<p>I was rejected by NU and I honestly thought I wouldn't be. But I mean, what can you do? I also couldn't visit any colleges...</p>
<p>If you know you're a good student, you can do great things at other places.</p>
<p>My sister told me I was a shoe-in for NU too, but I didn't get in. She said Penn and Cornell are debatable, but I got in to those schools.</p>
<p>I don't think we can afford to have safety schools unless its a school with an acceptance rate of 70 percent and up; that's my counselor told me. I know she thought I was crazy for considering UMich a safety, which it turned out to be.</p>
<p>I feel for anyone denied admittance by NU. However, I found a grammatical error on my NU essay, so it was my fault. Oh well.</p>
<p>haha. you guys, it's not that bad! try being an international student applying practically blind and basing their campuses on the internet and viewbooks. THEN try having H fever 2 weeks before the SAT's and using the 2 weeks to not only review but catch up on missed quizzes and lessons because the periodical examinations (finals) were a week after i came back from the hospital, THEN try getting recommendations from teachers with the worst grammar ever and getting advice from a counselor who has no idea what block schedule and AP classes are. (AP and honors classes arent offered in my school).</p>
<p>long story short, of 4 colleges i applied to, got in at 1, rejected at 2 and my other one is somehow lost in the mail.</p>
<p>the world hath screwedeth me overeth</p>
<p>advantage:</p>
<p>According to all of the admissions books, legacy ONLY helps in the ED round. If you don't apply early and are a legacy, the school then knows that it is, at best, your second choice. Thus, if they accept you RD, there's a good chance you will matriculate elsewhere.</p>
<p>But, you have some wonderful choices.</p>
<p>Mmm, yes, I realize this more now. I certainly did not consider myself a shoo-in (as I noted, I was somewhat surprised, but did not think that I got screwed), but I did think (convince myself :)) that it would count for something. I don't regret not applying early, because that was the wrong move for me--I was NOT 100% sure about Princeton (I'm still not sure that it is the right place for me...even in an unsentimental family, the sentimental connection can cloud one's judgement of what you really want), and I wanted to be able to choose from several colleges in April. </p>
<p>Probably my other family members/friends, who are less up to date about college admissions, thought that it was more of a hook than I did.</p>
<p>^^ Actually, a friend of mine was a legacy at Princeton. She applied to UCh?c (which is what I now call you UChicago) early, and applied to Princeton and all the other ivies regular. She was rejected from all the ivies, EXCEPT Princeton, where she was a legacy.</p>
<p>Personally, I think top-tier schools throw applications of qualified applicants up in the air, and those fall on the left side of a line down the center of the room are rejected, and those that fall on the right are admitted. It's the only explanation for the capriciousness of decisions!! (On the line=waitlist, of course!) ;-)</p>
<p>Well thanks for making me feel bad, fhimas :). Who can say why something happens? I've moved on--the only thing I feel like I lost are bragging rights/a bit of pride, and I'm not exactly going to attend a Podunk University next year, so those are small losses indeed. </p>
<p>I did have only okay extras, plus my school, unlike yours, is not in any way a feeder school--very, very few attend Ivies (one every couple of years out of 700-800 student classes). I did not think that this would hurt me, but now I wonder if a place like Princeton doesn't just think, "Eh. No one's going to care if she doesn't get in." Like I said, I really don't care anymore.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, I feel my son got a raw deal from Syracuse. They didn't even accept him yet George Washington, American University, University of Maryland, Fordham U, Temple U and University of Scranton all accepted him into their Honors Program and offered considerable scholarship money.</p>
<p>He has a 3.9 GPA; SAT score: 1540 (800 math; 740 verbal); top 10% of his class; coeditor of his high school newspaper; recipient of numerous scholastic writing awards; Captain of his Quiz Bowl team; etc. Great references from his teachers.</p>
<p>Apparently students with lower GPA and SAT got into Syracuse. Go figure...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This one makes absolutely no sense to me. I can tell you that Syracuse had some issues with processing applications, including misplacing high school transcripts. There is another thread where a few posters talk about this. I wonder if this happened with your S? In any case, you should be proud of his SAT scores and ECs. Has he decided where he is going to go?</p>
<p>Ok. I don't really feel screwed. In fact, reading some of your posts, I feel lucky to have gotten into the colleges I did. Regardless, I think this rant of mine may be relevant:</p>
<p>When I started this whole admissions thing, I really wanted to go to Brown. Like, really really. I thought the school was basically perfect for me in every way. And, I thought I had a shot: I am a two sport varsity athlete, I've been dancing for 12 years, I have a 2280 SAT, tippity top of my class, >750 average SAT II scores, Girl Scout, Aquarium Volunteer, etc. I applied early decision, was deferred, and then waitlisted in the spring. I was also rejected by Columbia.</p>
<p>Now, I didn't really expect to get in. Obviously, I know competition is insane and that this is probably the most competitive admissions year ever. But I watched some people who are not as academically strong as me get acceptances from Stanford, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, MIT, Duke, and others. Though I wouldn't say I was bitter, it did kind of suck. Despite the kind letters, it totally feels like those committees are telling you that you are inadequate, and that your classmates are just all around better than you are. </p>
<p>I'm happy to say that I'm (almost) completely over the rejections. Not only do I love my choices, but I've recognized that it really isn't a judgement of me as a person. Of those at my school who got into such selective colleges, one is a Greek girl who wants to go into engineering, one is a circus performer, one is a trilingual black belt in karate, and one is a double-legacy. Colleges have agendas, and this is a fact of life. These people are amazing, but I do not think that they are just better than I am. My talents and passions happen to be more typical, and I am also a white-Catholic-Irish girl from a over-represented area. There are so many things that are just out of our control that can affect where we get in.</p>
<p>Basically, just remember: we're 17 and 18! There's so much time left for us to accomplish amazing things. It's been said a million times, but the Ivies are not the be all and end all. You all can succeed, wherever you go.</p>
<p>lol, everyone is so pumped to get into the ivies...all I wanted was to get into Georgia Tech...and like "thatswhatshesaid" over here, I thought the school was perfect for me down to the dorms..I'm a girl computer engineer after all =P I have a 3.839 gpa, awesome EC's, average SAT scores (not the best though, who has time to study for those with all of the EC's?), not the top of my class but very close..but I was rejected. I am still trying though, writing my appeal as I type this, and if that doesn't work I am transfering after going to a little community college for a year (woot to southern poly, got accepted Friday). I have almost gotten over my rejection, not sitting here thinking "my whole life has fallen over" anymore, and I agree, we do have the rest of lives ahead of us!</p>
<p>I felt screwed too--perfect SAT scores, tons of APs, great grades, lots of quirkiness in my application. But, what's the point of feeling "screwed"? We're all going to great schools anyway (and I'm not just saying that).</p>
<p>Olam, you complain about people who party and turn things in late and seem to generally have a much better social life than you and all I can think is that may be why they got into their top choices and you didn't. They're real people not obsessed with getting into a specific college and probably more of those normal "well-rounded" applicants everyone talks about.</p>
<p>Bitterness is a cruel mistress.</p>
<p>^ Partying and turning things in late do not produce a well rounded applicants.</p>
<p>^But those kind of people can often give the impression of "well-rounded" because their essays often feel genuine and not doctored (since if they're turning things in late their essays will more than likely started fairly close to the app deadline), and in interviews they can come across as a laid-back relaxed person. When combined with good grades and ECs this can actually be perceived as well-rounded.</p>
<p>I feel very disillusioned to be honest.</p>
<p>"There are so many things that are just out of our control that can affect where we get in."</p>
<p>Nice post ThatsWhatSheSaid....you put my thoughts into words.</p>
<p>does NU = Northeastern University?????</p>
<p>ok, im a sophomore in high school...and this is worrying the crap out of me....i have a 4.2 gpa right now, its probably going to go down to a 4.0 by the end of this year because of my sci teacher.....im really worried..i dont have that many extracurriculars...my brother is at uc-berkeley and he was accepted also into duke when he applied last year, he told me that getting into college may no longer require top grades......for all of u guys who were not accepted into the colleges u want, what is the best piece of advice u can give us ppl in high school?</p>
<p>You need to have a good list of schools that are reach-match-safety and that you would be happy to attend ANY one of them...even, especially, your safety. Here was my list, with outcomes:
REACH
Princeton, rejected (double legacy)
Yale, deferred EA and then rejected
Columbia, waitlisted
Brown, waitlisted</p>
<p>HIGH MATCH
Wellesley, accepted
Carleton, accepted</p>
<p>LOW MATCH
NYU, accepted Honors Program + money
BC, accepted Honors Program</p>
<p>SAFETY
Case Western Reserve, accepted + lots of money</p>
<p>As you can see, I got into everything that wasn't a reach, and nothing that was. It's fine to shoot high, but you need to be realistic about your chances and make sure that you have more than one or two schools that you feel you are likely to be admitted to. Also, really really try to consider LAC's--I had a lot easier time getting into two really great LAC's then I did getting into top universities, and the top LAC's offer an education to rival any university. It will probably still be pretty tough for you, in a couple of years...know also that top schools that used to be a fair bit easier to get into than the Ivies are also becoming really, really competitive--I know people who didn't get into Cornell, Duke, and Northwestern who had really, really good stats...these colleges are becoming more competitive by leaps and bounds.</p>