<p>Has anyone else found themselves afraid to apply to colleges that are a reach for them due to a fear of rejection? Or is anyone telling themselves they don't really care, they really want to go to their safety school, in case they do get rejected?</p>
<p>Throughout the admissions process, I've tried so hard not to let myself fall in love with a school or have a first choice. I don't want to be the person whose dreams are crushed when they get a rejection -- I want to be someone who has plenty of backups that they'd be happy to attend.</p>
<p>But now I'm kind of wondering if I'm letting this fear hold me back, if I should be reaching higher. I dreamed about going to Boston College from the time I knew what college was. My dad went there, Boston is my favorite city in the world, it was a no-brainer; it was the only reason I ever worked hard in school. I started venturing toward different schools -- public universities in the south -- and eventually BC came off my list. I was going to apply just for kicks, but I ended up not taking the SAT IIs since none of my other schools require it. However, now I'm starting to question whether I'm making a mistake by not applying to a school that I dreamed about attending for so long. And I think at least part of what's holding me back is that I would be devastated if I were rejected. Even if I were to decide it wasn't really the school I wanted to attend, just being rejected would be enough to break my heart.</p>
<p>/ramble</p>
<p>Anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or similar experiences/feelings?</p>
<p>Well, as Wayne Gretzky once stated, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”</p>
<p>If you’re fond of the school, then I think that you should apply to it. You still have time to take the SAT II’s.</p>
<p>Rejection is a natural part of life, and especially college admissions. I take that premise of rejection, and use it as motivation to do the best I can.</p>
<p>Fear of rejection, embrassment, and incompetence happens a lot like asking a girl (or guy for you 
), trying to make the team, etc. As with the other examples, you just have to bite the bullet and take the chance, because the reward outweighs the risk.
However, I would say that as of now I don’t think I’ll be afraid to apply to a reach in fear of being rejected.</p>
<p>That fear’s not stopping any of the prestige whores/horrors who lurk here from applying to every single Ivy League School (except usually Cornell + Brown, for whatever reason). Don’t let that fear stop you. Plus, your reaches seem really reasonable, especially with your stats. Go for it.</p>
<p>Eh. The only schools where I think I might be rejected are Northwestern and Cornell, and honestly those aren’t my absolute top choices.</p>
<p>That Iowa State admission email from yesterday helped relieve stress too :)</p>
<p>Hey guys – I know this thread is hugely old, but I thought I’d post this just in case anyone who replied to me is still around.</p>
<p>At the last minute (like, middle of December) I decided to add a few reach schools to my list that was, at the time, exclusively composed of public schools, only one of which was a reach at all. I decided to apply to Boston College, William and Mary, Wash U. in St. Louis, and Emory. I decided at, literally, 2 AM to take the last possible ACT (the only way I would be able to apply to BC without SAT IIs), took it on two hours of sleep with no prep, and got a score equivalent to about 300 points below my SATs (and had had them automatically sent to these four schools before I got my score, whoops).</p>
<p>To get to the point, I was accepted at Boston College, waitlisted at WUSTL, and rejected from William & Mary; I hear from Emory tonight. Although I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford BC, I’m so glad I took the risk and applied to these schools. If I hadn’t tried, I know I’d be having big thoughts of “what if” right now, and for a long time after this. Even if I decide to attend University of Alabama, where I have a full ride, I don’t really have any regrets.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your words of wisdom back in September.</p>
<p>i feel like this could be a very good parody thread</p>
<p>Congrats on Alabama, BC, and WUSTL! That would be pretty cool if you got into WUSTL but a full ride is always nice. Is BC still your dream school? :)</p>