Confused... Gap Year Maybe?

Applying to College
1

<p>So I'm going to start off with general stats so you can get an idea about me.</p>

<p>SAT 800 M 730 CR 740 W (2270 Single Sitting)
SAT II 770 Physics; 790 Math; 670 French
AP Physics: 5; Calc BC 5
GPA: 4.0
Not sure about weighted, but I've only been taking Advanced and AP classes other than electives.
Senior Year I've been taking AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP French, AP Literature, Adv US and electives.
Basically I've been taking the most rigorous stuff possible.
I've been doing 3 sports/year since 10th grade (Running, Swimming)
Have been involved in lots of ECs whatever... Tutored 3 hrs/wk for the past year and a half.</p>

<p>This year I applied to GT, Cornell, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard and my essays were all superb, recs were amazing and interviews went perfectly. My father taught at Cornell and my Mom went there...</p>

<p>Well... I got into GT, waitlisted at Cornell and Columbia.</p>

<p>I'm interested in Engineering so looking back on it now I'm kind of angry with myself about the choices I made in terms of schools to apply to. I'm originally from PA and moved to GA after my sophomore year and have completely and utterly hated my time here. I'm really not cut out for the south haha. </p>

<p>Basically I cannot imagine going to Tech at all. I've heard so many horror stories and don't want to put myself in a situation where I'm going to hate the situation I'm in for another 5 years. Yeah, yeah it's going to be hard with any engineering degree, but I'm not scared of hard work. It just seems like there is absolutely no social life there and when I visited there were amazing facilities, but it wasn't the kind of thing that blew me away. I just couldn't see myself there.</p>

<p>So basically it boils down to the fact that if waitlists don't work out for me my only option will be Tech. I'm thinking it might be good for me to take a gap year of some sort and apply to a better cut out list of schools and cast my net a bit further. MIT, CalTech, Stanford, CMU, Rice, Duke, PSU... I know I could go a year and try to transfer if I don't like it, but from what I've read it seems like it's incredibly difficult to transfer to a school that is up there in ranking. And people say that you would be losing a year in lost credits anyways and there's the whole thing of not getting the real experience at the college because you come in after everyone has become acclimated to the school.</p>

<p>I'm really interested in languages on top of engineering and think I might want to take languages courses abroad. Particularly I have been looking into Chinese, mostly because of it's prevalence in the business world. Oh yeah, I don't really see myself in a true engineering career, but rather a more business oriented one.</p>

<p>I don't really know where I'm going with this, but wanted to get the majority of my thoughts organized into one place. So comments or advice would be appreciated. Thanks guys!</p>

2

<p>I know you probably don’t want people to nitpick at one certain part of your post, but good luck taking Chinese while also taking engineering. You have to be DEDICATED to learning Chinese. And I mean, like, REALLY DEDICATED. My sister’s friend is in his third year of majoring in Chinese at Stanford, and he’s spent an entire year in China, and he’s not even close to being proficient in the language. No, he’s not stupid, that language just takes a ridiculously large amount of time to learn, ESPECIALLY if you’re planning on becoming proficient enough in it to be able to use it in engineering/business situations. Don’t overextend yourself.</p>

3

<p>First off, you have good stats. I know that this process is, in many ways, arbitrary, but it seems like you have the potential to get into some good schools.
Second, I got into only two of the nine schools I applied to this year, with three wait-lists and four rejections (and I compare to you only slightly favorably on paper). I got lucky, though, and one of the two schools was Harvard, so I already confirmed with them that I’m coming to them fall 2011.</p>

<p>Yes, I am taking a gap year. And before I heard the good news on April 1st, I had already been rejected three times, been waitlisted once, and got good news from only Rice (which I’m not convinced would have been a good fit for me). Knowing I wanted to take a gap-year either way, I was preparing myself for a second round of applications next year. I was determined to get into at least one of the schools I wanted to go to (Harvard, MIT (R), Brown (WL), Chicago (R), Wash U (WL), Columbia SEAS (WL)).</p>

<p>Unless one of your waitlist options opens up, which would be phenomenal, I would strongly encourage you taking a gap-year. However, don’t think of the purpose of your gap-year is to reapply; use it to reapply, but make the purpose a pursuit worth a year of your life! I, for example, am passionate about Krav Maga, so I am taking a year to pursue it more in-depth; I also plan on learning to cook, reading a ton (especially about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which I find fascinating), working through my long movie list, etc. You see what I mean, make it a meaningful year! </p>

<p>Not only is this crucial to not wasting 12 months of your life, but you will also improve your chances of admission if you’re doing something meaningful/educational/fulfilling with your year. Perhaps find an internship related to your subject area of interest, or get a job to show work experience; volunteer in your community. Do something to sweeten the deal!</p>

<p>Also, while you’re reapplying, be safe, and apply to as many schools as you consider reasonable that you’d be interested in actually attending (including some safer schools). You don’t want to end up at a school that won’t suit you, especially if you took off a year anticipating a great school at the end of it.</p>

<p>My final recommendation: Don’t do GT. If you don’t think it’s the school for you, I think it’s very possible you’ll be sabotaging your four-year college experience. Be patient, see about your waitlist options, and if they fall through, construct a serious year where you can learn and experience new things, decompress from a lifetime of schooling, and get in where you want to go.</p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>

4

<p>I’m a senior and I also saw a lot of rejections and only one acceptance in the US this year. Luckily the acceptance came from one of my top choices, so I will be happily attending. However, given your situation, I would have to agree with Trevor.</p>

<p>The only thing I would add is, given that you said you hate your time in the South, perhaps revise your list and look at a few more schools NOT in the south. e.g. Princeton, Brown, Tufts, UIUC, RPI, UCSD
:wink: good luck, tell us what you decide.</p>

5

<p>What exactly are your ECs?</p>

<p>If they’re weak, you could use a gap year to solve that problem.</p>

6

<p>If you want to take a gap year, you need to do something worthwhile. Your application should be bolstered by your gap year activities (as in, simply resubmitting the same application you did this year won’t fly). </p>

<p>Honestly, though, Tech may grow on you. It’s a fantastic engineering school (I know kids who have turned down Princeton, etc to attend, though these were partially financial decisions), especially for those interested in international business after graduation. Still, if you visit again and don’t see yourself succeeding there, it may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. In which case, go for the gap year but use it to your advantage.</p>

7

<p>I have a resum</p>

8

<p>Rough outcome… I’m really sorry. I almost was in a similar situation. I am a liberal arts college kind of guy, and my only two safeties were Boston College and Wisconsin (***?). Luckily I ended up getting into two schools I liked: even though I was WLed/rejected by 8 others. So I feel your pain. Everyone says pick your safety wisely, but it’s tough advice to follow because you really don’t think you’ll be forced to go there.</p>

<p>With regards to you: you look like a VERY strong applicant for a slightly lower-tier school - Vandy, Rice, Carnegie Mellon, etc. Whoever advised you on picking colleges failed miserably - you had 5 high reaches (Ivies are reaches for everyone) and one safety… you should’ve applied to more mid-level schools.</p>

9

<p>If your essays and recs were superb, with those stats you would have gotten into more of your schools. I tell you this because if you do take a gap year and reapply, you need to see where your app was weak.</p>