I walked out of class today and remembered that four years ago, I had just submitted all of my applications for college. That 5 month period was probably the most stressful stretch of my life, and I want to reflect on the past four years to hopefully make the upcoming stretch of senior year easier for all of you.
Four years ago, I was a top notch college applicant. Grades, ACT, subject tests, recommendations, extracurriculars… You name it, I had it, and it was in the top 1% of students nationwide. I applied to all of the top notch schools. Penn, Vandy, Tufts, all across the board, including the lesser of the two big state schools where I live.
I poured my heart into all 12 applications, confident one of those top notch institutions would want me on their campus. Nonetheless, application decisions came, and all I ended up with was admission to my two state schools. Fuck me, right? All that work and I’d end up going to the same school as 60 of my fellow graduates, many of whom didn’t work nearly as hard as me. No Ivy League for this guy, no matter how much my stats matched up with the BS I saw on College Confidential.
I know for a lot of you my situation seems like the end of the world, and at the time, it was for me. My mom called me out of school multiple times that spring because I simply couldn’t find motivation to go to school anymore.
I ended up enrolling at the lesser of the two state schools, simply out of pride. My family had all gone there, they had given more scholarship money, and the girls were better looking (lol).
Sure, walking out of the dorms for the last time freshman year, most of the friends I had made were “lesser” in the academic category and didn’t come from all over the continental USA. Had I gone to a top school, I’m sure I would have had that.
However, I made the most of what I was given. In May, I will leave campus with a 3.98 GPA, two degrees in two difficult subjects, four years of research experience, three internships, a great group of friends from all backgrounds, one hell of a high tolerance for alcohol, and a six figure job offer at a top 50 company. Aside from having more friends who don’t hail from within my home state’s borders, tell me how I could have succeeded more at any other school?
As your decisions come in from all of these hoity toity institutions claiming the only way to success is through their system and you are perceived as either worthy or unworthy to them, just remember: it’s not the school, it’s the person. If you’re hungry, if you’re passionate, if you’re willing to put the time in to succeed, it doesn’t matter if you went to Harvard or Cal Riverside. You will succeed. Don’t let an admissions board say whether or not you can be successful.
My advice to all of you: get off this damn website, stop worrying, and stop comparing yourself to other applicants. Everyone’s unique and has their own potential to succeed. Enjoy your senior year. Go to basketball games. Visit older friends already in college to see what life is like on the “great unknown” that is a college campus. Go to prom. Go to grad parties. Have a killer time on spring break with your friends for the last time. Live your life and don’t let college decisions or this site rule your life.
To all those who get into the Harvards and Yales, congrats and have a great experience. I’m happy for you and you’ll probably succeed too. For those who don’t, just remember my story. Life doesn’t end when your shot at admission to a top tier school does.
wow… i needed this today
I believe what you do when you get to college is more important than where you go to college. You’re an example of that. Congratulations!
A nice essay. Perhaps more believable that it came from a college senior and not a stressed 12th grader if you joined 4 years ago and not at 9:49am on November 2, 2016 
I don’t even think I use the email address connected with my old account anymore lol. Made a new one today with my .edu just for this
@badgolfer it’s very possible the OP “lurked” for a long time before making an account. I simply read the forums for a long time before I ever posted anything
Except when the chancing comes from clueless 17 year old high school seniors all chancing here on CC tells Ivy applicants that the schools are reaches for everyone. Perhaps you were reading selectively.
I am so glad you made the most of the college you attended. I know it is trite but life truly is short. You blink your eyes and you are older (not necessarily wiser) and how you live matters more than where you went. I graduated from undergrad on a Saturday and started law school on Monday. It was a state school that was not ranked as high but I could get school loans and it was cheaper. I have never regretted it. Good luck on your career.
This was great to hear today. HUGE congrats on all you’ve accomplished and good luck.
Amen to your post. I think too many people get caught up on a name. Sure the Ivies hold some weight, but there is a huge drop off outside the Ivies. I totally agree that life is all what you make of it. The people driven to succeed will succeed independent of which college they attend. It does get back the Nature vs. Nurture issue. I think many parents feel they have a larger influence than they really do. Some people are just born with the “gift of gab” and make incredible salesman while others try to learn sales but just do not have it. Call it an X factor. You just cannot learn this stuff. Same thing with sports. You can teach the game all you want but if the kid does not have any athletic talent, he will not make the big time.
Nice post. It helps put it into perspective that it’s not really the end of the world if I don’t get into HPY. One thing that bothers me, though, is that everyone else expects me to. I go to a somewhat poor/ghetto high school and am the only person people have seen to get both a perfect GPA and near-perfect SAT. Everyone tells me how I’m definitely going to get into Yale, how it’s their loss if I don’t get in, etc… When I try to tell people the statistics I just hear either “but you’re [my name]” or “you’re just being humble.”
So now everyone expects me to get in, but the fact is that the odds are against me. Most election forecasts put Trump as having a higher chance of winning the presidency than I do of getting into Yale. I don’t mind this, but I do mind everyone trying to pretend otherwise, even my own parents. At this point I’m honestly just more scared of letting everyone down than not being able to go to Yale - my state school is perfectly fine…
Just remember that none of those people will matter in a few years… Absolutely none. I only stay in contact with a few friends from high school. Do what you want. If you think you can succeed going to a state school (which BTW, if it’s like mine, is 100x more fun than an Ivy), then do it. If you go to Yale, awesome. The world is so much bigger than the town you grew up in.
Considering Trump won the presidency, maybe you have a shot at Yale. @yousefk
Thank you so much. I was so stressed and needed to hear this. Congrats on your accomplishments and the job offer!