<p>This guy I was on friendly terms with got into a top public research university. Him and I were deferred at first but he was accepted while I got wait-listed. Let’s juxtapose my stats, and his stats. By the way I know his info because of our friendly relation.</p>
<p>I took 12 high level classes (5 AP, 3 honors, 4 college). He took 2 honors this senior year.</p>
<p>I volunteered at: the hospital for 50 hours, youth soccer camp for 3 summers. He did 20 hours doing miscellaneous volunteering during his senior year.</p>
<p>I played soccer for 3 years (1 varsity and 2 j.v letters) and am Secretary of the Medical Science Club. He played football and track for 1 year didn’t get any varsity letters and is a member of the Medical Science Club.</p>
<p>My ACT/GPA is 28/3.5 high-school, 4.0 college. He has 26/3.4. I have 34 in english and 30 in reading and applied as a philosophy major. He has a 26 average and wants to do neuroscience…</p>
<p>I know my GPA and ACT are on the low side of the school’s admissions (28-32, 3.7-4.0) But my credentials are far greater than his… I’m upset about it, and I think he may slightly feel it. He’s not very intelligent… he’s the kind of guy who forgets his pencil on exam day (and asks me for one) and reads Sparknotes because he didn’t feel like doing the reading. </p>
<p>Random: He’s a minority (african american) and the school in question is the U of M.</p>
<p>High school seniors who determine their self-worth from the schools to which they are admitted are lost before they even start college. The irony should not be lost upon anyone - these are students who hope to do great things and make gobs of money - and whose “worthiness” to be admitted to a particular institution is in large part in the hands of people making about $40,000 a year, at best. LOL!</p>
<p>Bah god some people are filled with bitterness about college! There are typical situations of lower stats getting into the dream schools of higher stats and etc, but the weirdest to me is that this guy who got into Harvard/Yale is still the biggest jerk about anybody! Also he (and select other people in his group who all seem to have self esteem problems) is obsessed with where everybody is going and his/her stats and money and basically competing and comparing.
It makes no sense to me whatsoever. One girl got waitlisted at Harvard and since he doesn’t think she’s “worthy” he thinks it devalues his acceptance! He’s said numerous other comments to the same effect. It’s wonderful how depressing people are.</p>
<p>I loved watching bitter people going crazy about getting denied from HYPMS. </p>
<p>I know one person who got rejected from Stanford ED and threw a fit in front of a guy who got DEFFERED from Stanford ED. “My test scores, my GPA, my extracurriculars, everything is SO MUCH BETTER THAN HIM. I’ve been on a varsity team for TWO YEARS and he’s only been in for ONE. He only got DEFFERED because he’s a double-legacy while I got REJECTED because…it’s just not fair!” </p>
<p>Loved it loved it, very amusing. Otherwise this person seems relatively well-adjusted for a typical CC HYPMS grinder.</p>
<p>I was pretty bitter when someone got into the school I applied ED to (I was deferred then rejected). She’s one of those people who seems really brilliant but just…isn’t. But I know that she had a better GPA, better SAT (by 10 points though), and was an outstanding athlete, so I completely understand why she got in and I didn’t. However, I was mostly annoyed not because someone got in, but because it was this particular person. Anyway, I am perfectly happy less than a month later after letting off some steam. In four years we will both graduate from Ivy League universities and will probably be equally happy doing our own things, so in conclusion: I am proud of myself, and of all of my classmates.</p>
<p>I didn’t get in anywhere noteworthy, so no one was bitter about my acceptances.</p>
<p>A lot of my friends got into excellent schools, and I am very happy for them all. Each one of them totally deserves it because they are all intelligent and busted their butts in high school to do well. Yes, I did feel pangs of jealousy when I saw the “Got into _______!!” statuses on Facebook, but ultimately, I am proud and happy for them :)</p>
<p>On the other hand, when I watch people who I really can’t stand in my HS get accepted to top colleges/universities, that’s when I feel somewhat bitter. In hindsight though, I’m not going to spend all of my time getting worked up about a bunch of people I don’t like getting into good schools. Hopefully I’ll never have to see them after graduation again, anyway. :D</p>
<p>I hope I’m not jealous of anyone my senior year…xD. The only time I’ll be jealous is if I know a really inept kid got into a better school than me, but I can tell who will get into a school and who won’t already.</p>
<p>The only thing that annoys me, is when the few people that cheated their whole way through high school get into the top schools. I’m not too bitter because I got into my first choice, but if they had gotten in and I hadn’t, I would be pretty ****ed.</p>
<p>I got rejected by a Stanford summer program, whereas my friend got into MITES. They’re not universities, but at least it’s something close to university acceptance letters. I was apathetic toward the rejection since I wanted to take some courses at the community college and do some other activities. When my friend got into the MITES, I was not jealous, but I was happy for him.</p>
<p>Why do so many people here feel so superior? Honestly, I don’t understand it, you clearly weren’t a superior applicant if you were rejected and they were accepted.</p>
<p>I won’t lie, I actually get kind of mad when people with worse grades get into places that I don’t. I got rejected from UC-Riverside (epic fail, I know) when pretty much everyone else I know, including all the mainstream kids got accepted. I felt superior academically (not as a person) to a lot of them and still don’t understand what they had that I didn’t.</p>
<p>Well I still have another year until all this drama but one of my friends (doesn’t go to my school) got waitlisted by Stanford and rejected by all the Ivies she applied to. She is now going to Amherst and she posts this “I’m going to tell people in the future how prestigious colleges done matter” and “the Ivy league kids are brainwashed” crap on her blog. This made me think less of her because she’s such a liberal and creative and peaceful person. Plus it isn’t like she’s going to some random community college, many people have Amherst as their reach school.
One of her best friends got accepted to Stanford and UPenn. The girl is going to Stanford which annoys my friend… maybe it is because it means less chance for her getting off the Stanford waitlist?
My friend who also goes to the school got into Harvard and Yale. He has now chosen Yale but was talking about the plus and minus of both schools 24/7 (and on Facebook) for ages. This made my friend ****ed.</p>
<p>The source of the bitterness is the perception that the admissions process in the US, being based on subjective or non-academic criteria, is unfair. Unfortunately, that is often true, i.e., more frequently than it would be expected, kids with better stats (higher GPA or test scores) don’t get into some of the top schools while others, whose preparation for college work (academically speaking) is clearly worse, are accepted. </p>
<p>If the top US schools used objective admissions criteria based on academic merit only (like Oxbridge in the UK for example), then there would be no grounds for bitterness: whoever didn’t get in would know that he/she simply deserved less than those who did.</p>
<p>What you said about admission based solely on academic merit is also used in Japan, and it has some advantages, but what you may end up with is a class that is skewed towards people that only have good grades, and might not actually have any other specialities. This creates a lot of problems (not being prepared for jobs because students spent literally all of their time studying and having no social skills is a big one in Japan). The entire point of the American system is to show Admissions that you belong there as a person who can bring something to their community.</p>
<p>For example, if Harvard accepted kids in order of SAT/SAT II/transcript scores, then you’d basically just have a crapload of 2400/800/4.0 kids in one place (I’ll refrain from making any comments about that population, nothing against them), and I’m not sure that’s what schools want. A population of only elites is an unhealthy one.</p>
<p>I wonder if all of the US universities based their acceptances solely on academic merit would more US high school students work harder in school.</p>