a safety at this level. More than 50,000 HS students will score higher than 2100 on their SAT's this year. Most of them have stellar GPA's and lots of EC's. </p>

<p>I think your "hook" might be a problem. Being a power-seller on Ebay is something lots of homemakers, auto-mechanics, or doll collectors have done. It may not demonstrate your genius as much as it does appear to be fairly easy hobby you accomplished from your bedroom without having to be highly creative or even, smart. I can't think of many important personality traits or characteristics it takes to do that. Certainly no leadership abilities. </p>

<p>But you are incredibly gifted compared to most kids and I'm sure you will do very well in life no matter where you go to school.</p>